Deck 5: Information for Making Human Resource Decisions

Question 1

A company that implements a growth strategy is most likely to:

A) reduce its recruiting efforts.
B) downsize its workforce.
C) roll out early retirement offers and packages.
D) hire employees readily without additional work.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Meeraze Inc., a management consulting firm, plans to increase its profits by expanding its services to target new customers. It wants to hire more employees to maintain the quality of its services and hence launches an intense recruitment drive. It also collaborates with colleges to tap potential employees. In the given scenario, Meeraze Inc. is most likely using a _____.

A) growth strategy
B) stability strategy
C) reduction strategy
D) retrenchment strategy

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In the context of job-analysis techniques, which of the following is a disadvantage of the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)?

A) Unlike functional job analysis, its dimensions are believed to underlie selected jobs.
B) It is less useful for higher-level managerial jobs compared with other jobs.
C) Unlike the Management Position Description Questionnaire, it consists of less than 100 items.
D) It is typically individualistic, making it difficult to compare the tasks on one job with the tasks on another.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following statements is true in the context of the use of data analytics and big data in human resource management (HRM)?

A) The use of big data in human resource management is risk-free.
B) Data analytics does not have implications for decision-making in the human resource area.
C) Data analytics has been more popular in areas such as marketing, rather than in human resource management.
D) The application of big data in human resource management is limited to the analysis of transactional data in large volumes.

Question 5

The management of Jadex, a cell phone manufacturer, decides to manufacture tablet computers. However, before beginning the production, the management wants to analyze the jobs that will have to be performed and the tasks involved in each of these jobs. It wants to use a simple and relatively inexpensive technique for this. Furthermore, it does not want to spend too much on training an analyst to analyze the jobs. Which of the following job-analysis techniques will best suit Jadex's requirements?

A) The Fleishman job-analysis system
B) The narrative job-analysis technique
C) The task-analysis inventory
D) The Position Analysis Questionnaire

Question 6

In the context of data analytics and big data, generally, analytics is often used to describe how information is communicated.

Question 7

The local unemployment rate is more closely linked to the national unemployment rate than to an individual's choices.

Question 8

The average age of the U.S. workforce is gradually decreasing.

Question 9

Which of the following statements is true of the Management Position Description Questionnaire (MPDQ)?

A) It is the most popular standardized job-analysis instrument available for managerial positions.
B) It is the first attempt to develop a single instrument that can describe all jobs in common terms.
C) It is a standardized job-analysis instrument consisting of 250 items.
D) It is used to classify managerial positions and estimate reasonable compensation for them.

Question 10

A narrative job analysis is the most common form of job analysis used in the U.S. military.

Question 11

The first step in the job-analysis process is determining methods for obtaining information.

Question 12

In the past, data analytics was at times referred to as "data mining."

Question 13

The differences in salaries and wage rates are partly caused by different levels of competitiveness for talent in the market.

Question 14

Individuals can differentiate themselves by making human capital investments, just as a firm can differentiate itself by paying higher wages.

Question 15

If an organization anticipates retrenchment, then it will most likely need to hire additional human resources in the future.

Question 16

Which of the following is a complicated process because it is often critical that exactly the right type of person is selected for a top position, the development costs to groom this person are very high, and the actual decision may severely impact the future of the firm?

A) Executive succession
B) Retrenchment
C) Utility analysis
D) Open-book management

Question 17

Which of the following statements is true of efficiency wages?

A) They lead to a decrease in the average market wage rate.
B) They are offered to attract the best employees.
C) They are higher for jobs with low demand.
D) They result in an increase in employee turnover.

Question 18

Which of the following focuses more on the individual who will perform the job than on the tasks, duties, and responsibilities that the particular job entails?

A) Job enrichment
B) Job enlargement
C) A job specification
D) A job description

Question 19

Which of the following statements is true of a narrative job analysis?

A) It is inexpensive as compared with other job-analysis techniques.
B) It is the least commonly used approach to job analysis.
C) It requires job analysts to undergo extensive training.
D) It focuses on the critical behaviors that distinguish effective from ineffective performers.

Question 20

An organization that implements a reduction strategy will provide training programs to upgrade the skills of current employees to make them more valuable to the organization.

Question 21

Lu Chen, a line manager, is asked to perform a job analysis of the new jobs that have emerged as part of her company's expansion process. She decides to pick the most common approach to job analysis and prepares text descriptions of all the new jobs. She writes detailed descriptions of the jobs and the effort involved in completing them. In the given scenario, Lu Chen is using _____.

