MG-462 MIDTERM

Senior management at the TNS Corporation, a global food and beverage conglomerate, has been working through its strategic management process. It is not at the point where it needs to determine the ways it will attempt to fulfill its mission and achieve its long-term goals. This is an example of

strategic choice

Senior management at the TNS Corporation, a global food and beverage conglomerate, has been working through its strategic management process. It is not at the point where it needs to determine the ways it will attempt to fulfill its mission and achieve its long-term goals. This is an example of external analysis

strategic choice

Statistical planning models almost always need to be supplemented by

subjective judgments of experts.

Jean Dixon, a job analyst at the Martinsville Corporation was given the assignment to analyze the customer service representative job at the company. She is especially concerned about obtaining the most accurate information possible about the job. Based on this situation, which source of information will be the focus of Jean's job analysis?

supervisors

The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is

to focus attention on a problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus.

True or False: Image advertising is often effective because job applicants develop ideas about the general reputation of the firm and then this spills over to influence their expectations about the nature of specific jobs at the organization.

true

true or false: HR analysts at the Fullerton Corporation conducted an analysis that compared the proportion of workers who are members of protected subgroups with the proportion that each of those protected subgroups represents in the relevant labor market. This is referred to as a workforce utilization review.

true

When a company faces a shortage of employees in the workforce, and it predicts that current demand for products or services may not extend to the future, it will

try to garner more hours out of the existing labor force.

Which of the following is a person's capacity to understand and use written and spoken language?

verbal comprehension

In the face of demographic pressures dealing with an aging workforce, many employers try to use _________ among their older workers through early retirement incentive programs.

voluntary attrition

The vice president of HR at the Collins Corporation is seeking to hire a number of full-time recruiters for the company. In developing the criteria for evaluating job applicants for the recruiter job, which traits should the VP of HR include to ensure that the new recruiters are well received by applicants for jobs with the company?

warmth and informativeness

Which of the following human relations management (HRM) practices involves helping employees understand how their jobs contribute to the finished product?

work design

The _________ section in a position analysis questionnaire (PAQ) focuses on the physical activities, tools, and devices used by the worker to perform the job.

work output

A consumer electronics company needs to use a process that uses selection methods that will be able to predict job performance for many jobs in the company. Given this, which selection method should NOT be used in this situation?

work-sample tests

Which of the following correlation coefficients indicates a perfect negative relationship?

−1.0

The Occupational Safety and Health Act assigned the responsibility for inspecting employers, applying the standards, and levying fines to the

Department of Labor.

________ refers to the degree to which work units are grouped based on functional similarity or similarity of workflow.

Departmentalization

Which of the following was replaced by the Occupational Information Network (O*NET)?

Dictionary of Occupational Titles

_________ are people who apply for a vacancy without prompting from the organization.

Direct applicants

How does employees' use of mobile devices offer an advantage to companies?

Employees have access to work information at any time or location

_________ refers to the policies, practices, and systems that influence employees' behavior, attitudes, and performance.

Human resource management

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 is an advantage of relying on internal recruitment sources?

It generates a sample of applicants who are well known to the firm.

Which of the following is the accurate definition of workforce utilization review?

It is a comparison of the proportion of workers in protected subgroups with the proportion that each subgroup represents in the relevant labor market.

Which of the following is true of an action plan for training?

It is a written document that ensures training transfers to the job.

Which of the following is the definition of a leading indicator?

It is an objective measure that accurately predicts future labor demand.

_________, goals, external analysis, internal analysis, and strategic choices are the five major components of the strategy formulation process.

Mission

Is the argument that "call center" staffing is the only type of work being offshored valid?

No, because figures have shown that countries such as China and India are trying to climb the skill ladder of available work.

_________ is the process of getting information about how well each employee is carrying out his or her job-related tasks to reward those who are effective and improve the work of those who are ineffective.

Performance appraisal

_________ is a generic term used to refer to organizational decisions that affect the nature of the vacancies for which people are recruited

Personnel policies

_________ is what is left after a firm pays its variable costs and fixed costs.

Profit

_________ serve primarily the blue-collar labor market; _________ perform much the same service for the white-collar labor market.

Public employments agencies; private employments agencies

________ are people who are prompted to apply for a job by someone within the organization.

Referrals

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) enforces the

Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

External analysis and internal analysis combined constitute the

SWOT analysis.

The _________ imposes criminal penalties for corporate governing and accounting lapses.

