HR chapter 14, HR chapter 12, HR chapter 11, HR Chapter 9
An HR manager at a cosmetics company invites its new employees to a meeting to discuss company policies and to explain the benefit plan used by the company. As part of this benefit plan, he gives each employee a list of benefits and asks him or her to choose the benefits that he or she really wants. The company aims to increase employee satisfaction by using this benefit plan. Which of the following benefit plans is the cosmetics company using in the given scenario?
A cafeteria-style benefits plan
Sean, the owner of a hardware store, pays incentives to the members of his sales team based on their ability to sell products to industrial buyers. Each salesperson receives 20 percent of the amount earned from his or her total sales. In this scenario, which of the following incentive systems is Sean most likely using to reward his employees?
A commission
Who among the following has a relatively low-stress job?
A dietician
Which of the following is a disadvantage of using an above-market compensation strategy?
A firm using this strategy incurs high labor costs.
2. False
A negative settlement zone in the negotiation process refers to the zone of overlap between an organization's and its union's demands in the bargaining zone.
_____ is a set of expected behaviors associated with a position in a group or organization.
A role
_____ is an arrangement in which a group is given responsibility for designing a system to be used in performing an interrelated set of jobs.
A work team
2. False
Ambiguity and conflict are the interpersonal demands of a job that can cause stress.
2. False
An organization is prohibited from creating its own safety precautions for preventing accidents at the workplace without involving the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Which of the following is a similarity between the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor?
Both were composed of various craft unions.
Who among the following individuals is most likely to be susceptible to occupational health hazards?
Edwin, who works for a company that manufactures insecticides
_____ are designed to assist employees who have chronic problems with alcohol or drugs or who have serious domestic problems.
Employee assistance plans
1. True
Employee training should emphasize vigilance for Internet scams, as well as simple security measures such as locking all devices and keeping passwords secret.
Which of the following occurs in the first step of the unionization process?
Employees figure some interest in joining a union.
Which of the following statements is true of the influence of the physical work environment on individuals?
Employees who perceive their work environment as dark are generally less satisfied with their jobs.
1. True
Employers must report all accidents and illnesses that result in death in the workplace immediately and directly to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Which of the following is true of workers' compensation?
Employers pay the cost of workers' compensation insurance
The employees of Starknoah Inc. are required to work a full 40 hours for 5 days a week. However, the employees have the flexibility to choose their starting and ending times for work each day. The only constraint in this arrangement is that all the employees are required to be at work between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. In this scenario, which of the following alternative work arrangements is Starknoah Inc. using?
Flexible work hour plans
_____ are plans in which employees usually must work 40 hours per week and typically 5 days a week but in which they have control over the starting and ending times for work on each day.
Flexible work hour plans
1. True
From 2027, individuals will not be able to retire with full benefits of the Social Security program until they reach age 67.
2. False
In the context of mandated employee benefits, the government pays the cost of workers' compensation insurance.
2. False
In the context of nonmandated employee benefits, contributions to private pension plans come solely from the employer.
1. True
Individual incentive plans reward individual performance on a real-time basis.
Which of the following statements is true of turnover as an organizational consequence of stress?
It adds to the costs of an organization, especially when replacing productive workers.
Which of the following is a disadvantage of the classification system for job evaluation?
It assumes that a constant and inflexible relationship exists between job factors and their value to an organization.
Which of the following statements is true of the Fair Labor Standards Act?
It includes provisions for the minimum wage and overtime.
Which of the following statements is true of a stock-purchase plan?
It is applicable to employees only if they remain with the company for a specified period of time.
Which of the following statements is true of turnover in an organization?
It is likely to be caused by a poor person-job fit.
2. False
It is not possible to adapt training methods to ensure that all team members share mental models of how the team should perform.
Which of the following statements is true of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)?
It organized the steel, mining, and meatpacking industries.
Which of the following statements is true of a positive settlement zone?
