Human Resource Management Chapter 1

Which of the following major dimensions of HRM practices involves training employees to have the skills needed to perform their jobs?

Acquiring and preparing human resources

Empowering

Giving employees responsibility and authority to make decisions.

Which of the following HRM practices involves employees receiving feedback?

Performance management

Which of the following HRM practices involves employees participating in peer interviews?

Staffing

Jake, the CEO of a company, appraises his managers based on how well they empower their employees. Which of the following managers is Jake likely to rate the highest in this regard?

Zara, who assigns responsibility to her subordinates and intervenes only when there is a need

Among the functions performed by an HR department, vacation, retirement plans, and profit sharing are categorized under the _____ function.

compensation benefits

Self-service

giving employees online access to HR info

In high-performance work systems:

line employees interact frequently with quality experts and engineers.

A company whose employees have high engagement is likely to have _____ when compared to a company with low employee engagement.

lower turnover

Mentoring relationships are an example of _____ capital.

social

Organizations that pursue a _____ strategy pursue the "triple bottom line" of economic, social, and environmental benefits.

sustainable

Balanced Scorecard

A means of performance measurement that gives managers a chance to look at their company from the perspectives of internal and external customers, employees, and shareholders.

Which of the following HRM practices involves rewarding employees based on their team's performance?

Compensation

Total Quality Management (TQM)

Cooperative form of doing business that relies on the talents and capabilities of both labor and management to continually improve quality and productivity.

Which of the following activities is part of the assessment and development of human resources dimension of HRM practices?

Creating an employment relationship and work environment that benefits the company

Which of the following arguments states that diversity of perspectives and less emphasis on conformity to norms of the past should improve the level of resourcefulness?

Creativity argument

Evidence-based HR

Demonstrating that human resource practices have a positive influence on the company's bottom line or key stakeholders (employees, customers, community shareholders).

Intangible Assets

Education, trade secrets, management philosophy. A type of company asset including human capital, customer capital, social capital, and intellectual capital.

When a firm shifts to evidence-based HRM, it should stop using workforce analytics.

FALSE

Orientation and skills training are responsibilities of HR personnel involved in analysis and design of work.

False

ISO 9000-2000

Quality standards adopted worldwide.

The amount of time that the HRM function devotes to administrative tasks is decreasing, and its role as a strategic business partner is increasing.

TRUE

Which of the following is a characteristic of people of the baby boomer generation?

They are considered to be workaholics.

Which of the following is a characteristic of Millennials?

They are eager to learn, work, and please.

Which of the following HRM practices involves helping employees understand how their jobs contribute to the finished product?

Work design

High Performance Work Systems

Work systems that maximize the fit between the company's social system and technological/technical system.

Distribution channels are an example of _____ capital.

customer

When considering a balanced scorecard that depicts a company from a(n) _____ perspective, the critical HR indicators are employee satisfaction with HR department services and employee perceptions of the company as an employer.

customer

An HR dashboard is a series of indicators that:

enables workforce analytics and evidence-based HR.

When a corporate organization competes through globalization, as opposed to technology, it is likely to put most of its efforts on _____.

expanding into foreign markets

When an HR professional is evaluated on how well she embraces inclusion and how effectively she works with diverse populations, she is being evaluated on her competency in _____.

global and cultural effectiveness

Tacit knowledge is an example of _____ capital.

human

Trade secrets are an example of _____ capital.

intellectual

A company competes for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. If it is evaluated based on how senior executives create and sustain vision, values, and mission, it is likely that the company is being judged on the criterion of _____.

leadership

Sustainability refers to the ability of a company to:

meet its needs without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

Exporting jobs from developed to less developed countries is known as _____.

offshoring

The training and development function of an HR department includes _____.

orientation

The practice of companies having other companies provide services is known as:

outsourcing.

External Labor Market

persons outside the firm who are actively seeking employment

A company competing through sustainability is likely to _____.

provide high-quality products and services

Giving employees online access to information about HR issues such as training, benefits, and compensation is called _____.

self-service

When companies are trying to meet the shareholders' and the general public's demands to act more ethically and environmentally responsible, they are recognizing the importance of _____.

social responsibility

Social Networking

websites and blogs that facilitate interactions between people.

Penalty for employers who have 50+ employees and who do not offer health insurance

$2000 per emp.

responsibilities of an HR dept.

