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.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
Try yourself: The primary focus of the passage is on which of the following?
A
Comparing a new theory of corporate performance to a discredited theory and predicting the usefulness of the new theory.
B
Illustrating a new approach to measuring employee satisfaction through a detailed analysis of a particular case.
C
Challenging an old view of employee commitment and suggesting that a new paradigm is necessary.
D
Promoting a new method of measuring the likelihood of corporate success by explaining its benefits.
E
Defending a proposed system of corporate analysis through examples of its success.
Correct Answer: D
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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MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
Try yourself: According to the passage, which of the following was a motivation in the creation of the system of value congruence?
A
a desire to minimize the liability of upper management for employee dissatisfaction
B
a desire to help companies to improve their internal harmony
C
a desire to allow employees to increase their earning potential
D
a desire to foster awareness of factors influencing managerial success
E
a desire to eliminate discrepancies between a company’s goals and the values of its employees
Correct Answer: B
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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MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
Try yourself: The passage suggests that perceptual fit congruence would be most useful in determining which of the following?
A
Whether a company ought to make its policies and goals more transparent
B
Whether a company ought to provide sensitivity training for its management
C
Whether a company ought to create more opportunities for interaction among workers
D
Whether a company ought to address employee grievances more directly
E
Whether a company ought to implement a more elaborate orientation program for new employees
Correct Answer: A
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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The document Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 26 is a part of the GMAT Course 100 RCs for GMAT.
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