Exam Questions HR Mgmt Best Employees Nickels Ch.11 - Understanding Business 12e Complete Test Bank by William Nickels. DOCX document preview.
Understanding Business, 12e (Nickels)
Chapter 11 Human Resource Management: Finding and Keeping the Best Employees
1) Human resource management is the process of deciding the number and types of employees your business needs, and then recruiting, selecting, developing, motivating, evaluating, compensating, and scheduling employees to achieve organizational goals.
2) One reason human resource management has grown is that the shift from traditional manufacturing industries to service and high-tech manufacturing industries requires workers to have highly technical job skills.
3) Recruiting is relatively easy today because qualified labor is so plentiful.
4) Today, human resource management is viewed as a clerical function of keeping personnel records and processing payroll.
5) The human resource function has become so critical that it is now a concern of all managers.
6) The human resource manager's job is easier today than it was in the past because a growing percentage of the workforce is highly educated and well-prepared for jobs in the contemporary business environment.
7) The reason industries such as robotics and biotechnology have grown rapidly in recent years is that the United States has a surplus of highly educated and experienced workers available for employment in these fields.
8) One of the challenges facing today's human resource managers is a shift in the age distribution of the labor force, including aging baby boomers, many of whom are delaying retirement.
9) Today's workers have an increased demand for benefits tailored to their individual needs.
10) Today's workers place a lower priority on leisure time than they did in the past.
11) One challenge faced by today's human resource managers is the fact that workers overseas often work for lower wages and are subject to fewer laws and regulations.
12) Today's workers tend to be very loyal, as evidenced by declining turnover rates in most industries.
13) Underemployed workers present a challenge for human resources managers. These are people who are working beyond their capabilities.
14) The appropriate term for employees whose skills and knowledge go beyond their current work environment and work responsibilities is underemployed workers.
15) Very few experienced employees have skills and knowledge that are considered to be at a higher level than what they use at their jobs.
16) It is challenging for HR managers to deal with a declining economy that results in a short-term preference for part-time and/or temporary employees and a trend to outsource jobs, even though there are skilled employees who are willing to work.
17) The growing importance of human resource issues has led most firms to expect only their human resource specialists to tackle HR issues.
18) HR is focused on issues directly related to a person's job and with things that happen at work, as opposed to concerns that may affect one's work such as eldercare and childcare, but are not directly related to work.
19) Epic Electronics International is a rapidly growing firm specializing in the production of sophisticated robots. One of the major problems Epic Electronics is likely to face is a shortage of qualified workers.
20) A decade ago Simon had planned to retire by the time he was sixty. But he's now in his mid-60s and has decided to continue working. In fact, not only is Simon still working, he has no intention of retiring or setting a time when retirement might occur. Simon's decision to keep working into his sixties is unusual in today's labor market.
21) Sandra works as a manager in the accounting department for a service company. If her company is like most contemporary firms, Sandra will leave almost all aspects of human resource functions to specialists in the human resource department.
22) Jonas was a skilled welder at an auto plant. He lost his job and has been looking for work for several months. Jonas finally accepted a job as an unskilled laborer at a local nursery. Although happy to be back to work, he feels that his new job doesn't use his skills to their full potential. Jonas is an example of an underemployed worker.
23) In just one year, Cheryl developed gall bladder problems and needed surgery; she became a single parent; she willingly moved her older mom in to live with her in order to avoid placing her in a nursing home; and she unexpectedly tore her rotator cuff playing softball. Generally, these are not considered circumstances that impact job performance because they fall outside of the workplace. HR managers need only be concerned with how Cheryl performs when she is at work.
24) The federal government has minimized its role in human resource management.
25) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in hiring, firing, or compensation, based on race, religion, creed, sex, or national origin.
26) Congress has given the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission broad powers to issue guidelines for acceptable employer behavior concerning employment opportunities.
27) The effectiveness of the EEOC has been limited because Congress never gave it any authority to enforce its mandates.
28) Affirmative action programs are the least controversial method of correcting job inequities created by past discrimination.
29) Reverse discrimination is the term the EEOC uses to refer to activities designed to "right past wrongs" that resulted from discrimination against women and minorities.
30) The Civil Rights Act of 1991 gave victims of discrimination the right to seek punitive damages from the firms that discriminated against them.
31) Recent federal law clearly and strongly supports the notion that companies must use strict employment quotas to correct for past discriminatory actions.
32) The concept of "reasonable accommodations" means that all workers should be treated in the same manner.
33) Most firms have trouble implementing the structural changes required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
34) In their efforts to accommodate disabled workers, most firms experience difficulties with cultural changes, more so than with structural changes.
35) The Age Discrimination in Employment Act only prevents discrimination against employees who are over the age of 65.
36) The Age Discrimination in Employment Act permits age limits in professions where it can be established that ability to perform the job declines significantly with age.
37) One way human resource managers can keep current on human resource legislation and rulings is to read current business literature such as The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Business Week.
38) When it comes to human resource management issues, the federal government generally has taken a "hands off" approach since the early 1960s.
39) The Americans with Disabilities Act protects people who are born with physical disabilities, exclusively, but not those who acquire disabilities later in life.
40) The Americans with Disabilities Act protects qualified persons from discriminatory hiring practices, but does not require employers to provide suitable accommodations in the workplace, or opportunities for promotion. This is left to occupational safety laws.
41) Audrey is a manager who takes great pride in her ability to be fair and impartial. She ensures she treats all workers the same way, and evaluates them all using the same standards. Audrey is likely to adjust easily to accommodate disabled workers.
42) Archer, in his late fifties, loves his work as a pilot for a major airline and wants to continue working for many more years. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act provides Archer with the right to keep his job as long as his company is financially sound and he does not commit a felony.
43) Michael is a worker at a large discount retailer and his wife works at a national bank with several branches. They recently adopted a child and agreed that each would take six weeks of leave from work in order to care for the child. According to the Family and Medical Leave Act, one, but not both, are eligible for leave.
44) As soldiers returned from Afghanistan, International Enterprises hired several qualified soldiers with hearing impairment to work at its headquarters in Detroit. As a growing business, it is abiding by the law as currently stated. It is not required to adapt the work site to help these soldiers hear and communicate better with each other.
45) Marco and Maria work at a prevalent high-tech company. Marco sustained injuries while serving in the Army Reserves. Upon his return, the company provided him and other returning soldiers with ergonomic desks and chairs that accommodate wheelchairs and bad backs. Although Maria is hearing impaired, the company does not need to consider providing her with a headset that magnifies sound because she is the only employee out of 200 requiring this accommodation.
46) Serena is a recent HR hire for a security firm that hires retired law enforcement officers to provide security for malls across the nation. Her supervisor was impressed with Serena's knowledge of current laws with respect to hiring practices but asked her to quickly get up to speed on compensation and training laws. This is a reasonable request if Serena plans to stay in the HR field.
47) Like all management, human resource management begins with planning.
48) The first step in the human resource planning process is to prepare a job analysis for each available position within the firm.
49) One purpose of a human resource inventory is to determine whether the labor force is technically up-to-date and well trained.
50) The result of a job analysis is a written document called a human resource inventory.
51) When you collect information about a particular job title, including how the job is performed and what it takes to perform the job, you are conducting a job analysis.
52) A job analysis consists of creating two documents called a job inventory and a performance appraisal.
53) A job specification is a statement of the job itself, while a job description is a statement about the person who does the job.
54) A job specification identifies the minimum qualifications a person must have to fill a particular job.
55) A job description identifies and describes the type of person who should perform the job, including important qualifications such as deduction, skills, and experience.
56) Human resource planning involves the assessment of both the future demand and the future supply of the various types of labor needed by the organization.
57) The first four steps in human resource planning all lead to the final step, which is the development of a strategic human resource plan.
58) The second step in human resource planning consists of conducting job analyses. Through observation and research, the manager will collect information on the kinds of things that each job title performs and how they are performed, as well as the skill and knowledge requirements for doing the job.
59) Job analysis helps a manager answer the question: "How many workers in my organization have this particular skill?"
60) Essentially, the steps of the human resource plan require the HR professional to (1) take inventory of the type of workers (including the skills of the workers) that the business already has, in order to determine if it has the most up-to-date workforce for its needs; he/she then proceeds with (2) analyzing each job; (3) forecasting the firm's requirements for various job titles; and (4) making a determination of the future supply of skilled labor available to meet the demands of the business. Lastly, the HR professional (5) develops a human resource strategic plan.
61) Harmon, a human resource manager with the Bookman's Publishing, just finished creating a document that describes what editors do at their jobs. The study Harmon has completed is known as a human resource inventory.
62) Lorelai wants to know how many workers in her company have certain specialized skills and have received training to update their qualifications within the past year. She could use a human resource inventory to help her find this type of information.
63) Elisa, an HR manager for a medium-sized company, is assigned to update all job descriptions and job specifications for her company. Elisa will begin by collecting information about each job title, as well as about the kinds of activities and responsibilities that go with each job. After she thoroughly analyzes a job, she will write the job description and job specifications for that job.
64) Antonia is interested in transferring to a new position recently opened in her company. But first, she wants to find out more about the type of work and responsibilities involved in the job. A document that would have the information she wants is the job specification.
65) CareerBuilder.com has posted a variety of sales management positions. Some require the manager to have five to ten years of experience and preferably a master's degree in a field of science. These requirements are part of the job specification.
66) The Administrative Assistant II position at Game Guys, Inc., performs word processing and spreadsheet development for two vice presidents, and other clerical duties as needed. Other job responsibilities include maintaining the office operations budget, receiving guests, and supervising two Administrative Assistant I positions. These tasks are part of the job description for this position.
67) Anna is an HR manager for a firm that is planning to switch to a more sophisticated production method. One of Anna's duties will be to forecast the demand for the type of labor needed to implement the new method.
68) Recruitment is a set of activities undertaken for attracting qualified people, at the right time.
69) Because of the continuous flow of potential employees into the labor market, recruiting usually is the easiest task for a human resource manager to accomplish.
70) Union rules and company policies can make the recruitment process more difficult.
71) When recruiting, human resource managers must attract people who not only have the right skills, but also fit in with the corporate culture, and work well under the company's leadership style.
72) Small businesses usually find recruitment easier than large firms.
73) An advantage of hiring from within is that it improves employee morale.
74) External recruitment sources are usually cheaper to use than internal sources.
75) Transfers and promotions are internal sources used by human resource managers to fill recruiting needs.
76) Public and private employment agencies and college placement offices are internal sources used by human resource managers when they are recruiting employees.
77) When recruiting employees, human resource managers focus primarily on the skills and training of the people they are recruiting, and work on determining "fit" after the hiring process has occurred.
78) Advertisements in trade journals, private and public employment agencies, college placement offices, and trade associations are internal sources for recruitment.
79) Temporary help services, job fairs, and social media are external sources for recruitment.
80) According to the Need a Job? box in the text, one way to recruit employees is through social media.
81) Brad, the HR manager at a medium-sized corporation, understands the value of hiring from within to fill positions whenever possible. This means that he relies extensively on promotions, transfers, and recommendations from current employees to find qualified employees.
