Multiple Choice Questions

Why do some firms prefer to call groups of employees targeted for accelerated development "acceleration pools" rather than "high-potential pools"?

Because "high potential" pool implies the rest are of low potential.

If an applicant is not hired because the applicant has previously claimed overtime which they were owed, they are likely to be covered under the:

Fair Labor Standards Act

Which of the following people determine whether an applicant will be extended a job offer?

Hiring manager

All organizational practices and decisions that affect either the number or types of individuals willing to apply for and accept job offers is:

Recruiting

Which of the following, if true, would require a company to make adjustments to its historical employee-productivity ratios?

The company is adopting a more efficient manufacturing system

Which of the following, if true, would require a company to respectfully and honestly explain the hiring process to all applicants.

The company is committed to practicing ethical behavior

Which of the following would result in peer ratings being a successful method of internal assessment in a firm?

Work in the firm is done in teams.

Taking the time to explain the hiring process and making every effort to follow up with candidates to minimize delays is an example of:

a commitment to ethical behavior

Putting together an attractive job offer and negotiating with the candidate the company wants to hire is part of:

acquiring

Employment-at-will is an employment relationship which:

allows either the employee or employer to terminate the employment at any time

Succession management ensures that:

an organization has people ready to assume leadership positions when they become available.

In staffing, O*NET is used for:

background job analysis information

Typically, when interest rates rise,

businesses are less likely to expand

A BFOQ is a(n):

characteristic that is essential to the performance of an employment function

Comparing the percentages of men, women, or minorities employed in a job categories to see if men women, or minorities are disproportionately represented in certain workforce categories is an example of a:

concentration statistic

Anna is the manager of human resources at Alcatec Inc. She is comparing the number of employees required over the next six months versus the capabilities of her existing workforce adjusted for attrition. She is trying to identify any gaps between the two. Which step of the workforce planning process is discussed here?

conduct a workforce analysis

Axis Auto tries to keep its operational spending as low as possible so that it can pass its savings on to customers in the form of lower prices. This is known as a ____ strategy.

cost-leadership

When viewing employees as assets, the staffing focus is on managing:

costs

If a company makes promises to a recruit that it does not intend to keep, it could be found guilty of:

fraudulent recruitment

When viewing applicants and employees as investors, the goal is to:

give applicants and employees a return on their personal contributions in the organization

Staffing professionals promote the goals of society by:

helping to match people with jobs and organizations

When a firm has a superior level of cooperation and innovation among its research team that allows it to design a new product two days faster than its competitors it has created a:

human process adavantage

Which of the following is a disadvantage of using the task inventory job analysis method?

inability to distinguish superior from average workers

Publicizing open jobs to employees is known as:

internal job posting

Staffing influences organizational performance because:

its outcomes determine who will work for and represent the firm

A systematic process of identifying and describing the important aspects of a job and the characteristic a worker needs to perform the job well is a:

job analysis

The job analysis method that uses expert brainstorming sessions to identify the characteristics of successful workers is the:

job elements method

____ helps a company tailor its recruiting message to appeal to the needs, values, and motivations of targeted potential applicants.

job rewards analysis

If managers are asked to estimate their optimal headcount for the following year for staffing planning purposes, which of the following has been used?

judgmental forecasting

Which of the following forecasting methods relies on the experience and insights of people in the organization to predict a firm's future employment needs?

judgmental forecasting

For organizations relying on new product innovation and for which the commitment and efforts of employees are key drivers of organizational performance, which of the following talent philosophies would be most appropriate?

keeping salaries as low as possible to control costs

The WARN Act related to which of the following?

layoffs

Which of the following are employees of a company who take on the operation of certain functions, or staff an entire office or factory on a contractual basis for a client or company?

leased workers

When Mary hires someone because they share the same interests, which of the following has occurred?

like-me bias

An applicant who finds a recruiter to be rude and unhelpful is likely to perceive:

low interactional fairness

Assigning a new employee to regularly meet with a more senior, more experienced employee to further the career development of both employees is:

mentoring

Having recruiters evaluate candidates for their fit with several different positions is an example of:

multiple assessments.

Which of the following means of sourcing talent is sometimes considered unethical?

raiding

The primary goal of _____ is to get the right people interested in working for an organization or in a specific job, then persuade them to apply and ultimately accept the job offer if they are extended.

recruiting

An HR manager trying to recruit for a number of key positions in a firm asks the best talent to recommend the best people they've worked with in the past or people they feel would be good performers. This is an example of:

referrals

Retainer firms are:

search firms who charge employers a fixed fee in advance of placement

Interviewing job candidates to assess their fit with the job and organization is part of:

selecting

Locating qualified individuals and labor markets from which to recruit is:

sourcing

The best time to pursue workforce diversity is during:

sourcing and recruiting

Which of the following are advantages of using structured questionnaires for job analysis?

speed and low cost

Strategic staffing means:

staffing an organization in future-oriented and goal-directed ways that support the organization's business strategy and enhance organizational effectiveness.

When different assessments are made using different scales, before they can be combined the raw scores must be:

standardized

Comparing the percentage of men, women, or minorities employed in a job category with their availability in the relevant population of qualified people interested in the position is an example of:

stock statistic

Which of the following raters is often the most controversial feature of a multisource assessment?

subordinates

Strategically evaluating the company's current lines of business, new businesses it will be getting into, businesses it will be leaving, and the gaps between the current skills in the organization and the skills it will need to execute its business strategy is:

workforce planning

Which of the following is an internal recruiting source?

Succession management

Which of the following is true for employment contracts?

An implicit contract is not specified in a written or verbal contract.

Why is it more likely that employee referral programs are effective and successful?