It refers to an overlap between an organization's and its union's demands and expectations in the bargaining zone.
Which of the following statements defines health hazards?
It refers to the elements of the work environment that more slowly and systematically, and perhaps cumulatively, result in damage to an employee's health.
Which of the following statements is true of information technology being a cause of stress at work?
It results in information overload.
Which of the following statements is true of the American Federation of Labor (AF of L)?
It served as an umbrella organization, with members joining individual unions affiliated with it.
_____ is the process of dealing with employees who are represented by a union.
Labor relations
Which of the following statements is true of pay surveys?
Large firms design their own pay surveys to get the exact data they need.
In the context of union-management relations, the _____ was organized in 1953 to protect the nonstars in baseball by fighting for higher wages, a pension plan, and compensation when a player was unable to play because of an injury.
Major League Baseball Players Association
Which of the following is a critical component of a behavior-modification plan?
Making sure that desirable conduct is never punished and that undesirable conduct is never rewarded
Which of the following is the most basic form of incentive compensation?
Merit pay
_____ is awarded to employees on the basis of the relative value of their contributions to the organization.
Merit pay
Which of the following is a condition that must be met for the decertification of a union?
No labor contract must currently be in force.
An employee of Speedz Corp., a car manufacturing company, dies on the job because of equipment malfunction. However, the management does not report the incident to the concerned authorities. In this scenario, Speedz Corp. has violated the _____.
Occupational Safety and Health Act
The _____ was passed in 1970 and is the most comprehensive law regarding worker safety.
Occupational Safety and Health Act
2. False
Overload, a task demand stressor, is invariably quantitative.
_____ occurs when individuals with substantially different levels of experience, or performance abilities, or both in an organization are paid wages or salaries that are relatively equal.
Pay compression
Which of the following statements is true in the context of performance-based rewards?
Performance appraisal has the most meaning to employees if it is subsequently connected with a reward such as a salary increase.
Which of the following poses a workplace hazard that may cause accidents?
Poor housekeeping of office space
_____ are gainsharing plans in which teams or groups of employees are encouraged to suggest strategies for reducing costs, and the gains are distributed according to who suggested the cost-reduction strategy.
Scanlon plans
Which of the following statements is true of cafeteria-style benefits plans offered by organizations?
Some evidence suggests that these programs can lead to increased satisfaction and reduced turnover.
Robert, the president of the labor union of a company, speaks to the management of the company about the requirement for an extra worker to assist in the delivery process. He suggests hiring one of his cousins for the job, as his cousin has prior experience in the field. The management, however, finds out that there is no requirement for another worker in the unit and Robert made up the reason solely to get a job for his cousin. In the given scenario, Robert has violated the _____.
Taft-Hartley Act
The union president of Grenthall, the national union office of the Social Youth Union, is asked to step down from his position as the management discovered that he was a convicted felon. In the given scenario, which of the following acts is the management implementing?
The Landrum-Griffin Act
2. False
The Planning Tool for Resource Integration, Synchronization and Management (PRISM) prevents the National Security Agency (NSA) from collecting information to track foreign agents.
1. True
The hours worked and how they are distributed can affect employee safety and well-being.
_____ is an alternative to job specialization that takes into account the work system and employee preferences.
The job characteristics approach
Which of the following is a difference between the job characteristics approach and job specialization?
The job characteristics approach takes into account the work system and employee preferences, whereas job specialization does not.
Which of the following is the first step in the factor-comparison method for job evaluation in an organization?
The job factors to be used are selected and defined.
Grenstall Inc., a software development firm, has adopted a new job evaluation system in which managers are asked to objectively quantify the value of eight to ten compensable factors of each job in the organization. These compensable factors are based on their importance to that particular job and may include skill, physical effort, mental effort, and so forth. In this system, jobs are compared against a standard of key ratings. Which of the following job evaluation systems is Grenstall Inc. most likely using in the given scenario?