Sarbanes—Oxley Act

True or False: The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is a quasi-judicial agency.

True

True or False: The more reliable, valid, and generalizable a selection method is, the more utility it will have.

True

True or False: The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is to focus attention on the problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus.

True

True or False: The three product lines of human resources (HR) as a business are administrative services and transactions, business partner services, and strategic partner roles.

True

True or False: Training is a planned effort by a company to facilitate the learning of job-related competencies, knowledge, skills, and behaviors by employees.

True

True or False: Workers with disabilities can be a source of competitive advantage.

True

true or false: One of the concerns regarding the use of drug tests in a workplace is the undue invasion of privacy.

True

________ is the process of analyzing the tasks necessary for the production of a product or service, and it is performed after allocating and assigning these tasks to a particular job category or person.

Workflow design

Which of the following major dimensions of HRM practices involves training employees to have the skills needed to perform their jobs?

acquiring and preparing human resources

Traditionally, the human relations management (HRM) department was primarily a(n)

administrative expert.

Which of the following is the lowest level of integration between the human resource management function and the strategic management function?

administrative linkage

The _________ specifies the list action steps that an employer plans to take to reduce underutilization of protected groups in the company

affirmative action plan

The _________ specifies the list action steps that an employer plans to take to reduce underutilization of protected groups in the company.

affirmative action plan

One of the objectives of management at the LMX Corporation is for the diversity program that it created to ensure fair treatment of all employees in the workplace regardless of their backgrounds. To do this, which method would be most appropriate?

alternative dispute resolution

Workflow design is the process of

analyzing the tasks necessary for the production of a product.

Linda Chu, an applicant for the HR rotational program at the CMX Corporation, has extensive previous work experience using business and HR analytics to drive improvements in organizational performance and results. Linda appears to possess a high level of which HR competency?

business acumen

Pay structure and benefits are a part of the _________ function of HR.

compensation

The steps in an effective onboarding process, from start to finish, are

compliance, clarification, culture, and connection.

The _________ is a measure of the degree to which two sets of numbers are related.

correlation coefficient

Companies engaged in a(n) _________ strategy require employees to have a high concern for quantity and a short-term focus.

cost

A person who is agreeable in nature will be

courteous and trusting.

Jacob is open to experiences if he is

curious and imaginative.

Distribution channels are an example of _________ capital.

customer

When considering a balanced scorecard that depicts a company from a(n) _________ perspective, the critical HR indicators are employee satisfaction with HR department services and employee perceptions of the company as an employer.

customer

A person who is conscientious will be

dependable, organized, persevering, thorough, and achievement-oriented.

The process that is used to develop a list of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities that a job entails is called a job:

description.

true or false: The utility of any given test generally increases as the selection ratio gets higher.

false

According to the Job Characteristics Model, _________ is the extent to which a person receives clear information about performance effectiveness from the work itself.

feedback

Which of the following is the process of defining the way work will be performed and the tasks that will be required in a given job?

job design

The factual or procedural information that is necessary for successfully performing a task is called:

knowledge.

The Washington Corporation, a traditional auto parts manufacturer with a current workforce of more than 70,000 employees, has a retired workforce of over 50,000 employees to which it must continue to pay generous retirement benefits. This has put the company at a severe competitive disadvantage against other companies that do not have this obligation. The retired individuals for this company are an example of a _________ workforce.

legacy

A critical aspect of the program implementation step of human resource planning is

making sure that some individual is held accountable for achieving the stated goals.

Which of the following dimensions of HRM practices involves ensuring that HRM practices comply with federal, state, and local laws?

managing the human resource environment

The _________ approach to job design has its roots in classical industrial engineering.

mechanistic

The perceptual-motor approach to job design focuses on:

mental capabilities and limitations.

Which of the following is a computer application that can be used to provide electronic information for trainees to help them to apply skills training and expert advice on the job?

performance support system

The _________ margin is calculated as the number of units sold times the contribution margin.

gross

The first step in task analysis is to

identify the jobs to be examined.

The last step in task analysis is to

identify the working conditions required for the tasks.

The final stage in workflow analysis is to identify the work _________ in the development of the work unit's product.

inputs

Which of the following linkages has its human resource management functions built right into the strategy formulation and implementation processes?

integrative linkage

An organization uses _________ to measure the quantity and quality of its resources.

internal analysis

Strategies focusing on market development, product development, innovation, or joint ventures make up the _________ strategy of an organization.

internal growth

Content validation

is performed by demonstrating that the questions or problems posed by a test are a representative sample of the kinds of situations or problems that occur on the job.

