HR MGMT 330 Exam 2

Trinkets Inc., a manufacturer of widgets, has entered into a contract with a third party to perform services related to processing orders, managing inventory levels, and shipping products to customers. The company is engaged in

outsourcing

In the context of HR planning, implementation that ties planning and recruiting to an organization's strategy and to its efforts to develop employees becomes a complete program of

talent management

Identify the benefit of relying on internal recruitment sources.

Internal sources are generally cheaper and faster than other means.

Identify the similarity between the outsourcing and overtime strategies for avoiding a labor shortage.

Both strategies have high revocability.

Allie, a human resource manager at an electronics firm, observes that many employees who are reaching the traditional retirement age are not interested in leaving the organization. Which statement best explains the reason for this trend among older employees?

Jobs are becoming less physically demanding.

__________ states that if there is no specific employment contract saying otherwise, the employer or employee may end an employment relationship at any time, regardless of cause.

Employment at will

What is an element in the final stage of human resources planning?

evaluating outcomes

In order to cultivate a favorable picture of the organization, Shubert Group, a financial services corporation, advertises itself to potential applicants by using the slogan, "Investing in you no matter what road you take." This scenario is an example of __________ advertising.

image

Leo is a human resource specialist at a company with a promote-from-within policy. Based on that policy, what method should he include in his recruiting efforts to fill an open position for an accounting supervisor?

posting the job on the company's intranet

In the context of human resource planning, the primary goal of forecasting is to

predict labor shortages or surpluses in specific areas of an organization.

What are the most widespread methods for eliminating labor shortages?

hiring temporary workers and outsourcing work

Alice helped a sales manager place an ad on job boards and hire five new salespeople. She calculates that the total cost to recruit and select these employees was $200,000. What was the cost per hire for this recruiting effort?

$40,000

Why is temporary employment popular with employers?

It gives employers flexibility in operations.

Which of the following is an internal source of recruitment?

job postings

What is true of companies that use a "lead-the-market" pay strategy?

They pay more than the current market wages for a job.

Which statement is true of executive search firms?

They serve as a buffer, providing confidentiality between an employer and a recruit.

Betty heads the production department at Riffer Inc., a firm that stresses the importance of maintaining regular contact with customers. Betty is expecting a labor surplus in the future. Mike, a supervisor, recommends downsizing as an option to deal with this labor surplus, however, Betty rejects this option. Which statement will validate that Betty made the right decision?

Downsizing would hurt long-term organizational effectiveness.

Organizations use outsourcing as a way to

operate more efficiently and save money.

What is a challenge associated with an outsourcing strategy?

quality-control problems

Vino, an HR manager at Jacoby Beverages, identifies and attracts potential job seekers to his organization. In the context of HRM functions, Vino is carrying out the __________ process.

recruiting

Which aspect of recruitment is most likely to affect the nature of the positions that are vacant?

personnel policies

Most direct applicants to an organization have done some research and concluded there is enough fit between themselves and the vacant position to warrant submitting an application. This process is termed

self-selection

Excel Software is having difficulty filling all its positions for systems analysts. The company's human resource manager suggests introducing a kind of personnel policy known as a due-process policy. How is that most likely to help with recruitment?

This policy implies greater job security and concern for employees.

Solarn Inc. is a relatively new company that employs 23 workers. When it finished a major contract, the owner realized that there wasn't enough work left for all the remaining workers. The company is negotiating contracts that could provide future work in a few months, but it currently must address its labor surplus in order to remain financially sound. What is the best strategy to deal with this labor surplus?

work sharing

Janine, a trainer at Keller Inc., wants to find out how many candidates moved from the initial interview stage to the training selection stage in the past month. To find out, she needs to compare the

yield ratios

Cory, a physicist at HealthAir, recently received an award for several patents he earned that enabled the company to help slow climate change by reducing carbon emissions. Jamie, HealthAir's vice president of human resources, is eager to get news coverage of the Cory's award. She knows that, in addition to drawing positive attention to the company, the publicity will support recruitment. Which statement best supports Jamie's thinking?

