Deck 4: Analysis and Design of Work and Human Resource Planning

Question 1

Job analysis refers to the process of getting detailed information about jobs.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Forecasting is an objective measure that accurately predicts future labour demand.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Whereas the ergonomic approach to job design focuses on physical capabilities and limitations,the perceptual-motor approach focuses on human mental capabilities and limitations.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The ergonomic approach is concerned with issues such as lighting,space,and working hours.

Question 5

Scientific management was one of the earliest and best-known statements of the mechanistic approach.

Question 6

Centralization refers to the degree to which work units are grouped based on functional similarity or similarity of work flow.

Question 7

Once the output of a work unit has been identified,it is important to specify the quality and quantity standards for these outputs.

Question 8

The mechanistic approach to job design has its roots in classical industrial engineering.

Question 9

The motivational approach emerged as a reaction to mechanistic approaches to job design.

Question 10

Functional structures tend to be less flexible,but more innovative than divisional structures.

Question 11

Work-flow process is a means for the manager to understand all the tasks required to produce a number of high-quality products as well as the skills necessary to perform those tasks.

Question 12

KSAOs are characteristics about people that are not directly observable,but that can be identified when individuals are carrying out the TDRs of the job.

Question 13

Job context is not part of the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ).

Question 14

The final stage in the work-flow analysis is to identify the inputs used in the development of the work unit's product.

Question 15

A disadvantage of the Position Analysis Questionnaire is that it requires employees to have a college reading level.

Question 16

For teams to be effective,it is essential that the level of task interdependence be greater than the level of outcome interdependence.

Question 17

Although we tend to view jobs as changing and evolving over time,jobs are static and stable.

Question 18

A job description is a list of the knowledge,skills,abilities,and other characteristics that an individual must have to perform the job.

Question 19

Employees in functional structures tend to have more decision-making authority than their counterparts in divisional structures.

Question 20

Divisional structures are most appropriate in stable,predictable environments where it is relatively easy to anticipate demands for resources and coordination requirements between jobs that are not consistent over time.

Question 21

Which of the following sources of job analysis information would most likely provide accurate information regarding the time spent on various tasks?

A)Supervisors
B)Incumbents
C)Customers
D)Subordinates

Question 22

Which of the following approaches to job design focuses on efficiency as the major outcome of interest?

A)Motivational approach
B)Mechanistic approach
C)Biological approach
D)Perceptual-motor approach

Question 23

Which of the following approaches to job design entails performing time-and-motion studies?

A)Motivational approach
B)Mechanistic approach
C)Biological approach
D)Perceptual-motor approach

Question 24

Job analysis information usually is obtained from:

A)co-workers and customers.
B)job incumbents and co-workers.
C)customers and supervisors.
D)job incumbents and supervisors.

Question 25

_____ refers to the degree to which work units are grouped based on functional similarity or similarity of work flow.

A)Departmentalization
B)Centralization
C)Decentralization
D)Work-flow analysis

Question 26

The fact that employees can access an HRIS system and make their benefit enrolment,changes,or claims online,permits HRM staff to focus on more strategic actions.

Question 27

Transitional matrices show the proportion (or number)of employees in different job categories at different times.

Question 28

The perceptual-motor approach to job design focuses on:

A)physical capabilities and limitations.
B)human mental capabilities and limitations.
C)attitudinal variables.
D)work structure.

Question 29

When decision-making authority resides at the top of the organizational chart as opposed to being distributed throughout lower levels,an organization is:

A)divisional.
B)mechanistic.
C)centralized.
D)decentralized.

Question 30

Which of the following sources of job analysis information would be the most likely to provide accurate information regarding the importance of various tasks?

A)Supervisors
B)Incumbents
C)Customers
D)Subordinates

Question 31

As a manager,you want to redesign a job because your most recent attitude survey indicated that individuals were very bored with the monotony of their jobs.Which job design approach would be most helpful to you?

A)Motivational approach
B)Mechanistic approach
C)Biological approach
D)Perceptual-motor approach

Question 32

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning.

Question 33

There is evidence to support the use of Flexible Work Arrangements to prevent turnover and to increase job satisfaction among employees.

Question 34

Which of the following approaches to job design focuses on job satisfaction as the major outcome of interest?

A)Motivational approach
B)Mechanistic approach
C)Biological approach
D)Perceptual-motor approach

Question 35

To avoid some of the problems of downsizing,it is best to implement indiscriminate across-the-board cuts.

Question 36

Which of the following approaches to job design has its roots in the organizational psychology and management literatures?

A)Motivational approach
B)Mechanistic approach
C)Biological approach
D)Perceptual-motor approach

Question 37

The degree to which a job requires completing a "whole" piece of work from beginning to end is:

A)task identity.
B)skill variety.
C)autonomy.
D)task significance.

