HR 9.1
Unity Inc. sells novelty products to a niche market. With support from the human resources team, the customer services team handles the firm's unique brand and reaches out to specific audiences. To ensure that its product line remains strong, the company's CEO emphasizes team adherence to the ethics and policies of the organization. In this scenario, which of the following methods of employee engagement is the CEO of Unity Inc. encouraging?
Brand Alignment
Which of the following processes involves ensuring that HR policies, practices, and programs support or are congruent with an organization's overall culture or brand, including its products and services?
Brand alignment
Nicole is a new recruit at a leading IT firm. She keeps records of important client data and is given special access to certain confidential data, which is available only to her and not to others in the organization. Given the nature of her work, which of the following elements of a high-performance work system is illustrated in this scenario?
Information systems
Alamos Inc. has extensively made use of the technology called cloud computing for several functions of its HR department. This technology has helped manage department functions, store necessary data, and also has given employees access to the required databases to resolve customer queries and complaints. Which of the following, if true, would disrupt the services provided by this arrangement?
Internet access in the facility is intermittent for three hours every day.
Identify the advantage of a relational database.
It helps HR staff in retrieving information about specific applicants.
Which of the following occurs when organizations encourage employees to see relationships among ideas and to test assumptions and observe the results of their actions?
Critical, systematic thinking
Which of the following would most likely aid in the formation of a high-performance work system?
Employees' rewards and compensation that relate to the company's financial performance
________ are computer systems that incorporate the decision rules used by people who are considered to have proficiency in a certain area.
Expert systems
An organization's HR department makes most decisions about organizational structure.
False
Creating a high-performance work system is similar to traditional management practices because both treat decision making about technology, organization structure, and human resources as unrelated.
False
High-performance organizations do not need selection methods that identify more than technical skills.
False
High-performance work systems are characterized by high employee turnover.
False
The most popular way to empower employees is to design work so that it can be performed by individuals.
False
The usual way to measure customer satisfaction in the course of an HRM audit is to conduct experiments in controlled environments
False
Maridings Inc., an apparel manufacturer, employed a large-scale recruitment drive to hire some of the country's best fashion designers. The company's HR team was responsible for measuring the success of this recruitment drive to quantify its returns. This process is referred to as ________.
HR analytics
A leading IT firm experiences a major exodus of production employees department to a rival firm. The firm uses a tool that tracks such movements, which is part of the human resource information system (HRIS). Which of the following tools will help the firm track such data?
HR dashboard
A formal review of the outcomes of HRM functions, based on identifying key HRM functions and measures of business performance, is referred to as a(n) ________.
HRM audit
In the context of an HRM audit, average unemployment compensation payment primarily serves as a vital business indicator for activities related to ________.
Benefits
Which of the following statements accurately characterizes e-HRM?
It poses new challenges to employees and new issues for HR managers to address.
Identify the statement that best defines a high-performance work system.
It refers to the right combination of people, technology, and organizational structure that makes full use of the organization's resources and opportunities in achieving its goals.
Georgia, the learning and development manager at StudyWell Inc., believes that in addition to providing superior benefits to employees, it is important to create an environment in which they also have access to the firm's large learning database. She suggests that employees take time out of their workday to research relevant topics and conduct seminars to share knowledge with their colleagues. However, Georgia's manager, Vincent, argues that encouraging employees to do so will cause a downturn in productivity. Which of the following statements supports Georgia's suggestion?
Learning a task and knowing how to perform it in an efficient manner is a highly rewarding experience.
At Wakame Beauty Solutions, Sheila created an award-winning line of lip balm, lip gloss, and lipstick after many hours of research and discussions with experts. Now, with her manager's encouragement, she frequently conducts workshops for other employees about lip color and other beauty products. In this scenario, which of the following features of Wakame Beauty Solutions is exemplified?
Learning culture
While conducting an HRM audit, which of the following will serve as an important customer satisfaction measure in assessing the success of training programs conducted by HR?
Quality of introduction or orientation programs
Ryan is an experienced employee at an organization. The latest policy implemented by the firm's management provides only new employees with bonuses and other perks for exemplary performance. Ryan has raised concerns regarding the revised policy, but management stands firm on its revised policy. Which of the following elements of a high-performance work system would most likely weaken the organization's performance?
Reward systems
WingDing Inc. is a popular retailer with outlets in more than 30 cities in the United States. After a recent expansion during which it opened an additional 15 outlets, it was looking to expand its IT infrastructure to accommodate growing data needs. The IT department decided against increasing the capacity of the company's servers. Instead, the team used a third-party hosting service for its data storage needs and for running its applications. The employees at the megastore were allowed access to this information through a web interface. In this scenario, WingDing is employing ________.
cloud computing
To improve the performance of employees at RowYourBoat Inc., the company provides recognition and monetary benefits to those employees whose performance exceeds expectations. This strategy can motivate some employees to perform better. This is an example of a(n) ________ strategy.
compensation
The employees at Waycliff Foundation are continuously conducting research on ways to improve facilities and benefits for the impoverished children they care for. They then implement the ideas resulting from their research. This is an example of ________.
continuous learning
Each employee's and each group's ongoing efforts to gather information and apply the information to their decisions in a learning organization is referred to as:
continuous learning.
