Deck 13: Managing Human Resources

Question 1

When other companies were downsizing, Schlumberger was focused on keeping its talent and developing people to build up its bench strength.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Of Schlumberger's top managers today, about 40 percent were recruited right out of school and have remained loyal employees throughout their entire career.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Human resources management is important primarily because it can help satisfy employees, but it is not important enough to affect the value of a company.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Successful organizations view their employees as assets that need to be managed conscientiously and in tune with the organization's needs.

Question 5

Firms such as Yahoo! and eBay use their approaches to managing human resources to gain a sustainable competitive advantage.

Question 6

There is a significant association between using state-of-the-art approaches to HRM and profitability in subsequent years.

Question 7

To be a source of sustainable competitive advantage, an organization's approach to human resource management must also be rare.

Question 8

After completing their initial ethics training, and once a year thereafter, J. M. Smucker employees sign a nine-page ethics contract.

Question 9

Employees "voting with their feet" means they are guided by and only work for companies they agree with regarding the political party affiliation of top management.

Question 10

The principle of equal employment opportunity states that job applicants and employees should be judged on characteristics that are related to the work that they are being hired to do and on their job performance after being hired.

Question 11

Compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is monitored by the Department of Commerce.

Question 12

The case against Texaco for racial discrimination was the largest case of its kind up until then, amounting to a settlement of some $140 million.

Question 13

Compensation and benefits practices are shaped by numerous laws and regulations.

Question 14

The FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) is a federal law that specifies a national minimum wage rate and requires payment for overtime work by covered employees.

Question 15

Like the United States, Indonesian laws protect employees from discrimination on the basis of, age, national origin, race, and religion.

Question 16

In 1950, the Fair Labor Standards Act originally guaranteed American workers a minimum wage of $2.25/hour.

Question 17

Pay discrepancies between men and women are usually due to performance, past experience, or inflation.

Question 18

In effective organizations, goals for managing human resources are established first, followed by operational business goals that will be consistent with the HR goals.

Question 19

When HP changed its strategy to move into the digital entertainment market, they also had to consider whether they would need different types of employees.

Question 20

To plan for future workforce needs, HP uses a six-step process. The first step in this process is to focus on operational issues.

Question 21

Contingent workers are employees who are hired by companies for specific tasks or short periods of time with the understanding that their employment may be ended at any time.

Question 22

A 2005 Census Population Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that the number of contingent workers is about 25 percent of the U.S. workforce.

Question 23

Trader Joe's has to actively seek out candidates to hire because the job market for the types of employees they need is so tight.

Question 24

The former CEO of Trader Joe's, John Shields, wouldn't hire anyone who didn't smile during the first 30 seconds of their job interview.

Question 25

According to one study, approximately 25 percent of the companies that had trimmed their workforces were rehiring people the next year-either for their former jobs or for new permanent jobs.

Question 26

A recent survey of 217 companies revealed a total of 148 different competency models in use.

Question 27

Job vacancies are usually caused when employees leave the organization, because they have been moved to another position within the organization, or because the organization is growing and needs more people to do the job.

Question 28

In some organizations, staffing activities are centralized in the human resources department, and professional HR staff members do the recruiting and hiring. In less centralized organizations, however, line managers often have some responsibility for staffing activities.

Question 29

Recruitment is the process of searching, both inside and outside the organization, for people to fill vacant positions.

Question 30

Acceptance of job applications is an aspect of the recruitment process.

Question 31

Managers should rarely bother to spend their time requesting references and conducting reference checks because résumés are usually correct.

Question 32

Home Depot's use of an automated staffing process means a woman is more likely to get a job based on her skills rather than on an interviewer's stereotype.

Question 33

A personality test assesses the unique blend of personal characteristics that define an individual.

Question 34

Personality tests can reveal a person's extraversion and conscientiousness.

Question 35

Even when a company hires the most qualified people available, it often still needs to invest in training and development activities.

Question 36

Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is a two-time winner of the Baldrige National Quality Award and consistently earns top ratings in the travel and leisure industry.

Question 37

At the Ritz-Carlton, performance management is the first step in creating a team of employees who all share the same vision and goals.

Question 38

When training is delivered using electronic-based technologies, it is commonly referred to as e-learning.

Question 39

Employees at Progeon Ltd., a business process outsourcing firm, are required to master the skills of accent neutralization and sales.

Question 40

The widespread outsourcing of banking, telecommunications, and financial services to companies such as Progeon in India has stimulated a demand for language training.

Question 41

Colgate-Palmolive's training and development department is called People Development.

Question 42

McDonald's and Siemens have built their own company "universities" as a part of a long-term strategy to develop their employees.

Question 43

With mentoring, an established employee guides the development of a less experienced worker to increase that employee's competencies, achievement, and understanding of the organization.

Question 44

Performance appraisal refers to a structured, formal system for evaluating an employee's job performance.

Question 45

Managers who meet directly with their subordinates to discuss the employees' appraisal results are more likely to improve their performance as managers.

Question 46

Employees have been known to use ingratiation tactics to influence their supervisors' evaluations of their performance.

Question 47

It is very difficult for managers to accurately assess the performance of their subordinates.

Question 48

The least useful way to provide employees with feedback is the 360-degree appraisal system.

Question 49

The 360-degree appraisal uses mostly sources outside the organization to conduct performance evaluations with an accurate market perspective.

Question 50

In effectively handling appraisals and feedback, Con-Way trains workers to perform and deliver feedback individually.