Creating the impression of HealthAir as a place where talented people make a difference can attract talented job candidates.

Fernando, a human resource executive, is meeting with the executive team to discuss the need to fill a soon-to-be-vacant position for vice president of the company's Medical Devices Division. Normally, he posts vacancies on the company's website, but he encourages the team to allocate funds to hire an executive search firm (ESF) for filling this position. Which statement best supports Fernando's recommendation?

ESFs provide confidentiality for employer and recruit, giving access to better candidates.

Ernie, a manager at a large decoration store, is expecting increased sales during the upcoming holiday season. He knows that his current workforce will not be able to meet demand, putting him at risk of a labor shortage. Which strategy would be the best option to help Ernie avoid a labor shortage?

Ernie should hire temporary employees because he can let them go once the holiday season is over.

A start-up software company hires Kiera as its first human resource manager. Whenever a new position needs to be filled, Kiera sits down with the supervisor to gather facts that will be included in a realistic job preview. Kiera knows that the impact of job previews on candidates is limited, but she believes the effort is important anyway. Which statement best explains Kiera's decision to provide realistic job previews?

Giving realistic information is not expensive or difficult, so it is worth even a small benefit.

Maxim is an HR manager at a large accounting firm. He hires and trains the firm's staff of recruiters. Maxim hires people with education in human resource management and a warm attitude that displays a positive interest in people. How else should he equip the recruiters so that they have success in this kind of work?

Maxim should equip recruiters with the kinds of information job applicants are seeking.

El Niro Inc. is automating processes so the company can meet its demand with a smaller workforce. The CEO asks Megan, the vice president of human resources, for advice on how to address the resulting labor surplus. Megan studies the workforce and observes that many employees are in their 50s and 60s. Furthermore, these employees are the highest-paid workers in every job category. Based on this information, what should Megan suggest as the most effective way of addressing El Niro's labor surplus?

Offer early retirement incentives to the employees in their 50s and 60s.

Yoza Inc., a manufacturer of electronic goods, is experiencing financial losses. The company is also facing the problem of a labor surplus due to low demand for its products. In this context, what would be the best way for Yoza Inc. to deal with this labor surplus?

The company must consider downsizing because it is the quickest way to deal with a labor surplus that results in financial losses.

Sean works in the human resource department of a well-known and highly respected maker of athletic equipment. He suggests that the company expand its recruiting by placing job advertisements on popular websites for job seekers. However, his supervisor says this has become a poor use of the company's recruiting dollars. Which is the most likely reason for the supervisor's objection?

The company will be flooded with applications from individuals who are barely qualified.

Milo determines that his company spent $15,000 to hire three new programmers through employee referrals and another $75,000 to hire five new programmers through a private employment agency. Which statement is correct about these recruiting efforts?

The cost per hire for referrals was lower, at $5,000 per hire.

Identify a disadvantage of using temporary and contract workers.

These workers tend to be less committed to an organization.

Tom, a supervisor at AutoMax Inc., realizes that a couple of months from now, he might experience a labor shortage for approximately two weeks due to increased demand for the company's products. Which option would be best for dealing with this labor shortage?

Tom should encourage employee overtime because it helps to increase productivity for a short period of time.

Identify a benefit of applying statistical forecasting methods.

Under the right conditions, they provide predictions that are much more precise than a human forecaster's subjective judgment.

People who apply for a vacancy without prompting from an organization are referred to as

direct applicants

Kevin, the CEO of MedImpact Inc., finds that the company needs to eliminate a labor surplus to avoid financial difficulties. To deal with this problem, he chooses a strategy that gives him fast results. However, the amount of suffering caused to employees is high. Kevin is most likely using the __________ strategy to reduce the labor surplus.

downsizing

Jacob, the CEO at Einstein Inc., learns that his company is perceived as low-value by customers. He plans to combat this by hiring highly skilled and knowledgeable employees in order to improve Einstein's competitive standing. In this scenario, Jacob will most likely be hiring

employees with a core competency.

