Human Resource MGMT

The Fair Labor Standards Act permits a lower "training wage," which employers may pay to workers under the age of _____ for a period of up to 90 days.

20

Which of the following is true of collective bargaining?

Bargaining structure differs depending on the range of workers covered by a contract.

Denzel, an employer, received a grievance from Nigel, an employee who was dismissed recently. Denzel rejected Nigel's grievance as he believes that a grievance procedure can only be initiated if an employee is still currently working in his organization. Which of the following statements would prove that Denzel made a faulty decision?

Both an employee as well as a former employee can launch a grievance.

UniCare Corporation is adopting a new human resource information system that uses cloud computing. In which of the following ways is cloud computing most likely to affect the work environment for UniCare's HR staff?

By connecting them to the department all the time, everywhere, via mobile devices.

Gerben is a small-scale apparel manufacturing company. Its marketing team is planning to bring about a new line of clothing, and the marketing manager wants to involve employees in generating and evaluating ideas for the new product line. In the context of knowledge sharing, how can Gerben best promote critical thinking?

By encouraging employees to test assumptions and observe results

Scott, an HR executive, is helping his company plan how to become a high-performance work system. The company's managers have agreed to redesign the recruitment and selection process so that it will be performed by teams of empowered employees. How should the company's selection process support this change?

By using group interviews & psychological test to identify candidates with teamwork skills.

Carl is the CEO of a software firm. He is of the opinion that it is fair to pay above the market rate if doing so can help his firm attract and retain top talent. He knows that these employees will make the company more innovative and that they will also contribute significantly to the product quality and productivity. Which of the following statements best supports his view?

Carl considers his employees as resources, and therefore, considers the higher pay an investment in superior human resources.

In 2005, several unions broke away from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) to form an alliance called _____, which is focused on innovative organizing campaigns.

Change to win

A leading IT firm conducts an HRM audit. It identifies two key measures for customer satisfaction as its employees' satisfaction with pay and the competitiveness of pay provided in the local market. Which of the following activities is the firm most likely trying to measure with such indicators?

Compensation

Which of the following statements expresses a reason why companies are moving away from offering defined-benefit plans and toward defined-contribution plans?

Defined-contribution plans shift investment risk from employers to employees.

Which of the following is legally required of employee benefits policies?

Disabled employees must have equal health insurance coverage as other employees.

In the context of job satisfaction, _____ is the degree to which employees are fully involved in their work and the strength of their commitment to their job and company

Employee engagement

After Gamma Corp. hired a new supervisor for the second shift, productivity fell, and the shift fell short of its production targets three weeks in a row. The plant manager asks Adam, the human resource manager, to investigate, and he suspects the problem is job withdrawal. Which of the following kinds of job withdrawal is most likely to be occurring in this situation?

Employees are dissatisfied with the supervisor, so they are not working as hard.

Which of the following is true of the benefits that are provided to employees?

Employees can understand the value of benefits through various media.

What is an advantage of having employees participate in decisions about incentive pay plans?

Employees know what kinds of behavior can help the organization perform well.

Which of the following is a disadvantage of cafeteria-style plans?

Employees selecting benefits leads to increasing costs.

Which of the following statements describes a consideration that applies to training employees from a culture high in power distance?

Employees will view trainers as experts, authoritarian, and controlling.

According to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which of the following is true of healthcare benefits?

Employers must choose between paying a penalty or offering insurance meeting certain standards.

If a measure does not specify what an employee must do to help the organization achieve its goals, it can still support the organization's strategy.

False

The rater bias that occurs when the bias is in a favorable direction is called the horns error.

False

Cowboy Burgers is planning to open two restaurants in the south of France. Which of the following statements would guide the restaurant chain's HR department to the best forecast for the number of people to hire there?

France is strict about protecting workers' jobs, so the company should hire only as many people as it is very likely to need.

Which of the following statements is true about a standard hour plan of incentive pay?

If a mechanic completes work in less than the standard time, he receives payment for the full standard time.

Bill, the CEO of an advertising firm, is very concerned about the performance of his company. He has noticed that productivity is decreasing every day as his company continues to grow. To counter this, Bill has decided to implement an incentive scheme to motivate his employees to work toward building a better-performing company. Which of the following statements weakens his decision?

In addition to incentives, employees also want interesting work, flexibility, and a sense of belonging to the work group.

Which of the following is true of retirement plans?

In cash balance plans, all contributions are made by employers.

Identify the correct statement regarding the National Labor Relations Board.

It can order the employer to reinstate workers, with or without back pay.

Identify an advantage of the balance sheet approach to determining the compensation of expatriates.

It helps managers to get the same standard of living as in the home country.

Which of the following statements best describes how a well-designed system of progressive discipline applies the hot-stove rule?

It involves consequences that are consistent and objective.

Which of the following statements is true about the concept of profit sharing?

It is incentive pay in which payments are a percentage of the organization's profits and do not become part of the employees' base salary.