82) As the HR manager at a small business, Thomas handles most of his firm's recruiting efforts. Because Thomas recruits for a small business he has a distinct advantage over larger competitor firms when it comes to finding the right people to fill his firm's needs.
83) The Nutty Boys Nut Butter Company is about to diversify into an entirely new market—jellies and jams. This move will create the need for several new positions in the production and marketing departments. However, the production technologies and the marketing environment in this new market are very different than in Nutty Boys' traditional market. The company is likely to rely on external sources to fill many of the positions created by its diversification.
84) Selection is the process of gathering information and deciding who should be hired, under legal guidelines, for the best interests of the individual and the organization.
85) The cost of recruiting, processing, and training a new entry-level employee is significant, and sometimes exceeds the annual salary earned by the employee.
86) The amount most businesses spend on selecting and training workers is relatively low.
87) Because current legal guidelines limit the types of questions that can be asked, completed job application forms contain very little useful information about job candidates.
88) Job applications can ask about educational background and past job experience.
89) Staff members from the human resource department seldom take part in initial screening interviews, but often participate in the follow-up interviews of top job candidates.
90) During an interview, a manager should be careful not to ask the applicant about his or her family or other non-job-related questions, like child care plans.
91) Trial periods are an effective method of determining whether or not a candidate is of value to the company.
92) Most firms today are checking the backgrounds of job applicants more carefully than they did in the past.
93) Services now exist that allow firms to perform quick background checks of potential employees.
94) Employment tests should focus on general job skills rather than skills that are related directly to the job.
95) Though controversial, it is not uncommon for companies today to test their employees and job applicants for drug use.
96) Part-time workers, seasonal workers, and independent contractors are all examples of contingent workers.
97) The most common reason for hiring contingent workers is that they improve worker morale.
98) Though temporary workers are employed in most sectors of the economy, almost none have been hired to fill manufacturing jobs.
99) It is not unusual to find persons with a variety of skills and skill levels serving as contingent workers. Contingent workers in the U.S. are usually under 25 years of age and may include independent contractors, interns, and even college students who only want to work during the summer months.
100) All states in the U.S. require pre-employment physical exams for select groups of applicants.
101) The Adapting to Change box explains that your online profile on sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn will have little to do with whether or not you are selected for a job.
102) Jared is working in the HR department at a small company. Lately he has been designing a new job application form for his firm. The questions Jared includes on the new form should avoid broad questions about the applicant's beliefs, culture and family background. Instead, it should focus on factors such as the applicant's work experience, education, and career objectives.
103) Bryan is a HR manager and is very concerned about the high cost of labor turnover. A good way for his firm to eliminate high turnover costs is to establish a policy of hiring contingent workers.
104) An HR manager at a large company interviewed several candidates for a position opening soon. Based on her interviews, she believes one candidate looks particularly promising. She will recommend a second interview between this candidate and the manager who will supervise the new employee.
105) Precise Printers wants to expand its services into new markets, but to remain competitive it needs to keep its costs low. If it is like most firms, one way Precise can save a lot of money is by reducing the time and effort it devotes to the selection of employees.
106) Apples and Oranges Produce Company found it needs more workers during harvest times than at other times of the year. Hiring contingent workers could be an efficient way for Apples and Oranges to meet its temporary employment needs.
107) Employee training focuses on short-term skills, while employee development focuses on long-term abilities.
108) Besides increasing productivity, a good training program can increase a firm's retention rates.
109) A recent study has shown that the most effective way for most firms to improve worker productivity is to increase expenditures on machinery and equipment.
110) One purpose of employee orientation programs is to initiate new workers to the organization's policies, practices, and objectives.
111) Vestibule training is the most fundamental type of training available.
112) New technologies are assisting on-the-job training and creating more cost-effective methods, when the job requires more intricate skills.
113) On-the-job training is best suited for jobs that are easily learned or require the employee to perform repetitive physical tasks.
114) Over the next ten to fifteen years, most firms will discontinue apprenticeship programs as changes in technology make this type of training obsolete.
115) In recent years, firms have expanded off-the-job training to include personal development subjects such as time management, health and nutrition, and language.
116) Online training gives employers the ability to provide consistent content that is tailored to specific employee training needs.
117) Vestibule training attempts to precisely duplicate both the methods and conditions of a real world job.
118) Job simulation is used to train astronauts, airline pilots, and ship captains.
119) The strategy of giving managers assignments in a variety of departments in order to expose them to different functions is called apprenticeship training.
120) The process of training and educating employees to become good managers, and then monitoring the progress of their managerial skills over time, is called management simulation.
121) Most management training programs include methods such as on-the-job coaching, understudy positions, job rotation, and off-the-job courses and training.
122) Networking is the process of establishing and maintaining contacts and using those contacts to develop strong relationships that serve as informal development systems.
123) A mentor is a manager who supervises, coaches, and guides selected lower-level employees, and generally acts as their organizational sponsor.
124) Students can benefit from networking in college even before they take their first full-time job.
125) Women usually find it easier than men to obtain mentors and engage in networking.
126) Minority groups have made great strides in creating networking associations. For example, Black Enterprise Magazine sponsors networking forums.
127) The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that women cannot be barred from "men only" clubs, where business contacts are often made and business activity occurs.
128) Grooming women and minorities for management positions creates fewer hiring opportunities for white men.
129) Firms spend time and money to train new employees so that they will work productively over the short term. Development activities such as assigning mentors and creating networks have long-term implications for employees and firms.
130) Distance training is gaining in popularity among all firms because employees can log-on to company tutorials at a time convenient to them and acquire the same training information as everyone else.
131) While efforts to train and develop women and minority managers appeal to many firms on the basis of legal and moral considerations, from an economic standpoint, they are rarely cost effective.
132) Road Rovers School for Truck Drivers takes great pride in its training methods. Before its students are able to get on the road with a big rig, they are taught safe driving techniques with the help of sophisticated, computerized equipment that comes as close as possible to duplicating real driving conditions, right down to the sights, sounds, bumps and vibrations experienced on the road. Road Rovers is using a training method known as job replication.
133) Samuel is training to be an electrician by working alongside experienced electricians. After one more year of successful training, his union will classify Samuel as a journeyman. Samuel is participating in an apprenticeship program.
134) Troy is receiving training in maintaining and repairing assembly line robots at a school that uses equipment very similar to that used on his new job at Blast Off Technologies. His classroom training is called vestibule training.
135) Daisy just accepted a management position at the Ecologic Plant Life Corporation. In order to give her an appreciation of the different functional areas of her new company, she is required to spend six weeks in each of five different functional areas of the company, including production, research and development, accounting, marketing, and the HR management department. This type of training is known as contingency employment.
136) Colin is an assistant manager in his firm's credit department. He works closely with a more experienced manager to learn how to perform all of the functions involved in credit management. Colin believes he will soon be experienced enough to take over a senior position in his department. Colin has the benefit of serving as an understudy.
137) Tracy was brought on as a lower-level manager at Higdon and Associates. Shortly after starting, she was introduced to Clara and told that Clara would be her mentor. As a mentor, Clara will coach and guide Tracy, introduce her to the right people, and be her organizational sponsor.
138) Marcus's company sent him to Washington University for an intensive program of leadership and business communication training. Although expensive, the firm was committed to investing in the development of key employees for the purpose of retention and promotion. This type of managerial development is known as off-the-job courses and training.
139) A performance appraisal is an evaluation in which the performance level of employees is measured against established standards to make decisions about promotions, compensation, additional training, or firing.
140) The primary reason that companies do performance appraisals is to improve worker performance.
141) Establishing performance standards is a crucial step in the performance evaluation process.
142) Most experienced workers have a clear idea of what is expected of them even if managers do not communicate their expectations explicitly.
143) Because of legal implications, managers should not use the results of performance appraisals to make decisions about promotions and compensation.
144) Performance standards should be understandable, measurable, and reasonable.
145) A performance appraisal provides an opportunity for employees to make suggestions about how a particular task could be better performed.
146) The last step in the performance appraisal process is to discuss the results with the employee.
147) Performance appraisals are very useful for new, inexperienced workers and first-line managers, but have little value for top management.
148) Top-level managers can benefit from having their performance evaluated by subordinates.
149) An employment appraisal may include a 360-degree review, which is an appraisal that includes job-related and non-job-related comments from a range of employees.
150) A 360-degree review will include the opinions of an employee's subordinates, as well as those above him/her in the organization structure, and those who work alongside the employee in comparable positions.
151) The main reason firms conduct performance appraisals is to establish a formal record of job performance that will protect them from lawsuits filed by unhappy workers.
152) One drawback of performance appraisals is that they cannot be completed for top management because there is no one above this level of management to carry out and evaluate the results.
153) Even employees who work on a busy production floor need performance appraisals. If the manager cannot conduct a closed-door appraisal session, the supervisor should conduct these wherever he/she can find room.
154) Due to the secret nature of performance standards, employees are only permitted to review these standards at the time when they receive their appraisal.
155) After manager Donald set reasonable, understandable, and measurable performance standards, he communicated these standards clearly to all team members. Because of these efforts, he should be prepared for the next step in the appraisal process.
156) When she met with Rafi to discuss his performance appraisal, Cady noted that Rafi had difficulty with managing his time on certain projects. One drawback of a performance appraisal is that it does not allow for feedback during the evaluation process.
157) Eliza is an office manager at Bookman's Legal Services. The company's top management recently announced it was adopting a 360-degree review process as part of the performance appraisals of its office managers. Once this policy goes into effect, Eliza can expect her evaluations to include feedback from both the managers above her and the employees she supervises.
158) Companies compete with other firms for good employees.
159) Compensation is one of the main tools a firm uses in its efforts to attract qualified employees.
160) Airlines, hotels, hospitals, and many other service organizations are so labor intensive that the cost of labor is their primary cost of operations.
161) The long-term success of a firm often depends on its ability to control employee costs and optimize employee efficiency.
162) One objective of a carefully managed compensation and benefit program is to retain valued employees.
163) The Hay compensation method gives managers the flexibility to adjust pay for workers to reflect the value of their contribution to the firm.
164) Blue collar and clerical workers are normally paid a salary.
165) In an ongoing study, Jay Schuster concluded that the best way to compensate members of a team is to base each member's pay on her or his individual performance.
166) Skill-based pay is a method of compensating teams in which base pay is raised when team members learn and apply new skills.
167) An advantage of a skill-based system of pay for compensating teams is that such a system is easy to apply and manage.
168) Expenditures on fringe benefits have declined as a percentage of total payroll costs over the past several decades.
169) Fringe benefit payments account for more than 30 percent of payroll costs today.
170) Employees sometimes prefer increases in fringe benefits rather than increases in wages or salaries, because many fringe benefits are not subject to taxes.
171) On-site haircuts and free breakfasts are examples of soft benefits some firms provide for employees.
172) A fringe benefits plan that allows employees to choose the benefits they want up to a certain dollar amount is known as a soft benefit plan.
173) Many firms are now contracting with outside companies to administer their employee benefits plans.
174) One objective of a carefully managed compensation plan is to keep labor costs low. In order to achieve this objective, a firm should strive to keep wages, salaries, and benefits at or below the compensation levels of its competitors.
175) Recent trends suggest that the best way for firms to control labor costs is to focus on limiting the growth of wages and salaries rather than controlling fringe benefits.