The point system
_____ is a program developed to improve group- or firm-level performance and is based on a model of motivation similar to expectancy theory.
The productivity measurement and evaluation system
Which of the following industries had the most number of fatalities in 2014 due to violence at the workplace?
The retail trade industry
Which of the following reasons led to the merger of the American Federation of Labor (AF of L) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)?
The series of strikes after World War II that led to public resentment and demands for union reform
Which of the following occurs in the final step of the unionization process?
The union organizers establish a meeting site and recruit members from the labor force in the bargaining unit to join the union.
Which of the following statements is true of employee assistance plans?
They are typically voluntary and referrals are confidential.
Which of the following statements is true of people who work in rotational shifts?
They can never establish a new biological rhythm for sleep.
Which of the following statements is true of life-cycle benefits?
They include child-care and elder-care benefits.
Identify a true statement about compressed workweeks.
They may affect some social aspects of a job.
Identify a true statement about faith-based businesses.
They tend to be closed on Sunday.
2. False
To request a union certification election, at least 50 percent of the eligible workers within the bargaining unit should sign authorization cards.
_____ is intended to provide a basic subsistence payment to employees who are between jobs—that is, for people who have stopped working for one organization but who are assumed to be seeking employment with another organization.
Unemployment insurance
Which of the following is a difference between the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor?
Unlike the Knights of Labor, the American Federation of Labor served as an umbrella organization.
1. True
Values based on the Qur'an are the most important part of Muslim human resource management systems.
Which of the following is a difference between salaries and wages?
Waged employees are eligible for the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, whereas salaried employees are exempt from them.
Barc Corporation, a coal manufacturing company in the 1920s, refused to negotiate its wage policy with its employees. It also refused to bargain with the elected union members. In the given scenario, Barc Corporation violated the:
Wagner Act.
Which of the following statements is true of the differences in how employees experience stress?
Women are more likely to experience stress at work than men.
1. True
Workers' compensation is a nonmandated employee benefit.
A leading placement consultancy firm gathers and presents information about the average compensation for attorneys to its clients. This information includes data on the compensation paid by other law firms in a specific geographic region. The firm uses this information to inform its clients about the companies that have the most external equity. In the given scenario, the placement consultancy firm has most likely used _____ to gather information about compensation rates at different firms.
a pay survey
Under _____, an organization pays an employee a certain amount of money for every unit she or he produces.
a piece-rate incentive plan
In the context of cafeteria-style benefits plans, _____ refers to the fact that the employee most likely to select a benefit is also most likely to use the benefit, which tends to drive up benefit costs.
adverse selection
The negotiations between the management and the union members of a telecommunications company have been going on for four months. However, both parties are unable to agree on a contract. They now feel that reaching an agreement is not imminent. In this case, the management and the union members have reached:
an impasse.
The HR manager of Carl Investments, a share broking firm, has decided to arrange regular yoga classes for the employees of the firm. He has taken this decision because many employees have recently complained of poor health due to work load. In the given scenario, the HR manager of Carl Investments is using a(n) _____.
collateral stress program
In almost every organization offering flexible work hour plans, there is a(n) _____ each day during which every employee must be at work.
core time
The primary reason for companies to export jobs to other countries is to:
cut down on overall costs.
Goal theory suggests that:
employees will exert the greatest effort when they have specific, difficult goals to work toward.
In the context of the job characteristics approach, feedback is the:
extent to which a worker knows how well a job is being performed.