A) a narrative job analysis
B) the Fleishman job-analysis system
C) the task-analysis inventory
D) functional job analysis

Question 22

In the context of job-analysis techniques, which of the following refers to a family of job-analysis methods, each with unique characteristics, and each focusing on analyzing all the work performed in the focal job?

A) A narrative job analysis
B) The task-analysis inventory
C) A functional job analysis
D) The critical incidents approach

Question 23

In the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ), the section on information inputs:

A) includes the physical activities, tools, and devices used by a worker to perform his or her job.
B) includes where and how a worker gets data needed to perform his or her job.
C) includes the relationships with other people that are required in performing a job.
D) represents the reasoning and information-processing activities involved in performing a job.

Question 24

Klebo and Philly is a growing pharmaceutical company. As part of its expansion process, the company must hire many new employees. It hires job analysts to list the knowledge, skills, and abilities that all future employees must have to perform the jobs that will emerge as a result of the expansion plan. In the given scenario, the job analysts hired by Klebo and Philly will most likely create a _____.

A) job description
B) job specification
C) job role
D) job title

Question 25

Genysys, a technology services provider, has been experiencing losses in some of its regional offices for the past few months. As a result, it closes some of its offices and downsizes its workforce. It also offers early retirement packages to its senior employees so that they may consider retiring earlier than they would have done otherwise. In the given scenario, Genysys is using a _____.

A) growth strategy
B) stability strategy
C) reduction strategy
D) diversification strategy

Question 26

Swanz, a cosmetics manufacturer, plans to stay in the cosmetics business and become the market leader in the cosmetics industry. However, the company is facing natural attrition and hence directs the human resource department (HR) to develop ways to reduce the turnover rate. The department decides to provide training to the company's current employees to increase their skills so that they become more valuable to the organization. In the given scenario, the HR department most likely wants to implement a _____.

A) growth strategy
B) stability strategy
C) reduction strategy
D) retrenchment strategy

Question 27

Which of the following statements is true of market wage rates?

A) They remain the same across various regions in a country.
B) They change according to the demand for and supply of labor.
C) They have decreased over the past 5 years.
D) They are solely influenced by the local unemployment rate.

Question 28

Which of the following is a computerized job classification system that contains continually updated information regarding the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for virtually every job in the U.S. economy?

A) The task-analysis inventory system
B) The Occupational Information Network
C) The Fleishman job-analysis system
D) The Society for Human Resource Management

Question 29

Which of the following statements is true of human capital investments?

A) They do not include on-the-job training.
B) They affect a firm's location strategies.
C) They do not influence individuals' decisions to enter the labor market.
D) They lead to a decrease in the wages of individuals.

Question 30

Which of the following is a drawback of the task-analysis inventory?

A) The information generated by this method is very vague and imprecise.
B) It is difficult to make comparisons across job families using a single task inventory.
C) The task-analysis inventory is complex and relatively difficult to use.
D) Training needs cannot be established using this method.

Question 31

Which of the following lists the tasks, duties, and responsibilities that a particular job entails?

A) A job description
B) A job specification
C) Job enlargement
D) Job enrichment

Question 32

Wayth, a mobile manufacturing company, experienced losses in its domestic operations. As a result, it closed two of its underperforming facilities and downsized its workforce. The management also offered early retirement benefits to its low-performing employees to make them resign voluntarily. In the given scenario, Wayth used a _____.

A) stability strategy
B) reduction strategy
C) diversification strategy
D) growth strategy

Question 33

In the context of job-analysis techniques, the Fleishman job-analysis system:

A) relies on the taxonomy of abilities that presumably represents all the dimensions relevant to work.
B) is the most common approach to job analysis.
C) does not require a great deal of training for someone to complete.
D) focuses on the critical behaviors that differentiate effective performers from ineffective performers.

Question 34

In the context of the six sections of the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ), which of the following represent the reasoning, decision-making, planning, and information-processing activities involved in performing a job?

A) Job contexts
B) Information inputs
C) Mental processes
D) Special codes

Question 35

Which of the following statements is true of the functional job-analysis technique?

A) It provides information on 187 separate job-related items, allowing a rich picture of what happens on a job.
B) It focuses on the critical behaviors that distinguish effective from ineffective performers.
C) It emphasizes that all jobs can be described in terms of the level of involvement with people, data, and things.
D) It is the most common form of job analysis used in the U.S. military.

