Deck 6: The Management Perspective

Question 1

Strategic HRM can be defined in terms managing of HRM philosophies, policies, and practices in a manner that supports the achievement of the organizational strategy.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

While the evidence of a positive relationship exists, researchers have struggled to prove causation, namely that these HPWPs cause organizational performance improvements.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Evidence suggests that more than 40 percent of Canadians are employed in some form of nonstandard work arrangement.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

It has been argued that human resources management minimizes workplace democracy.

Question 5

According to the textbook, why did employers hold more power than employees in the master-servant relationship even though common law required employers to pay wages?

A) Collective bargaining enhanced their power.
B) There were no rules about how much/how often employees were paid.
C) Court decisions favouring employees were ignored by employers.
D) Common law explicitly states that employers hold more power.

Question 6

Nonunion employment-management programs are illegal by labour law legislation in Canada.

Question 7

TThe strategic choice framework can be used to examine how management makes strategic choices.

Question 8

There is general agreement that a business/organizational strategy process includes three phases.

Question 9

Which management approach is grounded in the belief that effective management techniques can minimize employer-employee conflict?

A) human relations
B) master-servant relationship
C) human resources management
D) Taylorism

Question 10

Evidence to date suggests that employees in nonstandard work arrangements are better paid than workers in standard jobs.

Question 11

How did Taylorism perpetuate the master-servant relationship?

A) Early assembly lines were small operations with few employees.
B) Time and motion studies required master-servant interaction.
C) Management planning and decision making resulted in control of work and the workplace.
D) Productivity studies showed how to address social needs of workers.

Question 12

TA strategy of union acceptance is grounded in the belief that unionization is somewhat inevitable.

Question 13

Under a master -servant relationship there was rarely interference by courts, and when there was, it was usually in the employers' favour.

Question 14

TUnion removal strategies include paying unionized workers more than nonunionized workers.

Question 15

Why was scientific management a logical evolution from the master-servant model of management?

A) Large numbers of factory employees were more challenging to manage.
B) Frederick Taylor's theory built on earlier management theories.
C) Simple tasks of an earlier time gave way to more complex tasks.
D) Large numbers of factory workers were more easily managed.

Question 16

Human relations is grounded in the belief that managers and workers have conflicting views and values, and that these differences could not be resolved using effective policies and procedures.

Question 17

The strategy of union substitution applies to nonunion operations and workplaces.

Question 18

Which approach reflects common-law employment relationships pertaining to non-union workplaces?

A) scientific management
B) human relations
C) master-servant relationship
D) human resources management

Question 19

An example of union avoidance behaviour would include illegally firing union organizers.

Question 20

Scientific management argues that workers went from performing a large number of tasks to becoming specialists in a small number of tasks, and in some cases, a single task.

Question 21

Which organizational justice concept corresponds to Dunlop's concept of substantive rules?

A) strategic choice
B) procedural justice
C) equity
D) due process

Question 22

Back-to-work legislation is often justified as an example of government action at which level of the strategic choice model?

A) collective bargaining
B) workplace
C) long-term strategic
D) procedural justice

Question 23

What does Barbash's concept of equity have in common with organizational justice theory?

A) secure employment
B) meaningful work
C) equitable treatment at work
D) non-discrimination at work

Question 24

Which view is centred on the relationship between individual employees and their employers?

A) human relations
B) master-servant relationship
C) human resources management
D) Taylorism

Question 25

Which group would not have access to grievance arbitration under labour laws?

A) Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association
B) Canadian Union of Public Employees
C) Dofasco
D) Ford Motor Company

Question 26

Which argument suggests that the strategic choice framework applies in Canada?

A) There is a low level of union density in the private sector.
B) There is a rise in nonunionized industries in Canada.
C) There is a rising union density in Canada's private sector.
D) Governments have shifted toward supporting labour issues.

Question 27

Which management strategy is grounded in the belief that unionization is a democratic right?

A) union resistance
B) union acceptance
C) union substitution
D) union removal

Question 28

According to the textbook, which management strategy regarding unionization is Canada leaning towards?

A) We have not seen a radical shift toward union removal policies.
B) There is a trend toward nonunion approach in older operations.
C) There is no clear evidence to support any strategy.
D) New firms are unionizing at a greater rate.