Brad, a manager at a new investment firm, is performing job evaluation. He selects twelve benchmark jobs in the firm and then ranks each of these jobs against compensable job factors such as physical effort, responsibility, skill, and so forth. This ranking is based on job descriptions created during job analysis. Later, the management meets as a group and develops a consensus on the assigned values for each job. In the given scenario, Brad is most likely using the _____ for job evaluation.
factor-comparison method
Romero Inc. manufactures paper products. One set of workers at Romero Inc. has the full-time job of sorting scrap as it enters the facility. The quality of sorting is regularly monitored by checking the quality of the paper products, and necessary instructions are given to the scrap sorters. In the context of the core dimensions of the job characteristics approach, Romero Inc. stresses on _____.
feedback
Miller, a software programmer, is allotted a new project with a tight deadline. Due to differences in time zones between his location and that of the client, he has to work night shifts thrice a week. Therefore, Miller is most likely to have a negative attitude toward his job due to _____.
improper work schedules
In the context of wellness programs in organizations, _____ for managing stress include properly designed jobs and work schedules.
institutional program
Diane, a copy typist at a leading newspaper, is considered the best worker in her team. Because of her high typing speed, her team leader increases daily targets for all the typists. Her teammates want her to reduce her typing speed so that the team leader does not increase the targets any further. Diane, who likes to be efficient and quick in her work, is most likely to be stressed because of the _____ of her job.
interpersonal demands
In the context of the causes of stress at work, group pressures, leadership style, and personalities are _____ that can result in stress.
interpersonal demands
In the context of nonmandated benefits, _____ are targeted at different stages of an employee's existence.
life-cycle benefits
Prior to collective bargaining for a new labor contract, both the management and the union members of a shoe factory decide that it is important that they discuss the issue of the employment of contingent workers in the organization. Both parties thereby include it as a negotiable point for the bargaining session that, if agreed upon, will be entered into the new contract. This point of negotiation falls under the category of _____.
permissive items
Scott, the chief technical officer of a telecommunications company, is a member in the Golden Scion Country Club, one of the most exclusive country clubs in the United States. Having a membership in such country clubs is usually an expensive affair. It is, however, free of cost for Scott as it is paid by his company. In the given scenario, the membership can be considered as a _____ given to Scott by his company.
perquisite
In the process of unionization, after union organizers get 30 percent of the eligible workers within the bargaining unit to sign authorization cards, they must:
petition the National Labor Relations Board to conduct an election.
In her job as a flight attendant, Cotney is required to be on her feet for long periods of time. She helps people with their baggage, pushes food carts, and responds to the customer requests. She needs to be efficient in her work to ensure that she retains her job as her company is in the process of downsizing. The given scenario illustrates the _____ of Cotney's job.
physical demands
The _____ is a job evaluation technique that requires managers to quantify, in objective terms, the value of the various elements of specific jobs.
point system
During labor negotiations, the management of a company reaches the point where it states that it will give a maximum of 6-percent pay increase to all the employees of the company and not more. Despite threats of further agitation, the management sticks to its decision. In the given scenario, the management has reached its _____.
resistance point
In the context of evaluating performance-enhancement programs, _____ is an explicit financial indicator.
return on investment
In the unionization process, the number of representatives that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) sends to a company to conduct an election is based on the:
size of the bargaining unit.
Donald, the CEO of a multinational organization, is given a reward by the organization in the form of a contract that allows him to purchase 5 percent shares of the company anytime in the future at a predetermined price. Three years later, Donald purchases those shares at half their market price. Additionally, he gets more motivated to work toward increasing the performance of the organization. In this scenario, Donald was given a _____.
stock-option plan
The typical form of the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) involves a company:
taking out a loan, which is then used to buy a portion of the company's stock in the open market.
In the context of the causes of stress at work, _____ is a physical demand stressor.
temperature
In the context of unionization, _____ refers to the specifically defined group of employees who are eligible for representation by the union.
the bargaining unit
When there is a difference of opinion between an employee who is a union member and his or her supervisor, the employee can initially take his or her complaint to _____.
the shop steward
The Landrum-Griffin Act requires:
unions to file annual financial statements with the Department of Labor.
A laborer who is paid in terms of the hours worked per week is most likely to receive a _____.
wage
Traditionally, union members have been predominantly:
white males in blue-collar jobs.
The American Federation of Labor (AF of L) grew rapidly in the early twentieth century because:
workers preferred the businesslike approach of the AF of L.
