Application Case Study
Application Case 9-1 Discussion Questions 1. Do you consider the description of the Firestone store manager’s responsibilities important information that the raters of managers need to be knowledgeable about? I do consider the description of the Firestone’s store manager’s responsibilities important information for the raters of the managers to know about. To effectively rate the performance and conduct of the managers the raters has to know what their overall responsibilities and duties are.
Knowing this information will help to eliminate rater errors and thus provide an effective and accurate performance evaluation of the managers. 2. Does the portion of the performance evaluation form used at Bridgestone/Firestone require any subjective judgments or considerations on the part of the rater? The portion of the performance evaluation form used at Bridgestone/Firestone does require subjective judgments or considerations on the part of the rater.
The section “Employee’s reaction to performance feedback” is based on the interpretation and judgment of the rater. One may perceive an employee’s reaction as being adverse and opposing when it may not very well be the case. Just as the employee’s reactions may appear to have fully understood and accepted the feedback when really they may not totally agree with the feedback or plan of action proposed to correct it. 3. Suppose that a Bridgestone/Firestone manager received an outstanding performance evaluation. Does this mean that he or she is promotable? Why?
Even though a Bridgestone/Firestone manager receives an outstanding performance, it does not necessarily mean that he or she is promotable. One must keep in mind that the rater can be faced with potential problems such as “wording” with standard evaluations, halo effects, contrast effects and favoritism. There are a number of issues that could have influenced the outstanding performance evaluation of the manager. A standard evaluation could produce problems because the rater may interpret good, adequate, satisfactory and excellent in different terms than another evaluator.
The rater may also base the evaluation on strictly on one strong or weak area of the rate which would result in an overall high or low evaluation rather than that one area. Perhaps one of the biggest determining factors when evaluating is the personal bias of the rater. Albeit, conscious effort or not, raters can be biased towards an individual based on likes/dislikes and/or favorable similarities they may have seen in the manager. Receiving an outstanding performance evaluation does not mean that one is promotable.
Although truly unfortunate, it could simply mean that the manager made a positive impression on the evaluator. ? Application Case 11-1 Discussion Questions 1. Why is it important to include operating employees (non-managers) in the development and use of an incentive program? It is important to include operating employees, non-managers, in the development and use of incentive programs because it will greatly boost and unite employees to improve organizational effectiveness while establishing organization-wide (financial) gains.
Using all employees in strategizing can ultimately improve employee relations, foster high-quality products, cost reduction, and increase revenue. 2. What is the individual performance modifier that the Towers Perrin survey identified? Explain it in managerial terms. The individual performance modifier that the Towers Perrin survey identified was the comparison of preestablished personal goals for the year against what goals were actually achieved. By providing rewards for specific goals which were chosen and agreed upon by the employee, the employer has a more effective influence on the employee’s behavior.
The benefit of the individual performance modifier is that it allows each employee to make their own decisions despite the company’s overall objectives. 3. American Woodmark’s scorecard approach can be most effectively used with what type of organizations? Employees? The American Woodmark’s scorecard approach can be most used effectively in organizations that are composed of several divisions or plants. The scorecard can be most effectively used for employees that have the ability and drive to reach goals best fitted to them.
