Deck 13: Employment Relations and Performance

Question 1

It is the view of neo-classical economists that:

A) centralised and regulated labour markets result in superior economic outcomes.
B) centralised and deregulated labour markets result in superior economic outcomes.
C) decentralised and deregulated labour markets result in superior economic outcomes.
D) decentralised and regulated labour markets result in superior economic outcomes.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

How are differences in wage inequality in developed countries often explained?

Answer 2

Many studies have argued that differences in the equality of wages across countries can be explained by various aspects of national bargaining structures, such as the coverage of bargaining or the centralisation and coordination of bargaining.

Question 3

What are the four main difficulties in proving a clear and direct relationship between HRM practices and organisational performance?

Answer 3

Methodology of data collection in studies of HRM practices and performance
Difficulties in measuring performance
Problem of identifying the key HR practices that comprise the optimal set that most affects organisational performance
Lack of a strong theoretical foundation.

Question 4

According to 'neo-classical economic theory', the role of unions as monopoly sellers of labour:

A) raises wages above the competitive market clearing rate.
B) leads to greater efficiency in the workplace.
C) determines wages in line with the competitive market clearing rate.
D) both leads to greater efficiency in the workplace and determines wages in line with the competitive market clearing rate.

Question 5

Explain the union 'shock effect'.

Question 6

Why are high-performance work systems said to improve employee performance?

Question 7

An alternative view to that held by neo-classical economists is that:

A) centralised wage bargaining is conducive to lower wage inflation and lower unemployment.
B) decentralised wage bargaining is conducive to lower wage inflation and lower unemployment.
C) centralised wage bargaining increases wages and increases unemployment.
D) centralised wage bargaining decreases wages but increases unemployment.

Question 8

How do critics of HRM explain instances of higher discretionary effort with the use of particular HRM practices?

Question 9

Identify the key challenges and issues that demonstrate the link between employment relations and performance.

Question 10

Difficulties in proving the relationship between HRM and organisational performance are associated with:

A) methodological approaches and problems in measuring performance.
B) limited access to HR managers.
C) lack of organisations using HRM techniques.
D) confidentiality clauses restricting access to performance data.

Question 11

The climate influencing the relationship between unions and organisational performance is determined by:

A) the structure of bargaining.
B) employer and employee attitudes.
C) the competitive environment and the labour market environment.
D) All of the options given here are correct

Question 12

What are the key indicators of performance?

A) Efficiency or competitiveness and financial indicators
B) Efficiency or competitiveness and equity
C) Efficiency or competitiveness and quality
D) None of the options given here is correct

Question 13

What is the key controversy in the research regarding the outcomes of union-management partnership arrangements?

Question 14

List the elements that comprise the employment relations climate.

Question 15

'If a country creates employment by forcing people into low-paid, marginal jobs, its performance from a human point of view is inferior to that of a country which provides an equivalent amount of well-paid, secure employment' (Rowthorn 1992, p. 100). Discuss, drawing on your knowledge of neo-classical economic theory.

Question 16

Describe the two bundles of practices that Huselid (1995) found contributed to higher organisational performance.

Question 17

The union 'shock effect' refers to:

A) the response of management to being forced to negotiate with unions.
B) the outcome of bargaining after a strike.
C) management reducing organisational 'slack' in response to union pressure to increase wages.
D) All of the options given here are correct

Question 18

What are the challenges in demonstrating the employment relations-performance link?

A) The potential gap between theory and evidence
B) Definitional and measurement problems
C) The complexity of causal relationships
D) All of the options here are correct

Question 19

List the characteristics used to compare employment relations systems.

Question 20

It has been suggested that for high-performance work systems to improve performance, three conditions need to be met. What are these three (3) conditions?

Question 21

What, according to Freeman and Medoff (1984), is necessary for unions to have a positive impact on productivity?

Question 22

Explain the theoretical problem in proving the link between HR practice and organisational performance.

Question 23

What characteristics of national employment relations systems do neo-classical economists favour?

Question 24

Give an explanation for the growing inequality in earnings in Australia since 1990.

Question 25

It has been argued that the influence of unions in the workplace can lead to sub-optimal use of new technologies. Discuss.

Question 26

Explain the significant problems in measuring 'performance' and proving that it is affected by HR practices.