1. Analysis and design of work 2. recruitment and selection 3. training and development 4. performance management 5. compensation and benefits 6. employee relations/labor relations 7. personnel policies 8.employee data and information systems 9. legal compliance 10. support for business strategy

Competitiveness

A company's ability to maintain and gain market share in its industry.

Learning Organization

A culture of lifelong learning in which employees are continually trying to learn new things.

Shared Service Model

A way to organize the HR function that includes centers of expertise, service centers, and business partners.

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

An award established in 1987 to promote quality awareness, to recognize quality achievements of U.S. companies, and to publicize successful quality strategies.

Which of the following arguments states that companies with the best reputations for managing diversity will win the competition for talent?

Employee attraction and retention argument

Which competency is an HR personnel said to have if he is able to act personally and professionally with integrity and accountability?

Ethical practice

The balanced scorecard should not be used to link a company's human resource management activities to the company's business strategy.

FALSE

Ethics

Fundamental principles of right and wrong by which employees and companies interact. Greatest good for largest number of people, respect human rights to privacy, due process, consent, and free speech, and treat employees fairly.

Which of the following HR competencies focuses on the ability to apply the principles of HR management to contribute to the success of a business?

HR technical expertise

Which of the following is a prediction about legal issues in the workplace in the U.S.?

Health care reform will drive compliance issues.

_____ refers to the policies, practices, and systems that influence employees' behavior, attitudes, and performance.

Human resource management

Which of the following, if true, would support reshoring as a strategy for a U.S. firm?

Increasing transportation costs

Which one of the following is true about the Six Sigma process?

It aims to create a total business focus on serving the customer.

Which of following is true of lean thinking?

It aims to do more with less effort, time, space, and equipment.

Which of the following is true of a balanced scorecard?

It depicts a company from the perspective of internal and external customers.

Which of the following statements is true about Generation X?

It values skepticism and informality.

According to emerging changes in the employment relationship, which of the following benefits do employees typically not expect to be provided by employers?

Job security

Which of the following people would be categorized as part of the external labor market with regards to Phoenix Inc.?

Keith, who works for Jupiter Inc. and is seeking employment elsewhere

Internal Labor Force

Labor force of current employees

Reshoring

Moving jobs back to the U.S.

Which of the following statements is true about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002?

Organizations spend millions of dollars each year to comply with regulations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Offshoring

Out of the country, less developed countries.

Lean Thinking

Process used to determine how to use less effort, time, equipment, and space, but still meet customers' requirements.

Which of the following HR competencies focuses on the ability to manage interactions with and between others with the specific goal of providing service and organizational success?

Relationship management

Virtual Teams

Separated by time, geographic distance, culture, and/or organizational boundaries and rely exclusively on technology for interaction between team members.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

Sets strict rules for corporate behavior/heavy fines/prison for noncompliance. Passed by Congress in response to unethical/illegal behavior by managers/executives, setting up stricter rules for businesses against discrimination.

Stakeholders

Shareholders, the community, customers, employees, and all other parties that have an interest in seeing the company succeed.

Which of the following arguments emphasizes that reactions should be faster and cost less?

System flexibility argument

Six Sigma Process

System of measuring, analyzing, improving, and controlling processes once they meet quality standards.

Human Resource Info System (HRIS)

System used to acquire, store, manipulate, analyze, retrieve, and distribute HR info.

Advances in technology have decreased HRM's role in providing self-service to employees.

TRUE

An HR dashboard is a series of indicators that are accessible to both managers and employees.

TRUE

Disabled workers can be a source of competitive advantage.

TRUE

In a learning organization, improvements in product or service quality do not stop when formal training is completed.

TRUE

In exchange for working longer hours without job security, employees want companies to provide flexible work schedules and comfortable working conditions.

TRUE

Intangible assets are equally or more valuable than financial and physical assets, but they are difficult to duplicate or imitate.

TRUE

Social networking tools can help prevent the loss of expert knowledge that occurs due to retirement.

TRUE

To be effective, balanced scorecards must be customized by companies to fit different market situations, products, and competitive environments.

TRUE

When it comes to problem solving, cultural diversity can provide companies with a competitive advantage.

TRUE

_____ refers to a systematic planned strategic effort by a company to attract, retain, develop, and motivate highly skilled employees and managers.

Talent management

Change

The adoption of a new idea or behavior by a company.

Which of the following is one of the four characteristics of an ethical, successful company?

The company emphasizes mutual benefits in its relationship with customers, clients, and vendors.

Which of the following is a core value of TQM?

The company promotes cooperation with vendors and customers to hold down costs.

