MGT 461 Final

The biggest trend in supervisory pay centers on _____.

increased use of variable pay

The rising costs of Social Security have been covered by:

increases in the maximum earnings base and the rate at which that base is taxed.

A deferred wage increase _____.

is negotiated at the time of initial contract negotiations with the timing and amount specified in the contract

Company A and Company B are in the same industry, but Company A is unionized and Company B is not. Therefore, _____.

it is difficult to argue with assurance that wage differences between the two firms are attributable to the presence of the union, although the possibility exists

The base salary plus incentives for expatriates is usually determined by _____.

job evaluation

The determination of pay discrimination on jobs of dissimilar content requires a standard that allows jobs of dissimilar content to be declared comparable and that allows pay differences for jobs that are not comparable. This standard is _____.

job evaluation

When compared to the impact of unions during periods of strong economies, the impact of unions during periods of higher unemployment is _____.

larger

Traditionally, Japan's employment relationships were supported by _____.

lifetime security within the company

A health maintenance organization (HMO) pulls together a group of providers willing to provide services at an agreed upon rate in exchange for employers:

limiting employees to these providers for health services.

An Indian citizen working for a Japanese company in India is a _____.

local country national

The _____ component of executive compensation has grown the most since 2012.

long-term incentives

Working through a temporary-help agency usually means:

low pay in administrative or day labor positions.

The degree of discretion managers have to make total compensation a strategic tool is referred to as _____.

managerial autonomy

Annual bonuses often play a major role in executive compensation and are primarily designed to _____.

motivate better short-term performance

Bonuses paid in Japan are _____.

not necessarily related to performance

For the past 10 years, a stable _____ of all major collective bargaining agreements in the private sector have contained a provision for lump-sum payouts.

one-third

A Japanese citizen working for Toyota in Georgetown, Kentucky, is a _____

parent-country national

If improved account retention became a major focus of attention, the performance measure stressed would be _____.

percentage account erosion

A(n) _____ awards cash or stock if specific goals are achieved.

performance share plan

A(n) _____ awards cash or stock that is determined by an increase in stock price at a fixed future date.

phantom stock plan

In the comparison of the pay systems of two well-known Japanese companies Toyota and Toshiba, Toyota _____.

places greater emphasis on external market rates

A _____ plan is a hybrid health plan combining the benefits of HMO and _____.

point-of-service; preferred provider organization

Nonqualified stock options require _____.

purchase of stock at a stipulated price, not conforming with the Internal Revenue Code

When designing a sales compensation plan, it should be kept in mind that:

salespeople under an incentive system will view customer service as an imposition.

In Japan, internal alignment based on _____ is far more important than other factors.

seniority

The _____ theory argues that executive pay rises to maintain the same relative relationship with the salaries of lower-level employees.

social comparison

The Worker Economic Opportunity Act _____.

states that income from most stock plans need not be included in calculating overtime pay

The highest rates of child labor are in _____.

sub-Saharan Africa

Which of the following countries has the highest number of people in the workforce belonging to unions?

sweden

When taxes are deducted from employees' earnings up to the same amount of taxes they would pay had they remained in their home country, it is known as _____.

tax equalization

With easily sold products:

the base compensation tends to be more important.

Individualism is _____.

the degree to which people are supposed to look after themselves or remain integrated into groups, usually around the family

Uncertainty avoidance is _____.

the extent to which a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations

The phenomenon where the nonunion management continues to enjoy the freedom from union "interference" in decision making, and the workers receive the rewards already obtained by their unionized counterparts is known as _____.

the spillover effect

Executives, supervisors, and sales staff often receive special compensation treatment because _____.

these jobs face conflicting demands

A Korean citizen working for Toshiba, a Japanese company, in Canada is a _____.

third-country national

Wage adjustments in multiyear contracts may be specified through all of the following ways EXCEPT _____.

turnover clauses

In a(n) _____ pay plan, a contract is negotiated which specifies that employees hired after a given target date will receive lower wages than their higher-seniority peers working on the same or similar jobs.

two tier

A study of unions in 114 companies concluded that _____.

unions make a difference in wages across all studies and time periods

All of the following EXCEPT _____ would be considered a special compensation group.

unpaid interns

Slow growth and competition has led Japanese companies to

use more performance-based pay.

