For Five Years, Mainstream Production Systems Offered $500 Bonuses to Individuals

question 104

Multiple Choice

For five years, Mainstream Production Systems offered $500 bonuses to individuals who identified ways to reduce costs by at least $1,000 per year. In the first year of that incentive program, 23 employees earned the bonus, but last year, only 7 submitted ideas, and only two of the ideas would actually save more than a few dollars. The company's HR director suggests that the company is likely to see more improvement if it replaces individual incentives with a gainsharing plan. Which statement best supports this argument?

• A) Gainsharing succeeds regardless of whether employees understand how performance is measured.
• B) Gainsharing is likely to succeed under almost any organizational conditions.
• C) Gainsharing broadens employees' horizons beyond the range of activities they can influence.
• D) Gainsharing measures oversimplify the complex responsibilities of production work.
• E) Gainsharing expands employees' thinking beyond their individual interests.

---

Definitions:

Nonverbal Abilities

cognitive skills that do not require the use of language, including understanding and interpreting gestures, facial expressions, and other nonverbal cues.

Culture-fair

Tests or assessments designed to be free of cultural bias, aiming to measure intelligence or other abilities in a manner equitable to all cultural groups.

Rotating Objects

The mental or physical action of spinning objects around a central axis, often studied in cognitive psychology to understand spatial perception and motor skills.

Aptitude Test

A test that predicts future performance in a particular setting or on a specific task.