Question 29

What is a comprehensive human resources strategy designed to improve organizational performance?

A) strategic human resources management
B) human relations
C) high-performance work practices
D) participative management

Question 30

At what level does strategic choice theory highlight the importance of decision making?

A) union
B) firm
C) individual employee
D) high performance work group

Question 31

In which management strategy does management partly accept employees' right to unionize and yet seeks to limit the spread of unions in the firm?

A) union resistance
B) union removal
C) union substitution
D) union acceptance

Question 32

Which cluster includes high-performance practices?

A) ability enhancing practices
B) employer acceptance practices
C) management-by-objectives
D) human relations practices

Question 33

How does the textbook describe the way employees view the fairness of workplace procedures?

A) interactional justice
B) organizational justice
C) distributive justice
D) procedural justice

Question 34

Which view emphasizes the importance of management and strategies in industrial relations?

A) master-servant
B) human relations
C) strategic choice framework
D) Taylorism

Question 35

Which argument suggests that the strategic choice framework does NOT apply in Canada?

A) Labour legislation in Canada is pro-management.
B) Canada's union density rate has fallen rapidly.
C) Union organizing has avoided new sectors of the economy.
D) Canada's public sector is heavily unionized.

Question 36

How are human resources management and industrial relations similar?

A) Both were founded on human relations theory.
B) Both separate strategy from function.
C) Both believe that bargaining is the best way to ensure equity.
D) Both were founded on organization justice theory.

Question 37

According to the textbook, what effect have unions had on companies who have adopted HRWPs?

A) Results are inconclusive whether a union facilitates or impedes the implementation of HRWP.
B) Unions impede the development of HRWPs.
C) Unions facilitate the development of HRWPs.
D) Unions are indifferent to the development of HRWPs.

Question 38

What characteristic do nonunion employee-management plans share with unionized workplaces?

A) Workers pay dues similar to union dues.
B) Employee representatives are democratically elected by workers.
C) Employers pay workers for attendance at association meetings.
D) Minutes of meetings are edited by management.

Question 39

Freely negotiated collective agreements fill the vacuum between which competing interests?

A) employee rights and firm success
B) management rights and labour tribunal rights
C) government's need for labour peace and political agendas
D) exploitation and unsafe work practices

Question 40

What factors do human resources professionals seek to achieve balance between?

A) fairness and performance
B) efficiency and inequity
C) fairness and efficiency
D) equity and opportunity

Question 41

List the four specific management strategies related to unions according to Thompson (1995).

Question 42

Explain 2 management strategies related to unions.

Question 43

Explain the three elements of the strategic choice framework as it relates to industrial relations.

Question 44

What are the three key elements of human resources strategies?

Question 45

Explain the concept of human resources management as it relates to employer-employee relationship.

Question 46

Name the four phases of business/organizational strategy process.

Question 47

Why are nonstandard work arrangements popular as a management strategy?

A) They can align labour levels to match business production needs.
B) They provide work-life balance.
C) They standardize work schedules for employees.
D) They enhance the relationship between pay and performance.

Question 48

Which term refers to "precarious employment"?

A) professional employment
B) sales employment
C) management occupations only
D) non-standard work arrangements

Question 49

Employers argue that nonstandard work provides many advantages to both workers and employers. Discuss (1) the advantages of nonstandard work as proposed by employers, and (2) the research evidence concerning these jobs versus "standard" jobs.

Question 50

Name three elements of organizational justice theory.

Question 51

The strategic choice framework states that IR decisions are made at three levels. What are the three levels?

Question 52

Name three of the key principles of Barbash's concept of equity.

Question 53

Explain the concept of scientific management as it relates to employer-employee relationships.

Question 54

Which of the following do employees in nonstandard work arrangements experience more often than those in standard jobs?

A) better benefits and wages
B) more job security
C) increased unionization
D) low wages

Question 55

Describe the two high-performance models that have emerged in Canada.

Question 56

What reason does the text give for arguing that many professional organizations are quasi-union in nature?

A) They can go on strike.
B) They include skilled tradespersons.
C) They are certified by labour relations boards.
D) Employers and employees can agree to an arbitration process.