The ADEA _____.

was amended in 1990 to include the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act

Prevailing-wage laws _____.

were passed in response to conditions on projects such as the construction of the Hoover Dam during the Depression

Steve has a small company with 12 employees. One of his employees, Larry, has been laid off because his work has been outsourced. Larry had health coverage through Steve's company and wants to continue that coverage. According to COBRA, how long can Larry continue his coverage through Steve's company after being laid off?

0 months

The majority of defined benefit plans calculate average earnings over the last _____ years of service for a prospective retiree.

3 to 5

Research indicates that the presence of a union adds about _____ to employee benefits.

30 to 40 percent

Today, top executive pay is more than _____ times the pay of the average worker.

300

For an employee to gain lifetime coverage under Social Security, they must have worked for _____ quarters during which they were covered by the Act.

40

Which of the following is NOT true of expatriates?

49 percent of U.S. expatriates are women.

The differential between supervisors' base pay and their highest paid subordinate is typically _____ percent.

5 to 30

Almost _____ percent of the companies offering child care assistance to employees also offer elder care assistance.

50

Today, _____ percent of the workers participate in the pension plan coverage provided by their employers.

53

Some level of dental coverage is provided by about _____ percent of all employers with above 500 employees.

60

Data from WellPoint Inc shows that _____ percent of its 29 million customers account for over 60 percent of its medical costs.

7

Which of the following involves periodic adjustments based typically on changes in the consumer price index?

A COLA clause

_____ curve expresses the relationship between years since last degree, performance, and salary.

A maturity

_____ is movement through the wage ranges where seniority is specified as the basis of the movement.

Automatic progression

Which of the following is NOT one of the clauses relating to the benefits employers can provide executives?

Average value of benefits for low-paid employees must be at least 90 percent of that for highly paid employees.

Which of the following is NOT one of the steps in establishing a comparable-worth pay plan?

Base the wage-to-job evaluation point ratio on the wages paid for female-dominated jobs.

Which of the following is a factor determining base pay in the Japanese traditional national system?

Career category

_____ has produced more comparable-worth pay increases than any other approach.

Collective bargaining

Which of the following groups can qualify for the exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938?

Computer employees

In which of the following types of cases is the focus on the discriminatory consequences rather than the intent to discriminate?

Disparate impact

Which of the following plans gives employees part ownership in the company?

ESOPs

Which of the following is NOT a reason for companies to hire contingent workers?

Employees who accept the idea of bounded careers view contingent status as part of a fast-track developmental sequence.

In the negotiation stage of a multiyear wage contract, Mark, the manager of SifCo Corp., specifies that changes will be made to the wage based on the changes in the consumer price index and mentions the effective dates of adjustment. Which of the following types of clauses has Mark introduced in the contract?

Escalator clause

Which of the following statements regarding wage differences in industries and firms is NOT true?

Female employment is more heavily concentrated in large firms.

_____ is designed to lessen an employer's ability to deny coverage to an employee for a preexisting condition.

HIPPA

At the time it is granted, which of the following has no tax implications for an executive?

Incentive stock options

Which of the following is a reason for unions favoring gain-sharing plans?

Increased involvement with job activities

Which of the following actions is most likely to be favored by unions?

Introducing lump-sum awards

Which of the following is the most likely reason for most unions to insist on group-based performance measures with equal payouts to members?

It cuts down on strife and internal quarrels.

Which of the following is NOT a provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938?

It requires that employers provide 15 weeks of medical leave to employees.

Which of the following statements is true of the localization approach to expatriate compensation?

It ties salary to the host country's salary scales.

Jacob, an 18-year-old, has been working at HoldVille Corp. for over a year. If HoldVille offers full vesting after one year, which of the following statements is true?

Jacob is not eligible for pension as he is not over 21.

Who among the following has violated the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938?

Jeremy, who employs his 16-year-old cousin in his meat-packing plant

Under the _____, employers can be liable for current pay differences that are a result of discrimination that occurred many years earlier.

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

_____ are one-time cash payments to employees that are not added to an employee's base wages.

Lump-sum awards

Which of the following is a benefit under Social Security?

