Deck 1: Human Resources in a Globally Competitive Business Environment

Question 1

Globalization is a fact of organizational life,as countries,companies,and workers are interconnected as never before.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Changes in any single part of the HRM system have a reverberating effect on all other parts of the system.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Modular corporations retain all major business functions under one roof.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Originally invented as a way to improve quality,Six Sigma's main value to corporations today lies in its ability to save time and money.

Question 5

If the findings of the study that examined restructuring's effects on 500 representative companies listed on the NYSE is assumed to hold good in future,a company that downsizes now will yield stock returns significantly higher than those of upsizers or stable employers.

Question 6

One study found that a 10 percent increase in a measure of goal-setting activity of firms was associated with a six percent increase in industry adjusted stock returns.

Question 7

Downsizing is probably the most common form of restructuring.

Question 8

Big advertisers are increasingly moving away from pay per click online advertising,as they are prone to manipulation.

Question 9

There is a growing fear among many people that globalization benefits big companies instead of average citizens - of America or any other country.

Question 10

Managing change is an ongoing process whose objective is to enhance the ability of an organization to anticipate and respond to developments that are only in its external environment.

Question 11

In the 21^st century,employers are enjoying an abundance of skilled help.

Question 12

The functional areas of HRM (staffing,retention,etc.)are the sole responsibility of the HR department.

Question 13

The new global corporation might be based in the United States but do its software programming in Sri Lanka,its engineering in Germany,and its manufacturing in China.

Question 14

Recognizing that you have the right people in critical leadership roles is not an HR responsibility,but rather a business imperative which must be truly owned by the leaders of the firm.

Question 15

The advantage of bringing breakthrough products to market first will be shorter than ever because globalization will let competitors match or exceed them almost instantly.

Question 16

One of the greatest challenges of Chief HR officers is creating a true sense of ownership among senior leaders as to their role of Chief Talent Officers.

Question 17

Trends will include a decrease in automated and outsourced roles,more diversity of employees,and an increased importance on technical skills for successful managers.

Question 18

Cheap labor and plentiful resources,along with ease of travel and communication,have created global labor markets.

Question 19

The best way for a company to gain long time prosperity is to downsize.

Question 20

The focus for the 21^st century organization is far more likely to look like a web: a flat,intricately woven form that links partners,employees,external contractors,suppliers,and customers in various collaborations.

Question 21

The challenge,opportunity,and also the frustration of creating and managing organizations frequently stem from the _____ problems that arise within them.

A) people-related
B) union
C) legal
D) upper management

Question 22

The most vital of all resources in work settings is:

A) people.
B) technology.
C) culture.
D) finances.

Question 23

_____ comprises activities intended to maintain compliance with the organization's HR policies and business strategies.

A) Staffing
B) Retention
C) Development
D) Adjustment

Question 24

Many factors are driving change,but none is more important than the rise of:

A) Internet technologies.
B) women in the workforce.
C) human resource professionals.
D) cultural diversity.

Question 25

When productivity increases,businesses can pay higher wages without boosting inflation.

Question 26

The 21^st-century corporation must adapt itself to management via the Web and must be:

A) predicated on stability.
B) organized around rigid hierarchies.
C) built on shifting partnerships and alliances.
D) constructed on bricks and mortar.

Question 27

A process is a collection of activities that takes one or more kinds of input and creates an output that is of value to a customer.

Question 28

How the people are selected,trained,and managed does not determine to a large extent how successful an organization will be.

Question 29

The sharing of information on such things as financial performance,strategy,and operational measures conveys to an organization's people that they are trusted.

Question 30

Retention comprises all of the following activities EXCEPT:

A) rewarding employees for performing their jobs effectively.
B) ensuring harmonious working relations between employees and managers.
C) maintaining a safe,healthy work environment.
D) identifying work requirements within an organization.

Question 31

All of the following are general categories of HRM activities EXCEPT:

A) managing change.
B) development.
C) outplacement.
D) adjustment.