Question 38

In HRM,technology has been used in the past for the following three broad functions EXCEPT

A)Transaction processing,reporting,and tracking
B)Relational databases
C)Decision support systems
D)Expert systems

Question 39

What are arrangements whereby employees work the same number of hours normally expected in a traditional five-day workweek,except that the workload is compressed into fewer days of the week,with longer hours worked each day?

A)Overtime hours
B)Telecommuting
C)Compressed workweeks
D)Flexible work schedule

Question 40

Which of the following approaches to job design has roots in human-factors literature?

A)Motivational approach
B)Mechanistic approach
C)Biological approach
D)Perceptual-motor approach

Question 41

Which type of structure can result in employees having a weak conceptualization of the organization's overall mission?

A)Mechanistic structure
B)Divisional structure
C)Functional structure
D)Centralized structure

Question 42

All but one of the following are outcomes of jobs high in the core job characteristics of the Job Characteristics Model.Identify the exception.

A)Increased performance quality
B)Lower job complexity
C)Increased job satisfaction
D)Higher internal work motivation

Question 43

If work is organized around teams,then:

A)highly complex work should be assigned to single individuals.
B)it is still critical to establish individual accountability of behaviour.
C)individual pay raises need to play a major role in terms of defining rewards.
D)decision-making power should be centralized.

Question 44

As a manager,you want to redesign a job to ensure that incumbents have fewer physical ailments,such as backaches and so on.Which job design approach would be most helpful to you?

A)Motivational approach
B)Mechanistic approach
C)Ergonomic approach
D)Perceptual-motor approach

Question 45

Which of the following refers to the process of defining the way work will be performed and the tasks that will be required in a given job?

A)Job specification
B)Job evaluation
C)Job analysis
D)Job design

Question 46

Within the Job Characteristics Model,the extent to which a person receives clear information about his or her performance from the job itself is termed:

A)autonomy.
B)communication.
C)feedback.
D)task identity.

Question 47

All but one of the following interventions are consistent with the motivational approach to job design.Identify the exception.

A)Self-managing work teams
B)Task specialization
C)Job enrichment
D)Job enlargement

Question 48

Determining which strategy to implement in anticipation of a labour shortage or surplus is critical as they will differ widely in their cost,timeliness,impact on the employees and how easily it would be to reverse.For example,if you were expecting a labour surplus and chose to downsize,it will be _____ to take effect and have a ______ degree of human suffering.Conversely if you were anticipating a labour shortage and you chose to use technological innovation,it will be ______ to take effect and will have a ______ level of revocability.

A)Slow,High,Slow,High
B)Fast,Low,High,Fast
C)Fast,High,Slow,Low
D)Slow,Low,High,Fast

Question 49

The most common source for error in job analysis results from:

A)job descriptions being outdated.
B)job descriptions being too descriptive.
C)job descriptions that are misrepresentative.
D)job descriptions being too broad.

Question 50

Which of the following is not a strategy option for the anticipation of an expected labour surplus shortage?

A)Early retirement and buyouts
B)Employing temporary workers
C)Flexible work arrangements
D)Employment equity

Question 51

What kind of a structure combines a work-flow departmentalization scheme with relatively low levels of centralization?

A)Mechanistic structure
B)Divisional structure
C)Functional structure
D)Centralized structure

Question 52

Job analysis provides all but one of the following managerial benefits.Identify the exception.

A)It provides managers with an understanding of the work-flow process.
B)It enables managers to make more accurate hiring decisions.
C)It provides an avenue for communicating policy information to employees.
D)It enables managers to more accurately evaluate subordinates' performance.

Question 53

All but one of the following is TRUE of the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ).Name the exception.

A)It requires trained job analysts to complete it.
B)It is a standardized,off-the-shelf instrument.
C)It describes specific task activities that comprise the actual job.
D)It is a well-researched and widely used instrument.

Question 54

Which of the following refers to the process of analyzing the tasks necessary for the production of a product or service prior to allocating and assigning the tasks to a particular job category or person?

A)Job design
B)Job analysis
C)Job evaluation
D)Work-flow design

Question 55

Which of the following is concerned with examining the interface between individuals' physiological characteristics and the physical work environment?

A)Task identity
B)Ergonomics
C)Job analysis
D)Task significance

Question 56

You are the Supervisor of Production for "Bite-Size" Candy Bars;it is the middle of August and the Halloween rush is fast approaching and you realize that you are going to have a serious labour shortage in order to meet the demands until the season passes.Which option for avoiding an expected labour shortage is the best solution?

A)Altering pay and hours
B)Employing temporary workers
C)Flexible work arrangements
D)Outsourcing

Question 57

By designing jobs according to the mechanistic approach:

A)the organization increases its need for high-ability individuals.
B)the organization becomes more dependent on individual workers.
C)individuals become irreplaceable.
D)individuals can be trained to perform jobs.