Lump-sum death payments

MNTX University requires that all its female professors score higher than the male professors in their appraisal rating to qualify for a pay bonus as there are more female professors than male professors in the university. Which of the following statements is true in this case?

MNTX is liable for disparate treatment of women.

Which of the following is NOT true of the tariff agreements in Germany?

Managerial jobs are covered by the agreements.

Which of the following statements about evolution and change in the traditional German model is true?

Many of the changes in Germany are the result of global competitive pressures and technological changes.

Maxford Corp. offers full vesting after two years. However, it does not offer portability of pension to its employees. Which of the following statements is true in this scenario?

Maxford does not have to provide vested benefits to employees who quit before six months.

Meltrop Corp. employs two store clerks, Sam and Stella. Stella sues Meltrop claiming unequal pay as she earns $500 a week less than Sam does despite doing the same work as Sam. Which of the following is most likely to be the result of the litigation?

Meltrop will lose the litigation as it has committed valuation discrimination.

MayFly Inc., a firm headquartered in Paris, France, sends one of its employees to Frankfurt, Germany and Barcelona, Spain to manage its operations in these cities. The employee would be required to alternate between the two cities every six months. Mayfly offers only a moving expense on top of the base pay as the employee would be moving only within the European Union countries. Which of the following approaches to expatriate compensation is exemplified in this situation?

Modified balance sheet approach

NaxWell Corp. sells a smart wristband that, apart from monitoring heart rate and blood pressure, also reminds users to stand and walk every half hour. As part of its promotional efforts, a celebrity starts wearing the wristband, thereby increasing its popularity and ease of sale. Which of the following is most likely to happen?

NaxWell is likely to increase base salaries and decrease incentives.

Which of the following is true regarding a gain-sharing plan?

Not all unions would be in favor of this type of plan.

he agency that conducts reviews and seeks remedies where insufficient compliance to Executive Order 11246 is found is the _____.

OFCCP

The _____ specifies the number of breaks that must be provided in an eight-hour workday.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration legislation

Which of the following is NOT a benefit that is required by statutory law?

Pension and retirement benefits

The CEO of BoardCom Inc., James, negotiates a new union contract with the union leader. If James wants to reduce expenses and keep the union happy, which of the following suggestions is most likely to be helpful?

Provide lump-sum awards in exchange for merit pay increases.

Which of the following statements about ownership and financial markets is true?

Recent tax law changes in many countries have made stock options more attractive, but limited ownership of many companies remains the rule.

Which of the following is a reason for unions opposing gain-sharing plans?

Reduced need for jobs due to increased productivity

Under the _____ Act, executives cannot retain bonuses or profits from selling company stock if they mislead the public regarding their company's financial condition.

Sarbanes-Oxley

_____ relieve an employer's liability when a pre-employment injury combines with a work-related injury to produce a disability greater than that caused by the latter alone.

Second-injury funds

Jennifer is hurt at work while driving a forklift. Her employer claims that she was injured as a result of her careless driving, and therefore she is not eligible for workers' compensation. What will be the outcome of the employer's challenge to her worker's compensation claim?

She will likely receive workers' compensation benefits.

Which of the following statements regarding unions is NOT true?

Since 1997, there has been a consistent 2 percent annual decrease in certification elections decided in favor of unionization.

Which of the following statements about single rates is true?

Single rates are usually specified for workers within a particular job classification.

Which of the following benefits is a federally administered program?

Social Security

Which of the following regarding child labor is NOT true?

The ILO finds that child labor is increasing on a global basis.

Susan works in a sterile laboratory that requires her to scrub and put on protective clothing. Which of the following acts determines whether she should be paid for this time?

The Portal-to-Portal Act

_____ is an example of a country with a highly decentralized approach to pay setting with higher wage flexibility.

The United States of America

Which of the following approaches seeks to ensure that employees on overseas assignments have the same spending power as they would in their home country?

The balance sheet approach

KYZ Inc., a U.S. firm, sends its manager, Ryan, to London to manage its operations there. Ryan's salary is still based on the U.S pay system, however KYZ offers him a lump-sum payment to offset the additional standards-of-living expense in London. In this case, which of the following approaches to expatriate compensation is used by KYZ?

