HRM Final
B
An example of a typical compensable factor is: A. social status. B. working conditions. C. longevity. D. gender.
False
Deming argues for the use of merit pay in increasing organization performance levels.
True
Despite passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the United States still offers significantly less unpaid leave than most Western European countries.
True
Employees are HRM customers because the rewards they receive from the employment relationship are determined by the HRM department.
True
Ensuring that the HRM systems enable the business to execute its strategy is one of the responsibilities of field generalists.
True
Essentially, labor-market competition is the amount an organization must pay to compete against other companies that hire similar types of employees.
True
Management's adoption of union avoidance strategies has increased significantly during the last 20 or 30 years.
False
Market rates are used in the pay policy line approach, but not in the market survey data approach.
True
New technologies are current applications of knowledge, procedures, and equipment that have not been used previously.
False
New technology, rather than downsizing, restructuring, and reengineering, has been credited for improvements in productivity.
False
Nonkey, or benchmark, jobs have relatively stable content and are common to many organizations.
False
Research on the different types of wellness centers shows the cost of health education programs to be significantly more than those associated with fitness facility programs or follow-up models, but that follow-up models are the least effective of the three in reducing risk factors.
True
Research suggests that the use of pay-for-performance plans among top- and middle-level managers result in increased levels of profitability.
C
The cost-benefit approach called utility analysis is likely to include all but one of the following. A. Turnover costs B. Absenteeism C. Capitalization of salaries D. Job performance
True
The equity theory suggests that people often evaluate their situations by comparing them with those of other people (TF)
B
Which of the following is a possible disadvantage of delayering and banding? A. They do not work for a small sample of jobs. B. There is a reduced opportunity for promotion. C. They do not permit the organization to reward employees for learning. D. The lesser spread does not allow managers to recognize high performers.
B
Which of the following is an example of an indirect payment? A. Wages B. Health insurance C. Bonuses D. Salaries
B
Which of the following is not a pay-setting approach to developing pay structure? A. Market survey data B. Pay remuneration C. Pay policy line D. Pay grades
True
Employee relations fall into the traditional category of HRM activities.
False
Pay and benefits are examples of intrinsic rewards.
True
Pay plans are typically used to energize, direct, or control employee behavior.
C
Competency-based pay is generally directed toward: A. nonexempt employees. B. international employees. C. exempt employees. D. unionized employees.
True
Social Security retirement benefits are no longer subject to an earnings test once retirement age is reached.
False
The basic process of building HR strategy starts with scanning the internal environment.
False
Workers' compensation laws operate under the principle of employee-fault liability, meaning that an employee must establish gross negligence by the employer.
A
Consider the same two jobs in two different organizations. In Organization 1, jobs A and B are paid an annual average compensation of $30,000 and $50,000, respectively. In Organization 2, the pay rates are $25,000 and $55,000, respectively. Which of the following is true? A. Organizations 1 and 2 have the same pay level B. Organizations 1 and 2 have the same job structures C. Organizations 1 and 2 have the same individual pay rates D. Organizations 1 and 2 use incentive pay systems
B
Implications of the equity theory for managing employee compensation include all but one of the following. Name the exception. A. Employees evaluate their pay by comparing it with what others get paid. B. Employees look at the intrinsic aspect of their work when making pay evaluations. C. Employees work attitudes and behaviors are influenced by their pay comparisons. D. Employee perceptions are what determine their pay evaluations.
C
In a recent research study, more effective communication of the reasons for an organization's pay-cuts had: A. little effect on employees' attitudes and behaviors. B. a negative effect on employee retention rates. C. a large effect on reducing employee theft rates. D. no effect on employees' perceived equity of pay.
B
In developing a job evaluation system, compensable factors: A. are generally statistically derived. B. are the characteristics of jobs that a firm values and chooses to pay for. C. usually vary significantly across job-evaluation systems. D. describe all aspects of the jobs being evaluated.
True
In keeping with the total quality management philosophy, HR executives have moved to customer orientation in implementing the function's activities.
