Deck 17: Human Resource Policies and Practices

Question 1

Elaborate sets of performance simulation tests, specifically designed to evaluate a candidate's managerial potential, are ________.

A) more effective than work sampling
B) administered in assessment centers
C) similar to personality tests
D) considered drawbacks of some management development programs
E) likely to skew the results of behavioral samples

Answer 1

B

Question 2

What is a common contingent selection method?

A) IQ test
B) interview
C) interest inventory
D) drug test
E) work sample test

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The behavioral structured interview is built on the assumption that ________.

A) past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior
B) technical knowledge and skills are the best predictor of job performance
C) personality is the best predictor of job performance
D) personality and mood are highly correlated
E) technical knowledge and mood are highly correlated

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The variability in interview results across an applicant pool is reduced by using a standardized ________.

A) approach for recruiting applicants
B) pool of applicants
C) set of interview questions
D) time frame for scheduling interviews
E) none of the above

Question 5

________ refers to a series of devices submitted by applicants in which preliminary rough cuts are made by the potential employer when it is decided whether or not an applicant meets basic job requirements.

A) A job offer
B) Initial selection
C) Substantive selection
D) A background check
E) Contingent selection

Question 6

Which of the following has proven to be a particularly good predictor for jobs that require cognitive complexity?

A) intelligence tests
B) integrity evaluations
C) work sampling
D) aptitude tests
E) behavioral assessment

Question 7

More than ________ percent of employers conduct some type of background check on potential employees during some point in the hiring process, usually either in the initial phase or the contingent phase.

A) 25
B) 50
C) 65
D) 80
E) 95

Question 8

Hands-on simulation of part of a job is known as a ________.

A) practical assessment
B) performance-simulation interview
C) job simulation assessment
D) work sample
E) behavioral role exposition

Question 9

Which of the following is not a typical written test used in organizations?

A) intelligence
B) integrity
C) personality
D) interest inventory
E) work sample

Question 10

Assessment centers are used specifically to evaluate what level of job candidate?

A) unskilled laborers
B) skilled workers
C) professional workers
D) supervisors
E) knowledge workers

Question 11

Applicants describe how they handled problems and situations in previous jobs in a(n) ________ interview.

A) behavioral structured
B) audition-type
C) performance-simulation
D) problem-solving
E) reflection

Question 12

The results of which of the following tend to have a disproportionate amount of influence on employee selection decisions?

A) interviews
B) written tests
C) performance simulation tests
D) work sampling methods
E) personality tests

Question 13

Which of the following is true regarding behavioral structured interviews?

A) They are conducted in a similar manner as audition-type interviews.
B) They decrease an interviewer's reliance on his or her "gut feelings."
C) They are most useful when interviewing high-performing workers.
D) They are useful only for interviewing non-skilled workers.
E) They increase the effectiveness of the interview technique.

Question 14

Which of the following is the most common method of initial selection?

A) written tests
B) background check
C) performance test
D) application form
E) work-sample test

Question 15

Work sample tests are widely used in hiring ________.

A) unskilled labor
B) skilled workers
C) professional workers
D) managers
E) knowledge workers

Question 16

Which of the following is not a type of background check commonly used by employers?

A) phone interview of former employer
B) letter of recommendation
C) credit history check
D) criminal record check
E) intelligence test

Question 17

Gailen is looking for a job. Today he went to the Web site of JPC Corp where he filled out an online application and attached a copy of his resume. In which part of the selection process is Gailen?

A) physical selection
B) job offer
C) initial selection
D) contingent selection
E) substantive selection

Question 18

Between the late 1960s and the mid-1980s, the use of written tests declined because they were characterized as ________.

A) unprofessional
B) discriminatory
C) unreliable
D) invalid
E) mathematically flawed

Question 19

Which of the following is not a part of the selection process for most organizations?

A) physical selection
B) initial selection
C) job offer
D) contingent selection
E) substantive selection

Question 20

The best way for an employer to find out if a potential employee can do a job is by ________.

A) using the interview process
B) using a written test
C) having them spend a day in the office
D) administering an IQ test
E) using a performance simulation test

Question 21

How would a participator best absorb information?

