HR Management Final Exam
Which of the following is the lowest level of integration between the human resource management function and the strategic management function?
Administrative linkage
Based upon the video by Strack (2014), which of the following statements is true?
Being appreciated for your work is the top priority identified by survey takers.
According to the article by Cascio (2009), which of the following is true?
Costco has one of the most loyal and productive workforces in the retailing industry.
Which of the following was replaced by the Occupational Information Network (O*NET)?
Dictionary of Occupational Titles
CompX Inc. is an online retailer of electronic products including laptops and tablets. The company is known for its unique approach to customer support, which is known for going above and beyond in satisfying customer complaints and issues. What kind of a strategy is CompX using?
Differentiation
Which of the following is NOT one of Porter's Five Forces?
Environmental Constraints
Based upon the video by Deterline (2012), the following statement is true?
Ethical fading is when the ethical implications of our acts are obscured by operational objectives.
_____ refers to the policies, practices, and systems that influence employees' behavior, attitudes, and performance.
Human resource management
Who among the following is likely to be the best source for the most accurate information about the time spent on various tasks for job analysis?
Incumbents
According to the video by Porter (2014), which of the following is true?
Intense competition reduces everyone's profitability.
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 refers to the process of defining the way work will be performed and the tasks that will be required in a given job?
Job design
Which of the following includes the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that an individual must have to perform the job?
Job specification
Which of the following is an example of a quasi-judicial body?
National Labor Relations Board
The EEOC is the agency that enforces several EEO laws. Which of the following legislation is the EEOC NOT responsible for enforcing?
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
Which stage in a work-unit activity analysis focuses on the product produced or service provided?
Output
Which of the following HRM practices involves employees receiving feedback?
Performance management
The U.S. workforce is becoming increasingly diverse. To successfully manage a diverse workforce, managers must develop a new set of skills, including ALL of the following EXCEPT:
Providing frequent performance feedback;
Which of the following acts wold be considered grounds for a wrongful discharge suit involving a violation of public policy?
Rhea is terminated because she refuses to do something unsafe
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
Giving employees online access to information about HR issues such as training, benefits, and compensation is called _____.
Self-service
_____ is a process that primarily addresses the competitive challenges an organization faces.
Strategic management
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 approaches pursues efficiency primarily by making a job so simple that anyone can be trained quickly and easily to perform it?
The mechanistic approach
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.
According to the article and video by Hurley (2015), which of the following is TRUE?
The ruling was the second in the Supreme Court's term dealing with alleged discrimination against Muslims.
Divisional structures tend to be more flexible and innovative because of:
Their work-flow focus.
Which of the following is true of virtual teams?
They allow projects to be worked on 24 hours a day.
Which of the following is a challenge of downsizing?
Which of the following is a concern for employers caused by Gen-Y and Millennial generation employees using social networking tools?
James, a manager at Brown & Brown (B&B) Inc., a publisher of academic books, is tasked with identifying the various pieces of work required to edit, typeset, and publish a fictional book prior to allocating and assigning them to his subordinates. Which of the following processes is James expected to perform?
Work-flow design
Which of the following is a tool that allows companies to track financial results while simultaneously monitories progress in building the capabilities and acquiring the intangible assets that would need for future growth?
balanced scorecard
_____ is a public policy that focuses primarily on advocating remedies for any undervaluation of women's jobs
comparable worth
Which of the following pays is similar to pay structures based on individual characteristics such as skill or knowledge but usually refers to a plan that covers exempt employees?
competency-based pay
The executive branch of the federal government:
consists of the president and the many regulatory agencies the president oversees.
Which of the following determinants of procedural justice requires that the procedure has built-in safeguards that allow one to appeal mistakes or bad decisions?
correctability
In skill-based pay systems, performance measures are primarily based on _____
employees competency acquisition
During the strategic implementation stage of the strategic management process, an organization:
ensures that it has skilled employees in place.
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
Internal equity pay comparison is _____
focused on what employees within the same organization but in different jobs are paid
Organizations that introduce _____ systems where low performers are systematically identified and, where necessary, eliminated from payrolls often experience quick improvement
forced distributions rating
A(n) _____ program is based on group or plant performance that does not become part of the employee's base salary
gainsharing
The Scanlon Plan is an example of a(n) _____ plan
gainsharing
Which of the following is a reason for the growth of benefits as a method of employee compensation?
groups of employees can typically receive a cost advantage over individuals
Which of the following is true about Old Age, Survivors, Disability, and Health Insurance (OASDHI) program?
high earners help subsidize benefit payments to low earners
According to the expectancy theory, compensation systems differ according to their impact on the components of motivation; the main influence of compensation is on _____
instrumentality
Which of the following components is a perceived link between behavior and pay?
