1. If you wanted workers to perceive their compensation package as secure, which components would you include and which would you avoid?
2.
... [Show More] How does procedural justice differ from distributive justice? Defend the position that supervisors have considerable control over procedural justice in their departments, but little control over distributive justice. How might you use the principle of procedural justice to avoid having an employee quit because she believes her boss gave her an unfair evaluation?
3. Shaw Corporation manufactures speciality equipment for the auto industry (e.g., seat frames). One job involves operation of machines that form heat-treated metal into various set shapes. The job is fairly low-level and routine. Without any further information, which of the five types of appraisal formats do you think would be most appropriate for this job? Justify your answer.
Employees in your department have formed semi-autonomous work teams (they determine their own production schedule and individual work assignments). Individual performance is assessed using four performance dimensions: quantity of work, quality of work, interpersonal skills, and teamwork. Should the supervisor have a role in the rating process? What role, if any, should other members of the work team have in the assessment process?
EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES
1. Roycroft Industries makes CD cases that are particularly well received on the international market. Because of currency fluctuations, the profits Roycroft generates vary widely from year to year. Jim McVeigh, who works for Roycroft, is in charge of a large product development group where the emphasis is on flexible performance, creativity, and “doing whatever it takes to get the job done.” What kind of reward system would you recommend for this group of employees? In particular, should there be a large incentive component? Should rewards focus mostly on money, or should Roycroft work hard to incorporate the other 12 rewards noted in this chapter?
A father decides to put his two sons to work in landscaping. The business involves going to a customer’s home and providing landscaping services (cut grass, edge sidewalk, pull weeds in flower beds, prune bushes and trees, rake leaves). Rather than paying a flat wage, the father decides to pay an incentive according to the following schedule (average across all lawns). At the end of the second week under this arrangement, the sons are quarrelling with each other and not happy with their dad. All of the disagreements revolve around the incentive system. What might be the problems?
Think about the last group project you worked on. Describe that project and identify three performance criteria you think would be appropriate for evaluating the team members. Should each team member rate each other team member on all these dimensions? Should the member ratings be used for feedback only or for feedback as well as for part of the overall grade (assuming the instructor agrees)? Should the instructor rate each team member on performance (all three criteria) in the group assignment? How are these questions relevant to setting up a 360-degree performance review?
CASE: Burger Boy
What appear to be the problems at this Burger Boy?
How many of these problems could be explained by compensation issues?
How many other problems could be lessened with diligent use of rewards other than pay?
Are hours of work a reward? What might explain why I was happy to be working 20 hours per week, but Chuck was unhappy with 30 hours per week? How might schedules be used as a reward? [Show Less]