False
In strategically designed HR structures, centers for expertise ensure that transactional activities are delivered throughout the organization.
True
In terms of cost control, the larger the cost of a benefit category, the greater the opportunity for savings.
True
In the event severe financial difficulties force a company to terminate or reduce employee pension and health-care benefits, the PBGC provides some protection, but not necessarily full replacement.
False
Incentive pay refers to linking annual pay increases to performance appraisal ratings.
B
Increasing immigrant population is one of the functions of this stage in HR strategy process. A. Identifying people issues B. Scanning the external environment C. Developing the HR strategy D. Identifying strategic business issues
False
Individual incentive pay plans are more commonly found in organizations than are merit pay plans.
False
Industrial unions often are responsible for training their members through apprenticeships.
False
Internal equity pay comparisons focus on what employees in other organizations are paid for doing thee same general job.
True
Merit increase grids display an organization's policies for linking the size and frequency of pay increases to an individual's performance rating and position within the pay range.
False
Organizations have a very low degree of discretion in deciding how to pay employees.
False
Outsourcing is usually done for one of two reasons: To provide the service more cheaply than it would cost to do it internally, or to limit competition.
False
Part-time employees receive about the same benefits as full-time employees when adjusted for hours worked.
False
Passage of the Americans with Disability Act, along with workplace redesign and training, has resulted in a dramatic lowering of workers' compensation costs to U.S. employers.
D
Pay grades are desirable pay structures when: A. there are only a few jobs in the organization. B. there are broad distinctions between jobs within a pay grade. C. there is concern about overpaying some jobs. D. an organization desires greater flexibility in moving employees.
B
Research on the effects of two-tier wage plans has found that: A. lower-paid employees were less satisfied on average than higher-paid employees. B. those in the lower tier used lower comparison standards than those in the higher tier. C. lower-paid employees compared their pay to those in the higher tier. D. lower-paid employees expected over time to be promoted into the second tier.
B
Skill-based pay systems generally are not appropriate for organizations that: A. desire worker flexibility. B. rely on market-based rates. C. emphasize decentralization of decision making. D. desire a climate of learning.
False
The analytic approach to evaluating HR effectiveness focuses exclusively on estimating the financial costs and benefits resulting from HR practice.
C
The audit approach for evaluating the effectiveness of HR practices focuses on A. determining whether the HR program/practice has the intended effect. B. estimating the financial costs and benefits resulting from an HR practice. C. reviewing the various outcomes of the HR functional area. D. determining the dollar value of a program.
True
The audit approach to evaluating HR effectiveness focuses on reviewing the various outcomes of the HR functional areas.
A
The compa-ratio: A. measures the degree to which actual pay is consistent with pay policy. B. is defined as actual average pay for the grade divided by the minimum pay for the grade. C. can range from 0 to 100 percent. D. uses data from market pay surveys.
A
The cost-benefit analysis approach that estimates the financial impact on employee behavior is called A. utility analysis. B. valuation approach. C. human resource accounting. D. audit approach.
C
Compensation management could be improved in most organizations by: A. improving the technical merit of compensation decisions. B. developing better theoretical bases for pay decisions. C. increasing employee participation in compensation decision making. D. offering better justification for the selection of compensation programs.
True
The performance motivational effects of either profit sharing or gainsharing are likely to be greater in smaller firms or units than in larger organizations or units.
A
The problem with assessing effectiveness only from the _____ perspective is that often responses are based on individual perspectives rather than from the standpoint of what is good for the firm. A. employee B. stakeholder C. executive D. competitor
True
The role of a strategic advisor entails sharing the people expertise as part of the decision-making process, as well as shaping how the human capital of the firm fits into its strategy.
True
The two types of disability insurance are short-term disability plans and long-term disability plans.
B
This meets the needs of both the line managers and employees by giving employees opportunities to ensure that they increase their human capital. A. Selection systems B. Training and development systems C. Performance management systems D. Reward systems
False
Unlike a cash balance plan, with a 401(k), all the contributions come from the employer.