instrumentality
_____ justice refers to the interpersonal nature of how the outcomes were implemented
interactional
Explanation, consideration, social sensitivity, and empath are key determinants of _____
interactional justice
Which of the following statements is accurate about voluntary turnover?
it can lead to the loss of highly valued employees to competitors
Which of the following statements is true about the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)?
it exempts executive, professional, and administrative occupations from FLSA coverage
Which of the following best describes job withdrawal?
it is a set of behaviors that dissatisfied individuals enact to avoid the work situation
Which of the following best describes a branch in job-based pay structure?
it is an index of the correspondence between actual and intended pay
Which of the following is true of involuntary turnover?
it may involve legal aspects that can have repercussions for the organization
Which of the following is a drawback of using profit sharing?
it runs the risk of contributing to employee dissatisfaction
Which of the following is an administrative procedure used to measure internal job worth using measurable factors?
job evaluation
Which of the following makes employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) less attractive?
less diversification of investment risk
In high-performance work systems:
line employees interact frequently with quality experts and engineers.
Which of the following benefits involve the highest of costs?
medical and other insurance
A(n) _____ is suitable for an organization with a culture that promotes individual competition
merit pay plan
Which of the following is the first stage in an alternative dispute resolution?
open-door policy
Agents prefer a behavior-based contract when _____
outcomes uncertainty is high
What type of concealing helps displaced employees manage the transition from one job to another?
outplacement
Under the _____ approach, jobs of similar worth or content are grouped together for pay administration purposes
pay grade
The average compensation- including wages, salaries, and bonuses- of jobs in an organization is called the _____
pay level
The _____ is a mathematical expression that desires the relationship between a job's pay and its job evaluation points
pay policy line
_____ refers to the relative pay of different jobs and how much they are paid
pay structure
Group incentives tend to measure performance in terms of _____
physical output
An employee who engages in absenteeism is displaying job satisfaction through _____
physical withdrawal
Which of the following is most widely used method in job evaluation that yields scores for each compensable factor?
point-factor system
In merit pay programs, an individual's coma-ratio represents his or her _____
position in the pay range
_____ focuses specifically on the methods used to determine the outcomes received
procedural justice
Anna's boss terminated her employment because she did not submit to his sexual advances. Anna is a victim of:
quid pro quo harassment.
Which of the following concepts addresses the fact that different employees in the same job may have different pay rates?
rate ranges
Which of the following determinants of procedural justice requires that the procedure is informed by the concerns of all groups or stakeholder affected by the decision?
representativeness
_____ plans permit employees to defer compensation on a pretax basis
section 401(k)
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
The employment-at-will doctrine:
states that in the absence of a specific contract, either party can sever the employment
A(n) _____ plan gives employees the opportunity to buy the company's shares at a previously fixed price
stock option
During _____, the strategic planning groups decide on a strategic direction by defining the company's mission and goals, its external opportunities and threats, and its internal strengths and weaknesses
strategy formulation
Compensable factors are employee's job characteristics that _____
the company is willing to pay for
Which of the following is a difference between profit-sharing plans and employee ownership plans?
the link between pay and performance is less obvious under ownership than under profit sharing
Which of the following is true of key jobs?
they can be used in pay surveys
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 requires employers to _____
treat pregnancy as they would any other disability when they do offer disability plans
According to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the rights of employees to a pension upon retirement are known as _____
vesting rights
_________refers to demonstrating that human resources practices have a positive influence on the company's bottom line or key stakeholders and it requires the use of data - from financial statements to employee surveys in order to make decisions based upon hard evidence.
Evidenced-based HR
According to the video by Morieux (2013), which of the following is a rule for smart simplicity?
Extend the shadow of the future.
Which of the following rules states that an employment test has disparate impact if the hiring rate for a minority group is less than eighty percent of the hiring rate for the majority group?
Four-fifths rule
Which of the following amendments includes the equal protection clause?
Fourteenth Amendment
In which of the following ways to PPOs differ from HMOs?
HMOs provide benefits on a prepaid basis
Jim, an efficiency expert, proposes the "just-in-time" inventory method to Roger, the CEO of Neptune Inc. If Roger is to accept the proposal, which of the following changes is he most likely to implement in Neptune Inc.?
He is likely to introduce processes that support lean production.
Which of the following is a prediction about legal issues in the workplace in the U.S.?
Health care reform will drive compliance issues.
Which of the following is an example of an equal employment opportunity regulation that prohibits sex-and race-based differences in employment outcomes such as pay, unless justified by business necessity?
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
Which of the following acts states that employers cannot retaliate against employees for either "opposing" a perceived illegal employment practice or "participating in a proceeding" related to an alleged illegal employment practice?
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Jason, an African-American, and Robert, a Caucasian, both experienced welders, apply for two openings at Virgo Inc. Robert is hired and Virgo continues to look for candidates to fill the other position. Jason alleges racial discrimination by Virgo, but Virgo denies this. Which of the following statements would both negate Jason's case and support Virgo's case?
