Managing Performance, Motivation and Hiring Quiz :Managing Social and Human Capital (Business Foundations Specialization) Answers 2026

Question 1

What is the fundamental tenet of Efficiency Wages application?

✅ Motivating employees by wages to do the right things
❌ The organization pays its employees more than its competitors
❌ Encouraging competition among employees by high wages
❌ Paying employees the same as competitors to keep efficiency

Explanation:
Efficiency wages are based on the idea that higher wages motivate employees to behave productively, reduce shirking, and align actions with organizational goals—not merely paying more than competitors.

Question 2

The Mir Space Station Case is a good illustration of:

❌ Goal Setting
❌ Attribution Bias
✅ Rewarding A while hoping for B
❌ Conformity

Explanation:
The Mir case shows how organizations reward one behavior (A) while expecting a different outcome (B), leading to unintended consequences.

Question 3

According to Professor Cappelli’s lecture, the biggest challenge with designing incentive systems is:

✅ The ability to capture and measure employee performance
❌ Different employees are motivated by different incentives
❌ Incentives can create competition among employees
❌ Constant incentives demotivate employees

Explanation:
The main challenge is accurately measuring performance, because incentives depend on what can be reliably measured.

Question 4

According to research, organizational-level incentives:

✅ May create a “rewarding A while hoping for B” problem
❌ Are more effective for employees than for executives
❌ Are more effective for employees than individual-level incentives
❌ Are effective for employees in the same manner as individual-level incentives

Explanation:
Organizational incentives can unintentionally reward behaviors that do not directly drive desired outcomes.

Question 5

According to Path-Goal Theory, the key element for motivating employees is through:

✅ Providing a clear direction to achieve the goals
❌ Providing autonomy in how to achieve the goals
❌ Providing challenging goals
❌ Providing constructive and close guidance

Explanation:
Path-Goal Theory emphasizes that leaders motivate employees by clarifying the path to goal achievement and removing obstacles.

Question 6

Conformity is likely to be most effective for organizations during:

✅ Onboarding among newcomers
❌ Performance appraisals
❌ Recruiting stage
❌ Hiring process

Explanation:
Conformity is strongest during onboarding, when newcomers adapt to organizational norms and behaviors.

Question 7

The Milgram Study is a powerful illustration of:

❌ Behavior Modification
❌ Imitation
❌ Conformity
✅ Compliance

Explanation:
Milgram’s study demonstrates compliance, where individuals obey authority figures even against personal beliefs.

Question 8

The Pygmalion Effect is characterized by:

✅ Shaping individuals’ behavior by providing high expectations
❌ Shaping individuals’ behavior through role models
❌ Shaping individuals’ behavior through high compliance
❌ Shaping individuals’ behavior by providing clear and specific goals

Explanation:
The Pygmalion Effect shows that high expectations lead to improved performance through self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 9

According to Professor Cappelli’s lecture, the biggest reason employees leave their job is:

✅ An imbalance between proposed job description and actual job content
❌ An imbalance between expected and received salary
❌ All the above reasons are equally significant
❌ An imbalance between promised career progress and actual promotion

Explanation:
Employees most often leave due to a mismatch between what the job was promised and what it actually is.

Question 10

The common biases of supervisors during performance appraisals are:

❌ Fundamental attribution error, self-fulfilling prophecy, and Pygmalion effect
❌ Similarity effect, attractiveness, and cognitive dissonance
❌ Overconfidence and fundamental attribution error
✅ Fundamental attribution error, self-fulfilling prophecy, and similarity effect

Explanation:
Supervisors often judge employees based on personal traits, expectations, and similarity, rather than objective performance.

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