False
While the agency theory has value in the analysis and design of managerial compensation, it is not applicable to nonmanagerial compensation.
True
With the use of relational databases, the number of data fields that can be kept for any employee is limitless.
True
Benchmarking is a procedure in which a company compares its own practices against those of the competition.
False
One disadvantage of merit pay is its inability to define and reward a broad range of performance dimensions.
A
A broad band: A. is a combination of pay grades that reduces the number of levels in a pay structure. B. refers to the distance between the minimum and maximum pay rate in a pay grade. C. is the salary range attached to white-collar jobs. D. reduces flexibility in assigning merit increases.
True
A craft union's bargaining power depends greatly on the control it can exercise over the supply of its workers.
True
A critical factor in determining the success of a strike (actual or threatened) is the size of union membership.
False
A disadvantage of using pay grades is the increased administrative burden and costs.
C
A disadvantage of using the pay-setting approach that groups jobs into a smaller number of pay grades is that: A. it increases administrative burden. B. it permits less flexibility in moving employees from job to job. C. it results in some jobs being underpaid and others overpaid. D. it increases costs of surveying the market.
True
A major criticism of merit pay programs is that the differential in pay between high performers and mediocre, or even poor, performers is not significant enough to influence employee behavior or attitudes.
B
A market pay policy line: A. is developed using nonkey jobs. B. can be generated using a statistical procedure called regression analysis. C. requires market pay rate data on all jobs in the organization. D. is always expressed as a linear relationship between job evaluation points and pay rates.
True
A market pay survey is the major administrative tool that organizations use in choosing a pay level.
True
A market pay-policy line may be developed using job-evaluation data and market pay survey data.
D
A recent trend in HR that is consistent with a total quality management philosophy emphasizes A. efficiency in delivering programs. B. cost reduction of HR functions. C. functional approaches in delivering HR programs. D. a customer-oriented approach in delivering HR programs.
D
Both pay level and job structure are characteristics of organizations and reflect decisions about: A. human resource development. B. individual employees. C. organizational goals. D. jobs.
True
Clerical employees are more likely than managers to believe that better employees should get better pay increases.
True
Compensable factors are job characteristics that an organization values and chooses to pay for.
False
Compensation systems differ mainly in their impact on the valence of pay outcomes to employees.
True
Conceptually, a job structure can be defined as the relative pay of various jobs in the organization. (TF)
B
During the recent financial crisis, the U.S. government, as part of the _____, decided it was appropriate to further regulate executive pay in firms receiving government "bail out" money. A. NCUA Corporate Stabilization Program B. Troubled Asset Relief Program C. Equal Pay Act D. Civil Rights Act
True
E-HRM and B2E capabilities have allowed the focus of HRM functions to move from transactional to transformational concerns and activities.
True
ERISA requires covered organizations to establish employee pension plans and to describe the plan's funding, eligibility requirements, and risks.
True
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) can carry significant investment risks for employees.
True
Employee involvement in the design and implementation of pay policies has been linked to higher pay satisfaction and job satisfaction.
False
Federal, state, and local government employees are covered by the Old Age, Survivors, Disability, and Health Insurance (OASDHI) program.
False
Fewer HR activities are being outsourced today than in past years.
True
Flexible benefit plans (also known as cafeteria-style plans) permit employees to choose the types and amounts of benefits they want for themselves.
False
From a reinforcement theory standpoint, the performance motivation of stock option plans is particularly high.
False
Gainsharing plans, like the Scanlon plan, and other pay-for-performance plans include monetary awards only.
True
Group incentive pay plans tend to use a broader range of performance measures than do individual-oriented plans.
A
HR and line executives' evaluations of the effectiveness of HRM roles showed A. higher evaluations on the part of HR executives than line executives across all HRM roles. B. higher evaluations on the part of line executives than HR executives across all HRM roles. C. general agreement on the part of both parties across all HRM roles. D. general agreement on providing HR services and change consulting, but differences on the roles of business partner, developing the organization, and tailoring practices to the strategy.
True
HRM function effectively consists of three divisions: the centers for expertise, the field generalists, and the service center.