Question 36

Which of the following job-analysis techniques most likely focuses on the important behaviors that distinguish effective from ineffective performers?

A) The critical incidents approach
B) The Position Analysis Questionnaire
C) The Fleishman job-analysis system
D) The task-analysis inventory method

Question 37

Freego, an automobile manufacturing firm, wants to understand the processes by which the jobs within the firm can be performed more effectively. It hence asks its engineers and technicians with expert knowledge to prepare text descriptions of all the jobs in the company. The quality and length of these descriptions vary according to each manager's writing skills. In the given scenario, Freego is using _____.

A) the Fleishman job-analysis system
B) a narrative job analysis
C) the task-analysis inventory
D) a functional job analysis

Question 38

Jenna is part of the human resource department of her company. She gathers a panel of subject matter experts (SMEs) to perform a job analysis. She asks the SMEs to analyze the jobs in the company based on a taxonomy of 52 abilities that represent all the dimensions of the jobs. The SMEs are required to indicate the importance of various abilities for each job. In the context of job-analysis techniques, the given scenario illustrates the use of the _____.

A) Fleishman job-analysis system
B) Position Analysis Questionnaire
C) functional job-analysis technique
D) critical incidents approach

Question 39

In the context of job-analysis techniques, which of the following statements is true of a narrative job analysis?

A) It requires narratives to have a constant length irrespective of the type of the job.
B) The narratives in a job analysis are typically individualistic, making it difficult to compare the tasks of one job with another.
C) It defines abilities as enduring attributes of individuals that account for differences in performance.
D) The quality of the information presented by the narratives in a job analysis is independent of the writing skills of the job analyst.

Question 40

Which of the following statements is true of the critical incidents approach?

A) It represents the first attempt to develop a single instrument that can describe all jobs in common terms.
B) It proposes that all jobs be described in terms of the level of involvement with people, data, and things.
C) It is a standardized job-analysis instrument consisting of 194 items.
D) It is most widely used in connection with the development of appraisal instruments.

Question 41

An advantage of the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) is that:

A) it provides information on 197 job-related items.
B) it is extremely useful for high-level managerial jobs and for describing white-collar jobs.
C) a considerable database of information exists that attests to its validity and reliability.
D) the PAQ instrument is relatively simple and easy to use.

Question 42

Hernandez, a clothing retail firm, maintains a database that contains all necessary work-related details of its employees. The information includes each employee's date of hire, job history, education, and performance and compensation history. The database allows the management to forecast the labor demands within the firm. In the given scenario, Hernandez is most likely using a _____.

A) human resource information system
B) transaction processing system
C) process control system
D) professional employer organizer

Question 43

Which of the following statements is true of the Fleishman job-analysis system?

A) It is the most standardized job-analysis instrument available and consists of 194 items.
B) It relies on a panel of subject matter experts to indicate how important an ability is for a job.
C) It requires little or no training.
D) It is the most common form of job analysis used in the U.S. military.

Question 44

Which of the following statements is true of the task-analysis inventory method of job analysis?

A) It is the most common form of job analysis used in the U.S. military.
B) It defines abilities as enduring attributes of individuals that account for differences in performance.
C) Unlike the narrative job-analysis method, the task-analysis inventory method is rarely used in municipal and county governments.
D) Unlike the Fleishman job-analysis system, the task-analysis inventory method does not rely on a panel of subject matter experts.

Question 45

The vice president of Oreon Inc., an international chain of hotels, announces that he will retire from his post after 2 years. Following this, the top management of Oreon Inc. makes use of its employee database and elects the current general manager of operations as the next vice president. The manager is then given regular training and is groomed to make his transition to the senior position seamless. The given scenario illustrates the concept of _____.

A) homesourcing
B) utility analysis
C) executive succession
D) open-book management

Question 46

Which of the following statements is true of job specifications?

A) They may include general educational requirements.
B) They focus more on jobs than on the individuals required to perform those jobs.
C) They provide some indication of the relative importance of specific tasks in the effective conduct of jobs.
D) They may specify major job elements.

Question 47

Which of the following statements is true of the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)?

A) It is the most common form of job analysis used in the U.S. military.
B) It is a standardized job-analysis instrument consisting of 197 items.
C) It represents the first attempt to develop a single instrument that can describe all jobs in common terms.
D) It is relatively complex, and an employee must have the reading level of a college graduate to be able to complete it.