176) The reason that companies use the gain-sharing pay system and the skill-based pay system to compensate teams of employees is that both are closely tied to profit performance.
177) Highly compensated executives sometimes prefer fringe benefits such as club memberships, company cars, and more vacation time, as opposed to higher salaries because most often these benefits are not taxable income.
178) Some firms have found that employees prefer cafeteria-style benefit plans. For these plans, the employees vote on the benefits that they prefer, and only those benefits receiving the highest votes are offered to employees.
179) Examples of soft benefits that a firm might offer are: onsite medical services and fitness centers.
180) According to the Reaching Beyond Our Borders box, human resource managers will be able to count on the superiority of American business practices as they help manage a global workforce.
181) According to the Reaching Beyond Our Borders box, companies must consider a number of compensation-related issues for employees who work abroad. These may include currency conversion issues, special concessions such as travel and housing allowances, differences in health care standards in different countries, and even vacation benefits.
182) As a salesman, Bryan's pay is based on a percentage of his total sales. This type of pay arrangement is known as a commission.
183) Pete joined Texas Technologies as a sales manager. Upon starting, part of his sign-on bonus included the opportunity to buy up to 500 shares of the company's publicly traded stock at $10 per share, during the first three months of employment. The stock was trading on the NASDAQ exchange for $22 per share. Pete's new company was offering a dividend reinvestment plan.
184) Employees at The Eastern Eagle newspaper are paid according to the Hay system. Ralph and Steve do the same type of work and report to the same supervisor. Ralph has worked at the newspaper for 14 years while this is Steve's third year. The supervisor believes Steve is the more enthusiastic and hard-working of the two. Under the Hay system, Steve will probably earn more than Ralph.
185) The Galloway Corporation is reorganizing to make more extensive use of teams. The company plans to continue paying its workers based on their individual performance. This approach is likely to maximize the success of the team by encouraging all team members to exert their best effort.
186) Employees at American Earners Credit Cards are criticizing the company's fringe benefits package because it forces all employees to accept the same benefits regardless of differences in their personal needs. In fact, they even offer some soft benefits such as an on-site day care that over 80% of the employees are too young or too old to use. American Earners should consider a cafeteria-style benefits plan.
187) Flextime plans are popular with employees because they allow them to work fewer hours while still earning the same income.
188) A common feature of flextime plans is the establishment of core times when all employees are expected to be at their job stations.
189) Flextime plans are particularly well suited for workers on an assembly line.
190) In a compressed workweek, employees work more hours each day, but work fewer days each week.
191) Almost 25 percent of U.S. workers now work from home at least one day a week.
192) Allowing employees to work from home can actually save employers money.
193) Job sharing has received a great deal of attention in recent years as more parents with small children prefer not to work full time.
194) Job sharing tends to increase absenteeism and tardiness, because part-time workers are not as dedicated and loyal as full-time workers.
195) A disadvantage of job sharing is that it requires a firm to hire, train, motivate, and supervise more employees.
196) Most companies that have tried job sharing have concluded that the extra cost of hiring and training additional workers outweigh its benefits.
197) Hot desking means sharing a desk with another employee.
198) Most employees who use flextime prefer to work independently of others. In order to accommodate this preference, businesses permit them to clock in and out as they wish, as long as they put in the necessary 40-hour work week. On some days, they may arrive at 6:00 a.m., while on other days they may decide to come in at noon.
199) Jules works for a company that allows her to choose when she begins and ends her workday, as long as she works a required number of hours and is at her desk at certain specified core times. Jules's company is using a compressed workweek plan.
200) Vanessa's company announced that it is going to implement a compressed workweek schedule. If Vanessa takes part in this plan, she will be allowed to work fewer hours each week, as long as she completes all assignments.
201) Bigbux Bank is preparing to introduce a job-sharing plan. Bigbux is likely to find that scheduling workers for peak periods will become easier as the result of this policy.
202) Managers at a local bank are discussing the absentee problems they are experiencing at their west-side location. Although the workers do a good job and serve customers well when they are on the job, they tend to report to work late at least two days each week, and often want to leave early. Job sharing might be a good staffing arrangement for the managers to consider.
203) The Leaves of Green restaurant chain does not permit employees at corporate headquarters to work flextime schedules. The CEO spoke with employees and explained that shift workers at the corporate-owned restaurants cannot reasonably work that way and in order to keep things fair, he prefers that the corporate employees work regular hours from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. or from 1:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., which is the other regular shift where they need staff. Workers at fast food operations do not have the opportunity for flextime schedules because they must be at work prior to the store's serving hours and usually after the store closes. They cannot plan their own schedule, but must comply with the hours that management needs help.
204) Morgner Communications, a company that provides phone, Internet, and cable services for residential customers, experienced poor customer service ratings with its overseas call center. After reading this chapter, you would suggest that Morgner implement U.S.-based call agents. This will cost them a little more in office space and benefits, but it will certainly increase its customers' perception of their service.
205) Internal promotions are a cost-effective way of filling positions within a firm because the employees filling the position are already familiar with the organization's culture and procedures.
206) Transferring an experienced worker to a new position at the same level within an organization can be an effective way to motivate the worker to remain with the company.
207) The employment at will doctrine maintained that a firm could only fire a worker if it could demonstrate just cause.
208) In recent years, many companies have avoided hiring permanent workers during periods of growth by using temporary employees and outsourcing some of their functions.
209) A golden handshake refers to the severance pay that is offered to a worker that is laid off when the firm downsizes.
210) Exit interviews by a third party can be an effective way for a firm to prevent future losses of valuable employees.
211) Recent court cases include drug-addicted employees who claim their addiction is an illness and, therefore, they are protected from wrongful discharge under the American with Disabilities Act.
212) The prevalence of flatter corporate structures in recent years has increased the number of workers that firms promote.
213) Management is turning to a strategy of offering more lateral transfers due to the fact that many companies are operating under a flatter organization structure.
214) The doctrine of employment at will means that employees must be allowed to keep their jobs as long as they are willing and able to perform their required duties. Under this doctrine, employers can only fire or lay off an employee if the firm is in serious financial difficulty or the employee is grossly incompetent or has committed a felony.
215) The golden handshake is a popular method of firing or dismissing senior members of your workforce.
216) Marketing manager Rob Ryan has worked for MedTech Pharmaceuticals for 39 years. He fondly remembers the "good old days" when he could fire a worker for just about any reason. He feels that today's laws and regulations limiting his ability to fire workers undermines his authority and forces him to keep employees that don't measure up to his standards. Rob's views suggest he would favor working in a state that implements the policy of employment at will.
217) Top managers at Unifaze Corporation have decided that the company must downsize, but are concerned about the effect the reduction in employment will have on the morale of the remaining employees. One way top management could keep morale from suffering would be to establish an early retirement program.
218) Meghan hired Trent right out of college. Trent had brought a lot to the position at the Outdoor Adventure Sporting Goods firm where Meghan served as Marketing Director over the baseball, basketball, and hockey lines. Yesterday, Trent submitted his resignation after only one year on the job, and disclosed that he is leaving sporting goods and taking a job in Canada where he will be marketing a hockey arena. Meghan is beside herself and has decided to personally conduct an exit interview. In evaluating this situation, you agree that Meghan is probably the best person to conduct this interview.
219) Barney's company creates promotional campaigns for other businesses. He just learned that the firm lost the Lisle Account, a long-standing customer. In the short term, this will significantly reduce the need for several creative writers and web content developers the company has on staff. As he prepares to call each employee in for dismissal, Barney reviews the best way to approach this inevitable task. He decides that it is best not to tarnish the image of the company so rather than tell each that they lost an important account, he will blame the need to reduce the workforce on new technology the firm is implementing and his personal evaluation of their work. He also plans to offer a two-month severance payment, as long as each signs a no-compete agreement good for one year. In that way, he may be able to call them back if new accounts emerge. All of these strategies are considered good procedures that would surely avoid "wrongful discharge lawsuits."
220) ________ is the process of evaluating human resource needs and then recruiting, selecting, developing, motivating, evaluating, compensating, and scheduling employees to achieve organizational goals.
A) Staffing
B) Performance evaluation and response
C) Human resource management
D) Job analysis
221) The ultimate resource of a firm is its
A) business plan.
B) marketing mix.
C) capital budget.
D) employees.
222) One of the key functions of human resource management is
A) departmentalizing.
B) recruiting.
C) budgeting.
D) auditing.
223) Today, human resource management has become so important that in many firms it has become
A) a function performed by managers in all areas of the organization.
B) the sole responsibility of the firm's legal staff.
C) a function handled only by specialists in the human resource department.
D) a function handled only by the firm's top management.
224) ________ workers have a higher skill level than their current job requires.
A) Structurally unemployed
B) Frictionally unemployed
C) Contingent
D) Underemployed
225) The changes in the American business system that have had the most dramatic impact on the workings of the free enterprise system are the changes in
A) the labor force.
B) technology.
C) financial regulations.
D) consumer behavior.
226) In coming years, high-tech growth areas such as computer technology, biotechnology, and robotics are likely to experience a
A) surplus of labor.
B) significant decline in market demand, leading to a stagnant labor market.
C) shortage of skilled labor.
D) stable equilibrium in the labor market.
227) Which of the following statements best describes the current view of the role of human resource management within a firm?
A) Human resource management is largely a clerical function that involves keeping records, processing payroll, and making sure that federal regulations are met.
B) Human resource management has become so complex that only highly trained specialists should make human resource decisions.
C) Human resource management functions have become so important that in many firms all managers now perform them.
D) Changes in technology have largely done away with the need for a separate human resource department.
228) Which of the following is a challenge that is facing the human resource managers of today?
A) too many unemployed scientists and computer engineers
B) an increasing number of Gen Yers in the workforce
C) a shift in employee attitudes toward work
D) an increased demand for uniformity in benefits offered to employees
229) Which of the following statements about human resource management opportunities and challenges is most accurate?
A) The age composition of the labor force is becoming younger.
B) Workers are becoming less loyal to their firms, resulting in higher turnover.
C) Workers are now demanding that more of their compensation be in wages and salaries and less in fringe benefits.
D) The number of workers who have received training in high-tech fields far exceeds the number of job openings in these areas.
230) Which of the following statements about human resource management opportunities and challenges is most accurate?
A) Shifts in the economy have led to a huge pool of skilled and unskilled workers from declining industries that are either unemployed or are underemployed.
B) Workers now would rather have more income rather than more leisure. Therefore, many employees now want to work more than 40 hours per week.
C) So many people have sought training in high-tech areas such as robotics and computers that there is likely to be a huge surplus of labor in high-tech industries.
D) Workers now desire more stability and predictability in their careers, so they now give their employers more loyalty and expect more loyalty from their employers in return.
231) Six years ago, Archie lost his job as a highly skilled craftsman at a metal working shop. Before accepting a job as a maintenance worker at a local community college, he searched for a job similar to his old trade for several months. While he is happy to have employment, he is frustrated that he had to settle for a job that did not take full advantage of his skills. Archie is a(n)
A) structurally unemployed worker.
B) semi-employed worker.
C) underemployed worker.
D) quasi-employed worker.
