HR Chapter 8

The ultimate test of an organization's commitment to managing diversity is its _____. a. grievance policy b. compensation package c. productivity d. culture

culture

A multicultural organization is one that: a. promotes normative commitment over affective commitment among its employees. b. has high levels of job embeddedness. c. encourages ethnocentrism among its employees. d. has no gap in organizational identification based on a cultural identity group.

has no gap in organizational identification based on a cultural identity group.

A firm is less likely to be considered truly diverse when: a. it encourages cultural relativism in its work environment. b. there are no subgroup dynamics and conflicts within its workforce. c. there are no identifiable minority groups within its workforce. d. it follows the law to the letter and engages in passive discrimination.

it follows the law to the letter and engages in passive discrimination.

In the context of organizational practices that help manage diversity, which of the following can be structured in organizations to accommodate individual situations? a. Ethnocentrism b. Glass ceilings c. Benefits packages d. Normative commitment

Benefits packages

Who among the following is most likely to earn only a living wage? a. A knowledge worker b. A hardware technician c. An expatriate d. An unskilled laborer

It is enough to allow a family to subsist above the poverty level.

Identify a true statement about individual learning. a. It is not a sufficient condition for organizational learning to occur. b. It does not affect organizational learning. c. It is not a necessary condition for organizational learning to occur. d. It does not depend on the cognitive ability of individuals

It is not a sufficient condition for organizational learning to occur

Who among the following is a knowledge worker? a. An employee who designs engines in an automobile manufacturing company b. A shareholder in a firm that is involved in knowledge processing operations c. An employee who assembles products in a factory d. A businessman who owns a group of educational institutions

An employee who designs engines in an automobile manufacturing company

Which of the following statements is true of a truly diverse organization? a. Employees of the organization adopt an ethnocentric attitude. b. Employees view themselves as members of the same organization. c. Minority groups become more prominent in the organization. d. Positive gains and problems increase at the same rate for the organization.

Employees view themselves as members of the same organization.

Which of the following groups constitutes a distinct ethnic group in the United States? a. Christians b. Hispanics c. Expatriates d. Women

Hispanics

Which of the following statements is true of organizational learning? a. It can take place as a result of a merger or acquisition. b. The process of organizational learning is more cognitive than social. c. Individual learning is a sufficient condition for organization learning to occur. d. It does not depend on sharing of information

It can take place as a result of a merger or acquisition.

Which of the following statements is true of diversity training? a. It focuses solely on behavioral training. b. It promotes ethnocentrism in the work environment. c. It is legally mandated in organizations that have at least 100 employees on the payroll. d. It helps people gain insights into how their own behaviors affect and are interpreted by others.

It helps people gain insights into how their own behaviors affect and are interpreted by others

Who among the following individuals is facing the problem of the glass ceiling? a. Ben, who is denied a job by several companies despite being qualified because of a physical disability that resulted from an accident b. Tamara, who is not given a promotion as she is not technically qualified to manage the work and responsibilities that she would have to handle if promoted c. Liza, who turns down a promotion opportunity as she feels that taking up additional responsibilities would reduce the amount of time she spends with her children d. Rick, who feels uncomfortable in his new workplace as he finds it difficult to appreciate and adjust to the new culture

Liza, who turns down a promotion opportunity as she feels that taking up additional responsibilities would reduce the amount of time she spends with her children

Which of the following is a dimension of a disability that pertains to the question of whether the disability could have been avoided? a. Tangibility b. Nature c. Origin d. Duration

Origin

In the context of internal knowledge management, organizational learning: a. occurs only in truly diverse multicultural organizations. b. depends more on cognitive processes than on social processes. c. involves developing an ethnocentric attitude among employees. d. begins with individual learning and change.

begins with individual learning and change

In the context of the actions that individuals can take to deal with diversity, the ability to understand the perspective of others is called _____. a. communication b. embeddedness c. empathy d. tolerance

empathy

Treating people within an organization fairly and taking actions that do not discriminate against people in protected classes on the basis of some illegal criterion is called _____. a. tolerance b. equal employment opportunity c. integrated diversity management d. pluralism

equal employment opportunity

Clifton Corp. is a multinational company that has offices in 60 countries across the world. It keeps rotating its employees among its various offices. The employees communicate openly with each other and have tolerance for the opinion of others. As a result, they are comfortable working among a diverse workforce. In the given scenario, the employees of Clifton are most likely to have: a. high levels of contextual performance. b. low levels of intergroup conflict. c. a gap in organizational identification based on a cultural identity group. d. an ethnocentric attitude.

low levels of intergroup conflict.