A) use computers to read manuals
B) watch others and imitate behaviors
C) copy what others do on computers
D) listen to an audiotape
E) gain hands-on experience

Question 22

According to a recent survey, about ________ percent of employees working in the 1,000 largest U.S. corporations receive ethics training.

A) 10
B) 25
C) 50
D) 75
E) 90

Question 23

Performance evaluations are used as a mechanism for all of the following except ________.

A) monitoring the success of marketing strategies
B) determining promotions
C) pinpointing employees skills
D) identifying training and development needs
E) providing feedback to employees

Question 24

Employees helping each other out at the workplace in an unplanned and unstructured environment, is called ________.

A) formal training
B) ethics training
C) interpersonal training
D) informal training
E) off-job training

Question 25

Which of the following is not a measure of the effectiveness of a training program?

A) the amount of information learned
B) the transfer of information to the job
C) teacher satisfaction with students
D) the financial return on investment
E) student satisfaction with the training

Question 26

Examples of off-the-job training include all of the following except ________.

A) classroom lectures
B) apprenticeship programs
C) Internet courses
D) public seminars
E) videotapes

Question 27

Sylvia is applying for a job as an air traffic controller at the local airport. Which of the following statements is not true regarding her contingency selection.

A) Sylvia will not likely undergo physical testing as an air traffic controller.
B) Sylvia will most likely be required to submit a urine sample for a drug test.
C) Sylvia will need to pass a series of medical exams for the job.
D) Sylvia will need to pass exams showing her psychological ability to perform.
E) A criminal background check could be a part of her contingency selection.

Question 28

Performance evaluations today are generally based on which three types of behavior?

A) task performance, productivity, tenure
B) productivity, efficiency, absenteeism
C) task performance, citizenship, counterproductivity
D) citizenship, counterproductivity, personality
E) leadership, training, efficiency

Question 29

What is an argument against drug testing?

A) Drug tests screen out individuals who use marijuana and alcohol.
B) Drug use is a private matter.
C) Drug tests are costly in terms of people's safety.
D) Drug tests are generally inaccurate.
E) The results of drug tests are easily faked.

Question 30

Statistics show that 50% of high school graduates in the U.S. don't possess adequate ________ skills to perform with maximum productivity in today's demanding work place.

A) literacy
B) technical
C) problem solving
D) interpersonal
E) social

Question 31

Which type of skill training has become increasingly important in organizations?

A) financial
B) technical
C) problem solving
D) interpersonal
E) social

Question 32

Training employees on how to be better listeners falls under which of the following training categories?

A) ethical skills
B) technical skills
C) problem-solving skills
D) interpersonal skills
E) cultural skills

Question 33

Fiona can learn anything quickly, if she can see someone else doing it. If she has to figure it out by any other method, it will take her a long time and she will not be productive. Fiona is a(n) ________, and her manager should ________.

A) listener, provide her with audio tapes
B) reader, give her books to review
C) observer, use Internet videos to train
D) participator, provide hands-on training
E) actor, simulate role-playing situations

Question 34

Examples of on-the-job training include all of the following except ________.

A) job rotation
B) apprenticeship
C) simulation centers
D) understudy assignments
E) formal mentoring programs

Question 35

Which of the following is the least predictive set of criteria used to evaluate employees?

A) traits
B) task outcomes
C) behaviors
D) personality
E) mood

Question 36

Performance evaluations are used to ________.

A) improve group cohesiveness
B) define departmental structure
C) help management make HR decisions
D) identify how jobs are completed
E) decrease conformity within organizations

Question 37

Because of passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, job applicants ________.

A) can be subjected to a physical exam before a job offer
B) can not be subjected to a physical exam after a job offer
C) can not be subjected to a physical exam before a job offer
D) can not be drug tested for medicinal marijuana use
E) are never required to submit to a physical exam for a job

Question 38

Tyler is a sales representative for his company. He is attending a company training program about the types of expenses that are considered legal deductions for tax purposes, and how to distinguish between personal expenses and business expenses. Tyler is attending training to improve his ________ skills.

