Deck 8: Managing Human Resources

Question 1

Coaching-being trained by a superior or a consultant-is usually the most effective and direct way to develop managers.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The planning stage involves

A) ensuring the availability of the right number and types of people.
B) determining appropriate automation methods.
C) training of hired individuals.
D) determining the pay scales of employees.
E) evaluating the results of implemented programs.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Employers prefer external recruiting by newspaper advertisements to other methods.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

On a day-to-day basis, ________ is a concern of human resources managers.

A) managing layoffs
B) assessing the financial transactions
C) deciding which products to market
D) funding increased salaries
E) analyzing product failure

Question 5

________ is conducted during the human resources planning process.

A) Demand forecasting
B) Internal recruiting
C) Environmental scanning
D) Training and development
E) Outplacement

Question 6

________ is reviewed during the human resources environmental scanning process.

A) Employee recruitment
B) Performance appraisal
C) Demand forecast
D) Job analysis
E) Legislation

Question 7

People can add value by helping to reduce costs and providing something unique to customers.

Question 8

One of the criteria for creating a competitive advantage through human resources is that they should be

A) expensive.
B) easily available.
C) inimitable.
D) spontaneous.
E) commonplace.

Question 9

Management by objectives involves a subordinate and a supervisor agreeing in advance on specific performance goals.

Question 10

In the strategic human resources management, people can ________ by helping to lower costs and providing something unique to customers.

A) provide buffering
B) create value
C) inspire motivation
D) create turnover
E) provide benchmarking

Question 11

In collective bargaining, workers are paid while they are on strike.

Question 12

Sherry of Sherry's Salon created a(n) ________, which is an estimate of how many and what types of employees are available.

A) demand forecast
B) job analysis
C) environmental scan
D) availability analysis
E) labor supply forecast

Question 13

When a software company developed a new phone, it determined how many production and marketing employees would be required for the launch. The company was involved in

A) demand forecasting.
B) outplacement.
C) performance appraisal.
D) job analysis.
E) training and development.

Question 14

In the context of strategic human resources management, well-chosen, motivated people are easy to imitate.

Question 15

The function of a job analysis is

A) to determine if recruiting should be done internally or externally.
B) to determine the applicant's educational level.
C) to provide a demographic profile of the "correct" candidate.
D) to describe the skills and knowledge needed.
E) to provide a basis for compensation to be paid.

Question 16

A company has developed a new cell phone that will be targeted at developing countries. It is estimated that the demand for the new product will initially be slow but would accelerate gradually as the product becomes increasingly familiar to worldwide consumers. In order to determine the number of workers necessary to staff the new production facilities, the company needs to conduct a(n)

A) market search.
B) utilization survey.
C) demand forecast.
D) inventory calculation.
E) recruitment drive.

Question 17

The final stage in the human resources planning process involves

A) evaluating the activities conducted to ensure that they are producing the desired results.
B) discharging employees ineffective at realizing organizational goals.
C) restarting the entire process.
D) evaluating the decisions made for legal compliance.
E) distributing compensation adjustments.

Question 18

The programming stage involves

A) hiring and firing employees.
B) evaluating employee performance levels.
C) determining appropriate automation methods.
D) implementing specific activities like recruitment.
E) calculating legally justifiable compensation levels.

Question 19

When faced with a labor deficit, an organization is mostly likely to

A) make use of attrition to reduce the surplus.
B) outsource work to contractors.
C) offer outplacement to its employees.
D) begin downsizing.
E) lay off people for poor performance.

Question 20

________ can be used by companies when there is a labor surplus.

A) Hiring better employees
B) Using attrition, if they have planned far enough in advance,
C) Promoting current employees to new positions
D) Outsourcing work to contractors
E) Using their compensation policy to attract talent

Question 21

Jeffrey, floor supervisor at Brooks & Sons Warehouse and Storage, has asked Vera, a specialist in the human resources department, to help him fill an open position for a floor worker. Vera asks Jeffrey to describe what is needed to perform the job. Jeffrey replies, "A high-school education; an ability to lift a 50-lb box to a height of 6 feet; an ability to work on one's feet for an 8-hour shift; and an ability to get to work on time." "Fine. I will include these job requirements in the ________," Vera says.