Employee Engagement

The degree to which employees are fully involved in their work and the strength of their job/company commitment. Employees who are "all in."

Which of the following statements is true about the composition of the U.S. labor force in the next decade?

The median age of the labor force will increase to the highest number ever.

Human Resource Management

The policies, practices, and systems that influence employee behavior, attitudes, and performance.

Outsourcing

The practice of having another company provide services.

HR or Workplace Analytics

The practice of using data from HR databases and other data sources to make evidence-based human resource decisions. HR workforce analysts use quantitative/scientific methods to analyze data from HR decisions, financial statements, and employee surveys to prove HR influences organizations bottom line profits and costs.

Talent Management

The systematic planned strategic effort to use bundles of HRM practices acquiring and assessing employees, learning and development, performance management, and compensation to attract, retain, develop, and motivate highly skilled employees and managers.

Which of the following is a prediction about legal issues regarding employment in the U.S.?

There will be more focus on criminal background screening.

Which of the following is true of virtual teams?

They allow projects to be worked on 24 hours a day.

_____ is a companywide effort to continuously improve the ways people, machines, and systems accomplish work.

Total quality management

Which of the following is true of how different generations view each other?

Traditionalists may believe that Millennials don't have a strong work ethic.

Traditionally, the HRM department was primarily a(n) _____.

administrative expert

When an HR professional is evaluated on how well he understands organizational metrics and their relationship to business success, he is being evaluated on his competency in _____.

business acumen

Among the functions performed by an HR department, feedback and coaching are categorized under the _____ function.

performance management

The employee data and information systems function of an HR department focuses on responsibilities such as _____.

record keeping and workforce analytics

HRM must practice these three basic standards for their practices to be ethical

1. practices must result n the greatest good, for the greatest # of people. 2. employment practices must respect basic human rights of privacy, due process, consent and free speech. 3. must treat employees and customers equitably and fairly

Sustainability

A company's ability to meet its needs without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. "Triple bottom line" --economic, social, and environmental benefits.

Cloud Computing

A computing system that provides information technology infrastructure over a network in a self-service, modifiable, and on-demand model.

Which of the following arguments states that companies develop reputations on favorability as prospective employers for women and ethnic minorities?

Employee attraction argument

Which of the following is true of cloud computing?

Employees are not aware of the location of the databases.

Knowledge Workers

Employees who own the intellectual means of producing a product or service.

A company that adopts total quality management (TQM) trains only selected employees in quality.

FALSE

Applications of the Malcolm Baldrige Award are reviewed by an independent board of examiners who are selected from the public sector.

FALSE

Companies have historically looked at HRM as a means to contribute to profitability and quality.

FALSE

Evidence-based HR refers to the demonstration that human resources practices have no impact on the company's bottom or key stakeholders.

FALSE

From a company perspective, it is harder to add part-time employees than it is to add full-time employees.

FALSE

HR functions related to benefits administration such as health plan eligibility status, relocation, and payroll are usually not outsourced.

FALSE

High-performance work systems minimize the fit between a company's social system (employees) and its technical system.

FALSE

Lean thinking emphasizes only on learning new skills to improve and does not encourage the use of old skills in new ways.

FALSE

Measuring employees' performance is a part of the compensation function of HR.

FALSE

Projections to the demographics of the U.S. workforce predict that the average age of the workforce will decrease.

FALSE

Alternative Work Arrangements

Independent contractors, on-call workers, temporary workers, and contract company workers who are not employed full-time by the company.

Which of the following is true of workforce analytics?

It can show that HR practices influence an organization's profits.

Which of the following is true about the product line administrative services and transactions?

It deals with functions like compensation, hiring, and staffing.

Which of the following is a concern caused by Gen-Y generation employees using social networking tools?

Lower productivity

Which of the following dimensions of HRM practices involves ensuring that HRM practices comply with federal, state, and local laws?

Managing the human resource environment

Which of the following arguments states that heterogeneity in decisions potentially produces better decisions through a wider range of perspectives and critical analysis?

Problem-solving argument

HR Dashboard

Productivity and absenteeism that are accessible by employees and managers through the company intranet or human resource information systems.

Which of the following acts sets strict rules for businesses especially for accounting practices that require more open and consistent disclosure of financial data and CEOs' assurance that the data is completely accurate?

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 imposes criminal penalties for corporate governing and accounting lapses.

TRUE

The three product lines of HR as a business are administrative services and transactions, business partner services, and strategic partner roles.

TRUE