A) literacy
B) problem solving
C) interpersonal
D) ethics
E) technical

Question 39

Which of the following is not a weakness of electronic training?

A) expensive
B) low social interaction
C) disengaged students
D) flexibility of completion
E) lack of learning accountability

Question 40

Terry has been told that he is a final candidate for a job, he merely has to submit a urine sample for a drug test. Terry is indignant and feels that the request is a violation of his rights. Which of the following statements is not true about Terry's situation?

A) Terry won't have any problems if he has only consumed alcohol.
B) Terry can 'fake' the drug test if he has only smoked marijuana.
C) The supreme court does not support Terry's view on drug testing.
D) Drug testing is expensive, so the company must value Terry as a candidate.
E) Drug testing is not going away and Terry should accept it.

Question 41

The approach to evaluation that uses feedback from those who have daily contact with an employee (everyone from mailroom personnel to customers to bosses to peers) is termed ________.

A) critical incidents
B) 360-degree evaluation
C) BARS
D) multiperson comparisons
E) MBWA

Question 42

Which of the following is not true concerning self-evaluations?

A) They lead to employees rating themselves highly.
B) They tend to heighten employees' defensiveness about the appraisal process.
C) They make excellent vehicles for stimulating job performance discussions between employees and their superiors.
D) They are often low in agreement with superiors' ratings.
E) They tend to be biased estimates.

Question 43

Which of the following is not a suggested method to improve on performance evaluations and make them more pleasant for both the evaluator and the employee?

A) provide constructive feedback
B) be sincere and specific
C) construct a fair appraisal system
D) determine methods of correction
E) evaluate global performance

Question 44

Which of the following is not a company consideration to help employees address work-life conflicts?

A) keeping work-related travel reasonable
B) reducing workloads
C) offering on-site quality child-care
D) tie manager pay to customer satisfaction
E) employee participation evaluation

Question 45

Work-life conflicts became noticeable in the 1980s when ________.

A) independent child care became a growing industry
B) baby boomer's parents began to age
C) men were surveyed that family time was important
D) work loads became historically heavier
E) women with children entered the workforce

Question 46

Which of the following is not a reason typically cited by managers regarding their reluctance to give performance feedback?

A) Many employees become defensive when their weaknesses are pointed out.
B) Managers often fear confrontation with employees.
C) Employees have an inflated assessment of their own performance.
D) The human resources department is not supportive of the feedback process.
E) All of the above are typically cited reasons.

Question 47

Lavert hates the annual review process he has to do of the employees in his department. Although he is fully aware of some of his employees' faults he is reluctant to discuss them in person, and is only comfortable writing them in an unsigned report that his supervisor will review. Lavert's behavior demonstrates ________.

A) provision of due process
B) employee inflated assessment of performance
C) employee defensiveness about weaknesses
D) managerial sincerity
E) fear of confrontation

Question 48

If the manager uses critical incidents as a method of performance evaluation, then ________.

A) the subordinate is apt to become confused
B) the evaluator's writing skills become the determining factor of the evaluation
C) the subordinate is likely to become motivated
D) the focus of the evaluation will center on key behaviors
E) the cost of the evaluation is likely to be incredibly high for the organization

Question 49

________ can be used to increase the perception that employees are treated fairly.

A) Selective evaluation
B) Due process
C) Multiple raters
D) Documenting with a journal
E) Focusing on subjective evaluations

Question 50

Which of the following is not a reason an international manager needs to evaluate recruiting practices?

A) culture-based norms
B) local social values
C) cultural culinary differences
D) cultural legal differences
E) cultural economic differences

Question 51

Which of the following is not a standard method of performance evaluation?

A) critical incidents
B) written essays
C) interviews
D) graphic rating scales
E) BARS

Question 52

Which performance evaluation method requires no complex forms or extensive training to complete?

A) written essays
B) critical incidents
C) graphic rating scales
D) behaviorally anchored rating scales
E) intellectual assessment

Question 53

________ ranking requires the evaluator to place employees into a particular classification, such as top one-fifth or second one-fifth.