B
Identify the example of utility analysis from the following. A. Capitalization of salary B. Gains from selection programs C. Returns on human assets and human investments D. Net present value of expected wage payments
True
In 1929, benefits added up to an average of only three percent to every dollar of payroll.
True
In contrast to unemployment insurance benefits, workers' compensation disability benefits are tax-free
True
Job analysis provides basic descriptive information on job attributes, and the job evaluation process assigns values to these compensable factors.
False
Job evaluation can be defined as the relative worth of various jobs in the organization based on internal comparisons.
D
Key, or benchmark, jobs have all of the following characteristics except: A. relatively stable content. B. are common to many organizations. C. are jobs on which it is possible to obtain market pay survey data. D. have many incumbents within the organization.
C
Knowledge management, management development, cultural change, and strategic redirection and renewal represent which type of HR activity? A. Transactional B. Transnational C. Transformational D. Traditional
True
One of the reasons for giving more responsibility to employees for retirement planning and other benefit decisions is to increase their awareness and understanding of such benefits.
True
One significant difference between gainsharing and profit-sharing plans is that gainsharing-plan payouts are generally distributed more frequently.
False
One solution to profit-sharing during a downturn is to design plans that have downside risk but not upside risk.
False
Private pension income represents the largest single component of an elderly person's overall retirement income.
True
Product-market comparisons that focus on labor costs deserve greater weight when labor costs represent a large share of total costs.
False
Product-market competition places a lower bound on labor costs and compensation.
False
Reengineering involves incremental, ongoing changes and redesign to make work processes more cost efficient.
False
Research clearly shows that current employees, unlike job applicants, have a good idea of what benefits are in place and the cost or market value of these benefits.
False
Surveys indicate that pension programs are the most important benefit to the average person.
True
Technology enables closer monitoring of employees' work.
False
The U.S. is more unionized (as a percent of its workforce) than any other industrialized country.
D
The _____ approach focuses on either: (1) determining whether the introduction of a program or practice has the intended effect, or (2) estimating the financial costs and benefits resulting from an HRM practice. A. wellness B. audit C. cost-benefit D. analytic
False
The main purpose of imaging is to scan and print documents to be placed in applicants' files.
True
The major benefit of collective bargaining to society is thought to be the institutionalization of industrial conflict so that it is resolved in the least costly way possible.
False
The matters of the price of products sold by the firm, hours of employment, management compensation structure, wages, conditions of employment, and Human Resource strategy are referred to as mandatory subjects of bargaining and are part of a collectively bargained agreement.
True
The most widely used job evaluation technique is the point-factor system.
C
The nuts and bolts of HRM are A. transactional activities. B. transformational activities. C. traditional activities. D. training activities.
True
To control health-care costs, employers have been increasingly shifting costs to employees through the use of deductibles, coinsurance, exclusions and limitations, and maximum benefits.
C
Top executive pay in the United States: A. is not questioned by American citizens. B. is justified because of the high pay of many athletes/entertainers. C. is the highest in the world. D. is lesser when compared to other more developed countries.
False
Transactional, rather than either traditional or transformational, activities provide the greatest strategic value to a firm.
A
Transformational activities A. include knowledge management, cultural change, and strategic renewal. B. are low in their strategic value. C. are the nuts and bolts of HRM. D. often form the practices and systems to ensure strategy execution.
False
U.S. workers are significantly more likely to be covered by defined benefit plans than Japanese or German workers.
False
Unemployment benefits are typically about 50 percent of an eligible individual's previous earnings and last for 52 weeks.
C
Weighting factors based on expert judgment refers to: A. pay policy weights. B. empirical weights. C. a priori weights. D. ex post weights.