Question 51

Nonmonetary compensation includes direct pay such as salary and also insurance plans.

Question 52

A total compensation system has three major components: base pay, incentive pay, and benefits.

Question 53

Nonmonetary compensation does not influence employee satisfaction.

Question 54

Monetary compensation can indirectly impact the organization's sustainable competitive advantage.

Question 55

Unless the compensation is perceived as externally competitive, the organization will have a difficult time attracting the best applicants.

Question 56

The guaranteed pay offered for a job is called base pay.

Question 57

Incentive pay can be cost effective for the organization and also help improve the organization's productivity.

Question 58

Employee benefits are generally defined as in-kind payments or services provided to employees for their membership in the organization.

Question 59

Benefits programs may include pay for time not at work-vacations, holidays, sick days, and short breaks during regular work days.

Question 60

Unlike benefits, which differ according to the job a person holds, fulltime employees in an organization generally all receive the same indirect compensation.

Question 61

Schlumberger uses complex technologies to search for and retrieve petroleum, but its core values are simple. The core values include all of the following except:

A) people dedicated to safety and customer service worldwide
B) a commitment to technology
C) exceptional compensation packages for all employees
D) determination to produce superior profits

Question 62

At Schlumberger, human resource professionals can search a database that contains "career networking profiles." Written by each employee, a career networking profile describes:

A) career goals
B) past assignments
C) professional affiliations
D) all of the above

Question 63

__________ refers to the philosophies, policies, and practices that an organization uses to affect the behaviors of people who work for it.

A) Strategic focus
B) Human resources management
C) Performance evaluation
D) Management effectiveness

Question 64

Human resources management is concerned with activities that affect the people who work for the organization. These activities include all of the following except __________.

A) planning
B) inventory management
C) training and development
D) performance review and evaluation

Question 65

Employers need to measure the performance of their workers, which at the very least amounts to __________.

A) keeping track of hours worked
B) reviewing performance once per year
C) getting input from their immediate supervisor
D) checking the accuracy of the work they perform

Question 66

To gain sustainable competitive advantage through HRM, all of the following conditions must be met except:

A) employees must be a source of added value.
B) employees must be unique in some way.
C) competitors must find it difficult to imitate the company's HRM approach.
D) employees must use HR technology and systems effectively.

Question 67

GE's CEO, Jeffry Immelt, is trying to shift the mind-set of employees to encourage greater innovation. He's doing it by changing many of the company's HR practices.Among the changes he has made are:

A) recruiting more managers from outside the company
B) hiring more employees from the countries where GE sells its products and services
C) urging people to stay in their jobs longer so they can develop deeper knowledge of their industry
D) all of the above

Question 68

At Smucker's, throughout training, employees learn about different approaches they can use to address the ethical dilemmas they face at work. These approaches include all of the following except:

A) utilitarian approach
B) the Golden Rule
C) contingency approach
D) rules-based approach

Question 69

Justin Thompson's business consultant told him that his employees were "voting with their feet" because they were __________.

A) not being paid enough
B) being treated unfairly
C) unsure of the company's future
D) afraid to file discrimination charges

Question 70

In recent years, the number of EEO charges filed against employers has averaged about ____________.

A) 25,000
B) 50,000
C) 75,000
D) 100,000

Question 71

What legislation requires employers to ensure as far as possible safe and healthy working conditions and the preservation of our human resources?

A) NLRA
B) OSHA
C) FICA
D) FLSA

Question 72

As originally enacted in 1964, __________ prohibits employment discrimination based on race and religion.

A) the Americans with Disabilities Act
B) the Family and Medical Leave Act
C) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
D) the Equal Employment Opportunity Act

Question 73

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 emphasizes the prohibition of discrimination in all aspects of employment except for __________.

A) religion and race
B) age and disability status
C) color and ethnicity
D) sex and race

Question 74

Employees of Middle Eastern ethnicity became targets of workplace discrimination immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks, prompting __________.

A) many false reports to the EEOC
B) renewed interest in interpreting the Ethnic Discrimination Act
C) deportation of illegal residents by the EEOC
D) the EEOC to quickly alert employers to the responsibility they had to prevent any such discrimination in their organization

Question 75

Mitchell Ward owns and operates a local accounting firm. Most of the employees he hires are similar to him in age, culture, ethnicity, and religious affiliation. As a human resources professional, you might suggest that __________.

A) he should become aware of regulatory influences
B) he can discriminate if he has conducted a job analysis
C) diversification of his staff is not necessary for organizational success
D) he should be wary of an investigation by OSHA

Question 76

_________________ was required to pay nearly $140 million to current and former employees for racial discrimination.

A) ExxonMobil
B) BPAmoco
C) L.L. Bean
D) Texaco

Question 77

When Cirque du Soleil hires employees around the world, it must __________.

A) take cultural factors into consideration
B) understand legal constraints that apply to individual countries
C) adhere to local labor laws
D) all of the above

Question 78

Compensation and benefits practices involve all of the following topics except __________.

A) protection of children
B) overtime pay
C) safe and healthy working conditions
D) insurance coverage

Question 79

A job notice had recently been posted announcing a preference for a single, Japanese female, 20 to 25 year old. What country would this announcement very likely be considered legal under the laws of that land?

A) India
B) France
C) United States
D) United Kingdom

Question 80

The minimum wage rate is specified in which law?

A) Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
B) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
C) Fair Labor Standards Act
D) National Labor Relations Act