IELTS READING; YES, NO, NOT GIVEN (20)

STATEMENT:

 A shrinking organisation tends to lose its less skilled employees rather than its more skilled employees.

PASSAGE:

When an organisation is shrinking, the best and most mobile workers are prone to leave voluntarily. Unfortunately, they are the ones the organisation can least afford to lose - those with the highest skills and experience. The minor employees remain because their job options are limited.

• YES

• NO

• NOT GIVEN

STATEMENT:

 It is easier to manage a small business than a large business.

PASSAGE:

There is an abundance of evidence to support the motivational benefits that result from carefully matching people to jobs. For example, if the job is running a small business or an autonomous unit within a larger business, high achievers should be sought

• YES

• NO

• NOT GIVEN

STATEMENT:

High achievers arc well suited to team work.

PASSAGE:

For example, if the job is running a small business or an autonomous unit within a larger business, high achievers should be sought. However, if the ob to be filled is a managerial post in a large bureaucratic organisation, a candidate who has a high need for power and a low need for affiliation should be selected. Accordingly, high achievers should not be put into jobs that are inconsistent with their needs. High achievers will do best when the job provides moderately challenging goals and where there is independence and feedback. However, it should be remembered that not everybody is motivated by jobs that are high in independence, variety and responsibility.

• YES

• NO

• NOT GIVEN

STATEMENT:

Some employees can feel manipulated when asked to participate in goal-setting.

PASSAGE:

The literature on goal-setting theory suggests that managers should ensure that all employees have specific goals and receive comments on how well they are doing in those goals. For those with high achievement needs, typically a minority in any organisation, the existence of external goals is less important because high achievers are already internally motivated. The next factor to be determined is whether the goals should be assigned by a manager or collectively set in conjunction with the employees. The answer to that depends on perceptions of goal acceptance and the organisation's culture. If resistance to goals is expected, the use of participation in goal-setting should increase acceptance. If participation is inconsistent with the culture, however, goals should be assigned. If participation and the culture are incongruous, employees are likely to perceive the participation process as manipulative and be negatively affected by it.

• YES

• NO

• NOT GIVEN

STATEMENT:

 The staff appraisal process should be designed by employees.

PASSAGE:

Regardless of whether goals are achievable or well within management's perceptions of the employee's ability, if employees see them as unachievable they will reduce their effort. Managers must be sure, therefore, that employees feel confident that their efforts can lead to performance goals. For managers, this means that employees must have the capability of doing the job and must regard the appraisal process as valid.

• YES

• NO

• NOT GIVEN

STATEMENT:

Employees’ earnings should be disclosed to everyone within the organisation.

PASSAGE:

Eliminating the secrecy surrounding pay oy openly communicating everyone's remuneration, publicising performance bonuses and allocating annual salary increases in a lump sum rather than spreading them out over an entire year are examples of actions that will make rewards more visible and potentially more motivating.

• YES

• NO

• NOT GIVEN

STATEMENT:

Australians have been turning to alternative therapies in increasing numbers over the past 20 years.

PASSAGE:

Disenchantment with orthodox medicine has seen the popularity of alternative therapies in Australia climb steadily during the past 20 years. In a 1983 national health survey, 1.9% of people said they had contacted a chiropractor, naturopath, osteopath, acupuncturist or herbalist in the two weeks prior to the survey.

• YES

• NO

• NOT GIVEN

STATEMENT:

Between 1983 and 1990 the numbers of patients visiting alternative therapists rose to include a further 8% of the population.

PASSAGE:

In a 1983 national health survey, 1.9% of people said they had contacted a chiropractor, naturopath, osteopath, acupuncturist or herbalist in the two weeks prior to the survey. By 1990, this figure had risen to 2.6% of the population.

• YES

• NO

• NOT GIVEN

STATEMENT:

The 1990 survey r.lated to 550,000 consultations with alternative therapists.

PASSAGE:

The 550,000 consultations with alternative therapists reported in the 1990 survey represented about an eighth of the total number of consultations with medically qualified personnel covered by the survey.

• YES

• NO

• NOT GIVEN

STATEMENT:

In the past, Australians had a higher opinion of doctors than they do today.

PASSAGE:

according to Dr Laver and colleagues writing in the Australian Journal of Public Health in 1993. ‘A better educated and less accepting public has become disillusion with the experts in general and increasingly skeptical about science and empirically based knowledge,’ they said. ‘The high standing of professionals, including doctors, has been eroded as a consequence.’

• YES

• NO

• NOT GIVEN