Jared, a supervisor, is discussing an employee with Evan, a human resource manager. Jared explains that the employee's performance has not met company standards for two years. After assisting her and discussing the problem with her, Jared has concluded that the employee can do the work, she just doesn't want to bother. What should Evan advise Jared to do?

Jared should use positive feedback o motivate the employee, & if she doesn't respond, then he should refer her for counseling.

At the Green Restaurants Corporation, an employee survey reports efforts to increase worker satisfaction by redesigning jobs led to greater job satisfaction. The human resource department also measured lower rates of absenteeism and employee turnover. What will be the most likely impact of these trends on the profits of Green Restaurants?

Lower costs, leading to higher profits

Which of the following statements is true of different types of unions?

Membership in an industrial union is the result of working for an employer in a particular industry.

Both Mike and his cousin, Derek, work for two different branches of the same organization. Both have the same level of experience in management. However, Mike earns more than Derek. Which of the following would legally justify the organization's decision to pay Mike more than Derek?

Mike works night shifts, unlike Derek

Nina is about to take a 10-week leave, and she states her reason for the long leave to her manager. According to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which of the following reasons will justify that the organization's decision to grant unpaid family leave to Nina is a valid decision?

Nina has to look after her child who is seriously ill.

Which of the following is a condition that underlines the formation of a high performance work system?

Ongoing training is emphasized & rewarded

Identify a true statement about cross-cultural preparation for an international assignment.

Preparation for departure includes language instruction.

Which element of a high-performance work system deals with performance measures by which employees are judged and the methods of measuring such performance?

Reward systems

Which of the following can help achieve high performance?

Swift disciplinary action

Walburg Home Remodeling sets pay rates slightly above the local market rate, and it communicates this to employees. Which of the following statements about job satisfaction supports the company's use of this policy?

The amount of pay an individual receives is extremely important for job satisfaction.

Which of the following is a characteristic of employee benefits?

The benefits offered change over a period of time.

Cho & Greenwood, a management consulting firm, analyzes its own pay structure and finds that the average pay for junior associates is $60,000. The pay range that the firm set for this position is $50,000 to $72,000. Which of the following statements is true about the compa-ratio for this position?

The compa-ratio is $60,000/$61,000, or slightly less than 1.

The balanced scorecard for the production manager of CloudPhone includes goals for on-time shipments, product quality, cost savings, and energy efficiency. The quality goals are weighted to determine 50% of the production manager's incentive pay. What information does this scorecard give the manager about the company's objectives?

The company has several production objectives but especially cares about quality.

An automobile manufacturer is recruiting fresh and experienced employees. The manufacturing and assembly departments have the majority of the open positions. These departments have previously notified the senior management that their previous recruits were not the right fit for the demands of their units, as they had hampered teamwork, efficiency, and eventually affected the overall financial health of the firm. Which of the following, if true, would most likely strengthen teamwork within the organization?

The firm should allow the manufacturing and assembly teams to participate employee selection.

Harvest Master, a maker of farm equipment based in Nebraska, is planning to send a U.S. marketing manager to lead a product launch in a country with a socialist economic system. As the human resource department plans this assignment, what impact of the host country's economic system will it need to address?

The host country will likely tax a larger percentage of the manager's income than the United States would.

Jared is an office manager with a college degree, five years of experience, and a track record of being rated excellent at his work. He supervises seven staff members, and his employer, Eco-Builders, pays him $40,000 a year. Which of the following comparisons would most likely lead to Jared concluding that his rate of pay is unfair?

The office manager in another department supervises four employees and earns $45,000

Identify the true statement about performance measures that evaluate individual attributes.

They usually have low validity & reliability

Discrimination claims often allege that the performance management system discriminated against employees on the basis of their race or sex

True

One of the instances in which appraisal politics are most likely to occur is when raters are accountable to the employee being rated

True

Which of the following statements expresses a common societal concern about unions?

Unions in some industries are so strong they interfere with employers' ability to compete.

Courtney is the human resource manager at Automation Specialists. The company's executives want to give employees an ownership stake in the company, so employees will think more like owners, focusing on how they contribute to the organization's success. What kind of pay system could Courtney suggest that would best support the desired attitude at all levels of the organization?

an employee stock ownership plan

Jared has been sent to Tokyo for an assignment. During his stay there, his compensation package was different from the one that he received in the United States. It took into account the standard of living in Tokyo and included additional pay for the inconvenience of relocating overseas. This would indicate that the organization that Jared works for uses the _____ approach.

balance sheet

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is responsible for determining the appropriate _____ and the employees who are eligible to participate in organizing activities.

bargaining unit

Big-Mart dismisses an employee who was caught stealing items from the store's stockroom. In retaliation, the employee threatens to file a lawsuit claiming race discrimination. Assuming the discipline was based on facts, not bias, how can Big-Mart best protect itself from being liable for such claims?

by establishing and following a formal discipline policy, so discipline is fair

Which type of plan is intended to provide health coverage in a way that gets employees involved as consumers making decisions to lower costs?

consumer-driven health plans (CDHP)

The management of Log Space Inc. allows employees to participate in decision making, maintains transparency of certain business information, and encourages the development of self-managed teams. In this scenario, which of the following is being implemented by Log Space?

cooperation

Glen, the owner of a fast expanding start-up, wants to match performance criteria to the ways the managers contribute to goal achievement. He decides to do this by awarding his managers incentive pay based on a set of performance measures associated with his company's long-term and short-term goals. In order to do this, Glen should

create a balanced scorecard

One of the ways to publish rules that cover disciplinary problems includes

displaying them on a bulletin board.