A) job application
B) demand forecast
C) personality tests
D) job specification
E) labor forecast

Question 22

When organizations have more people than they need, they can use ________ to reduce the surplus if they have planned far enough in advance.

A) attrition
B) promotion
C) outsourcing
D) job specifications
E) job analysis

Question 23

Sam's boss tells him, "Sam, you're still new to management, especially people management. Always remember that your people can really deliver a competitive advantage when

A) their talents can be combined rapidly to work collaboratively on new assignments."
B) they do not provide something unique to customers."
C) they are easy to imitate."
D) they can increase costs."
E) they cannot be trained."

Question 24

Tony, the human resources manager for TopShelf Beverages, is confidentially working with line managers to lay off a significant portion of the work force, while simultaneously processing generous retention bonuses and sizeable salary increases for top executives, one of whom Tony is also investigating for corrupt management practices. Feeling conflicted, Tony remembers that human resources managers typically face greater ________ challenges than other managers.

A) profit and loss
B) ethical
C) operational
D) planning
E) fiscal

Question 25

Gene Keller, long-time vice president of human resources at VST Corporation, is helping one of his peers, the vice president of marketing, develop information for a potentially game-changing business opportunity-a major program for a worldwide manufacturer. To be considered for this opportunity, VST must demonstrate its ability to staff the program immediately upon award. To estimate VST's ________ labor supply, Gene uses his human resources information system (HRIS) to generate data regarding turnover, terminations, retirements, promotions, and transfers.

A) external
B) internal
C) future
D) past
E) marketing

Question 26

Carrie, a human resources consultant to Fortune 500 firms, told her client, "Decades-long forecasts of an increasingly diverse workforce have become fact. Today, applicants to your open positions are much more likely to represent diversity, including ________, minorities, and disabled workers."

A) men, immigrants, older workers,
B) women, immigrants, older workers,
C) women, immigrants, younger workers,
D) immigrants, white workers,
E) women, U.S. citizens, older workers,

Question 27

________ builds on recruiting and involves decisions about whom to hire.

A) Job analysis
B) Selection
C) Performance appraisal
D) Comparable worth
E) Diversity training

Question 28

An advantage of a structured interview is that it

A) helps establish rapport.
B) is more likely to be free of bias and stereotypes.
C) provides a sense of the applicant's personality.
D) helps prospective employers make a first cut through candidates.
E) helps measure a range of intellectual abilities.

Question 29

A(n) ________ interview explores what candidates have actually done in the past.

A) situational
B) contingency
C) behavioral description
D) unstructured
E) nondirective

Question 30

Rick is excited that his engineering staff will soon be very busy, in fact overloaded, with new project work. He immediately begins to review options for addressing his labor deficit, including

A) hiring new employees, demoting current employees so that more attractive positions will be available to new hires, and outsourcing work to contractors.
B) hiring new employees, promoting current employees to new positions, and outsourcing work to contractors.
C) instituting a hiring freeze, promoting current employees to boost morale, and laying off excess staff.
D) hiring new employees, promoting current employees to new positions, and laying off excess staff.
E) instituting a hiring freeze, reducing salaries to be cost competitive, and outsourcing work to contractor.

Question 31

Many companies that rely heavily on internal recruiting use a(n) ________ system to advertise open positions, and this includes a list of duties and the minimum skills and experience required.

A) labor supply
B) demand forecast
C) job-posting
D) reward
E) outplacement

Question 32

Marcie is evaluating four soon-to-be accounting graduates for an entry-level position in her accounting group. The organization is going through some restructuring, and she is not sure how many or what level of accountants she might need a year from now. Doing these ________ is the most difficult part of human resource planning.

A) labor forecasts
B) demand forecasts
C) job analysis
D) employee recruitment
E) professional development

Question 33

Human resource planning involves ________ stages.