A
_____ HR functions begin with an assessment of what HR is doing, then identify the major people outcomes they should focus on. A. Business-linked B. HR-focused C. People-linked D. Business-driven
D
_____ is reducing the number of job levels to achieve more flexibility in job assignments and in assigning merit increases. A. Remunerating B. Reorganization C. Downsizing D. Delayering
B
_____ refers to the relative pay of different jobs and how much they are paid. A. Equity structure B. Pay structure C. Task structure D. Job structure
C
_____ refers to the relative pay of jobs in an organization. A. Pay structure B. Equity structure C. Job structure D. Task structure
B
_____ systems meet the needs of both line managers and employees by ensuring that employees are constantly increasing their human capital and thus providing increased value to the company. A. Compensation B. Training and development C. Recruiting D. Screening
A
comparisons may be more important when attracting and retaining qualified employees is difficult, and when the costs of recruiting replacements is high. A. Labor market B. International C. Product market D. Commodity market
C
pay comparisons focus on what employees within the same organization, but in different jobs, are paid. A. External equity B. Interior incentive C. Internal equity D. Exterior incentive
A
play the most crucial communication role because of their day-to-day interactions with employees. A. Managers B. Owners C. Subordinates D. Competitors
True
Service centers often leverage information technology to efficiently deliver employee services.
C
Skill-based and competency-based approaches have all but one of the following potential disadvantages. Name the exception. A. Increased bureaucracy B. The challenge an organization faces in terms of using new skills effectively C. Decreased worker flexibility D. Employees "topping out"
False
The federal tax code requires flexible spending account funds to be earmarked in advance and spent during the plan year, with any remaining funds reverting to the employee.
A
The first step to a customer orientation is A. identifying customers. B. identifying the needs of customers. C. developing technologies that serve customers. D. creating strategies that serve customers.
True
The four performance measures of a balanced scorecard include financial measures, customer measures, internal measures, and learning and growth measures.
True
The human resource accounting approach places a dollar value on human resources as if they were physical or financial resources.
C
The job evaluation process includes all of the following except: A. compensable factors. B. a weighting scheme. C. pay ranges. D. scores (ratings).
False
The unemployment insurance program is financed through federal and state taxes on both employees and employers.
True
The vesting of employer-funded pension benefits must take place under one of two schedules: five-year, 100%, or three- to seven-year period, with at least 20% vesting in the third year and each year thereafter.
True
There is no legal obligation for employers to offer private retirement plans, but most do.
False
There is strong research evidence that profit-sharing plans contribute to organizational performance.
A
What type of business is most likely to have a high revenue-to-labor-cost ratio? A. A capital-intensive business B. A newly formed business C. A labor-intensive business D. A diversified business
A
When using pay surveys to establish pay levels, all of the following are important activities except: A. include all jobs in an organization in the survey. B. include both labor market and product market competitors. C. decide if multiple surveys will be used. D. decide how to weigh and combine pay data.
D
are the different pay rates various employees may get for the same job. A. Wage differentials B. Key proximities C. Compensable factors D. Rate ranges
True
According to agency theory, risk aversion among agents makes outcome-oriented contracts less likely.
C
According to the efficiency wage theory, being a higher-pay employer is more beneficial when organizations: A. can easily monitor employee performance. B. are centralized. C. require highly skilled employees. D. have specialized work structures.
False
Activities focused on identifying workforce morale issues or concerns pertain to the leader of the HR function.
A
All of the following are counterproductive ways of restoring equity except: A. decreasing one's outcomes. B. reducing one's own inputs. C. leaving the situation that generates perceived inequity. D. refusing to cooperate with employees who are perceived as over rewarded.
A
All of the following are ways of enhancing the organization's competitive position in the product market except: A. staff expansion. B. wage and salary freezes. C. hiring freezes. D. sharing benefits costs with employees.
True
An employee's assessment of the fairness of his or her compensation based on the amount received is referred to as distributive fairness.
D
An example of a transformational activity is A. benefits administration. B. training. C. compensation. D. management development.
C
An example of cost-benefit analysis is A. customer satisfaction. B. a key indicator like turnover rate. C. human resource accounting. D. an HRM functional area like recruiting
D
As in other areas of human resource management, _____ are typically responsible for making policies work. A. top management teams B. team leaders C. consultants D. line managers
False
Attempting to estimate the financial impact of substance abuse is an example of human resource accounting.