232) Rick is a human resource manager at a nonprofit. If Rick's organization is like most companies today, which of the following statements about his job is likely to be the most accurate?
A) Most of Rick's time will be devoted to clerical duties such as processing payroll checks and keeping employee files updated.
B) Rick's job will be simpler in the future than it was in the past, because the percentage of new workers entering the labor force who are poorly educated and unprepared for work is slowly but steadily declining.
C) Government laws and regulations concerning hiring, worker safety, pay, and unionization will make Rick's work complex and challenging.
D) Rick and his fellow human resource managers will be given complete responsibility for performing all human resource functions within the organization.
233) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
A) gives all citizens over the age of 18 the right to vote regardless of race, religion, sex, or creed.
B) prohibits firms from using employment testing as a means of selecting employees and determining which employees should be promoted.
C) requires all firms with over 100 employees to have an affirmative action plan.
D) prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, sex, creed, or national origin in matters such as hiring, firing, training, and compensation.
234) The ________ was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and has since become a formidable regulatory force in the administration of human resource management.
A) National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
B) AFL-CIO
C) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
D) Affirmative Action Transition Commission (AATC)
235) Probably the most controversial program enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission concerns
A) mandatory retirement.
B) affirmative action.
C) equal pay reporting.
D) green card requirements for illegal aliens.
236) The Civil Rights Act of 1991
A) declared affirmative action plans unconstitutional.
B) requires any firm with over 600 employees to file an annual report with the Department of Labor identifying the steps it has taken to eliminate discriminatory practices.
C) allows victims of discrimination to seek punitive damages.
D) is the first law to declare reverse discrimination illegal.
237) The ________ protects individuals over the age of 40 from discrimination based on age with respect to issues such as hiring, promotions, job benefits, and assignments.
A) Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
B) Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1998
C) Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
D) Employee Rights and Responsibilities Act of 1983
238) Employers must verify that employment candidates are eligible to work in the U.S. as mandated by the
A) Manpower Development and Training Act.
B) Civil Rights Act of 1991.
C) Immigration Reform and Control Act.
D) Occupational Safety and Health Act.
239) The Family and Medical Leave Act
A) provides paid leave for women who choose to stay home with newborn infants.
B) provides unpaid leave of up to 12 weeks for men and women for the birth or adoption of infants, or in the case where it is necessary to care for an immediate family member who may be ill.
C) provides unpaid leave of up to 6 weeks for couples (male or female) who have a new baby.
D) was recently eliminated by the Supreme Court due to an employment shortage.
240) An important U.S. government organization charged with setting human resource management guidelines is
A) the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
B) the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).
C) the WPA (Works Progress Administration).
D) the MPDA (Manpower Development Administration).
241) According to U.S. business law, accommodation means
A) treating all employees fairly.
B) making certain that if one employee gets medical leave during a fiscal year, that all other employees get an equal amount of leave during the year.
C) careful consideration before firing someone and hiring two younger persons to replace him/her.
D) providing services for employees according to their specific needs.
242) Recently, businesses have experienced debate over ________, the practice of discriminating against a dominant or majority group of persons. This situation occurs when businesses must adhere to employment laws that were designed to correct previous discrimination against minority groups.
A) affirmative control
B) affirmative action
C) forward discrimination
D) reverse discrimination
243) The Equal Employment Opportunity Act gave the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission the authority to
A) prevent firms from firing workers based on union affiliation.
B) issue guidelines for employer conduct in administering equal employment opportunity programs.
C) set salary schedules for protected groups.
D) require firms to pay women and minority workers more than white males for the same work.
244) If your company is selling its products or services to the U.S. government, you should study human resource law that pertains to
A) the Better Business Bureau in your local area of operation.
B) the limits that the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) places on the pollutants you can emit in your foreign factories.
C) the total number of employees you can hire.
D) nondiscrimination and affirmative action laws when doing business with the federal government.
245) Which of the following statements about how current HR law views disabilities is accurate?
A) The law varies depending upon how the employee acquired the disability.
B) Disabilities include diseases such as epilepsy, autism, and diabetes.
C) Disabilities refer to physical but not mental disorders.
D) Any disorder does not require the employee to adapt the work environment to accommodate the employee.
246) One of the most important responsibilities for professionals in the HR field is
A) understanding the ethical perspective of each employee.
B) filing employee medical claims.
C) to always "right past wrongs."
D) staying current with employment-related legislation.
247) Which of the following statements is the most accurate description of the impact the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) has had on businesses?
A) ADA has had no real impact, since most businesses have always been sensitive to the needs of disabled workers.
B) Most firms have found that the structural changes needed to comply with ADA requirements have been very difficult and expensive to implement.
C) Most firms are finding that some accommodations required by ADA are more difficult to implement than the structural changes.
D) Businesses have found that even with the changes required by ADA, disabled workers are simply not capable of handling most types of jobs.
248) Dan just lost his job. At 44-years-old, he worked as a middle manager at a well-known advertising firm for 14 years. Due to a significant loss of clients, the company had to downsize despite Dan being an exemplary employee and winning several awards. The company decided to let Dan go instead of another middle manager who was in a minority group. In a business setting, this occurrence is referred to as ________.
A) reverse discrimination.
B) forward discrimination.
C) affirmative action.
D) affirmative control.
249) Edie is coming up on her thirtieth year as a bus driver. Recently her company told her that she would be required to retire within the next two years because she had reached the age limit for mandatory retirement. Edie wants to fight this ruling based on a claim of age discrimination. Which of the following statements about this case is most accurate?
A) According to the Employment Rights and Responsibilities Act, Edie has every right to keep her job as long as she has not been convicted of a moving traffic violation while performing her job.
B) According to the Affirmative Action Enforcement Act, Edie has no right to keep her job, because she is not one of the groups that qualify for special protection.
C) According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, Edie may be able to keep her job, but the company can require her to pass an annual vision and hearing exam as a condition of continued employment.
D) According to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Edie can be required to retire at a certain age, because she is in an occupation where evidence exists that ability to perform the job diminishes significantly with age.
250) Laura Benitez was hired as a management trainee by Simulex Corporation through a special program designed to "right past wrongs" by giving females and minorities greater opportunities for employment and advancement. The program is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Laura was hired through a(n) ________ program.
A) discrimination alleviation
B) cultural diversity
C) positive response
D) affirmative action
251) During her annual review, Susan admitted to her supervisor that she is more productive in a quieter environment. The openness of her office setting and the recent increase in staff that came to her for training made it difficult for her to process as many insurance claims in one day as she had accomplished in the past. The supervisor agreed to move Susan's desk to the back of the office, and create a barrier with plants. The supervisor would take a more active role in training new employees, so they would not be coming to Susan with questions. In HR, we refer to this action as creating
A) accommodations.
B) barriers to entry.
C) job enlargement.
D) consideration.
252) In 2011, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act. What was the scope of the changes?
A) This law placed added emphasis on the hiring of employees with "visible" disabilities.
B) This law decreased the fine for businesses that do not employ disabled persons but followed through with a tax break for businesses who hire disabled citizens.
C) The amendment widened the scope of what disabilities are covered under the act.
D) In light of so many soldiers coming back from the war, the amendment re-focused disabilities to include only physical disabilities.
253) As new parents, Sean and Molly applied for family medical leave to care for their new infant son. According to U.S. law, Sean and Molly
A) are not paid during the 12-week period that each elects to take.
B) are each paid as a half-time employee during the 12-week leave period.
C) must each take the full amount of family medical leave time.
D) must both be employed in order to qualify for any family medical leave time.
254) The first step in the human resources planning process is to
A) prepare a forecast of human resource needs.
B) assess future labor demand.
C) prepare job specifications for each position within the organization.
D) prepare a human resource inventory.
255) The last step of the human resource planning system is to
A) publish a human resource inventory listing the names, ages, job titles, skills, and other pertinent information for all employees in the organization.
B) develop an affirmative action statement to explain how the company will meet federal government guidelines on hiring and promotions.
C) hold a general meeting to explain the impact of the plan to employees.
D) establish a strategic plan for recruiting, selecting, training, appraising, compensating, and scheduling the labor force.
256) A(n) ________ is prepared as part of the human resource planning process, and indicates the characteristics and qualifications of the organization's labor force, thus helping the firm determine whether its employees are technically up-to-date and adequately trained.
A) job analysis
B) performance appraisal
C) human resource inventory
D) organization chart
257) A ________ is a two-part process. One part explains what an employee would actually do at various jobs.
A) job analysis
B) performance appraisal
C) job assessment
D) job title review
258) A job analysis results in two written statements. They are
A) the human resource inventories and the affirmative action statement.
B) the labor supply assessment and the labor demand assessment.
C) the job description and the job specification.
D) the job title review and the performance appraisal.
259) A ________ is a statement that identifies the minimum qualifications required of a worker in order to perform a specific job.
A) job description
B) performance criteria review
C) human resource inventory
D) job specification
260) A job ________ is a statement that identifies the objectives of a job, the type of work to be done, the responsibilities and duties that are associated with the job, the working conditions, and the relationship of the job to other functions.
A) specification
B) description
C) evaluation
D) analysis
261) After preparing a job analysis, the next step in the human resource planning process is to
A) develop a human resource inventory.
B) assess future human resource demand.
C) develop a human resources budget.
D) establish a strategic plan.
262) The ________, which is developed from the previous four steps of the human resource planning process, addresses how the firm will accomplish a wide array of human resource functions such as recruiting, selecting, training and developing, appraising, compensating, and scheduling its employees.
A) strategic plan
B) tactical plan
C) job specification
D) Gantt chart
263) A human resource inventory is designed to reveal whether
A) all workers are paid a fair wage.
B) the firm has enough land and capital to use with its labor.
C) the firm's labor force is technically up-to-date and well trained.
D) worker morale is high or low.
264) As part of the HR planning process, the manager begins by assessing the current labor situation at the company. Essentially, this means
A) preparing job analyses.
B) preparing job descriptions.
C) preparing job specifications.
D) taking an inventory of current employees and their capabilities.
265) Which of the following is an essential element of a job description?
A) the minimum educational qualifications workers must have to fill the position
B) the responsibilities and working conditions
C) the skills required to hold the position
D) the age of the person that should hold the job
266) Which of the following statements identifies a key difference between a job description and a job specification?
A) A job description is concerned with the short-run objectives of a job, but a job specification is concerned with the job's long-run objectives.
B) A job description is based on a human resource inventory, while a job specification is the result of a performance appraisal.
C) A job description is a statement about the job, while a job specification is a statement about the person who does the job.
D) A job description is a brief summary of what a job involves, while a job specification is a detailed and technically complete statement of what a job involves.
267) When creating a job description, the HR manager may include
A) the minimum qualifications for the position.
B) the number of unpaid leave days the employee can take while at this position.
C) the specific responsibilities of the job.
D) a prediction of the number of similar positions that the company will need during the next two to five years.
268) The overall purpose of the five-step human resource planning process is to
A) protect the company from lawsuits from employees who claim discrimination.
B) develop a workforce that is better educated than the workforce of competitor firms.
C) eliminate needless job specifications.
D) determine the number and types of employees needed by the firm.
