Directions: Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions as follows:
Passage
In recent years much attention has been paid to distilling those factors that create a positive work environment for corporate employees. The goal ultimately is to discover what allows some companies to foster high employee morale while other companies struggle with poor productivity and high managerial turnover. Several theories have been posited, but none has drawn as much interest from the corporate world, or has as much promise, as value congruence, which measures the “fit” between an employee’s values and those of co-workers and the company itself.
Value congruence can be broken into three main subcategories: person-environment (“P-E”), personperson (“P-P”), and perceptual fit (“PF”). Personenvironment congruence refers to a harmony between the personal values of the employee and corporate culture of the company in which he or she works. Someone with a high P-E congruence feels personally in tune with his company’s stated policies and goals. Conversely, someone with a low P-E congruence feels a sense of disharmony between his own values and the stated policies and goals of his company. A high P-P congruence indicates a sense of solidarity with one’s co-workers in terms of shared values and goals. A low P-P congruence indicates a sense of isolation from co-workers brought about by an absence of shared values. Finally, strong PF suggests a strong correspondence between the values that an employee perceives his company to have (whether or not the company actually does) and the values that his co-workers perceive the company to have (again, whether or not it actually does). A weak PF implies that an employee’s perception of his company’s values differs significantly from that of his co-workers.
Research has shown that P-E and PF congruence are important measures of employee satisfaction, commitment, and likelihood of turnover, while P-P congruence has little bearing on these parameters. Moreover, PF is especially important in establishing harmonious relations between workers and managers. These measures give corporations a robust paradigm for long-term personnel planning and productivity potentials: they allow companies to discover dysfunctional work relationships and clarify misperceived company policies and goals. With these tools in hand, companies can look forward to increased employee satisfaction and, ultimately, improved company performance.
Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 26
Try yourself:The primary focus of the passage is on which of the following?
Explanation
This question asks us to find a choice that describes the primary focus of the
passage. The correct answer must cover the entirety of the passage without
misrepresenting it.
(A) This choice mentions a comparison between a new theory and a "discredited theory". Since there is no discussion of a discredited theory in the passage, this
choice is incorrect.
(B) This choice mentions a "detailed analysis of a particular case". Since the
passage does not focus on a particular case, this choice is incorrect.
(C) This choice describes the passage as challenging an "old view of employee
commitment". Since the passage does not discuss old views of employee
commitment, this choice is incorrect.
(D) CORRECT: This choice describes the passage as "promoting a new method of
measuring the likelihood of corporate success" – so far, so good – and as
"explaining its benefits". This covers the entirety of the passage and describes its
purpose and function accurately.
(E) This choice states that the passage defends "a proposed system of corporate
analysis through examples of its success." Since the passage does not discuss
examples of success, this choice is incorrect.
The correct answer is D.
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Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 26
Try yourself:According to the passage, which of the following was a motivation in the creation of the system of value congruence?
Explanation
The correct answer is B. The question asks us to determine which of the choices
was a motivation in the creation of the system of value congruence. According to the
passage (lines 6-9), value congruence was one of the theories that was posited "to
discover what allows some companies to foster high employee morale while other
companies struggle with poor productivity and high managerial turnover."
(A) Poor productivity, high managerial turnover, and employee morale have little to
do with the liability of upper management for employee satisfaction.
(B) CORRECT: Poor productivity, high managerial turnover, and employee morale
are related to a company's internal harmony or lack thereof. The proof sentence does not correlate directly to this answer choice, making this a fairly difficult
question.
(C) Poor productivity, high managerial turnover, and employee morale have little to
do with the earning potential of employees.
(D) Poor productivity, high managerial turnover, and employee morale have little to
do with the factors influencing managerial success.
(E) Poor productivity, high managerial turnover, and employee morale have little to
do with the discrepancies between a company's goals and the values of its
employees.
The correct answer is B
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Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 26
Try yourself:The passage suggests that perceptual fit congruence would be most useful in determining which of the following?
Explanation
The question asks us to determine which of the choices would be the best use for
perceptual fit ("PF"). The passage defines perceptual fit as the congruence between
a given employee's perception of his company's values and the perception of the
company's values held by other employees. Therefore, we need to determine which
answer choice could be determined using this measure.
(A) CORRECT: This choice suggests that PF could be used to determine whether a
company ought to make its policies and goals more transparent. PF will indicate to a
company whether its employees generally see the company's values the same way.
This would be useful in determining whether the company needed to do a better job
in making those values clear to its employees.
(B) This choice suggests that PF could be used to determine whether a company
ought to provide sensitivity training for its management. PF is not relevant to issues
of sensitivity training.
(C) This choice suggests that PF could be used to determine whether a company
ought to create more opportunities for interaction among workers. Since PF is used
to determine whether employees hold the same view of the company's values, this
choice may seem attractive. But it does not specifically relate to the notion of
company values, as choice A does.
(D) This choice suggests that PF could be used to determine whether a company
needed to address employee grievances more directly. PF is not related to the
concept of company values.
(E) This choice suggests that PF could be used to determine whether a company
ought to have a more elaborate orientation program for new employees. PF is not
related to the concept of company values as seen by employees.
The correct answer is A.
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