Man 3301 Exam 3 Practice Exam study guide

On average, out of every dollar spent by a company on employee compensation, more than __________ cents goes to employee benefits.

30

What is the difference between bonuses and team awards?

Bonuses reward attainment of a specific goal, whereas team awards reward performance measured more broadly.

What is a similarity between unemployment insurance benefits and workers' compensation benefits?

Both of the programs' costs depend on the organization's experience ratings.

Which U.S. organization conducts an ongoing National Compensation Survey measuring wages, salaries, and benefits paid to the nation's employees?

Bureau of Labor Statistics

What is an advantage of cafeteria-style plans?

Employees can match their needs to the company's benefits.

What is an advantage of providing benefits instead of cash compensation?

Employers can assemble creative benefits packages that give them a competitive advantage.

In the United States, what is the legal requirement for giving employees paid vacation?

Employers decide on paid time off; there is no minimum.

During the labor relations process, managers prefer to increase wages and benefits and to give maximum control to workers over work rules and schedules.

False

Employees who are parents always need childcare and family leave benefits.

False

Even if employees persist and continue learning about their host country's culture, they rarely recover from culture shock.

False

If at least 30 percent of an organization's employees sign an authorization card, the union may request that the employer voluntarily recognize the union.

False

Implementing broad bands increases the opportunities for promoting employees.

False

In a two-tier wage system, employees doing the same job are paid two different rates, depending on their technical background and training.

False

In countries with high power distances, people address one another by first names.

False

In practice, a "transnational" organization differs greatly from a high-performance organization.

False

Pay grades allow precise matching of pay for individual jobs to market rates and an organization's job structure.

False

Research suggests that employees in the lower tier of the pay structure in a two-tier wage system are less satisfied than the top-tier employees.

False

Social security benefits automatically increase if a worker earns wages above the exempt amount.

False

The equity of executive pay affects a select few of an organization's employees.

False

Under the team awards type of group incentive, cost savings is excluded as a performance measure.

False

Under the workers' compensation laws, employees are eligible to receive their regular paychecks in the event of a disability.

False

Which statement is true according to the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 and the Walsh-Healy Public Contracts Act of 1936?

Federal contractors must pay their employees at rates at least equal to the prevailing wages in the area.

Vern, the HR manager at a start-up company, helped the founder plan a benefits package that includes paid vacations, holidays, and sick leave. Now an employee approaches Vern to say she has been called up for jury duty and needs to be away next week. What should Vern do?

He should establish, and then apply, policies for other situations requiring time off.

What is most likely a consequence of paying most or all of a salesperson's compensation in the form of commissions?

It encourages the salesperson to focus on closing the sale.

Identify an advantage of having wide latitude in reducing a company workforce.

It gives employers the option of hiring for peak needs and laying off employees if needs decline.

What is an advantage of using a balanced scorecard approach?

It helps employees understand the organization's goals.

What is a characteristic of delayering?

It increases an organization's flexibility.

Which statement best describes a card-check provision?

It is an agreement that if a certain percentage of employees sign an authorization card, the employer will recognize their union representation.

What is a characteristic of a craft union?

It is often responsible for training members through apprenticeships.

What is a drawback of a minimum wage in terms of social policy?

It tends to be lower than the earnings required for a full-time worker to rise above the poverty level.

__________ rules require that employees who join the union remain members for a certain period of time but do not require a union membership.

Maintenance of membership

Identify the right statement regarding the effects of unions on company performance.

On average, union members receive higher wages and more generous benefits than nonunion workers.

Identify the accurate statement about employee benefits.

Paid vacation tends to be more generous in Western Europe than in the United States.

Which act requires companies with more 50 full-time employees to provide affordable health insurance or face a penalty?

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

__________ promote respect for past tradition and for fulfilling social obligations in the present.

Short-term orientations

Pickwick Production offered employees a defined-benefit retirement plan, in which retirees received benefits calculated on the basis of their age, earnings, and years of service. But the company didn't keep up with technology, and its earnings fell. When the stock market dipped, the company could no longer afford to keep paying for its retirement benefits. What protection will the retirees have in this situation?

The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation will provide them with a basic benefit.

During the grievance process, the union appeals a grievance to top line management and senior industrial relations staff. What step comes next?

The decision resulting from the appeal is put into writing.

What is a drawback of setting pay rates based strictly on a pay policy line?

The pay rates in the organization may not match the pay structure in the market.

What is an accurate description of right-to-work laws?

They are state laws that make union shops, maintenance of membership, and agency shops illegal.

Which statement is an accurate depiction of standard hour plans?

They encourage employees to work as fast as they can.

What should employees typically do to earn bonuses under the Scanlon plan?

They should keep labor costs to a minimum and produce as much as possible with that amount of labor.

A craft union's bargaining power depends greatly on the control it can exercise over the supply of its workers.

True

A merit pay incentive system is based on individual performance.

True

An employee stock ownership plan carries a significant risk for employees.

True

Assuming that the pay structure is well planned to support the organization's goals, the compa-ratios should be close to 1.

True

Compared with other countries, the United States allows employers much latitude in reducing their workforce.

True

Cooperation between labor and management may feature employee involvement in decision making and self-managing employer teams.

