Week 5 Apply Assignment

To better frame the HR strategic recommendations for the next year, the HR director of Clearwater Electronics did some research on the company's history. The company was started in 1978 as a small electrical engineering company. However, after a decade of struggling, the company discovered an untapped niche market and began to produce electronic ceramics such as substrates and integrated circuit packages. In 1989, after realizing how profitable these products were, the company reincorporated itself as Clearwater Electronics and became one of the premier leaders in the computer chip industry. Clearwater Electronics has come a long way since its early days of emergent strategy. Today, the company uses a planning strategy to set goals. Why is a planning strategy better for Clearwater's business today?

A planning strategy analyzes the business and the market to set goals and objectives, with constant attention to the direction the company is heading.

Recent successes at Clearwater Electronics have created additional financial resources for the company. As a result, management has decided to install a new incentive system for the entire organization. Management has asked the director of HR to research and present an incentive system that will best align employee motivation with firm productivity. Which of the following options is most likely to create this alignment and why?

A profit-sharing plan would allow all employees to align their work with company goals, contribute through increased productivity, and then share in the increased profits.

Because of a recent downturn in the economy, the HR director of Clearwater Electronics would like to implement several changes to help the firm navigate anticipated difficulties. The HR director has prepared a needs analysis that explains the major benefits of implementing the changes, how employees will be notified of the changes, and how employees' concerns about the changes will be addressed. Why is it important for the HR director to be concerned about how employees will accept the changes?

Being proactive about perceived barriers to change will allow the HR director to be prepared to respond to questions and concerns.

The HR department has conducted a series of employee surveys and discovered that many employees are unhappy with their current benefits packages. After a thorough analysis, HR decides that expanding the benefits that are offered is the best option moving forward. However, in order to increase benefits, the additional costs must be justified to the board of directors. Which of the following is the best justification for the additional costs of offering better employee benefits?

Better employee benefits help attract and retain excellent employees.

The HR director at Clearwater Electronics is responsible for all negotiations with the company's union. Like other companies in the industry, most of the employee base at Clearwater is unionized. A meeting has been scheduled to negotiate a proposed wage increase for nonexempt employees at Clearwater, and the HR director anticipates the negotiation will be difficult. Why do wage disputes cause conflict?

Conflict arises because increased wages cost the company, and wage decreases cost the employee.

The HR director at Clearwater Electronics has been asked to create a series of job classifications for a new group of jobs that have recently emerged within the public relations (PR) department. An important part of the process is to decide the number of job classes to use. Which statement best explains why it is important to have the proper number of job classes?

Having the right number of job classes gives a framework for setting fair and equitable compensation for similar jobs and eliminates errors from job evaluations.

At the last board meeting of Clearwater Electronics, the HR director discussed the threat of a new entrant in the computer chip market, Silicon Unlimited. The HR director is concerned that Silicon Unlimited will try to poach some of Clearwater's top talent and wants the board's approval to make counteroffers to employees should this happen. Why is reducing the availability of top talent a good strategy to combat the threat of this new competitor?

It will create a barrier to entry for Silicon Unlimited and make it more difficult for the company to begin operations.

In the most recent negotiations, the union demanded a decrease in floor automation as well as additional paid time off for every employee on the floor. With the implementation and cost of a recent retirement plan for all employees at Clearwater Electronics, management felt that such demands were unacceptable, and negotiations have stalled for a month. The company and the union have agreed to mediation. Which statement best explains why mediation is a better option than arbitration for Clearwater in this situation?

Mediation has no power to impose a settlement, so the company can still protect its position.

Due to a recent patent expiration, a new industry-wide computer chip design has been released. As a result, the company that develops and produces the chip fastest will have a significant increase in revenue and market share. The HR department at Clearwater Electronics responds quickly to the patent expiration—a feature of the external environment—by hiring more innovative employees who can help with the implementation of the chip. Which of the following statements best describes the necessity for Clearwater Electronics to respond quickly to the external environment?

Organizations that can respond quickly and efficiently to the external environment often have a competitive edge over their competitors.

A central part of Clearwater Electronics' strategic plan is to design and implement a new warehouse management system (WMS). This new system should improve many of the systems and processes within the organization. As a result, most employees will experience a significant amount of change. Why would the HR director be tasked to manage this change process?

The HR director has the responsibility to align the organization's employees with its strategic goals and make sure employees understand how the change affects them.

Because most of Clearwater Electronics' nonexempt employees belong to the union, the HR department at Clearwater Electronics recently hired a labor relations specialist, a new position in the company. Which statement gives the best reason for the company to have union expertise in the HR department?

The company needs the expertise to navigate the many changes in union legislation.

The HR director of Clearwater Electronics had a meeting with upper management to discuss new technology the company will be installing in the future and how to help employees adapt to the changes. The group developed a plan to start a task force with representatives from the departments involved: HR, production, maintenance, engineering, planning and scheduling, and quality. Which statement is the best reason why the company should involve employees from all levels in the task force?

The company wants its employees to learn collaboratively and creatively and ultimately increase the transfer of knowledge and buy-in to all other employees.

An argument broke out between a manager and one of his employees; HR was asked to investigate. After interviewing both the employee and the manager, the HR director overheard the employee saying, "I wish this were the olden days. I'd take this argument out in the street and solve it without anyone's help." Because Clearwater Electronics has a zero-tolerance policy for workplace violence, with prominent signage in a number of visible locations in the plant, the employee was immediately terminated. Why did this incident of workplace violence occur?

The incident stemmed from ineffective problem-solving on the part of the employee.

Clearwater Electronics was recently issued a safety violation that was reported to a newspaper, resulting in an unfavorable article about the company. HR has been tasked by management to review and revise safety procedures for the entire production line. After creating an updated set of safety procedures, the chief operating officer (COO) of Clearwater Electronics is pressuring HR to implement the new safety protocols before testing so the company can issue an updated press release. Why should the safety procedures be thoroughly tested before allowing a press release?

The new procedures may be inefficient and create additional harm without thorough testing.

After a reported accident on the production line at Clearwater Electronics, an inspection was conducted in accordance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules. The compliance safety and health officer (CSHO) found a problem with the new automated robotic arms that had been installed at the end of the assembly line. The CSHO issued a notice of unsafe working conditions because the safety procedures and policies of the new machines were not communicated, nor readily available, to employees. Which statement best describes why HR professionals should be familiar with safety violations, even if they do not result in OSHA citations?

Unsafe working conditions can result in great costs to the organization, and HR can work to implement safety procedures to avoid this.