The glass ceiling exists in organizations because: a. there are no laws prohibiting discrimination against women. b. women are not as competent as men in managerial positions. c. many talented women choose to leave their jobs in large firms and start their own businesses. d. women are not interested in reaching management positions in organizations.

many talented women choose to leave their jobs in large firms and start their own businesses.

Managing diversity in an organization starts with the: a. training methods the organization adopts to enhance the skill set of its employees. b. individual goals of its employees. c. goals that the organization has set for itself. d. policies that the organization adopts because they directly or indirectly affect how people are treated.

policies that the organization adopts because they directly or indirectly affect how people are treated.

Which of the following happens when a firm becomes truly diverse? a. Many identifiable minority groups appear within its workforce. b. Conflicts and subgroup dynamics in its workforce disappear. c. Its workforce adopts an ethnocentric attitude. d. It suffers massive trade penalties.

Conflicts and subgroup dynamics in its workforce disappear

Which of the following is a result of higher legal limits for mandatory retirement in the United States? a. The average age of the workforce is decreasing substantially. b. More and more people are working beyond the age at which they might have stopped working a few years ago. c. Older workers are not likely to require high level of insurance coverage. d. Accident rates have become substantially lower for older workers than for younger workers up to age 54

More and more people are working beyond the age at which they might have stopped working a few years ago.

Which of the following statements is true of a multicultural organization? a. A single group has the potential to influence the organization's culture and its fundamental norms. b. Diversity within the organization is different from the diversity in its external labor market. c. No glass ceilings exist in the organization. d. Employees in the organization have an ethnocentric attitude.

No glass ceilings exist in the organization

Which of the following is a difference between diversity management and equal employment opportunity? a. Diversity management insists on increasing the number of ethnic groups in the workforce, whereas equal employment opportunity does not. b. Unlike equal employment opportunity, diversity management places a heavier emphasis on appreciating and reasonably accommodating the differences among people at work. c. Unlike equal employment opportunity, diversity management results in higher ethnocentrism in the workplace. d. Diversity management places an emphasis on eliminating minority groups to avoid potential discrimination, whereas equal employment opportunity does not.

Unlike equal employment opportunity, diversity management places a heavier emphasis on appreciating and reasonably accommodating the differences among people at work.

The cost argument of how diversity contributes to the competitiveness of an organization suggests that: a. the extent of effective management of diversity is proportional to the extent of flexibility of the systems in an organization. b. diversity management is expensive and consequently lowers the profit potential of an organization. c. high levels of diversity in an organization's workforce make it difficult to channel efforts of the human resource department harmoniously. d. an organization that learns to cope with diversity will generally have high levels of productivity and low levels of turnover.

an organization that learns to cope with diversity will generally have high levels of productivity and low levels of turnover.

When the employees of an organization face no barriers to entry and participation in any organizational activity, the organization is said to have achieved: a. ethnocentrism in its system. b. full integration of its informal networks. c. complete structural integration. d. high levels of job embeddedness.

full integration of its informal networks

In the context of multicultural organizations, full structural integration suggests that: a. the diversity within an organization is an accurate reflection of the organization's external labor market. b. every group represented in an organization works to understand every other group better, thereby influencing the organization's culture. c. organizational identification is based on a cultural identity group. d. employees are treated fairly and equally irrespective of the fundamental differences between them

the diversity within an organization is an accurate reflection of the organization's external labor market.

In the context of the contributions of diversity to the competitiveness of an organization, the edge of having multiple perspectives and new ways of doing things is: a. the focus of the cost argument. b. part of the marketing argument. c. the focus of the creativity argument. d. part of the resource acquisition argument.

the focus of the creativity argument

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an organization cannot discriminate against a person with a disability as long as: a. the person can perform the essential functions of a job with or without a reasonable accommodation. b. the accommodation requested by the person is acceptable to other employees who do not have a disability. c. the person's disability is curable. d. the person's disability is not mental, physically obvious, or disfiguring.

the person can perform the essential functions of a job with or without a reasonable accommodation.

In the years immediately after Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed, many HR managers operated under the assumption that they were required by law to: a. promote people of African American and Hispanic origins. b. treat everyone equally. c. hire knowledge workers from the underprivileged sections of society. d. promote cultural relativism.

treat everyone equally.