A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five
E) six

Question 34

Alice Martin, the chief operating officer of Triton Foods, has lost her vice president of operations to a competitor, and she has decided to fill the position with a new hire-partly because her previous vice president had not trained a successor, and partly because she wants to introduce some "new blood" to her management team. Given the importance of the management position she is seeking to fill, Alice should choose to rely upon

A) web job boards.
B) the company website.
C) an employee referral.
D) a specialized executive search firm.
E) a journal ad.

Question 35

What may help organizations defend themselves in a lawsuit involving employment practices?

A) supply forecasts
B) demand forecasts
C) job analysis
D) environmental scanning
E) personnel policies

Question 36

Recruitment is

A) a tool for determining what is done on a given job and what should be done on that job.
B) the development of a pool of applicants for jobs in an organization.
C) a system of organizational activities to attract, develop, and motivate an effective and qualified workforce.
D) choosing from among qualified applicants to hire into an organization.
E) a technique that involves asking all applicants the same questions and comparing their responses.

Question 37

Managers must ________ the supply of labor, which refers to how many and what types of employees are available.

A) evaluate
B) recruit
C) forecast
D) train
E) create

Question 38

________ plays a vital strategic role as companies attempt to compete through people.

A) Organizational strategic planning
B) Human resource management
C) HRM environmental scanning
D) Human resources planning
E) Professional development

Question 39

Tobey and Loy applied for a managerial position with a company. After their interviews, they compared notes and found that they had been asked the same questions. In the context of the given scenario, they had been subjected to a(n) ________ interview.

A) telephone
B) panel
C) invalid
D) structured
E) nondirective

Question 40

The selection technique that involves asking each applicant the same questions and comparing their responses to a standardized set of answers is a(n) ________ interview.

A) structured
B) nondirective
C) termination
D) invalid
E) analytical

Question 41

When conducting a termination interview, a manager should

A) tell the employee indirectly that he or she has been fired.
B) rush the fired employee offsite as it becomes a security issue.
C) allow time for debate during a termination session.
D) fire people when they have just returned from a vacation.
E) provide written explanations of severance benefits.

Question 42

________ tests are administered by employers to assess the honesty of a job candidate.

A) Behavioral
B) Personality
C) Performance
D) Integrity
E) Situational

Question 43

________ requires covered employers to give employees 60 written days' notice of plant closings or mass layoffs.

A) Fair Labor Standards Act
B) Civil Rights Act
C) Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
D) Americans with Disabilities Act
E) Vocational Rehabilitation Act

Question 44

Friday was heart-breaking for John and his organization. He had to lay off three employees due to a business slowdown. Now, on Monday morning, he detects an atmosphere of ________ among the 12 "survivors" in the office. One of the first steps in John's dismissal process is to talk to the survivors in a thoughtful and fair manner, easing tensions and helping them adjust to the new situation.

A) optimism, relief, and lethargy
B) renewed commitment, hope, and energy
C) disenchantment, distrust, and lethargy
D) disenchantment, distrust, and energy
E) renewed commitment, relief, and energy

Question 45

________ refers to the degree to which a test actually predicts or correlates with job performance.

A) Redundancy
B) Criterion-related validity
C) Downsizing
D) Reliability
E) Outplacement

Question 46

________ refers to laying off large numbers of managerial and other employees.

A) Downsizing
B) Outplacement
C) Employment-at-will
D) Termination
E) Recruitment

Question 47

Fred received an offer of employment from Major Walker, his potential supervisor at the Department of Defense, contingent upon Fred's successful passing of a ________. When he called Major Walker to ask about this requirement, Major Walker said, "Fred, it is a frequently used as part of the employee selection process. Many federal agencies and private U.S. employers use it."

A) drug test
B) background check
C) reference check
D) personality test
E) integrity test

Question 48

A(n) ________ is a managerial performance test in which candidates participate in a variety of exercises and situations.