A) Individual
B) Group order
C) Paired
D) Fractional
E) Percentile

Question 54

Which of the following is not a weakness of the 360-degree evaluation system?

A) artificially inflated feedback from peers
B) insufficient training for performance evaluators
C) discrepancies between evaluating groups
D) provides a wide performance perspective
E) difficulties in reconciling differing evaluations

Question 55

When an appraiser rates employees based on items on a continuum with the points reflecting actual behaviors on a given job, this type of evaluation is called ________.

A) BARS
B) critical incident
C) graphic rating scale
D) behavioral structured ratings
E) MBWA

Question 56

One reason to consider graphic rating scales is ________.

A) their accuracy
B) their usability in quantitative analysis
C) the quality of their results
D) their breadth of information
E) their reliability

Question 57

The evaluation method that focuses the evaluator's attention on those behaviors that are key to executing a job effectively is known as ________.

A) forced comparison
B) critical incidents
C) graphic rating scales
D) behaviorally anchored rating scales
E) intellectual competence

Question 58

Which approach to performance evaluation rank-orders employees from best to worst?

A) individual ranking
B) group order ranking
C) paired comparison
D) straight ranking
E) comparison ranking

Question 59

All of the following are ways to overcome problems encountered with performance evaluations except ________.

A) evaluate selectively
B) focus on identifiable traits
C) use multiple evaluators
D) provide employees with due process
E) train evaluators

Question 60

________ involves evaluating one's performance against the performance of one or more others.

A) BARS
B) A critical incident diary
C) A graphic rating scale
D) Forced comparison
E) Likert analysis

Question 61

Using immediate subordinates in the performance evaluation process is contrary to recent trends in the workplace.

Question 62

When a manager is evaluated on the degree to which he or she "has a good attitude," the evaluation criterion being used is traits.

Question 63

In assessment centers, job candidates are evaluated as they go through several days of exercises that simulate real problems they would confront on the job.

Question 64

If raters make evaluations on only those dimensions which they are in a good position to rate, this increases the agreement between raters and makes the evaluation a more valid process.

Question 65

The approach that compares each employee with every other employee and rates each as either the superior or weaker member of the pair is called group order ranking.

Question 66

In the past, organizations had to provide basic reading and math skills for their employees. Improved educational standards have decreased that need over the past few decades.

Question 67

As the number of evaluators increases, the probability of attaining more accurate information increases.

Question 68

Due process systems provide individuals with adequate notice of what is expected of them.

Question 69

Which of the following is not true concerning international performance evaluations?

A) Caution should be used in generalizing across cultures.
B) Every culture is concerned with performance appraisal.
C) Not all managers look at performance appraisal the same way as do managers in the U.S.
D) Individualistic countries emphasize formal performance evaluation systems.
E) Israel's culture values group activities.

Question 70

As a selection device, written tests have decreased in usage during the past 20 years.

Question 71

One explanation for why many employees may not be motivated is that the performance evaluation process is often more political than objective.

Question 72

Technical training has become increasingly important because of changes in organizational design.

Question 73

The most effective training is conducted through the use of standardized teaching techniques.

Question 74

A test that measures factors such as dependability, carefulness, responsibility, and honesty is referred to as a performance factor test.

Question 75

Which of the following statements is true concerning international selection practices?

A) Structured interviews are popular in all countries.
B) Beliefs about how one should conduct an interpersonal interview are consistent across countries.
C) The use of educational qualifications in screening candidates seems to be a universal practice.
D) Policies and practices do not require modification from one country to the next.
E) Groups are typically much more effective at selecting candidates in individualistic cultures.

Question 76

Critical incidents as a method of performance evaluation focus on problem behaviors.

Question 77

When a manager is evaluated on the cost per unit of production in his or her department, the evaluation criterion being used is behaviors.

Question 78

Employees will alter their job behavior to reflect the criteria that management uses to evaluate their performance.

Question 79

Most formal training revolves around employees simply helping each other out.

Question 80

Work samples yield validities almost consistently superior to written aptitude tests.