269) As Eddie scanned the employment opportunities on LinkedIn, he speculated that he might not qualify for some of the jobs. Eddie was concerned that his educational credentials and skills might not be compatible with the ________ for many of today's available jobs.
A) job analyses
B) job descriptions
C) job specifications
D) job data base
270) Matt is gathering information about the names, ages, education, specialized skills, and capabilities of all of his firm's employees. The information Matt is acquiring suggests he is working on a
A) performance evaluation.
B) human resource inventory.
C) job description.
D) Gantt chart.
271) Ernesto's business is growing at a steady rate, but he knew he can always do better! In order to capture more business, he would have to hire a few more sales professionals to sell into new markets. As he contemplated his staffing needs, his sister who worked in HR informed him that he needed to do a job analysis before hiring. Which of the following would be a logical part of a job analysis for a sales position?
A) asking the current sales reps to create a log of their daily and weekly activities
B) asking the HR specialist to create an online application for the position(s)
C) training new recruits
D) determining how many sales reps other companies typically have on staff
272) Daphne, an HR manager at Superior Senior Services, needs to know how many current employees have certain types of skills and training to perform new services the company wants to offer. A document that would help Daphne answer this question is the firm's
A) strategic plan.
B) human resource inventory.
C) organization chart.
D) social audit.
273) Epic Electronics requires all employees who work as research specialists in its electrical engineering department to have a minimum of a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering (BSEE). This educational requirement would most likely be stated in the job ________ for this position.
A) analysis
B) description
C) designation
D) specification
274) Eric is an HR manager at Communication Connections. Which of the following tasks would he perform as a part of the human resource planning process?
A) forecast future human resource requirements for his company
B) appraise the performance of individual workers at his company
C) establish the budget for the human resource department
D) interview potential workers
275) Paul believes that due to changing technology the minimum skill level that his company is requiring for technology-intensive jobs should be increased to include knowledge and experience in higher-level programming applications. These new requirements would be reflected in ________ for various jobs at his company.
A) the job description
B) the job specification
C) the human resource inventory
D) the job application
276) Davis is a project manager for a large construction company. Each day his job requires him to prepare detailed reports of the progress of current projects assigned to him. Since this responsibility is something that he does on a regular basis, the HR professional for his company would list it as part of the ________ for Davis's project management position.
A) job description
B) job specification
C) human resource inventory
D) job application
277) By doing a quick, one-minute search, an HR specialist determined who in her company knew programming language C++. The specialist used the company's database to retrieve the information; however, this information should also be part of the HR planning process, as found in
A) specific job descriptions.
B) the future labor supply assessment.
C) the human resource inventory.
D) the company training portfolio.
278) ________ is the set of activities for obtaining the right number of people at the right time in order to select those who best meet the needs of the organization.
A) Pre-selection
B) Recruitment
C) Networking
D) Preemptive hiring
279) GlassDoor and Indeed are examples of
A) web browsers.
B) career interest surveys.
C) online sites that firms can use to recruit employees.
D) magazines that list job opportunities by skills requirements and geographic location.
280) Promotions and transfers are ________ sources available to human resource managers in their recruiting efforts.
A) internal
B) external
C) passive
D) redundant
281) Advertisements, public and private employment agencies, and college placement bureaus are all ________ sources that human resource managers can use in the recruiting efforts.
A) secondary
B) passive
C) back-up
D) external
282) Which of the following strategies is used by a human resource manager to fill an open position from within the company?
A) advertise the opportunity for a promotion to current employees
B) seek the assistance of a public employment agencies
C) send the job opening to Monster.com
D) utilize the services of a private employment agency
283) Which of the following is an external recruitment source?
A) college placement bureaus
B) promotion of a current employee to a new position
C) transfer of an employee in from a different office
D) recommendations of employees
284) Which of the following reasons makes the recruiting job more challenging?
A) The current emphasis on scientific management requires very specific job specification.
B) Some organizations have policies that demand promotions from within that limit the pool of candidates.
C) Reverse discrimination is essential to be sure that the workforce is balanced.
D) There are far too many qualified candidates for each position, increasing the required paperwork.
285) It is sometimes advantageous to hire from within because it ________.
A) eliminates the need to meet affirmative action regulations.
B) ensures that the best qualified person gets the job.
C) is less costly, and helps maintain employee morale.
D) allows the firm to effectively use the "employment at will" strategy.
286) Which of the following statements about recruiting is most accurate?
A) It is important for a firm to recruit and hire people who are not only skilled but also fit in with the firm's culture and leadership style.
B) Recruiting internally will almost always result in better-qualified applicants than recruiting externally.
C) Small firms generally have a strong advantage when it comes to recruiting.
D) One advantage of using external sources when recruiting is that this approach tends to result in higher morale among the firm's existing employees.
287) According to the Need a Job? box, which of the following strategies can be used to get a new job?
A) Search social media.
B) Post your resume on a bulletin board at Panera.
C) Send your resume to various companies.
D) Cold call companies to check for employment opportunities.
288) Janie is an HR manager with Creative Kitchen Cooking Supplies. She needs to recruit sales professionals to fill several positions within her company. Janie is likely to rely on external recruiting sources if she
A) wants to eliminate the need to meet affirmative action regulations.
B) believes that Creative Kitchen current employees do not have the qualifications necessary to successfully fill the positions.
C) places a great deal of importance on maintaining high morale for current workers.
D) needs to keep the cost of her recruiting efforts to a minimum.
289) As a human resources professional for a large company, Tommy is involved with the ________ process. His goal is to find the right number of qualified people at the right time. He will screen a qualified pool of candidates and send these individuals forward to others in the firm who will make the final selection decision.
A) recruiting
B) human resource allocating
C) organizing
D) job orienteering
290) Marlon took a job with a company that strives to market several new consumer products each year. Prior to this position, he worked in a university research lab where he studied chemistry. He accepted the new position because the salary was significantly above what he previously made. Within a month at the new job, his manager began to have reservations about bringing him on board. Marlon seemed to prefer to work independently of others, and when he did interact with his new colleagues, he passed along subtle reminders of his extensive and superior academic credentials. From a recruitment standpoint, this situation serves as an indication of
A) the benefits of shaking things up a little at work.
B) the challenges of trying to convince long-term employees that they need to retrain and continue their education.
C) the benefit of external recruitment over internal recruitment, even though in the short run, it may be the more costly approach for the company.
D) the importance of finding talent that also fits well with the corporate culture.
291) When determining the human resources needs for a well-known engineering firm, the HR director realized that the company lacked engineers under the age of 30. The company could not afford to get caught short in this competitive business climate. An important recruitment strategy for the HR director's department was to start attending college fairs as well as considering hiring interns. We define his recruitment efforts as developing relationships with
A) external sources.
B) internal sources.
C) median sources.
D) civilian sources.
292) When managing your human resources, ________ is the process of deciding who should be hired, under legal guidelines, to serve the best interests of the individual and the organization.
A) interviewing
B) applicant analysis
C) performance appraisal
D) selection
293) The first step in the selection process is
A) obtaining complete application forms.
B) placing a help wanted ad.
C) the initial interview.
D) aptitude testing.
294) During the employee selection process, the screening interview is often conducted by
A) the current workers in the applicant's department.
B) a member of the human resources department staff.
C) a selection committee consisting of managers from all departments within the organization.
D) the company's affirmative action officer.
295) One of the main complaints made by critics of employment tests is that these tests
A) fail to take the interests and personalities of the test takers into account.
B) cannot measure basic competencies.
C) may discriminate against certain groups.
D) take so long to conduct and evaluate that they slow down the selection process.
296) A ________ is a check of a potential employee's work record, academic record, credit history, and recommendations.
A) personality profile
B) background investigation
C) fidelity appraisal
D) character review
297) As an important step in the human resource selection process, which of the following will expedite the process of conducting background investigations and promises to get suitable results?
A) Use hiring services such as GoodHire to conduct criminal checks and driving records.
B) Dedicate one human resource expert to making personal calls and doing all the background checks.
C) Minimize the types of questions the company asks at this juncture.
D) If there is a need to skip one of the selection process steps, most companies eliminate this one.
298) According to the American with Disabilities Act, which of the following is not an appropriate screening tool?
A) job related knowledge tests
B) personality tests
C) background investigations
D) medical exams
299) ________ workers do not have the expectation of regular, full-time employment.
A) Contingent
B) Apprenticed
C) Indentured
D) Underemployed
300) The selection process may include a(n) ________, where employment is only guaranteed for a specified period of time, until either a permanent offer is extended or the employee is discharged.
A) intern period
B) probationary period
C) contingent period
D) action pending period
301) Employment testing
A) was declared illegal by the EEOC in 1989, because it was often used to discriminate against women and minorities.
B) is legal, but is a very poor predictor of worker performance.
C) should be directly related to the job.
D) should focus on the most basic and general skills rather than on skills directly related to the job.
302) Pre-employment physical examinations are
A) an excellent way to screen out employees.
B) legal in some states, but only if given to everyone applying for the position.
C) illegal under current employment legislation in all 50 states.
D) legal in all states, but seldom used.
303) Which of the following statements about contingent workers is most accurate?
A) More than 75 percent of contingent workers are employed in office-clerical work.
B) The number of contingent workers in the U.S. has steadily declined over the past decade.
C) U.S. labor laws require firms to offer contingent employees the same wages and benefits as other employees performing similar work.
D) Companies will rely on contingent workers in an uncertain economy.
304) Which of the following is a valid statement about contingent workers?
A) Contingent workers are seldom skilled professionals.
B) By law, employers must provide contingent workers the same salary and benefits as permanent employees.
C) An increasing number of companies are hiring skilled professionals, such as accountants, as part of their contingent workforce.
D) By law, companies cannot hire contingent workers as part of the management team.
305) What is an advantage of hiring contingent workers?
A) These people are primarily over 45 years of age. They are more dependable.
B) When a company's work is very stable and steady, it is best to use contingent workers.
C) When the tasks are very narrow in scope and specialized, it is best to use contingent workers.
D) It is good strategy if the economic climate is uncertain.
306) Christy is a human resource manager currently involved in selecting employees. Which of the following activities is Christy most likely to be working on in her present assignment?
A) performing a job analysis
B) writing a help wanted ad
C) conducting an orientation program
D) completing a background investigation
307) Once the job description and job specifications were written for a new marketing assistant position in his department, Eric called his HR specialist to proceed with the next step in the process of making a successful hire. After providing a timeframe for qualified persons to apply for the job, the next step in the selection process is best described as
A) conducting background investigations.
B) obtaining results from physical exams.
C) conducting initial and follow-up interviews.
D) establishing trial and probationary periods.
308) Sarah is a human resource manager with Innovative Industries. Her current assignment is to revise and update Innovative's employment testing procedures. Sarah should
A) design tests that are directly related to an applicant's ability to perform the job.
B) write tests sufficiently difficult that only a small fraction of qualified workers can pass them.
C) design tests that measure general aptitudes rather than ability to do the job.
D) inform her superiors that such tests are now illegal.
309) Early Bird Enterprises conducts thorough background investigations of its prospective employees. The purpose of such investigations is to
A) meet federal reporting guidelines that require up-to-date work history for each candidate.
B) identify those applicants that are most likely to succeed.