Question 32

The category of HRM responsibility aimed at preserving and enhancing employee job competence is:

A) development.
B) staffing.
C) retention.
D) managing change.

Question 33

Which of the following is a characteristic of a 21^st-century corporation as compared to a 20^th-century corporation?

A) Focus is internal
B) Style is structured
C) Mass production of products
D) Strategy is bottom-up

Question 34

"Business-based flexibility" is characterized by private deals based on individual's needs.

Question 35

Over the past decade,organizations have become more complex,dynamic,and fast-paced.

Question 36

Flexibility is currently viewed by most managers and employees as a new and effective way of working to achieve business results,rather than as an exception or employee accommodation.

Question 37

Reengineering is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in cost,quality,and speed.

Question 38

Quality of work life is defined in terms of management perceptions of employee physical and mental well-being at work.

Question 39

Company X is increasing production by adding more employees to its workforce and scaling up its existing facilities.Company X is essentially increasing its productivity.

Question 40

Staffing is comprised of all the following activities EXCEPT:

A) identifying work requirements within an organization.
B) involving employees in business strategy.
C) recruiting,selecting,and promoting qualified candidates.
D) determining the numbers of people and the skills necessary to do the work.

Question 41

Which of the following is a retention responsibility of the line management?

A) Compensation and benefits
B) Performance feedback to subordinates
C) Management and organizational development
D) Face-to-face resolution of conflict

Question 42

It generally takes _____ before quality-management programs become institutionalized.

A) six months
B) three to five years
C) five to ten years
D) ten to fifteen years

Question 43

Organizations known for the quality of their products and services strongly believe that _____ are the key to those results.

A) eminent board members
B) virtual organizations
C) employees
D) outstanding HR managers

Question 44

Coca Cola earns more than what percent of its revenues from outside the United States?

A) 5
B) 25
C) 75
D) 95

Question 45

The most important intellectual property in the creative economy is:

A) intellectual capital
B) telemedicine
C) music
D) software

Question 46

When senior managers take true ownership of their responsibility to have the right people in critical leadership roles,they are embracing their role of:

A) Morale supervisors
B) Technical training specialists
C) Chief Talent Officers
D) Applied motivational strategist

Question 47

How do less-developed countries win from globalization?

A) They can sell sophisticated technologies to emerging economies.
B) They get jobs making low-cost products for rich countries.
C) They gain the ability to buy expensive imports.
D) They can sell services to relatively under-developed countries.

Question 48

In a(n)_____,employees operate remotely from each other and from managers.

A) bureaucratic organization
B) fluid organization
C) telecommuting center
D) virtual workplace

Question 49

There is a substantial and growing body of research evidence showing a strong connection between how firms _____ and the economic results they achieve.

A) select board members
B) educate their management staff
C) manage their people
D) diversify their product line

Question 50

How the people are selected,trained,and managed determines to a large extent how successful an organization will be:

A) Selected.
B) Trained.
C) Managed.
D) All of the Above

Question 51

Which factors have contributed to the attractiveness of globalization?

A) Cheap labor
B) Plentiful resources
C) Ease of travel
D) All of the above

Question 52

According to a study examining restructuring's effects on profitability and stock returns of 500 representative companies listed on the NYSE,in terms of profitability,which of the following categories of companies generated lower returns on assets in the year prior to the announcement of layoffs,the year when layoffs occurred,and in the two subsequent years on a relative basis?

A) Asset upsizers
B) Stable employers
C) Downsizers
D) Upsizers

Question 53

The goal of _____ is to reduce variability from a process (no more than 3.4 defects per million)in order to avoid errors and increase predictability.

A) ISO 13485
B) Total Quality Management
C) ISO 9000
D) Six Sigma

Question 54

Companies that outsource work far from their home countries are said to be:

A) offshoring.
B) onshoring.
C) outsourcing.
D) nearshoring.

Question 55

A broad objective of HRM is to _____ of all workers in the organization.

A) minimize the downtime
B) optimize the usefulness
C) scrutinize the personnel file
D) standardize the benefits

Question 56

Ron is a senior production manager at an avionics product research and development organization.Which of the following would be part of Ron's responsibility for managing change?