Berns Inc. hires Allen as a supervisor in the company. They have an implied understanding that both the employer and the employee have the right to end their relationship at any time they desire. In the context of personnel policies, the relationship between the company and Allen is based on the

employment-at-will policy

Organizations carry out human resource planning to

gain an advantage over competitors.

The second step in human resource planning is

goal setting and strategic planning

Christina, an HR manager at Dixon Inc., is dealing with labor shortage problems due to a sudden increase in production levels at the company. Among the following options, the fastest way to fix this problem is to

hire temporary employees

Charlie, an HR manager at Delaney Inc., is expecting a labor surplus for the company in the month of November. This gives Charlie nearly eight months to deal with the problem. In order to reduce the labor surplus, Charlie decides to use a __________ strategy, which causes less suffering for employees.

hiring freeze

Taryn, an HR manager at NetHint Inc., hires employees who provide a specific set of knowledge and skills that will give her company advantage over its competitors. In the context of strategic planning, Taryn is

hiring individuals with a core competency.

Brandon, a production manager at Felix Inc., is expecting a labor shortage for a short period of time. He would like to avoid it with a strategy that can be easily eliminated in the future when there is optimal labor available for work. Which option for avoiding a labor shortage would be the right solution for Brandon?

hiring temporary employees

The process of communicating information about a job vacancy on company bulletin boards, in employee publications, on corporate intranets, and anywhere else an organization communicates with employees is referred to as

job posting

Marcus and Olivia are HR managers at Tacoma Investments. They are expecting a labor surplus over the next two years resulting in the organization having 24 more employees than required. Typically, two employees leave the organization each month. Which HR strategy should Marcus and Olivia consider, taking into account the length of time they have available?

natural attrition

Evelyn, the HR manager at Freton Inc., recruits her cousin Gia as production manager in the company. This move results in resentment among several of the company's employees. By hiring her cousin, Evelyn has engaged in the practice of hiring relatives, or

nepotism

The most important source of recruits for entry-level professional and managerial vacancies is

on-campus interviews

A small company that manufactures special-order wood furniture has kept its employees busy on a 40-hours-a-week schedule for the past two years. The company just received a large contract from a Chinese company that is opening offices in the area. The Chinese company has given a month's time for completion of its order. To complete the contract in the required one month, the furniture company needs additional skilled labor on short notice. Which strategy might the company use if it wants to avoid this short-term labor shortage while finding a simple and cost-effective solution?

overtime

In the context of evaluating the quality of a recruitment source, yield ratios express the

percentage of applicants who successfully move from one stage of the recruitment and selection process to the next.

Amber wants to apply for a job vacancy. She calls the recruiter who advertised this vacancy to learn more about the job. The recruiter gives some background information about the positive and negative qualities of the job to Amber. Which term refers to the job information given by the recruiter?

realistic job preview

__________ influence the kinds of job applicants an organization reaches.

recruitment sources

A manufacturing company, hit by a slump in demand, is experiencing a labor surplus. The company expects the market to improve in six months, and it does not want to lay off any of its employees. Which strategy is an equitable way to handle this issue and spread the burden more fairly?

reduced work hours

Jim applies for a job at Texture Inc. because his friend Chris, who is a manager there, prompts him to do so. In this scenario, Jim is a(n)

referral

A chart that lists job categories held in one period and shows the proportion of employees in each of those categories in a future period is called a

transitional matrix

Damien, an HR manager at Guidelines Inc., is preparing for a 5 percent increase in the production labor force next year. To do this, he needs to determine what the current number of production employees is and how the number is likely to change by the end of the year. To help with this analysis, Damien should use a

transitional matrix

Paul is the HR manager at FloGlow Inc., which is preparing for the launch of a new product line. The company needs to know how many new customer service representatives to add to help customers with questions and concerns about the existing and new products. To guide the company, Paul needs information about the number of employees currently providing customer service, the number likely to be in those jobs next year, and the number expected to move to other positions in the organization. The information will be easier to organize and interpret if Paul uses a(n)

transitional matrix