C) implement the "employment at will" doctrine.
D) discover whether the employee has ever worked for a competitor.
310) Jefferson's Department Store typically sells over a third of all its merchandise in November and December. Management has found that it must hire ________ workers during this period of increased business to supplement its permanent employees.
A) nontenured
B) apprentice
C) contingent
D) journeymen
311) Which of the following workers would be the best example of a contingent worker?
A) an assembly-line worker who belongs to a union and has 17 years of seniority
B) an accountant hired to help during the busy tax season
C) an elementary school teacher who just received tenure
D) an electrical engineer who frequently travels out of the country to the various manufacturing facilities owned and operated by his firm
312) Karen relies on her summer income to pay for her next year of college. When she tried to get her old high school summer job back at local Contemporary Clothiers, she learned that the manager no longer hires college students during the summer months. Which of the following strategies do you recommend that Karen pursue?
A) Contact temporary staffing companies.
B) Realize that Contemporary Clothiers always needs more sales associates in the summer, and stay in contact with the management just in case.
C) Look for a permanent position, and quit as it gets closer to the time when you will return to school.
D) Seek the services of a resume consultant, and pay to access a variety of employment tests so that you are prepared when the next job opportunity arises.
313) In just a few short weeks, Jon would arrive back in the states after a semester abroad. He was already in a temp agency's database from the previous summer, when he spent 8 weeks working for an accounting firm. Jon will again try to hire on as a ________ during the summer months. The company that hired him last summer typically hires several college students each year, mainly because they have good computer skills, and the company does not need to offer college students benefits.
A) contingent worker
B) intermediate worker
C) primary worker
D) apprentice
314) The purpose of ________ is to increase an employee's ability to perform productively.
A) training and development
B) employment tests
C) contingency planning
D) job enrichment
315) Online training courses are sometimes also called
A) contingency training.
B) synchronized training.
C) distance training.
D) vestibule training.
316) The first step in establishing training and development programs is to
A) establish appropriate simulation parameters.
B) assess the needs of the organization and the skills of the employees.
C) conduct pre-employment tests.
D) start designing programs.
317) ________ introduces new employees to the organization, their fellow workers, their supervisors, and to the policies, practices, and objectives of the firm.
A) Vestibule training
B) Employee initiation
C) Employee orientation
D) Job specification
318) In a(n) ________ an inexperienced worker learns by working alongside an experienced employee to master the skills and procedures of a craft.
A) orientation period
B) simulation period
C) indentureship program
D) apprenticeship program
319) A worker who successfully completes an apprenticeship program earns the title
A) master craftsman.
B) journeyman.
C) senior artisan.
D) probationary craftsman.
320) ________ is the easiest kind of training to implement, when the job requires simple tasks and/or is repetitive.
A) Vestibule training
B) Job simulation
C) On-the-job training
D) An employee boot camp
321) Shadowing is another term used to refer to
A) job rotation.
B) vestibule training.
C) role playing.
D) on-the-job training.
322) Computer and robotics training is sometimes performed in a nearby classroom-type setting. We refer to this near-the-job-training as
A) vestibule training.
B) orienteering.
C) apprenticeship training.
D) mentoring.
323) ________ is a type of training that duplicates the exact combination of conditions that occur on the job.
A) Modular training
B) Job simulation
C) Dress rehearsal training
D) Performance feedback
324) Off-the-job training
A) is further development that occurs at the workplace, but after scheduled work hours.
B) focuses only on the skills needed to perform the job.
C) may include higher education.
D) is training that all employees should take, on their own, in order to stay competitive in their career field.
325) ________ is the process of training and educating employees to become good managers and then developing their managerial skills over time.
A) Management development
B) Vestibule training
C) Pre-mentoring
D) Self-actualization training
326) Corporate managers who supervise, coach, and guide lower-level employees and serve as their organizational sponsors are called
A) networkers.
B) role models.
C) mentors.
D) corporate guides.
327) ________ is the process of establishing and maintaining contacts with key managers in one's own organization and in other organizations, and using those contacts to establish strong relationships that serve as informal development systems.
A) Training and development
B) Social integration
C) Orienteering
D) Networking
328) A management training program that gives managers assignments in a variety of departments in order to expose them to different functions within the organization is called
A) job enlargement.
B) vestibule training.
C) job rotation.
D) an apprenticeship program.
329) Selected employees who work as assistants to higher-level managers and participate in managerial functions are given such titles as
A) second in command.
B) benefactor.
C) underwriter in process.
D) understudy.
330) Which of the following statements describes the relationship between employee training and employee development?
A) They are just two names for the same thing.
B) Training is short-term skills oriented while development is long-term career oriented.
C) Development is provided by the company and is designed to meet the specific needs of the organization, whereas training focuses on more general skills and normally is provided by schools, colleges, and institutions other than the employer.
D) Training focuses on conceptual skills while development seeks to improve technical skills.
331) A major purpose of employee orientation programs is to
A) initiate new employees to the organization, their fellow employees, and their immediate supervisors.
B) give experienced employees a chance to learn new skills.
C) test new employees to determine where they should be assigned.
D) help workers who have been laid off to find new jobs.
332) Job rotation helps lower-level managers prepare for higher-level positions by
A) letting them assume upper management positions for a limited time period.
B) exposing them to different functions within the organization, thus giving them the broad perspective needed by top managers.
C) helping them hone their highly specialized technical skills.
D) giving them the opportunity to learn about every aspect of work performed in their department by spending a day doing the job of each person within the department.
333) Women often have more trouble finding mentors than men because
A) women are less aware of the way to look for a mentor.
B) most successful women who could serve as mentors are so committed to family responsibilities that they do not have time to mentor other women.
C) most senior managers who could serve as mentors are male.
D) clubs and organizations where most mentoring takes place either exclude women or make it difficult for them to join.
334) With the advent of more sophisticated technology, employers who operate locally and globally and want all employees to receive the same training may opt for
A) apprenticeship programs.
B) mentorship programs.
C) job rotation programs.
D) online training programs.
335) Which of the following statements about networking is the most accurate?
A) White males are much more aware of the importance of networking than women and minorities.
B) Although African American and Hispanic managers are becoming aware of the importance of networking, there are no organizations available to help them make networking connections.
C) Women have more difficulty forming networks than men because they can be barred from male-only clubs and social organizations where much of the networking occurs.
D) Students can begin building network connections in college, even before they take on their first, full-time professional jobs.
336) As companies continue to develop women and minorities for management positions, they
A) increase the available talent pool of skilled employees.
B) decrease chances for men to compete for professional positions.
C) increase the morale of all employees.
D) decrease the birthrate.
337) It's good strategy to develop women and minorities for management positions because
A) it's a sure thing that the U.S. government will continue to pass laws that penalize companies even more for passing up women and minorities when it comes to promotion.
B) women and minorities in management positions attract and serve other women and minorities better.
C) it's less expensive to train these diverse groups. They do not demand as much in terms of travel and training time.
D) it is considered immoral to pass up women and minority groups seeking jobs.
338) Keith, a member of the electrician's union, recently achieved the classification of journeyman. This means that Keith
A) is a contingent worker.
B) passed a written exam, but is still working to learn the basic skills needed to be a carpenter.
C) has successfully completed his apprenticeship program.
D) is an apprentice and still on the journey of becoming a certified professional carpenter.
339) When Casey began her Ph.D. program, she was immediately assigned to a female ________ who would serve as a coach and guide to shorten the curve and help Casey meet the right people who could enhance her career. Her program also required ________, where she would spend four to six weeks in different labs, gaining experience and exposure to a variety of research in her field of study.
A) mentor; off-the-job training
B) journeyman; network
C) understudy; vestibule training
D) mentor; job rotation
340) Corporate HR for Corner Bookstores knows that sexual harassment in the workplace is a serious issue. In order to provide consistency in its effort to train employees about sexual harassment, HR management created a(n) ________ program. Employees have a flexible time period when they can log on and receive exactly the same training as employees in all of the Corner Bookstores.
A) online training
B) off-the-job training
C) vestibule training
D) simulation training
341) Ted says he's working in his dream job. As an engineer for a major defense systems company, he is responsible for using sophisticated airplane and weaponry equipment that creates the exact conditions that one may experience if he or she uses the equipment in a real-life situation. Ted spends several hours each day performing
A) vestibule training exercises.
B) apprenticeship training exercises.
C) distance training exercises.
D) simulation training exercises.
342) At Safety First Seat Belts, new workers are immediately assigned to jobs. They learn by doing the actual work and by watching longer-term employees. This company uses a policy of
A) vertical assimilation.
B) on-the-job training.
C) operational apprenticeships.
D) vestibule training.
343) Jamie recently became a member of the Plumbers Union. She has been told she will work with Mac, a skilled and experienced plumber, for at least three years in order to learn all of the skills and techniques of her craft. This type of training is referred to as
A) skill replication.
B) applied supervision.
C) apprenticeship training.
D) vestibule training.
344) Before Street Runner Road Builders allows new employees to operate the heavy machinery it uses to build roads, employees are sent to a nearby classroom where they learn the safe and proper way to work with all of the tools and equipment they will use when they perform their jobs. Street Runner Road Builders is using a training technique known as
A) vestibule training.
B) offline training.
C) job replication.
D) modular training.
345) Carl, a control room engineer at Electron Power, Inc.'s power plant regularly practices handling emergency situations in a computerized mockup that duplicates the sights, sounds, and experiences of a real control room under emergency conditions. Electron uses ________ to train its engineers.
A) time intensive training
B) job replication
C) vestibule training
D) job simulation
346) Joseph accepted a management trainee position at Rested Resorts. Corporate management believes Joseph has potential to move into a top management position within the organization. They have begun assigning Joseph to a different department every few months so he can obtain the broad perspective needed by top managers. This company is using ________ to develop Joseph's management skills.
A) job rotation
B) multitasking
C) understudying
D) cross-functional management
347) Patty recently began working in an entry-level management position. She has already shown great promise, so the company has decided to groom her for an upper-level position. Constance, one of the more senior women managers in the company, has agreed to help Patty by introducing her to the right people, and by providing her with the guidance and advice she needs to be successful within the firm. Constance is acting as Patty's
A) mentor.
B) assimilation assistant.
C) transfer agent.
D) network captain.
348) If you aspire to become a sous chef, you will pursue several types of training and development. Your ________ will include how to perform as a line chef, as you work your way through pastry, grill, pantry, and sauté. The only way you will learn the variations in the line jobs is to experience them! As a(n) ________, you will work alongside another sous chef for a few years in order to learn how to juggle all the middle-management type of activities expected of this professional. Your ________ training will be extensive, as you go to culinary school, attend a community college, and/or take management classes to help you learn to minimize conflict in the kitchen as well as improve the productivity of those you manage.
A) apprenticeship; journeyman; online
B) apprenticeship; simulator; off-the-job
C) job rotation; apprentice; off-the-job
D) on-the-job training; journeyman; vestibule
349) The ________ is an evaluation of the performance level of employees against established standards to make decisions about promotions, compensation, additional training, or firing.
A) job analysis
B) performance appraisal
C) MBO assessment
D) objective analysis
350) The first step in the performance appraisal process is to
A) perform a human resource inventory.