A) Providing a vision of where his unit is going.
B) Providing expertise to facilitate the overall process of managing change.
C) Developing legally sound performance management systems.
D) Respecting the dignity of each individual in his unit.

Question 57

Globalization has been encouraged by

A) the ease of travel and communication
B) the decrease in employees willing to take foreign posts
C) the complexity of matrix organizations
D) a lack of global resources

Question 58

Which of the following was NOT part of the "Three-C" logic that dominated industrial society's approach to organizational design throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries?

A) Coordination
B) Command
C) Control
D) Compartmentalized information

Question 59

In terms of staffing,the responsibility of line management is:

A) making final decisions on entry-level hires and promotions.
B) doing a job/competency analysis.
C) the development of legally sound performance management systems.
D) investigation of employee complaints.

Question 60

Examples of how globalization of companies has affected the economy include:

A) Open boarders have allowed new ideas and technology to flow freely
B) Accelerating productivity growth has allowed companies to be more competitive
C) There is a growing fear that globalization only benefits big business
D) All of the above

Question 61

List three ways in which sustainability affects an organization's business model,structure,and processes:

Question 62

List at least two jobs ideally suited for virtual workplaces.

Question 63

What does QWL stand for?

Question 64

List and describe the five broad activities encompassed by HRM.

Question 65

All of the following are prerequisites for selective hiring EXCEPT:

A) interviewers screen for attributes that are easy to change through training.
B) the organization needs to be clear about the most critical skills and attributes in the applicant pool.
C) the skills and abilities sought should be consistent with particular job requirements and the organization's approach to the market.
D) having a large applicant pool from which to select.

Question 66

_____ involves giving workers the opportunity to make decisions about the design of their jobs and workplaces,and what they need to make products or to deliver services most effectively.

A) ISO
B) reengineering
C) Six Sigma
D) QWL

Question 67

Teams substitute peer based control for hierarchical control of work is known for in:

A) Cultural stewards
B) Organizational design
C) Strategy architects
D) Selective hiring

Question 68

Quality of work life (QWL)depends a lot on what workers want._____ is the main requirement of workers in the United States.

A) Career opportunity
B) Competitive base pay
C) Chances to learn
D) Challenging work

Question 69

Define what is meant by quality of work life and list some aspects of successful QWL programs.

Question 70

According to the text,quality of work life is defined in terms of:

A) employee perceptions of their well-being at work.
B) the level of productivity achieved by employees.
C) objective indices of employee well-being at work.
D) the degree to which an organization adopts Japanese managerial principles.

Question 71

What is productivity?

Question 72

Organizations strive to retain talented workers in a hot job market by offering employees:

A) coordination of control.
B) flexible work schedules.
C) Total Quality Management.
D) unity of command.

Question 73

Theoretically,quality of work life (QWL)involves giving workers the opportunity to make decisions about the design of their jobs and workplaces,and what they need to make products or to deliver services most effectively.What workers want varies by country.Chinese workers value:

A) chances to learn.
B) competitive base pay.
C) challenging work.
D) work/life balance.

Question 74

Explain at least three new organizational forms.

Question 75

The fundamental premise of high-performance management systems is that organizations perform at a higher level when they are able to tap the ideas,skills,and efforts of all of their people.This is a dimension of:

A) employment security.
B) reduced differences in status.
C) self-managed teams and decentralization.
D) sharing of information.

Question 76

List at least three human resource aspects that greatly benefit from vendor HRIS applications (e.g.,benefits enrollment).

Question 77

Write a short note on Six Sigma.

Question 78

What growing trend will result in waves of individualized products and services,as well as huge savings for companies,which will no longer have to guess what and how much customers want?

Question 79

A basic element of Organizational Design is:

A) Self-managed teams
B) Decentralization
C) Extensive training
D) Both A & B

Question 80

The measure of output of goods and services relative to the input of labor,capital,and equipment is known as:

A) quality enhancement.
B) profits.
C) productivity.
D) resources.