Question 48

Seventh Heaven, a mattress manufacturer and distributor, is a large profitable organization. It has decided to stay in its current business. The firm has a normal rate of attrition, and it takes steps to retain its existing employees. The company provides the employees with training programs and additional benefits, such as flexible work timings, to make sure they are satisfied with their jobs. In the given scenario, Seventh Heaven is most likely using a _____.

A) diversification strategy
B) reduction strategy
C) stability strategy
D) growth strategy

Question 49

Which of the following is a standardized job-analysis instrument whose focus is on managerial jobs, and the analysis is done in terms of 13 essential components of all administrative jobs?

A) The Position Analysis Questionnaire
B) The Management Position Description Questionnaire
C) The Fleishman job-analysis system
D) The critical incidents approach

Question 50

Which of the following is an individual presumed to be highly knowledgeable about a particular job and who provides data for job analysis?

A) A free rider
B) An ancillary worker
C) A blue-collar worker
D) A subject matter expert

Question 51

A company that implements a stability strategy is most likely to:

A) downsize its workforce through terminations and layoffs.
B) offer early retirement offers and packages to its employees.
C) increase the value of the existing employees through additional training.
D) intensify recruitment efforts and design attractive salary packages.

Question 52

Which of the following statements is true of the task-analysis inventory?

A) The information generated by this method is often detailed and useful for setting training needs.
B) The task-analysis inventory is complex and relatively difficult to use.
C) It is easy to make comparisons across job families using this method.
D) Jobs are described in terms of the level of involvement with people, data, and things.

Question 53

Groups of jobs that have task and KSA (knowledge, skills, and abilities) requirements that are quite similar are known as _____.

A) job descriptions
B) job specifications
C) job evaluations
D) job families

Question 54

The first step in the job-analysis process of an organization involves determining:

A) who is responsible for collecting data.
B) the precise information needs of the organization.
C) the methods for obtaining the information that the organization requires.
D) the subject matter experts within the organization.

Question 55

A company's strategy is an important source of information for making human resource decisions because:

A) it provides a comprehensive picture of labor force trends and issues.
B) it determines whether employee turnover should be reduced or encouraged.
C) it generates an accurate description of the tasks performed in the company.
D) it helps the company comply with laws and government regulations.

Question 56

Which of the following is a similarity between functional job analysis and the Position Analysis Questionnaire?

A) The items that make up both of these methods are organized into 10 sections.
B) Both instruments are relatively simple and easy to use.
C) The dimensions measured by both of these methods are believed to underlie all jobs.
D) Both provide information on 187 separate job-related items.

Question 57

Green Acres is a large real estate firm that operates in several states. The top-level employees of the firm are required to let the management know 2 years in advance if they are preparing to step down from their positions. This is done so that the management can find, hire, and train a suitable candidate to take up the vacant position. The firm wants to bring in as much order as possible to its planning processes for future promotions. Which of the following concepts does the given scenario illustrate?

A) Utility analysis
B) Homesourcing
C) Open-book management
D) Executive succession

Question 58

Which of the following statements is true of a stability strategy?

A) It mostly involves terminations and layoffs.
B) It shields an organization from the need to augment its labor force.
C) It may be the easiest for a human resource manager to implement.
D) It may indicate growing sales, increasing demand, and expanding operations for an organization.

Question 59

Which of the following companies is implementing a growth strategy?

A) Gilligan, a cosmetic products manufacturing firm that offers additional benefits to employees who choose to retire early
B) Bennigan, a chain of supermarkets that plans to reduce its recruiting efforts
C) Marcus, Gold, & Partners, an accounting firm that has a normal rate of attrition but does not hire more people to replace the employees who leave
D) Exgenn, a technology services provider that conducts training programs in colleges to find future employees

Question 60

Which of the following is the process of forecasting the supply and demand for the workforce within an organization and developing action plans for aligning the two?

A) Benchmarking
B) Open-book management
C) Utility analysis
D) Human resource planning

Question 61

What are human resource information systems? How do they help in the human resource planning process?

Question 62

What are the implications of a reduction strategy for an organization?

Question 63

Explain market wage rates as a source of information for forecasting the supply of human resources.

Question 64

Explain the concept of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) in relation to job families.

Question 65

Explain the legal issues involved in job analysis.