A) background check
B) assessment center
C) job analysis
D) performance appraisal
E) reference check

Question 49

The ________ prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, sex, color, national origin, and religion.

A) Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
B) Immigration Act of 1924
C) Family and Medical Leave Act (1993)
D) Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)
E) Civil Rights Act of 1964

Question 50

Miles applied for a summer job as a bookkeeper. As part of his employment screening, he was asked to take an exam, or ________ test, which has numerical aptitude questions.

A) performance
B) cognitive ability
C) validity
D) personality
E) certification

Question 51

"Boy, that was a stressful interview," said Bobby. "The hiring manager's toughest question was, 'What conflict have you encountered in the workplace, and how did you resolve it?" Bobby just experienced a ________ interview.

A) behavioural description
B) background
C) situational
D) strategic
E) personality

Question 52

In a performance test, the test taker

A) performs a sample of the job.
B) takes a paper-and-pencil honesty test.
C) is measured for general aptitude.
D) is evaluated for drug use.
E) only solves mathematical problems.

Question 53

A provision of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act is that

A) employees are normally exempt from overtime pay if they have considerable discretion in how they carry out their jobs.
B) discrimination in employment based on race, sex, color, national origin, and religion is prohibited.
C) employment discrimination against people with disabilities is prohibited.
D) equal opportunity clauses are required in federal contracts.
E) unpaid leave is required for medical or family needs.

Question 54

Calvin laid off two of his employees this morning, and he is scheduled to lay off another employee within an hour. In reflecting on what went well or did not go well during the earlier termination interviews, Calvin realized he did everything correctly, EXCEPT he

A) completed the termination interviews within 15 minutes.
B) allowed time for debate.
C) expressed appreciation for what the employees had contributed.
D) provided written explanations of severance benefits.
E) had a human resources representative present as a witness.

Question 55

Identify the correct statement regarding unstructured interviews.

A) They explore what candidates have actually done in the past.
B) They are more likely to be free of bias and stereotypes than structured interviews.
C) They focus on hypothetical situations.
D) They provide basic information that helps prospective employers make a first cut through candidates.
E) E.They ask different interviewees different questions.

Question 56

________ is the legal concept that an employee can be terminated for any reason.

A) Plausible termination
B) Employment-at-will
C) Downsizing
D) Outplacement
E) Terminal validity

Question 57

Outplacement is

A) recruiting from external sources.
B) hiring from external applicants.
C) an illegal activity under the WARN Act of 1989.
D) dismissing people from the company.
E) helping dismissed workers find employment elsewhere.

Question 58

A company wants to hire a model to appear in a television ad to promote its products. Prospective candidates have been asked to audition so that the company can choose the most suitable person. The candidates are being subjected to a(n) ________ test.

A) discriminatory
B) reference
C) performance
D) integrity
E) analytical

Question 59

In the context of selection methods, personality tests

A) are illegal.
B) are universally used.
C) are hard to defend in court.
D) have no relationship with job satisfaction.
E) are highly valid.

Question 60

A termination interview

A) is usually easier than a selection interview because both participants know each other.
B) should be conducted by the immediate superior.
C) should be conducted away from company premises for security purposes.
D) must not be put in writing in order to avoid a lawsuit.
E) should allow time for a lengthy question and answer period.

Question 61

In the context of performance appraisals, in a(n) ________ technique, the manager keeps a regular log by recording each significant employee behavior that reflects the quality of his or her performance.

A) critical incident
B) outplacement
C) arbitration
D) trait appraisal
E) results appraisal

Question 62

________ training provides employees with the skills and perspectives they need to collaborate with others.

A) Orientation
B) Team
C) Performance
D) Diversity
E) Needs

Question 63

Which type of training familiarizes new employees with their jobs, work units, and the organization in general?

A) orientation
B) team
C) diversity
D) performance
E) customer service

Question 64

In the context of incentive systems, profit-sharing plans

A) reward individual performance.
B) are used to reward employees for increasing productivity in areas under their control.
C) are usually implemented in the division or the organization as a whole.
D) are given on the basis of how a worker's performance measures against an objective standard.
E) do not give all employees a stake in the company's success.

