IIA IIA Certifications IIA-CIA-PART3 Questions & Answers

• Question 571:

  Which of the following is false concerning job motivation?

  A. Increased planning and decision making in a job is a positive motivator only if accompanied by a salary increase.

  B. Recognition of achievement motivates performance.

  C. Poor working conditions create dissatisfaction with the job.

  D. Poor interpersonal relations create dissatisfaction with the job.

  Correct Answer: A

  Frederick Herzberg's two-factor theory of human behavior postulates that there are two classes of factors in the job situation. Maintenance of hygiene factors dissatisfiers) are those the presence of which will not especially motivate people but the absence of which will diminish performance. These factors are extrinsic to the work itself. They include supervision, working conditions, interpersonal relations, salary, and status. Motivational factors (satisfiers) are those the absence of which will not diminish performance but the addition or availability of which will motivate employees. Intrinsic to the work itself, these include achievement, recognition, challenging work, advancement, growth in the job, and responsibility. Thus, increased planning and decision making enrich the job and serve toincrease satisfaction and motivation. A pay increase is not necessary to achieve this positive effect, but a perceived inadequacy of compensation would act as a dissatisfier.

• Question 572:

  Some behavioral models stress employee participation as a key to motivation. A limitation of the participative approach is:

  A. Workers are intrinsically lazy and must be driven.

  B. A number of dissatisfiers must be present in order for the approach to work.

  C. It is difficult to elicit the participation of all employees.

  D. Unresolvable conflicts arise when a mature, capable, creative person joins a structured, demanding, and limiting organization.

  Correct Answer: C

  For a participative management approach to succeed, the parties must have sufficient time, the issues must be relevant to employees' interests, employees must have the abilities training and communication skills) to participate, and the organizational culture should support participation. Accordingly, a limitation of the participative approach is that it is unlikely that all employees are willing to participate in decision making.

• Question 573:

  Both Maslow and Herzberg have developed popular motivational theories. Which statement best distinguishes Herzberg's theory?

  A. Job performance improves as job satisfaction increases.

  B. Job performance improves as physiological needs are met.

  C. Job esteem improves as physiological needs are met.

  D. Job esteem improves as job satisfaction increases.

  Correct Answer: A

  Frederick Herzberg's two-factor theory of human behavior postulates that there are two classes of factors in the job situation. Maintenance or hygiene factors are those whose presence will not especially motivate people but whose absence will diminish performance. These factors are extrinsic to the work itself. They include supervision, working conditions, interpersonal relations, salary, and status. Motivational factors are those the absence of which will not diminish performance but the addition or availability of which will motivate employees. Intrinsic to the work itself, these include achievement, recognition, challenging work, advancement, growth in the job, and responsibility.

• Question 574:

  An employee's self-actualization need would be met by:

  A. Attractive pension provisions.

  B. Challenging new job assignments.

  C. Good working conditions.

  D. Regular positive feedback.

  Correct Answer: B

  Self-actualization is the highest human need. It is the desire to become what one is capable of becoming, to realize one's potential and accomplish to the limit of one's ability. In other words, the job itself is an intrinsic motivation; no extrinsic motivation such as rewards or reinforcements) is needed. Intrinsic motivation provides the worker with psychological income. Thus, challenging new job assignments meet an employee's self actualization needs.

• Question 575:

  Alternative work schedules for employees are said to increase the efficiency of business operations. Alternative work schedules are consistent with the underlying concepts of which theory?

  A. Motivation-hygiene theory.

  B. Theory X.

  C. Equity theory.

  D. Cognitive evaluation theory.

  Correct Answer: A

  Herzberg's two-factor theory of human behavior postulates two classes of factors:motivational and hygiene. Hygiene factors dissatisfiers) include those factors whose presence will not especially motivate people but whose absence will lead to diminished motivation. These factors are extrinsic to the work itself. They include status, interpersonal relations, and alternative work schedules. Hygiene factors such as work schedules need to be adequate so that workers will have little dissatisfaction. The absence of motivational factors satisfiers) will not diminish performance, but their addition or availability will motivate employees. Intrinsic to the work itself, they include achievement, advancement, and recognition.

• Question 576:

  Which of the following motivational theories are most alike in that both theories assume employees want to work and can do so unsupervised?

  A. Theory X and Theory Y.

  B. Theory X and Theory Z.

  C. Theory Y and Theory Z.

  D. Theory Y and Herzberg's two-factor theory.

  Correct Answer: C

  Ouchi's Theory Z is based on the Japanese practice of providing long-term employment to workers. Decisions are made on a team basis, and trust is an important aspect of the theory, including the issue of trusting employees to complete their work satisfactorily and unsupervised. Theory Y assumes that Iiemployees like to work and will do so unsupervised.

• Question 577:

  Frederick Herzberg postulated a two-factor theory of human behavior that included satisfiers anddissatisfies. Which of the following is adissatisfied?

  A. Promotion to another position.

  B. Salary.

  C. Challenging work.

  D. Responsibility.

  Correct Answer: B

  Frederick Herzberg's two-factor theory of human behavior postulates that there are two classes of factors in the job situation. Maintenance of hygiene factors dissatisfiers) are those the presence of which will not especially motivate people but the absence of which will diminish performance. These factors are extrinsic to the work itself. They include supervision, working conditions, interpersonal relations, salary, and status. Motivational factors (satisfiers) are those the absence of which will not diminish performance but the addition or availability of which will motivate employees. Intrinsic to the work itself, these include achievement, recognition, challenging work, advancement, growth in the job, and responsibility.

• Question 578:

  Which of the following statements is true with respect to a change in values?

  A. Values are neither stable nor enduring.

  B. The process of questioning values will result in a change.

  C. Values are not fixed, and when they change, they change quickly.

  D. Values are established in early years and are unlikely to change.

  Correct Answer: D

  Values are specific to each individual and involve moral and personal issues. They tend to be learned in childhood from parents, friends, and others. Values can be modified throughout life but ordinarily tend to stay the same.

• Question 579:

  A manager has a small team of employees, but each individual is self-motivated and could be termed a "high achiever." The manager has been given a particularly difficult assignment. Even for a high achiever, the probability that this job can be completed by one individual by the required deadline is low. Select the best course for the audit manager.

  A. Assign one individual since high achievers thrive on high risks.

  B. Assign two employees to moderate the risk of failure.

  C. Assign all employees to ensure the risk of failure is low.

  D. Ask company management to cancel the job.

  Correct Answer: B

  High achievers wish to do something better than it has been done before. According to McClelland's theory of needs, high achievers thrive when the job provides for personal responsibility, feedback, and moderate risks. They avoid very easy or very difficult tasks, andthey do not like to succeed by chance. Accordingly, one high achiever should not be assigned a job when the probability of its successful completion is very low.

• Question 580:

  A company, the largest provider of mental health services in its area, was encountering personnel problems. The company's facilities housed many clients, but funding never seemed adequate to hire quality, live-in staff. A new administrator is determined to facilitate long-term employment of the best possible care-giving staff. Besides paying better wages, the administrator believes that the staff should be strongly motivated by the work itself. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the best employees would have a need for:

  A. Esteem.

  B. Belonging.

  C. Self-actualization.

  D. Safety and security.

  Correct Answer: C

  Self-actualization is the highest level need in Maslow's hierarchy. Self-actualization refers to the desire to become what one is capable of becoming, to realize one's potential and accomplish to the limit of one's ability. It becomes important only after the lower level needs have been met. The work itself becomes the motivator after all lower level needs are satisfied.