B) establish performance standards.
C) analyze the jobs to see what tasks must be performed.
D) meet with employees and discuss the overall objectives of the firm.
351) The last step in performance appraisal is to
A) talk to the employee being appraised.
B) evaluate the employee's performance.
C) take any corrective action that the appraisal indicates is necessary.
D) use the results to make decisions about compensation, promotions, and additional training.
352) A newer form of performance appraisal is called the ________ because it encourages feedback from all around the employee including those who report to him/her.
A) 360-degree review
B) roundabout assessment
C) environmental review
D) multilevel assessment
353) The purpose of a performance appraisal is to
A) protect the firm from lawsuits by disgruntled employees.
B) improve employee performance.
C) obtain information for the firm's financial performance that must be provided in the annual report to stockholders.
D) give managers the information they need to determine the firm's strengths and weaknesses relative to its most serious competitors.
354) The information contained in performance appraisals helps managers
A) write job descriptions.
B) compute the firm's overall performance in terms of a rate of return on investment.
C) evaluate job applicants.
D) make decisions about promotions, compensation, training, and firing.
355) Unlike a traditional performance appraisal, a 360-degree review
A) is performed by experts from outside the organization.
B) provides feedback from all around the employee, including subordinates.
C) uses only objective measures of performance.
D) compares the performance of each worker to every other worker.
356) Which of the following statements about performance appraisals is the most accurate?
A) The most difficult step of a performance appraisal is almost always the actual evaluation of the employee's performance.
B) Performance standards do not have to be measurable in order to be effective.
C) The discussion of the results of a performance evaluation with an employee should allow the employee an opportunity to make suggestions about how to improve on current procedures.
D) Most employees have a good understanding of the standards they are expected to meet, even if their managers do not explicitly communicate these standards.
357) A department manager evaluated the performance of her subordinates as part of a performance appraisal process. If she follows the six-step appraisal process, the next step is
A) meet with employees to discuss the results.
B) write up a performance review report and submit it to top management.
C) adjust the standards based on how well the employees did.
D) make decisions about training, promotions, and pay raises.
358) The management team at McGowan Brothers want to make sure their decisions about compensation, promotions, and firings are based on sound information that meet legal requirements. One way for the company to achieve this objective would be to
A) outsource all such decisions to an outside expert.
B) establish an effective performance appraisal system.
C) make sure that these decisions are not influenced by the employee's immediate supervisor.
D) base all pay, promotion, and firing decisions on the Hay system.
359) Arturo hates conducting performance appraisals with his subordinates because he always finds it to be a struggle. In order to make the actual performance evaluations a better experience for all, Arturo should
A) base his evaluation on a written test.
B) use a democratic approach and let the employees evaluate each other.
C) set performance standards that are reasonable, understandable, and measurable, then clearly communicate these standards to his subordinates.
D) use the principle of motion economy to break down each subordinate's job into a series of steps that can be easily evaluated and compared to ideal performance standards.
360) Managers at Bigbux Bank get a performance appraisal once a year. Bigbux uses an evaluation process that provides feedback about performance not only from superiors but also from subordinates and other managers at the same level. This type of evaluation is known as a(n)
A) organization-wide appraisal.
B) 360-degree review.
C) circular analysis.
D) multilevel assessment.
361) As a project manager for a large construction company, Shaun decided to make the performance appraisal process as painless as possible for his crew. He spent a considerable amount of time creating performance standards he felt were reasonable, and after six months' time, he scheduled individual appointments with each worker to discuss strengths and weaknesses and areas that needed improvement according to the standards he privately set. Some employees were sent to vestibule training, and one even got a promotion with additional compensation. What did he fail to do correctly?
A) Provide a pleasant environment for the appraisal such as a restaurant setting.
B) Dismiss at least 10% of the work crew.
C) Copy the HR department on all the results, within 24 hours of each appraisal.
D) Communicate the performance standards to the employees so they know what is expected.
362) For many types of service organizations such as hospitals, hotels, and airlines, the primary cost of operations is
A) establishing and maintaining a presence on the Internet.
B) insurance and legal expenses.
C) coping with obsolescence that results from the rapid pace of technological change.
D) compensation of labor.
363) Workers who are paid a ________ receive a fixed compensation weekly, biweekly, or monthly.
A) commission
B) salary
C) piece rate
D) royalty
364) Salespeople often are paid a ________ based on a percentage of their sales.
A) commission
B) salary
C) royalty
D) piece rate
365) Blue-collar and clerical workers who punch a time clock typically are paid a(n)
A) commission.
B) salary.
C) hourly wage.
D) piecework rate.
366) The ________ method is a pay system that is based on job tiers, with each tier having a strict pay range.
A) Steiner
B) Gantt
C) Hay
D) Gilbreth
367) The two most common compensation methods for teams are
A) cash bonuses and cashless bonuses.
B) skill-based pay and gain-sharing.
C) piecework pay and commissions.
D) salaries and capital gains.
368) Although the skills learned do not always translate into profits for the company, ________ pay rewards the growth of both the individual and team participation.
A) skill-based
B) gain-sharing
C) commission
D) stock option
369) A common way of compensating teams is a ________ system, in which bonuses are based on improvements over a previous performance baseline.
A) commission
B) stock option
C) gain-sharing
D) skill-based
370) Sick-leave pay, vacation pay, pension plans, and health plans that provide additional compensation to employees are called
A) fringe benefits.
B) off-schedule salary.
C) bonus sharing.
D) nonmonetary salaries.
371) Today, fringe benefits account for more than ________ percent of total payroll costs.
A) 6
B) 18
C) 24
D) 30
372) Many firms now offer their employees ________ benefits, such as on-site haircuts and free breakfasts, which help employees maintain a balance between work and family life.
A) real-time
B) situational
C) break time
D) soft
373) A fringe benefit plan where employees choose the package of benefits they want up to a certain dollar amount is called a ________ plan.
A) cafeteria-style
B) variable lifestyle
C) 401K
D) flexible spending
374) A major advantage of a piecework pay system is that it
A) creates a powerful incentive to work efficiently.
B) requires a minimum of paperwork and record keeping.
C) encourages cooperation and teamwork among employees.
D) is a system that is strongly supported by both unions and management.
375) Which of the following statements about team pay is the most accurate?
A) Most managers are very satisfied with the team-based pay programs that are currently in place.
B) Most managers have concluded that team pay methods are so complex and difficult to administer that they have gone back to pay plans based on rewarding workers for their individual achievements.
C) Although individuals who make an outstanding contribution should be recognized and rewarded, a pay system based strictly on individual performance can undermine the cohesiveness teams need to meet their goals.
D) Team pay plans should emphasize individual rewards since the team can succeed only if all individuals are highly motivated to work as hard as possible.
376) When workers are a part of a team their compensation should be
A) based strictly on their individual performance in order to encourage each worker to exert his or her maximum effort.
B) based strictly on the achievements of their team in order to encourage teamwork and cooperation.
C) a stated wage or salary that is not based on either team or individual performance, because it is very difficult to measure individual performance in a team environment.
D) based on team performance, with additional rewards for those workers who make outstanding individual contributions.
377) Companies place a considerable amount of attention on compensation plans because
A) firms are likely to face stiff penalties from the government if they do not offer competitive wages and salaries.
B) attracting the right employees with good compensation packages can translate into a competitive advantage.
C) it is a hygiene factor.
D) a good compensation plan will be less costly than other parts of the operation.
378) The most likely reason a firm would pay its sales representatives a commission rather than a salary is that it wants to
A) provide sales representatives with a strong incentive to generate more sales for the company.
B) keep the pay system as simple as possible.
C) be able to deduct the cost of compensating the sales representatives from its taxable income.
D) give the sales representatives a stronger incentive to collaborate with each other and act as a team.
379) According to the material in the box Managing a Global Workforce, which of the following statements about working with employees from different countries is most accurate?
A) The increasingly global nature of markets and the impact of television, movies, and the Internet on people's attitudes and perceptions have largely eliminated cultural differences between foreign and domestic workers.
B) Currency rate differences and different laws with respect to fringe benefits, such as health insurance and time off, offer challenges for HR management.
C) U.S. laws require American firms to hire, train, and pay employees in other countries the same way their U.S. employees are hired, trained, and paid.
D) More often than not, American firms have found that cultural differences in other nations are so great that it is more efficient to staff key positions in foreign facilities with American workers rather than hire foreign workers.
380) Human resource managers at Vandelay Industries want to encourage teamwork and are looking for a better way to compensate members of teams. One approach they are considering is a skill-based system. Which of the following statements about this type of pay system is most accurate?
A) Skill-based systems are unlikely to work with teams because they are designed to encourage individual initiative rather than teamwork.
B) A skill-based system is a very effective way to pay teams because this approach makes it easy to correlate skill acquisition with the bottom-line gains of the company.
C) A skill-based pay system works well in many cases, but employees tend to resist this approach since it affects only bonuses, which are not guaranteed, rather than base pay.
D) Team members have base salaries, but they are additionally compensated according to the number of new skills they acquire as a team.
381) Brad recently earned a real estate license in Missouri and has interviewed with several groups to find a job. All have told him that his income will be based on a percentage of his real estate sales for the month. Brad will be paid
A) a monthly salary.
B) a piece rate.
C) on a commission basis.
D) through a profit-sharing plan.
382) Wayne is a supervisor at a small manufacturing plant. His pay starts at $635 per week. Wayne is paid on a(n)
A) salary pay system.
B) commission pay plan.
C) rolling rate system.
D) income averaging plan.
383) Martin works for Epic Electronics, a sophisticated electronic equipment company. Martin is happy to see that the value of company stock has reached $53 per share, because certain employees (including himself) have the opportunity to buy a given number of shares of its stock for $25 per share for the next year regardless of how high the market price goes. Epic Electronics is offering some employees a
A) stock annuity plan.
B) stock reinvestment plan.
C) stock dividend.
D) stock option plan.
384) This year, International Accountants, Inc., implemented a new benefits system that gives employees the flexibility to choose among different benefit options, as long as the total cost of the benefits does not exceed a certain dollar amount. The type of benefits package offered to International Accountants employees is a(n)
A) flexiplan.
B) cafeteria-style fringe benefits plan.
C) democratic benefits package.
D) open options benefits plan.
385) This is Anne's year! She finally broke through the "glass ceiling"—meaning she has reached an executive-level position with her company, with a salary upward of $200,000. Recently a competitor firm has approached her offering her $15,000 less in salary, but the job would come with an upgraded car, memberships in two country clubs of her choice, an additional two weeks paid vacation with use of the company's villa in Jamaica, and paid financial counseling. With respect to compensation, Anne
A) will not consider this offer because it is not worth $15k less in salary, and it would impact her ability for future offers.
B) may consider this offer because it is not just about compensation, it is about the job content.
C) will not consider this offer because it lacks soft benefits.
D) may consider this offer because accepting fringe benefits instead of a higher salary may positively impact her tax consequences.
386) A ________ plan gives employees some ability to adjust hours when they work, as long as they work the required number of hours.
A) cafeteria-style plan
B) flextime
C) varitime
D) Gantt scheduling
387) The time when all employees must be present in a flextime plan is referred to as
A) compressed time.