The U.S. president has the power to

propose bills that can become law, if passed by Congress.

Which of the following actions is most likely to enable organizations to increase the impact that recruiters have on those they recruit?

providing timely feedback

Which of the following personnel selection methods has low generalizability for all job types?

reference check

Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 granted individuals the

right to enter into and enforce a contract.

WMZ Manufacturing Corporation employs 2,000 production workers who help to assemble consumer electronics products. To maximize efficiency and minimize costs, the company has designed the production jobs so there is one best way to perform those jobs. This is an example of which approach to job design?

scientific management approach

The _________ process helps a firm to identify job applicants with the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics to help the firm achieve its goals.

selection

Ramon Hernandez, a software engineer with an electronic medical records software firm, feels that he has been discriminated against by his employer in terms of compensation and opportunities for advancement. Based on this situation, he must file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or a similar state agency within _________ days of the incident.

180

_________ is a wide variety of specific selection programs that employ multiple selection methods to rate either applicants or job incumbents on their managerial potential.

Assessment center

Which of the following is the biggest downside for large job sites?

Because of the sheer size of the website, there is a lack of differentiation between candidates listed on the site.

The _________ allows an individual filing a complaint to have a jury decide whether he or she may recover punitive damages (in addition to lost wages and benefits) for emotional injuries caused by discrimination.

Civil Rights Act of 1991

The _________ prohibits discrimination and mandates that employers take affirmative actions to hire qualified minority applicants.

Civil Rights Act of 1991

_________ assess main facets such as verbal comprehension, quantitative ability, and reasoning ability.

Cognitive ability tests

An employer and its union filed complaints to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regarding unfair labor practices. The NLRB ruled in favor of the union in this case. If the employer is dissatisfied with this outcome, it can take the case to the _________ for review

Court of Appeals

An employer and its union filed complaints to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regarding unfair labor practices. The NLRB ruled in favor of the union in this case. If the employer is dissatisfied with this outcome, it can take the case to the _________ for review.

Court of Appeals

You have been hired as a consultant by senior management at a large financial services company. Management has worked through the strategic management process in terms of formulating its strategies. As the company works into the strategic implementation stage of the strategic management process, what would you recommend to management in terms of an appropriate action?

Ensure that the company has skilled employees in place.

Which of the following is responsible for enforcing the Age Discrimination in Employment Act?

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

True or False: A disadvantage of distance learning is the high travel costs incurred during training.

False

True or False: A large-scale, independent review of validity studies suggests that paper-and-pencil honesty tests cannot predict both theft and other disruptive behaviors.

False

True or False: An employer administers a key personality test to all job applicants in the initial application process and then again at the final interview. It was found that scores on the personality test are very consistent with each other. This is an example of a selection test that meets the legality standard.

False

True or False: As per the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the burden of proof always lies with the person who faces discrimination.

False

True or False: Companies that are not diversified use objective measures of performance to evaluate managers.

False

True or False: Differentiation companies will have compensation systems that are geared toward internal rather than external equity.

False

True or False: Executive Order 11478 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin and applies only to federal contractors and subcontractors.

False

True or False: Executives who have extensive knowledge of the behaviors that lead to effective performance tend to focus on evaluating the objective performance results of their subordinate managers.

False

True or False: If an organization decides to compete on costs and hires low-cost labor, it needs to have a decentralized structure to enable autonomy in decision making by the workers.

False

True or False: In a prima facie disparate treatment case, the defendant in a disparate treatment case has the burden of proving that the plaintiff was wrong in suing him.

False

True or False: Newspaper ads generate the largest number of recruits, and many of these are qualified for the position.

False

True or False: Person analysis includes identifying the individual difference characteristics of trainees that need to be addressed in training employees to complete a task.

False

True or False: Research indicates that job applicants find companies with due process policies less attractive than companies with employment-at-will practices.

False

True or False: Senior management at the Victory Corporation, a manufacturer of educational toys and games, wants to pursue an overall cost leadership strategy by offering unique product features. This was a good decision by management.

False

True or False: The size of the sample on which a correlation is based has no role in achieving statistical significance.

False

True or False: The standard deviation rule uses the mode of the distribution to determine disparate impact.