Question 65

In the context of training methods, ________ refers to assigning employees to different roles in the organization to broaden their experience and improve their skills.

A) role-playing
B) lecturing
C) needs assessment
D) adverse impact
E) job rotation

Question 66

________ is an analysis identifying the jobs, people, and departments for which training is necessary.

A) Development
B) Performance appraisal
C) Outplacement
D) Needs assessment
E) Programming

Question 67

________ training is designed to introduce new employees to their jobs and the company, and to familiarize them with policies, procedures, culture, and the like.

A) Diversity
B) Team
C) Orientation
D) Performance
E) Management

Question 68

________ is the most effective and direct management development tool.

A) People skills
B) Coaching
C) Diversity training
D) Management training
E) Mentoring

Question 69

In the context of incentive systems, ________ reward employees for increasing productivity or saving money in areas under their direct control.

A) gainsharing plans
B) individual incentive plans
C) stock plans
D) profit-sharing plans
E) merit pay systems

Question 70

When objective performance measures are unavailable but the company still wants to base pay on performance, it uses a(n)

A) gainsharing plan.
B) profit-sharing plan.
C) individual incentive plan.
D) merit pay system.
E) stock option plan.

Question 71

A 360-degree appraisal is the process of using multiple sources of appraisal to gain a comprehensive perspective on one's performance. In this process, feedback is obtained from multiple sources except for

A) subordinates.
B) peers.
C) superiors.
D) customers.
E) every level involved with the employee.

Question 72

Romero was a bit surprised to learn that, to be considered for a supervisory position at Lowell Fine Dining Inc., he would need to take a(n) ________ test to measure his intellectual abilities, including verbal comprehension and numerical aptitude.

A) cognitive ability
B) performance
C) personality
D) integrity
E) aptitude

Question 73

A(n) ________ is the most common type of incentive plan. It compares a worker's performance against an objective standard with pay determined by his or her own performance.

A) profit-sharing plan
B) stock plan
C) gainsharing plan
D) individual plan
E) merit pay system

Question 74

Manuel, a frontline business manager, was thrilled to be accepted into Ward Corporation's ________ program, part of the company's management development program. He knew that this would significantly broaden his experience and improve his skills, because he would spend six months in each of the following departments: procurement, invoicing, treasury, and audit.

A) job rotation
B) role-playing
C) vestibule training
D) behavior modelling
E) lecture training

Question 75

________ appraisals involve judgments about employee performance.

A) Behavioral
B) Results
C) Administrative
D) Developmental
E) Trait

Question 76

________ training focuses on identifying and reducing hidden biases against people with differences and developing the skills needed to manage.

A) Ethnicity
B) Team
C) Group
D) Diversity
E) Needs

Question 77

The four steps in a training program include, in order,

A) needs assessment, benchmarking, program design, and evaluation of effectiveness.
B) benchmarking, program design, methods/locations decision-making, and evaluation of effectiveness.
C) needs assessment, program design, methods/locations decision-making, and evaluation of effectiveness.
D) needs assessment, environmental scanning, program design, and evaluation of effectiveness.
E) six needs assessment, job rotation, program design, and evaluation of effectiveness.

Question 78

________ appraisals, although subjective, focus on observable aspects of performance.

A) Behavioral
B) Results
C) Administrative
D) Trait
E) Developmental

Question 79

Chris invested a large portion of his department's budget on the staff training program in the past year. He first assessed his staff's needs. Then, he designed a training program. Next, he determined training methods and locations and implemented the program. Now, a year later, it is time to

A) determine job rotation assignments.
B) establish training objectives and content.
C) develop role-play opportunities.
D) evaluate the program's effectiveness.
E) determine which staff need which type of training.

Question 80

________ is a seemingly neutral employment practice that has a disproportionately negative effect on a group protected by the Civil Rights Act.

A) Outplacement
B) Reliability
C) Validity
D) Employment-at-will
E) Adverse impact