True

Employees and job applicants often have a poor idea of what benefits they have and what the market value of their benefits is.

True

Employees are most likely to benefit from a flexible spending account if they have predictable health care expenses, such as insurance premiums.

True

Hiring employees from outside the host country is an option many companies take when the local labor market does not offer enough qualified people.

True

If state laws specify different minimum wages than the federal wage level, employees are entitled to receive whichever rate is higher.

True

Merit pay is a system of linking pay increases to ratings on performance appraisals.

True

Most organizations use the balance sheet approach to determine the total amount of an expatriate compensation package.

True

The Scanlon plan of gainsharing gives employees a bonus if the ratio of labor costs to the sales value of production is below a set standard.

True

The amount of sick leave an employee receives is often based on his or her length of service with the organization.

True

The education and skill levels of a country's labor force play a role in the extent to which companies want to operate there.

True

The most important influence on international HRM is the culture of the country in which a facility is located.

True

The specific methods of performance management that work in one country may fail in another, while general principles of performance management may apply in most countries.

True

Which recent agreement was adopted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States to encourage trade between the three countries?

USMCA

The __________ requires employers to make jobs available to their workers when they return after fulfilling military duties for up to five years.

Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act

The National Labor Relations Board certifies a union as the exclusive representative of a group of employees when

a majority of workers vote in favor of a union.

According to the FLSA, which individual is most likely a nonexempt employee?

an hourly paid production line employee

The four components of a total pay package are base salary, tax equalization allowance, __________, and allowances to make a foreign assignment more attractive.

benefits

To help Kyle, an expatriate, prepare for his eventual return home, his employer sends him information that will help him recognize the changes that have been happening at home. What type of repatriation support is this?

communication

The National Labor Relations Board has two major functions: one is to prevent unfair labor practices, and the other one is to

conduct and certify representation elections.

When an expatriate is sent on a foreign assignment and begins experiencing feelings of isolation, criticism, stereotyping, and even hostility, this person is said to be experiencing

culture shock.

Under a 401(k) plan, the __________ is responsible for choosing specific investments.

employee

Employee participation in pay-related decisions can be part of a general move toward

employee empowerment.

What is the term for an arrangement in which the organization distributes shares of stock to all its employees by placing it in a trust?

employee stock ownership plan

A standard hour incentive plan is likely to be successful if

employees want the extra money more than they want to work at a pace that feels comfortable.

Which employees are excluded by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from participating in organizing activities?

employees who are independent contractors

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) helps

employers prepare for changes in the demands of the labor market.

What is a legal standard that must be adhered to when a company offers early-retirement incentives?

ensuring there is no coercion used to force employees to retire

According to __________ theory, people measure outcomes such as pay in terms of their inputs.

equity

Parul was working at Walmart when she found out that Maia was making more for the same job at Target. She went to her manager and demanded a raise. This demonstrates how __________ equity impacts a person's feelings about pay equity.

external

Strikes are illegal in most states for which class of workers?

federal and state workers

Developed in the 1930s, the Scanlon plan is a variation of a(n)

gainsharing plan.

A feature of an effective incentive pay plan is that it should

have performance measures linked to the organization's goals.

Which action related to employee benefits can give employers an advantage in the labor market?

helping employees understand the value of their benefits

What is the best way for an internationally expanding organization to gain expertise in a host country's legal requirements?

hire one or more host-country nationals

A pay structure specifically designed to energize, direct, or control employees' behavior is known as

incentive pay.

What is considered an unfair labor practice by unions under the Taft-Hartley Act?

insisting on provisions that the employer may hire only workers who are union members

Which elements establish an organization's pay structure?

job structure and pay level

Organizations that are formed in order to represent their members' interests while dealing with employers are known as

labor unions.

Research on the effects of two-tier wage plans found that

lower-paid employees were more satisfied on average than higher-paid employees.

Which type of incentive plans are used to reward individual performance?

merit pay

A difference between an industrial union and a craft union is that only an industrial union

organizes as many employees in as wide a range of skills as possible.

A floating holiday refers to

paid holidays that vary from year to year.

Which strategy can be legally adopted by organizations looking to restructure the workforce to minimize the expense of benefits?

paying existing workers overtime instead of adding employees

Which incentive plan would enable employees to think like owners, taking a broad view of what they need to do in order to make the organization more effective?

profit sharing

The link between employees' performance and pay is hardest to establish in

stock ownership plans.

Collective bargaining differs from one situation to another in terms of the range of employees and employers covered by the contract—in other words, the bargaining

structure

Every employee at Kline Engineering received a check for $1,500 at the end of the year to thank them for their efforts in reducing overhead costs by 25%. Which type of incentive pay does this represent?

team awards

Which law permits states to pass right-to-work laws?

the Taft-Hartley Act

Identify the right of employees that is covered under the Taft-Hartley Act.

the right to choose whether they join a union or other group

Which term accurately describes Melanie, who was born in the United States and is currently working in Italy for a company headquartered in China?

third-country national

Most organizations offer __________ to encourage learning and attract employees who wish to develop their knowledge and skills.

tuition reimbursement programs

Communication and __________ are the activities used by companies in the process of helping employees repatriate.

validation

Which activity involves giving the expatriate recognition for the overseas service when the person returns home?

validation