Applicants hired through this method low high turnover.

What is a stereotype threat?

Awareness of subgroup differences on standardized tests creates frustration among minority test takers leading to low scores.

Independent bookstore Signature Books has been struggling to survive as sales declined sharply in the past year. Its main competitors are the large chain stores that have a much wider range of books and can afford to sell books at a discount, but online retailers are also eating into Signature's market. Signature Books opts for a specialization strategy, focusing on foreign-language books and learning materials. Which of the following, if true, will support Signature's decision?

Chain stores stock mainly books of general interest, such as books by popular authors and self-help books.

ROM Corporation had kept all its hiring plans on hold during the last four quarters because the economy was in a state of recession. ROM manufactures data cards, memory chips, and LCD monitors. The company is analyzing market trends in order to reassess its hiring strategy for the coming year. Which of following, if true, would most support the argument for restarting hiring?

Computer manufacturers have aggressively started hiring more staff

Which of the following is true about external hiring?

It can enhance organizational diversity

Which of the following, if true, would uphold a company's sustainable competitive advantage in front of rival firms?

It is difficult to imitate the strategic staffing practices of the firm

Which of the following is true of person-organization fit?

It is positively related to job satisfaction

Which of the following is true of a competitive job offer?

It may or may not allow for further negotiations.

Which of the following is true of a "closed shop"?

No non-union workers are employed.

A Japanese company that makes electronic watches exports 90 percent of its products to the US. Which of the following will happen if the dollar strengthens against the Japanese Yen?

The company's watches will become less expensive in the US

If an individual's goals, values, and work style clashes with the goals of his or her co-workers, which of the following is true?

The individual has low person-group fit

Which of the following is a characteristic of independent contractors?

They do not receive benefits from the employer.

Department store BigTen refused to hire Max because of his religion. The store is in violation of:

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Idiosyncratic jobs are:

created around a current or new employee's unique skills

The job analysis technique that identifies behaviors that lead to extremely effective or extremely ineffective job performance is:

critical incidents method

A minimum assessment score that must be met or exceeded to advance to the next assessment phase or to be eligible to receive a job offer is a:

cut score

If a company's employees have talents that would be useful to the organization and the company is not taking advantage of these talents, it is not being efficient in the activity of:

deploying

A job analysis:

determines a job entry's requirements

Staffing can be considered a cornerstone of human resource management because it:

determines the workforce representing the company

When a firm pursues a differentiation strategy, it is attempting to:

develop products that have unique characteristics

Which type of fairness is perceived to be low by most job applicants who are not selected for a particular job?

distributive fairness

Which of the following refers to the training of employees to extend their capabilities and prepare them to assume other jobs and roles in the firm?

employee development

Effective staffing enhances the degree to which an:

employee meets a job requirements

An organization that is currently composed of primarily white males may discriminate against minorities and women if it uses which recruiting source?

employee referrals

The balance between the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards an employee receives by working for a particular employer in return for their job performance is the

employee value proposition

Creating a favorable image in desired applicants' minds about the organization being a good place for them to work is:

employer branding

Job candidate characteristics that are critical to the adequate performance of a new hire are called:

essential criteria

If the job of a loader exists to load packages on delivery trucks, the ability to safely lift and load packages onto a truck is an:

essential function

Organic growth takes place when an organization:

expands from within by opening new factories or stores

A company fails to do a background check that would have revealed that a person it has hired has the potential to harm others. The employee then physically harms a customer during a disagreement. The company could be found guilty of:

negligent hiring

When a competing hospital calls for an employee recommendation, a hospital manager fails to disclose negative information about a previous employee who was discharged for improper and reckless behavior toward a patient. This could be an example of:

negligent referral

A job task is a(n):

observable unit of work with a beginning and an end

Which of the following recruitment strategies can help an organization reduce labor costs and improve customer service together with pursuing top talent.

offshoring

Hiring people who are efficient, trainable, and willing to follow standardized procedures would support an _____ competitive advantage.

operational excellence

Recruiter behaviors have the largest impact on:

overall applicant impressions of the recruiter.

An employee who is currently employed but occasionally visits online job boards "just to see what's out there" in case he can identify a better job opportunity is called an:

passive job seeker

Samuel joined an accounting firm as a clerk. Each Monday, he is assigned a new project which is due by Friday. It has been over 5 months since he joined the firm but Samuel is yet to receive any feedback about his work performance from his supervisor. This is an example of poor:

performance management

A summary of the characteristics of someone able to perform the job well is a:

person specification

The fit between a person's abilities and the demands of the job and the fit between a person's desires and motivations and the attributes and rewards of a job is:

person-job fit

Affirmative action means:

proactive efforts to ensure nondiscriminatory results in employment practices

When an applicant believes that an assessment method is unfair because it does not give him an opportunity to demonstrate job-relevant skills:

procedural fairness is low.

An engineering firm is looking for a civil engineer to head their new project to build a highway. Unable to find the right candidate for the job, the firm resorts to scouting for potential candidates among the employees of rival firms. It offers the assistant chief engineer of its rival firm an extremely lucrative package and change to manage greater responsibilities. This practice is known as:

pull-up hire

The ongoing process of recruiting, evaluating, developing, and preparing employees to assume other positions in the firm in the future is:

succession management

Which of the following recruitment strategies can reduce the possibility of overlooking qualified internal talent?

talent inventories

To hire technical skills a company expects to need in six months, it would engage in:

talent-oriented staffing

Which of the following would be required to provide critical skills to employees that might be needed in the future?

training

____ involves looking at past employment patterns and using those patterns to predict a firm's future labor needs.

trend analysis

An organization's competitive advantage is:

what it can do differently from its competitors