Question 58

Which of the following statements about the ergonomic approach to job design is FALSE?

A)It is usually referred to as ergonomics.
B)It focuses on outcomes such as physical fatigue,aches and pains,and health complaints.
C)It has been applied in redesigning equipment used in jobs that are not physically demanding.
D)Issues like lighting,space,and hours worked become more salient from this perspective.

Question 59

Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding job design and job analysis?

A)Job design and job analysis have extensive overlap.
B)Job analysis has had a more proactive orientation.
C)Job design has had a passive orientation.
D)Job design focuses on analyzing existing jobs to gather information.

Question 60

The final inputs in the work flow process are the:

A)raw materials.
B)technology and machinery.
C)human skills and effort.
D)quality control measures.

Question 61

All but one of the following are the three psychological states associated with the Job Characteristics Model.Name the exception.

A)Experienced meaningfulness
B)Responsibility
C)Social interaction
D)Knowledge of results

Question 62

You are working as an HR Administrator and the Vice President of the company has come to you looking for information.She is a visual person and wants to see the number of employees in different job categories within the company at different times over the last 4 years.What would you show her?

A)Staffing matrices
B)Employment graph
C)Labour surplus shortage graph
D)Transitional matrices

Question 63

In _____,planners analyze an organization's human resource needs in a dynamic environment and develop activities that enable a firm to adapt to change.

A)human resource planning
B)work-flow analysis
C)selection
D)recruitment

Question 64

How much teams share a reward for task accomplishment is known as:

A)member heterogeneity.
B)potency.
C)outcome interdependence.
D)task interdependence.

Question 65

The first step in the human resources planning process is

A)Brainstorming
B)Forecasting
C)Researching
D)Goal Setting

Question 66

The number of grade 12 graduates,the number of applicants and the number of students who have applied for graduation can be considered examples of a university's _____________.

A)planning
B)forecasting
C)leading indicator
D)lagging indicator

Question 67

What term refers to the reduced attentive state that one might experience when simultaneously interacting with multiple media?

A)Multitasking absence
B)Task presence
C)Multimedia tasking
D)Absence presence

Question 68

A person's factual or procedural information that is necessary for successfully performing a task is called:

A)knowledge.
B)ability.
C)skill.
D)responsibility.

Question 69

Which of the following refers to a list of the tasks,duties,and responsibilities that a job entails?

A)Job specification
B)Job description
C)Job standardization
D)Job design

Question 70

The mechanistic approach entails:

A)increasing the meaningfulness of jobs through job enlargement.
B)redesigning equipment used in jobs that are physically demanding.
C)making the work so simple that anyone can be trained quickly and easily to perform it.
D)designing jobs in a way that they do not exceed people's mental capabilities and limitations.

Question 71

_____ focuses on analyzing existing jobs to gather information for other human resource management practices,whereas _____ focuses on redesigning existing jobs to make them more efficient or more motivating to jobholders.

A)Job analysis;job design
B)Job design;job analysis
C)Job evaluation;work-flow design
D)Work-flow design;job evaluation

Question 72

Within the Job Characteristics Model,the degree to which the job allows an individual to make decisions about the way the work is carried out is called:

A)task identity.
B)task discretion.
C)skill variety.
D)autonomy.

Question 73

Which of the following refers to the knowledge,skills,abilities,and other characteristics that an individual must have to perform the job?

A)Job specification
B)Job description
C)Job standardization
D)Job design

Question 74

An organization needs to create a fit between its organizational design and all of the following EXCEPT its:

A)environment.
B)products and services.
C)philosophy.
D)competitive strategy.

Question 75

Which term refers to changing the tasks or the way work is performed in an existing job?

A)Job redesign
B)Job engineering
C)Job reconfiguration
D)Job design

Question 76

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and

A)brainstorming
B)researching
C)strategic planning
D)implementation

Question 77

Adding more decision-making authority to a job to increase its motivational potential is known as:

A)job enlargement.
B)job rotation.
C)job involvement.
D)job enrichment.

Question 78

Self-cannibalization is a concern of which one of the following structures?

A)Functional
B)Divisional
C)Project-based
D)Team-based

Question 79

When a work group's workload lightens,then:

A)members may take on tasks that do not relate to the work unit's product in an effort to appear busy.
B)members will offload the remaining work onto other team members.
C)members will stop coming to work.
D)the work group will decrease in size by letting go of additional members.

Question 80

The code is useful to employers because it is integrated with occupational statistics concerning labour market information applicable to human resources planning,career counselling,recruitment,and compensation or pay equity issues.

A)Job Analysis Interview
B)Observation and Self-Reports
C)National Occupational Classification
D)Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)