C
Because the HR strategy seeks to address business issues, involving _____ can increase the quality of information from which the HR strategy is created. A. competitors B. suppliers C. line executives D. shareholders
B
Evaluation helps determine whether the HRM function is meeting its objectives and effectively using its budget. This refers to A. auditing. B. providing accountability. C. marketing the function. D. employee selection.
A
Pay rate range spreads: A. are usually larger at higher grade levels. B. represent the distance between the midpoint and the maximum pay rates in each grade. C. represent a measure of the range of pay rates paid across an entire organization. D. are usually largest for blue-collar jobs in unionized settings.
True
Unlike merit pay, individual incentive pay is not rolled into base pay.
D
Which HR strategy begins by identifying the major business needs and issues, considers how people fit in and what people outcomes are necessary, and builds HR systems focused on meeting those needs? A. HR-focused B. People-linked C. Business-linked D. Business-driven
B
Which of the following HR activities provides basic descriptive information on job attributes and the job itself? A. Market survey B. Job analysis C. Recruitment D. Strategic planning
C
Which of the following comparisons is not important when deciding how to combine and weigh pay survey data from product market competitors? A. The ratio of labor costs to total costs B. The elasticity of product demand C. The costs of recruiting replacements D. The elasticity of the supply of labor
D
Which of the following fall under the traditional activities of HRM? A. Benefits administration B. Employee Services C. Cultural change D. Performance management
D
Which of the following is a consequence of external equity perceptions in making pay level decisions? A. Transfer B. Promotion C. Cooperation among employees D. Attraction and retention of quality employees
D
Which of the following is a factor to consider in keeping many types of production in one's own country which has high labor costs rather than shifting to low labor cost countries? A. Relative labor costs are stable over time. B. The quality and productivity of national labor forces generally do not vary. C. Any consideration of where to locate production can be based on labor considerations alone. D. The combination of lower labor costs and higher productivity translates into lower unit labor costs.
D
Which of the following is not a recognized limitation of a job-based pay structure? A. It encourages a bureaucratic orientation due to its reliance on inflexible job descriptions. B. It reinforces top-down decision making and information flow. C. It may not reward desired behaviors, particularly in a rapidly changing environment. D. It is difficult to explain to employees.
C
Which of the following is not a true statement concerning product market competition? A. In the absence of clear evidence of on productivity differences, costs need to be closely monitored. B. Organizations compete on multiple dimensions (e.g., quality, service, and price). C. It is the degree to which an organization must pay to compete against other companies that hire similar employees. D. It places an upper bound on labor costs and compensation
B
Which of the following is not an HR strategy? A. Business-linked B. Technology-linked C. People-linked D. HR-focused
A
Which of the following statements pertains to the audit approach? A. Key indicators and customer satisfaction measures are important in this approach. B. This approach deals with the determination of the impact of the dollar value. C. It involves the use of statistics and finance and hence it is more demanding. D. It uses utility analysis to estimate the financial impact of the employee behavior.
D
Which of the following theories describes the conditions under which the benefits of higher pay outweigh the higher costs? A. Equity theory B. Expectancy theory C. Agency theory D. Efficiency wage theory
A
Which one of the following HR categories is lowest in its strategic value to the firm? A. Transactional B. Transnational C. Transformational D. Traditional
False
The reinforcement theory to compensation management suggests that managers pay at- or below-market wages.
False
Data-flow diagrams show the types of data used within a business function and the relationship among the different types of data.
False
Defined contribution retirement plans insulate employees from investment risks, which are instead borne by the company.
D
Which of the following is not a basic process for HR strategy? A. Scanning the external environment B. Identifying people issues C. Communicating HR strategy D. Identifying technology issues
A
Which pay-setting approach places the highest relative emphasis on external comparisons? A. Basing pay on market surveys that cover as many key jobs as possible. B. Deriving pay rates for all jobs based on the number of job evaluation points. C. Grouping jobs into a smaller number of pay grades. D. Basing pay on skills employees have acquired.