Calvin, the CEO of Incal Inc., a digital media startup, holds a meeting with his employees, telling them he wants them to put 100% effort into their daily work. To motivate them, he announces that the employee with the best performance will be named Employee of the Month and provided with additional perks. In this scenario, Calvin is trying to increase ________ at Incal Inc.
employee engagement
For empowerment to succeed, managers should:
help their teams ensure that communication flows in both directions.
James works at a publishing house. He is fond of his work and is a passionate team member. His colleagues show concern for him and his work, and he experiences a positive feeling about his work. In the context of job satisfaction, this feeling experienced by Vincent is known as ________.
occupational intimacy
Gibson United is a new firm located in Chicago. The firm has to hire qualified individuals, compartmentalize them into different departments, and hire a set of managers who will be able to instruct, monitor, and guide these employees to ensure smooth functioning of the organization. In this scenario, Gibson United is engaging in creating a(n) ________
organizational structure
Winston Memorial Hospital has a well-disciplined and focused staff. Doctors and other health care professionals are taught to follow the organization's policies and guidelines and strictly conduct themselves and their jobs in a manner that reflects the hospital's goals. These policies have helped the hospital gain recognition as one of the best hospitals in the region. This is an example of ________.
performance management
The HR department meets the needs of line managers by:
providing qualified staffing.
A business indicator of the overall effectiveness of HR activities includes:
ratio of personnel staff to employee population.
Which of the following elements of a high-performance work system determines how the details of the organization's necessary activities will be grouped, whether into jobs or team responsibilities?
Task design
Which of the following statements is true about the outcomes of high-performance work systems?
The outcomes of each employee contribute to a system's overall high performance.
Which of the following statements is true of expert systems?
They aid in reducing errors that result from fatigue.
Which of the following is a way in which organizations can promote job satisfaction?
They can make jobs more interesting.
A standard feature of a modern Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) is the use of relational databases, which store data in separate files that can be linked by common elements.
True
An HRM audit is a formal review of the outcomes of HRM functions.
True
In the context of e-HRM, online appraisal or talent management systems provide data that can help managers spot high performers to reward or types of skills where additional training is a priority.
True
Measures of employees' performance should take the effects of situational constraints into account.
True
One way to measure HRM effectiveness is to measure a program's success in terms of whether it achieved its objectives and whether it delivered value in an economic sense.
True
People experience occupational intimacy when they love their work, when they and their co-workers care about one another, and when they find their work meaningful.
True
The reward systems of an organization include the performance measures by which employees are judged and the methods of measuring performance.
True
To set up a performance management system that supports the organization's goals, managers need to understand the process of employee performance.
True
Training dollars per employee is a business indicator of the success of an HR department's training programs.
True
Transaction processing includes the activities required to meet government reporting requirements.
True
Ronaldo, the general manager of RipnRoll Furniture, believes that each employee must thoroughly understand the goals of the organization. He understands that adhering to the vision and mission of the organization will help increase employee satisfaction and will also result in improved employee performance. Which of the following strengthens Ronaldo's belief?
Understanding the organization's goals helps employees improve their performance.
A work team can be empowered by:
authorizing the team to make decisions traditionally made by managers.
A manager wishes to test a range of assumptions on the availability of a certain skill in the labor market. He plans to enter different assumptions or data to check how the likely outcomes alter in accordance with the corresponding change in data. Which of the following is the most suitable system for such a purpose?
A decision support system
Which of the following is a vital tool in making confidential HR-related information widely accessible to authorized users within an organization?
An intranet
Which of the following refers to a display of a series of HR measures, showing human resource goals and objectives and the progress toward meeting them?
An HR dashboard
David believes that for a company to run smoothly, it must adopt an organizational structure in which the employees clearly know who their reporting managers are and which departments they belong to. David claims that this will give the employees clarity about their roles and functions and will help them contribute efficiently toward the organization's overall success. Which of the following statements strengthens David's claims?
An organizational structure creates a positive environment without hindering the learning process.
Identify a HRM function from the following functions.
Appraisal
New technology usually involves ________—that is, using equipment and information processing to perform activities that had been performed by people.
Automation
Which of the following is a condition that contributes to high performance?
Work design gives employees the opportunity to utilize a variety of skills.
Job design aimed at empowerment
includes access to resources.
Teamwork and empowerment contribute to high performance when they improve ________.
job satisfaction