Management 3320 Chapter 5

When an organization attempts to forecast the supply of and demand for human resources, this is called

human resource planning

Refer to Scenario 5.1. The two top executives feel that newly hired astrophysicists will work independently, with little oversight or control by top management. The information would likely appear in the

job description

On the FBI's employment Page, you read: "To qualify as an FBI Special Agent, you must be a U.S. citizen, at least 23 and not more than 37 years old, have vision not worse than 20/40, pass a color vision and hearing test, have a valid driver's license, be in excellent physical condition, and possess a four-year college degree." What are you reading?

A job specification

What is involved in the Fleischman job analysis system of conducting work assessments?

A taxonomy of fifty-two abilities that effectively captures variations in job performance, which are rated by job incumbents

Which of the following would be included in a job specification for an administrative assistant?

Ability to use spreadsheets.

Which of the following is an accurate statement?

Job specifications indicate the knowledge and skills needed to perform work

Refer to Scenario 5.1. Which job analysis method BEST suits CyberRocket's needs?

Position Analysis Questionnaire

All of the following are reasons the average age of the U.S. workforce is gradually increasing EXCEPT

Retirees are going back to work because of the new healthcare program.

What is involved in the task analysis inventory method?

SMEs generating a list of tasks, and job incumbents evaluating each task on several dimensions

The critical incidents method relies on important behaviors that distinguish effective from ineffective performers.

TRUE

The differences in salaries and wage rates around the country is partly the result of differences in the cost of living, but they also are caused by different levels of competitiveness for talent in the market.

TRUE

When employment rates are quite high, there can be a general shortage of workers available for hire. This situation tends to be short-lived.

TRUE

Refer to Scenario 5.1. In this situation, who will be the BEST source of information for job analysis?

The SMEs

When being interviewed during the gathering of job analysis data, which type of individual may provide exaggerated information about a job's complexity or importance?

The job incumbent

Which of the following is NOT a common legal issue in job analysis and design?

The use of the job characteristics model of job design

The third step in job analysis involves

determining who is responsible for collecting data.

A national hotel chain established a plan that describes how top managers will be promoted throughout the organization over time. This is called

executive succession.

Organizations try to develop job ____ when planning for human resources, which are groups of jobs that are similar.

families

A small management-consulting firm experiences a tremendous boost in business in one year and must hire many new professional employees to provide services to its new customers. This business is likely following a ____ strategy.

growth

When an individual seeks additional training and education to improve her or his ability to find work, this is called:

human capital investment

A ____ provides an overview of the duties and tasks required to effectively perform a particular job or line of work.

job description

The prevailing wage rate for a given job in a given labor market is called the:

market wage rate

When Hank needed to write a job analysis for a court reporter, he used the O*NET online database. One section of the information stated, "Court reporters ask speakers to clarify statements, file a legible transcript of records, verify accurate transcripts, and record depositions." This information is part of the job's

tasks.

An organization will naturally experience a certain amount of attrition in its employee ranks each year. Some people will leave for each of the following reasons EXCEPT

too much job security

The percentage of ______ in the workforce is dropping.

whites

Refer to Scenario 5.1. The definition of the essential functions of the new jobs will be particularly helpful with which other aspect of human resource management?

Compliance with the ADA

______ are believed to be justified by the fact that the best employees are assumed to be more productive and that the added benefit will bind the employee more tightly to the firm, thus reducing turnover.

Efficiency wages

A popular alternative to terminations and layoffs, especially for managers, is firing.

FALSE

Executive succession involves systematically planning for future promotions into top management positions. This process is simplified by the fact that there are so few managers eligible for the positions.

FALSE

For planning purposes, organizations often try to form job centers -groups of jobs that have task and KSA requirements that are quite similar.

FALSE

Forecasting the future supply of human resources does not require an analysis of internal company records.

FALSE

Job specification is the process of gathering and organizing detailed information about various jobs within the organization so that managers can better understand the processes through which the jobs are performed most effectively.

FALSE

The creation of autonomous work teams has paralleled labor unions, so they are treated the same for legal purposes.

FALSE

The reduction strategy essentially maintains the status quo with regard to the number of individuals employed by a company.

FALSE

John, a job analyst, was asked to prepare an analysis of the KSAs necessary to be a waiter at a local restaurant. Which of the following would NOT appear in his analysis?

The waiter will have a comprehensive health coverage plan.

Which of the following would be included in a job description for a computer programmer?

Writing programs to run network processes on the mainframe

Anuj looks at a job analysis that reports scores on various items, organized into areas called "Information inputs," "Mental processes," "Relationships with other people," and so on. The scales tell how frequently those areas are used in the job, how important they are to the job, and other measures. Anuj is looking at a job analysis that was based on

a position analysis questionnaire.

After the Obama administration reduced NASA's budget, many highly trained scientists were unemployed in Florida. A business that relocated to Florida did so because of the availability of

human capital.

Which of the following would be a competency, as described in the text?

adaptablility

The ____ approach to job analysis requires the specification of effective and ineffective performance.

critical incidents

A ____ can often facilitate the forecasting of the supply of human resources.

human resource information system

The first step in job analysis involves

determining information needs.

The percentage of individuals looking for and available for work who are not currently employed is called the:

rate of unemployment

CyberRocket is a high-tech manufacturer with an exciting new product, the Astro-Cruiser, a virtual Ethernet connector for shuttles orbiting the Earth. This product will allow astronauts to cruise the Web while cruising in space. The product depends on vastly new technology requiring a technical knowledge of astrophysics. CyberRocket is planning to rapidly expand this business, but it first must analyze the jobs needed to produce the Astro-Cruiser. The job analysis should contain information about what the workers will do, rather than what is involved in the job. The company would like to identify only the essential functions of the jobs, leaving them more flexibility. Two top executives, the head of research and development and the head of production, are the only two individuals within the company who really understand the new product and what new knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees will be necessary to produce it.

scenario 5.1

Refer to Scenario 5.1. The job analysis information about what the new workers must be able to do, rather than about what the job entails, is likely to provide more information for job

specifications

A ______ strategy may be the easiest for the HR manager to implement because the organization presumably must do what it has been doing all along.

stability