False

true or false: Learning and development specialists at the FLX Corporation were designing a new training program on business analytics. They reached the point where they had selected the training methods for the program. The next step in the training design process is to ensure the transfer of training.

False

Which of the following statements is true of variable costs incurred by firms?

These costs change directly with the units produced.

Senior management at the RBZ Corporation, a manufacturer of advanced medical systems, has concluded that it is badly lagging its global competition in terms of efficiency, defect rates, costs, and the like. The company needs a comprehensive overhaul to what it does and how it does it in order to become a world-class competitor again. Based on this situation, the company should implement

Total Quality Management

A construction equipment manufacturer, Roswell Corporation, is focusing on becoming a leader in sustainability in terms of how it operates as a company. Because this is so central to the future of the company, HR has developed a series of planned opportunities to facilitate the learning of job-related knowledge, skills, and behavior by employees as they all relate to sustainability issues. This is an example of

Training

True or False: A struggling pharmaceutical company is pursuing a downsizing strategy to reduce costs and to become more lean and agile. The company developed a compensation program that tied an individual's compensation to the company's success in terms of key business results. This was an effective action for management to take in this situation.

True

True or False: As per the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, an "illegal act" occurs when a discriminatory compensation decision is adopted.

True

True or False: Big data used in evidence-based HR gathers information from many different sources.

True

True or False: HR specialists at the Americana Corporation worked to identify all of the necessary tasks that needed to be performed in various parts of the organization and then grouped tasks into clusters based on their similarity and relationships with each other. This is an example of job design

True

True or False: HR specialists at the Americana Corporation worked to identify all of the necessary tasks that needed to be performed in various parts of the organization and then grouped tasks into clusters based on their similarity and relationships with each other. This is an example of job design.

True

The warehouse operations jobs at a major big box retailer require workers to operate various machines to move around and organize merchandise. The machinery can be rather complex to operate so job design specialists analyzed the operational requirements of the machines, the warehouse environment, and worker characteristics to determine the best way for workers to perform their jobs effectively. This is an example of:

ergonomics

Senior management at the TRX Corporation conducted an environmental scan in an attempt to identify the strategic opportunities and threats it faces in its current situation. This is an example of a(n) ________ analysis.

external

Companies attempting to integrate vertically or horizontally or to diversify exhibit a(n) _________ strategy.

external growth

When it comes to examining and understanding skill levels for a particular job, _________ may be the best source.

external job analysts

Vanessa Jones, an African American chemical engineer, filed a racial discrimination suit against the PVM Corporation based on her not being offered a job for which she had applied. During the court hearing on the case, PVM management admitted that one of the selection tests it used may have discriminated against Vanessa, although it claimed they still would not have hired her even without her score on the selection test in question. This is an example of what type of illegal discrimination?

mixed-motive

Characteristics of a job vacancy are _________ recruiters or recruiting sources when it comes to predicting job choice

more important than

Characteristics of a job vacancy are _________ recruiters or recruiting sources when it comes to predicting job choice.

more important than

Management at Royalty Toys and Games wants to create a culture and work environment in which people can thrive and derive personal satisfaction and gratification from the products they develop working for the company. The company does this by giving workers a great deal of freedom to explore new and innovative ideas on a daily basis. This is an example of which approach to job design?

motivational approach

The training and development function of an HR department includes

orientation.

The best way to obtain a valid assessment of the Big Five Personality dimensions of job applicants as part of the selection process is to obtain the assessment from

other people who know the job applicants.

The most common source of error in the job analysis process results from job descriptions being

outdated.

Which of the following approaches to job design has roots in human-factors literature?

perceptual-motor approach

The job of sales representatives at ULTRACAR, a luxury car dealership, is unique in that sales representatives can handle all aspects of the sales process from showing vehicles to customers, agreeing on a selling price, arranging financing, and completing the final paperwork when the customer picks up the vehicle. According to the Job Characteristics Model, this is an example of a job that possesses high

task identity.

Safety engineers at the MFT Corporation are trying to understand why the company has experienced so many accidents and worker injuries in the past three years. These engineers deployed a rigorous methodology that helped them to determine which specific element of various jobs led to past accidents. This is an example of

technic of operations review

The strategic management decision-making process usually takes place at a firm's highest levels, with a firm's strategic planning group, which includes

the chief executive officer and the president.

Reliability is:

the degree to which a measure is free from random error.

Which of the following is a part of the U.S. government's executive branch?

the president