B) shared time.
C) core time.
D) company time.
388) A ________ allows workers to work the full number of hours per week in fewer days.
A) flextime plan
B) compressed workweek
C) maximum plan
D) double shift plan
389) A disadvantage of flextime plans is that they often
A) confuse workers.
B) lead to a higher level of absenteeism.
C) cause worker morale to decline.
D) require supervisors and managers to work longer hours.
390) In a ________ arrangement two part-time employees fill one full-time job.
A) job enlargement
B) multitasking
C) job sharing
D) split shift
391) A major characteristic of a compressed workweek is that
A) workers receive the same pay for fewer hours of work.
B) the pace of work is increased so that workers perform the same amount of work in fewer hours.
C) employees work fewer days each week, but work more hours each workday.
D) two or more part-time workers are hired to fill each full-time position.
392) A firm that wants to reduce its office costs, broaden its base of available talent, and improve job satisfaction could achieve all of these goals by
A) recruiting only from internal sources.
B) making greater use of scientific management techniques.
C) implementing the Hay system of compensation.
D) allowing more workers to work from home.
393) Which of the following statements about home-based work is most accurate?
A) Although home-based work may become very popular in the future, only a small percentage of workers currently work at home on a regular basis.
B) Home-based work offers big advantages for many workers, but is likely to increase costs for employers significantly.
C) Home-based work tends to increase the productivity of almost all workers, since people tend to be more productive when they are comfortable and can work flexible hours.
D) Home-based work allows workers to choose their own hours and interrupt work for child care and other tasks, but this freedom and flexibility can create problems for some workers.
394) At a large law firm, Therese works daily as an administrative assistant from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., when she is replaced by Elita who works from 1:00 until 5:00 p.m. The arrangement Therese and Elita have at the law firm is known as
A) job enlargement.
B) job sharing.
C) job rotation.
D) job allocation.
395) At Securitas Financial Consulting, employees are allowed to choose what time they start each work day, as long as they arrive between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. They must be on the job from 10:00 a.m. until noon and from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. They are required to work a total of 8 hours each day, so the earlier they arrive, the earlier they can leave. This is a ________ system.
A) job sharing
B) job enlargement
C) flextime
D) compressed work week
396) Newport Communications uses a flextime plan; however, all employees must be on the job from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. What are these hours called?
A) core time.
B) mandatory attendance time.
C) shared facilities time.
D) compressed time.
397) Megamart stores in northern Indiana have gone to a ________, where management works four 10-hour days, and has four days off.
A) flextime system
B) compressed work week
C) job rotation system
D) constrained work week
398) BangBang Percussion Company tried to implement a flextime system. However, after only a few months, they abandoned the new system. Which of the following is the most likely reason BangBang would drop its flextime plan?
A) It caused an increase in traffic congestion.
B) It often made communication among employees more difficult.
C) The employees resented being required to come to work early or stay late.
D) Workers tend to be less productive when they have to work longer hours in a single day.
399) Steve is an office manager with a financial company. His company recently announced that it will soon implement a flextime plan. Under this new system, Steve is likely to find that
A) he will have to work longer hours.
B) workers tend to forget their work schedules.
C) almost all of his workers decide to change to an earlier schedule.
D) he will have to work harder to maintain high morale among the employees in his office.
400) Tony works in purchasing for the Epic Electronics on the East Coast. He arrives at work at 6:00 a.m. and leaves by 3:00 p.m. He enjoys this schedule because he is an early riser. A disadvantage to the company in allowing Tony to use flextime is
A) morning workers are never as productive as afternoon workers.
B) there is a one-hour window of opportunity to talk with employees on the West Coast, who work 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
C) this system will increase absenteeism.
D) the company is required to hire twice as many people and spend additional funds training these individuals.
401) Regina spends three hours each day working as an online customer service representative for a retailer. She can choose her own hours, within reason. The job works out well for her since she has a new baby that she cares for much of the day. The retailer does not provide her or the other 200 customer service reps with workspace, which constitutes a sizeable cost savings for the company. Regina participates in
A) home-based work.
B) time-in work.
C) job sharing.
D) compressed work.
402) Two advantages of using ________ to fill open positions are: (1) it improves the morale of current employees, and (2) the person filling the position is already familiar with the organization's culture and procedures.
A) unskilled workers
B) apprenticed workers
C) promotions from within
D) external sources
403) One implication of today's flatter corporate structures is that
A) employees are more likely to get a lateral transfer, before a promotion.
B) firms are becoming less interested in hiring contingent workers.
C) a greater number of workers are now classified as middle managers.
D) workers are expecting more of their pay in the form of stock options.
404) If a firm wants to know why valuable employees are leaving the company, it will conduct
A) performance appraisals.
B) job inventories.
C) job simulations.
D) exit interviews.
405) The ________ doctrine states that employers have as much right to fire workers as the workers have to leave the company voluntarily.
A) first-in, first-out
B) employment at will
C) reciprocal employment
D) mutual consent
406) A(n) ________ is a financial incentive a firm offers to encourage employees to accept an early retirement offer.
A) ESOP
B) green fair-way
C) golden handshake
D) silver lining
407) A reason workers tend to receive fewer promotions than in the past is that
A) most firms now believe hiring people outside the organization is a better way to fill management positions because it brings in new blood.
B) the movement toward flatter organizational structures provides fewer opportunities to move upward.
C) firms have found that promoting employees can create jealousy and resentment among the workers who are not promoted.
D) very few of today's supervisors and lower-level managers have the qualifications needed to move into higher management positions.
408) Which of the following statements about early retirement is most accurate?
A) Traditional early retirement plans are no longer legal because they represent age discrimination.
B) An advantage of early retirement as a method of downsizing is that early retirement provides opportunities for younger employees to be promoted.
C) Federal law requires firms to offer early retirement benefits to any worker who voluntarily offers to retire before the age of 60.
D) Workers who receive an offer for early retirement are likely to gain by refusing the firm's first offer and holding out for a better deal.
409) One of the reasons many firms have chosen to use temporary employees rather than rehire full-time employees is that
A) the government provides strong tax incentives to hire temporary workers.
B) such workers usually are more loyal to the firm.
C) most labor laws only apply to full-time workers, so there are fewer legal hassles associated with hiring temporary workers.
D) it enables them to avoid the prohibitively high costs associated with terminating employees.
410) A firm would implement a policy of holding exit interviews if it wanted to
A) find out why so many of its good employees were quitting.
B) implement a golden handshake policy.
C) allow immediate supervisors one more chance to convince retiring workers to stay on the job.
D) make sure workers who agreed to work from home understood their new responsibilities.
411) Frank has thirty years of service as a manager for his company. He remembers when managers had almost complete freedom to fire workers. Frank thinks this is only fair. "After all," Frank points out, "workers quit whenever they get a better offer. Shouldn't managers have as much freedom to fire workers as the workers have to quit?" Frank's comments suggest that he believes in the doctrine of
A) bonded employment.
B) reciprocated employment.
C) employment by mutual consent.
D) employment at will.
412) The Greeley Corporation wants to downsize, but is concerned about the impact it will have on its remaining employees. One policy that might allow Greeley to reduce its labor force without adversely affecting morale is to
A) develop an affirmative action plan.
B) offer early retirement benefits.
C) implement a job sharing program.
D) make more extensive use of job rotation.
413) While talking with a group of family and friends, Caitlin mentions that she was offered an impressive golden handshake by her employer. Which of the following statements is she most likely to make next?
A) "That will teach those guys to discriminate against me."
B) "It's great to work for a company that encourages employees to further their education."
C) "I've already looked into using some of the money to go on a trip to Europe when I retire."
D) "Of course, I would have really preferred to receive money, but just knowing that top executives will take the time to recognize my accomplishments, makes me feel better about my work."
414) Sally worked in the student bookstore at her college. Although she liked the retail atmosphere, there was little opportunity for advancement because the three persons in management positions were doing well in their jobs and not planning to retire very soon. When the college opened a new branch, Sally seized the opportunity to be reassigned to the new location and manage the smaller operation. Her change was not a promotion, it was considered a(n) ________; however, it served to improve her morale because she was performing more tasks and had greater responsibility than at the previous bookstore.
A) advancement
B) vertical move
C) forward shift
D) lateral transfer
415) Dramatic changes in the U.S. labor force will make the work of human resource managers more interesting, and more difficult, in the future. Identify and describe three trends that will challenge future human resource managers.
416) Identify and describe three common methods of training and developing employees.
417) What is the purpose of a performance appraisal? What are the major steps involved in the performance appraisal process?
418) What are the key features of flextime plans, compressed workweeks, and job sharing plans? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches to scheduling employees.
419) What are the main provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and how have these provisions affected human resource management in American companies?
Mini-Case
Dee Pozitt had been the assistant HR director at Fleesum Financial Services for a bit more than a year when the company's HR director was injured in a sky-diving accident. Because of his injuries the director would be unable to work for several months. Howie Fleesum, the company's CEO, decided to name Dee the acting director of human resources. Though she had been at the firm for a shorter period of time than most other managers, he felt that her position as the director's assistant had given her insights into the company's human resource issues that the other managers lacked. He also was very impressed by the glowing performance appraisal Dee recently received from the director, her peers, and even subordinates. Before accepting the position as acting director, Dee made sure that Mr. Fleesum recognized her authority to implement some major changes in policies she and the director had been planning before his accident. The changes were intended to make the company more responsive to the needs of employees, thus improving morale and reducing worker turnover. Although Dee was sorry the director was injured, she was pleased that Mr. Fleesum had confidence in her and was willing to give her the authority to implement important new programs. The only aspect of her opportunity that worried her was the resentment and hostility she sensed from a few of the older, more experienced managers. One of the most hostile coworkers was a fellow named Mort Gage. Dee decided she had better talk to Mort and find out why he was so upset.
420) Before the director's accident, Dee had worked with him to devise a plan that would allow each employee to select the fringe benefits he or she wants up to a certain dollar amount. The type of plan Dee and the director developed is known as a(n)
A) cafeteria-style fringe benefits plan.
B) benefits buffet.
C) open options plan.
D) flexible spending plan.
421) Dee wants to give Fleesum's employees more freedom to schedule when they begin and end their work days. Her plan still requires employees to work eight hours per day, but allows them to start as early as 7:00 a.m. or as late as 9:00 a.m., and leave as early as 4:00 p.m. or as late as 6:00 p.m. Her plan also requires all workers to be on the job between 9:00 a.m. and noon, and between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. The type of plan Dee wants to implement is known as a
A) compressed work day.
B) flextime plan.
C) personal time frame plan.
D) block scheduling plan.
422) Dee's performance appraisal allowed the director to evaluate her performance, but also allowed peers and subordinates to provide feedback as well. This type of appraisal is called a(n)
A) vertical appraisal.
B) horizontal appraisal.
C) global review.
D) 360-degree review.
423) Fleesum recently began using cross-functional teams. Dee wants to make sure the teams collaborate effectively, but also wants to avoid stifling individual initiative. One method she could use to achieve this goal would be to
A) use a more autocratic management style.
B) use a skill-based pay plan for the teams.
C) base the compensation of team members on a commission rather than a salary.
D) implement a job sharing plan for team members.