The cafeteria approach

_____ sets salaries according to the home-country system and simply offers employees lump sums of money to offset differences in standards of living.

The cafeteria approach

Which of the following is a test that must be met to qualify for the administrative employee exemption?

The employee must be compensated on a salary or fee basis at a rate not less than $455 per week.

Which of the following ties salary to a region?

The modified balance sheet approach

MaxTrain Corp. recognizes that its competitor GlasWell Corp., which is unionized, offers higher wages and benefits. To avoid unionization demands from its workers, MaxTrain decides to offer the same wages and benefits to its employees as GlasWell. Which of the following phenomena is exemplified in this case?

The spillover effect

Which of the following is a feature of defined contribution plans?

They are faster to vest than defined benefit plans.

KayLeaf Inc. wants to set up a unit in China. To facilitate this, it sends its manager to China to gather information. Which of the following is most likely to be a suggestion from its manager?

Use a hierarchical pay structure as there is high power distance in China.

The _____ Act extends the prevailing-wage concept to manufacturers or suppliers of goods for government contracts.

Walsh-Healey Public Contracts

What is the first question that should be asked when determining the amount of retirement income an employer should provide?

What level of retirement compensation would the employer like to set as a target, expressed in relation to pre-retirement earnings?

An early study of the effects of the living wage law in Los Angeles found all of the following EXCEPT that _____.

a higher proportion of new hires were female

The most common approach to motivating executives to make decisions that are in the best interests of stockholders is _____.

a long-term incentive plan using stock options

A useful tool for determining the true worth of an entire executive compensation package is _____.

a tally sheet

Denial of jobs, promotions, or training opportunities to qualified women or minorities are examples of _____.

access discrimination

Increased global competition has caused unions to:

become more receptive to alternate reward systems that link pay to performance.

Regarding pay differences for different jobs, _____.

courts continue to uphold the use of market data to justify differences

In a _____ plan, an employer agrees to provide a specific level of retirement pension, which is expressed as either a fixed dollar or a percentage-of-earnings amount that may vary (increase) with years of seniority in the company.

defined benefit

With gain-sharing plans, the most common union strategy is to _____.

delay taking a stand until real benefits are more apparent

In recent years, some firms have tried to deal with the plateau effect and also accommodate the different career motivations of mature scientists and engineers through a(n) _____.

dual-career ladder

Experts attribute the decline in dollar cost of workers' compensation after 2005 relates to:

employer safety programs.

The executive branch of the federal government _____.

enforces laws through agencies and its other bodies

Which of the following is the most popular executive perk offered by most companies?

executive physicals

A(n) _____ approach to compensation involves designing a total pay system at headquarters and applying it globally.

exporter

Which of the following types of workers are generally NOT covered by workers' compensation?

farm workers

Contingent workers receive _____ benefits than regular workers; contingent workers' benefits cost _____ for employers than it does for regular workers.

fewer; less

Popular stereotypes of salespeople characterize them as being heavily motivated by _____.

financial compensation

The largest gains in wages for public sector employees are reported for _____.

firefighters

A recent article analyzing the results from over 100 executive pay studies shows that the best predictor of executive pay, by far, is _____.

firm size

An employer experiencing high turnover and seeking to reduce pension cost is likely to prefer:

full vesting after three years

An employee who changes jobs four or more times during his or her career will likely receive a pension approximately _____ as that of an employee whose working career is spent with one employer, assuming that both employees have the same starting salary and receive annual increases equal to inflation rate.

half the size

According to Hofstede's cultural dimensions, in Malaysia and Mexico, where there is high power distance, _____ pay structures are appropriate.

hierarchical

Basically a phenomenon of the union sector, two-tier wage structures differentiate pay based upon the _____.

hiring date

Hannah is the CEO of JF Corp., a steel manufacturing company. She finds that the market is exhibiting the signs of a maturing market. She wants to revise the compensation package for her sales employee to adapt to the changing market conditions. In this case, Hannah is most likely to:

increase base pay

Pay-for-knowledge plans do all of the following EXCEPT _____.

increase the probability of work being subcontracted out to nonunion organizations

_____ prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Executive Order 11246