After a restructuring at Sigma Corp. broadened managers' jobs, some managers began experiencing role conflict and role ambiguity. To prevent dissatisfaction among these valued employees, the company asked the human resource department to help managers develop clearer and more balanced roles. The HR manager decided to use the role analysis technique. With this technique, who will meet to discuss the role of each manager affected by the restructuring?

each manager affected and the people who directly interact with him or her

Under what conditions may an employer have a legitimate reason to collect information about employees' use of alcohol or other intoxicants outside the workplace?

employees hold positions where drug use could cause dangerous accidents

Which of the following is a disadvantage of an organization with a high-paying incentive scheme?

employees may focus on only the performance measures that are rewarded

As part of negotiating a new labor agreement, the union and management representatives of a police department are preparing to review and consider revising the grievance procedure. Which measure of the procedure's success would likely be the most important to the department's employees?

fairness of the process

Identify, in order of importance, the qualities expatriates say are the most important when selecting candidates for international assignments.

family situation, flexibility and adaptability, job knowledge and motivation

Grey Enterprises is an organization that has facilities located in five different countries and treats cultural differences as an advantage. They have different departments headquartered in each country to facilitate efficient and flexible production of their merchandise. This would imply that Grey Enterprises is a(n) _____.

global organization

Which of the following statements characterizes a progressive discipline system?

it fulfills the purpose of discipline by teaching employees what is expected of them

Identify a disadvantage of using the results-oriented performance management method.

it has problems with validity

_____ establishes relative pay among different functions and different levels of responsibility.

job structure

The ways employees respond to their impressions about equity can have a great impact on the _____.

organization

Employees' sense of _____ usually would reserve loss of a job for the most serious offenses.

outcome fairness

_____ is a time off where the employer pools personal days, sick days, and vacation days for employees to use as the need or desire arises.

paid time off

Which of the following phases of preparation for an international assignment involves providing information about the employee's community and parent-country workplace?

preparation for the return to the home country

Repatriation is the process of _____.

preparing employees to return home from a foreign assignment

Wide World of Autos, a chain of car dealerships in the Southeast, is using benchmarking to analyze the labor market to see if it needs to adjust pay levels for its sales force. Which of the following categories of workers would be the best choice to include in its analysis?

salespeople at other car dealershipsCorrect

Identify the performance measurement method that requires managers to rank employees in their group from the highest performer to the poorest performer.

simple ranking

Wide World of Autos, a chain of car dealerships in the Southeast, has a service center at each location, each managed by an experienced mechanic. For technicians, it hires high school graduates and trains them to repair cars and deliver great customer service. The more kinds of repairs a technician can perform, the more valuable that employee becomes to the company. Which of the following pay structures would best motivate technicians to become more valuable contributors to Wide World?

skill-based pay structure

J.E. Inc., a manufacturing company, requires employees to continually widen and deepen their knowledge. It has a pay structure that sets pay according to the employees' abilities or knowledge and what they are capable of doing. Which of the following pay structures is being exemplified in this scenario?

skill-based pay system

Mammoth Corp. wants to ensure that its employees' behavior is connected with the goals of the company in order to help achieve its business objectives. Which of the following purposes of performance measurement should be used by Mammoth Corp.?

strategic purpose

Why has the number of work stoppages in the United States plunged since the 1950s?

strikes and work stoppages are costly to workers and employers

Danielle, an HR manager, has been assigned the task of giving out incentives to small groups of employees in appreciation for accomplishing specific goals in reducing energy consumption. Danielle should give out the incentives in the form of

team awards

Which of the following forces has increased the pressure on companies to link executives' pay to their performance?

the Securities and Exchange Commission's reporting requirements

Kathryn is a human resource executive at Ruff & Reedy, a financial-planning firm. The executives want to introduce electronic monitoring of the office staff. Meanwhile, Kathryn wants to prepare for the concerns she expects employees to have, and to show them the performance data gathered will be used ethically. Which of the following uses of electronic monitoring would most likely demonstrate this to employees?

using performance data to coach employees so they develop their skills

Job satisfaction refers to a pleasant feeling resulting from the perception that one's job fulfills or allows for the fulfillment of one's important job values. This definition of job satisfaction has three components, summarized as

values, perceptions, and ideas of what is important.