Which of the following organizations trades in knowledge? a. A bookstore that gives free bookmarks with every purchase b. An automobile manufacturing company that produces custom-made cars c. An investment firm that helps people in managing their assets d. An electrical appliance manufacturing firm that produces eco-friendly machines

An investment firm that helps people in managing their assets

Which of the following statements is true of a living wage? a. It is earned solely by prison inmates for the jobs that they do inside prison. b. It is equal to the national minimum wage. c. It is earned solely by immigrants who relocate to other countries. d. It is enough to allow a family to subsist above the poverty level.

An unskilled laborer

Which of the following is a factor that contributes to the gradual increase in the average age of U.S. workers? a. Low levels of insurance coverage for older workers b. Low legal limits for mandatory retirement c. Continuous aging of the millennial generation d. Declining birthrates among the post-baby boom generations

Declining birthrates among the post-baby boom generations

Tim, a high-performing engineer at Backing Software, feels that he was laid off by his employer because the company wanted to replace him with a differently-abled engineer. He is, therefore, resentful toward the organization. In this scenario, which of the following became a major source conflict? a. Contextual performance b. Job embeddedness c. Compensation d. Diversity

Diversity

Which of the following statements best describes the glass ceiling? a. It is a barrier that keeps many females from advancing to top management positions in many organizations. b. It is a pattern that suggests that women are more likely to climb the career ladder than men. c. It is a staffing model that prefers the recruitment of individuals from one ethnic group to another. d. It is a discriminative attitude of organizations that denies reasonable employment opportunities to the disabled.

It is a barrier that keeps many females from advancing to top management positions in many organizations.

Which of the following is a characteristic of a multicultural organization? a. It bases gaps in organizational identification on cultural identity groups. b. It is characterized by pluralism. c. It promotes ethnocentrism in the workplace. d. It achieves partial structural integration.

It is characterized by pluralism.

Which of the following is a more universal dimension of diversity than other dimensions? a. Sexual orientation b. Disability status c. Religion d. Age

Religion

Crezenth Inc., an American cosmetics company, decides to have African American models in its next advertising campaign instead of white females, who are commonly used in its competitors' advertisements. Through this advertising campaign, Crezenth would facilitate _____. a. social change b. ethnocentrism c. job embeddedness d. xenophobia

Social change

Which of the following generally occurs as the composition of an organization's workforce gradually begins to mirror the composition of the surrounding labor market? a. Social change b. Job enlargement c. Ethnocentrism d. The glass ceiling

Social change

Which of the following statements is true of female employees in the United States? a. Women are less likely to face the problem of the glass ceiling than men. b. Some male managers are reluctant to promote female managers. c. Women constitute less than 30 percent of all managers. d. The average pay of females in organizations is higher than that of males.

Some male managers are reluctant to promote female managers.

Which of the following statements is true of the age distribution of workers in the United States? a. The average age of U.S. workers is gradually increasing. b. Accident rates are lower for older U.S. workers than for younger workers up to age 54. c. Increasing birthrates among the post-baby boom generations account for many new entrants into the workforce. d. A low number of retirees combined with many young workers may lead to excess labor supply in the future.

The average age of U.S. workers is gradually increasing

Which of the following factors accounts for the increased diversity in organizations? a. The increased need for job embeddedness b. Legislation that mandates organizations to adopt ethnocentric practices c. The globalization movement d. The privatization movement

The globalization movement

LyTops, an apparel manufacturer in the United States, wants to achieve competitive advantage by expanding its business to Russia, India, and China. The company hires people from each of these countries to better understand how to design and make clothes for the people identifying with the cultures of these countries. Which of the following arguments of how diversity contributes to competitiveness most likely supports LyTops' decision to hire a diverse workforce? a. The cost argument b. The problem-solving argument c. The marketing argument d. The systems flexibility argument

The marketing argument

Which of the following statements is true of the ethnic composition in nonprofessional occupations? a. The percentage of African American firefighters has increased over the last 7-8 years. b. African Americans constitute more than two-thirds of all carpenters. c. Hispanics constitute less than one-third of all carpenters. d. The percentage of Hispanic firefighters has increased over the last 7-8 years.

The percentage of African American firefighters has increased over the last 7-8 years

In the context of the competitive advantage of diversity, which of the following arguments suggests that organizations that manage diversity effectively will become known among women and minorities as good places to work? a. The marketing argument b. The cost argument c. The problem-solving argument d. The resource acquisition argument

The resource acquisition argument

Which of the following statements is true of knowledge workers? a. They include blue-collar workers. b. They require little or no specialized training. c. They seldom want to work autonomously. d. They tend to work in high-technology firms.

They tend to work in high-technology firms.