Virgo deals in building equipment that requires a certified welder and Jason is not a certified welder.
E.L Thorndyke's Law of Effect states _____
a response followed by a reward is more likely to recur in the future
Traditionally, the HRM department was primarily a(n) _____.
administrative expert
Which of the following must a principal do to reduce agency costs?
align the agent's interests with the principals's interests
As jobs become less programmable _____
behavior-oriented contracts become less likely
Which of the following refers to a procedure in which an organization compares its own practices agains those of the competition?
benchmarking
Which of the following determinants of procedural justice requires that the procedure is applied by a person who has no vested interest in the outcome?
bias suppression
The _____ requires employers to permit employees to extend their health insurance coverage at group rates for up to 36 months following a qualifying event, such as a layoff
consolidated omnibus budget reconciliation act (COBRA)
_____ increases are provided as part of social security benefits for each year that the consumer price index increases
cost-of-living
_____ plans do not promise a specific benefit level for employees upon retirement
defined contribution
Michael and Mohammad graduated from the same pilot training institute and applied for a job as a trainee pilot at a private American airline. Despite both having similar profiles, Michael was hired but Mohammad was not, and the airline continued to look for other potential trainee pilots. In this case, Mohammad is a possible victim of:
disparate treatment.
Alternative dispute resolution is a method of resolving disputes that _____
does not rely on the legal system
Defined contribution plans made it the responsibility of the _____ to make wise investment decisions for their retirement plans
employee
Organizational programs that attempt to ameliorate problems encountered by workers who are drug dependent, alcoholic, or psychologically troubled are referred to as _____ programs
employee assistance
Which of the following increased the fiduciary responsibilities of pension plan trustees and established vesting rights and portability provisions?
employee retirement income security act
External equity pay comparisons focus on what?
employees in other organizations are paid for doing the same general job
The workers' compensation cost to an employer is based on the _____
employer's experience rating
The unemployment insurance program is financed largely through federal and state taxes on _____
employers
Job-based pay structure _____
encourages a lack of initiative on the part of employees
According to the _____, a person compares her own ratio of perceived outcomes to perceived inputs to the ratio of a comparison other
equity theory
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) _____
established a minimum wage for jobs
Which of the following determinants of procedural justice requires that the procedure is consistent with prevailing moral standards in terms of invasion of privacy or deception?
ethicality
Which of the following provides 12 weeks of unpaid absence from work to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, or parent if the organization has at least 50 employees living within a 75-mile radius?
family and medical leave act
A company that follows an overall cost leadership strategy _____.
focuses on becoming the lowest cost producer in an industry
Which of the following is a compensation program that wold best support an organizational culture of cooperation and problem solving
gainsharing
Gainsharing plans differ from profit-sharing plans in that _____
gainsharing plans distribute payouts more frequently
To be a qualified benefits plan, a pension plan should not discriminate in favor of _____
highly compensated employees
Which of the following is true about employee benefits?
impact of legal regulations on benefits is greater they are on direct compensation
Which of the following is true of alternative dispute resolution (ADR)?
in ADR systems, there is a possibility of arbitrators, who with to do more business, leaning in favor of those paying them
Which of the following compensation programs uses a management style that gives importance to control?
incentive pay
In incentive pay, performance measures are primarily based on _____
individual productivity
According to a merit increase grid, one of the factors that determines the size and frequency of pay increases is the _____
individual's performance rating
The major advantage of a flexible spending account is that _____
it increases the employees' take-home pay
The degree to which an employee identifies with an organization and is willing to put forth effort on its behalf is called _____
organizational commitment
In which of the following ways may staffing practices change in response to benefits cost controls?
organizations having their employees classified as contractors rather than employees
A company decides to let go of some employees due to a financial crisis. Jane loses her job, while her colleagues with similar performance ratings and productivity retain their jobs. Jane's judgment of her loss when compared to her colleagues' is a perception of _____
outcome fairness
_____ refers to the judgment that people make with respect to the results received relative to the results received by other people with whom they identify (referent others)
outcome fairness
_____ guarantees to pay employees a basic retirement benefit in the event that financial difficulties force a company to terminate or reduce employee pension benefits
pension benefit guaranty corporation
In the _____ dimension, employees base their fairness assessments on the processes that were used to decide the amount of compensation
procedural
Consistency, bias suppression, information accuracy, correct ability, representativeness, and ethicality are the six determinants of _____
procedural justice
Which of the following is a compensation program that relates costs to the ability to pay?
profit-sharing
Employee survey research allows the company to monitor trends over time and thus prevent problems, before they happen, in the area of _____
voluntary turnover
Most attempts to measure job satisfaction rely on _____
workers' self-reports
