Fundamentals of HR Management, 8e (Noe)
Chapter 9 Creating and Maintaining High-Performance Organizations
1) Creating a high-performance work system is similar to traditional management practices
because both treat decision making about technology, organization structure, and human
resources as unrelated.
2) An organization’s HR department makes most decisions about organizational structure.
3) The reward systems of an organization include the performance measures by which
employees are judged and the methods of measuring performance.
4) High-performance work systems are characterized by high employee turnover.
5) The most popular way to empower employees is to design work so that it can be performed
easily by each individual.
6) To create a learning organization, one challenge is to shift the focus of training away from
merely generating and sharing knowledge toward a stronger focus on teaching skills.
7) People experience occupational intimacy when they love their work, when they and their co-
workers care about one another, and when they find their work meaningful.
8) A written code of ethics is usually ineffective if it is developed with input from employees
about situations they encounter.
9) To set up a performance management system that supports the organization’s goals,
employees need to understand what they must do to contribute to goal achievement.
10) Measures of employees’ performance should take the effects of situational constraints into
account.
11) Compensation usually discourages high-performance organizations when it is linked in part
to performance measures.
12) Transaction processing includes the activities required to meet government reporting
requirements.
13) An expert system can increase efficiency by enabling more highly skilled employees to do
work that otherwise would require many less-skilled employees.
14) A benefit of e-HRM is that employees can help themselves to information they need when
they need it, instead of contacting an HR staff person.
15) For an organization’s human resource division, “customers” are the organization’s top
management.
16) An HRM audit is a formal review of the outcomes of HRM functions.
17) Training dollars per employee is a business indicator of the success of an HR department’s
introduction and orientation programs.
18) The usual way to measure customer satisfaction in the course of an HRM audit is to conduct
experiments in controlled environments.
19) One way to measure HRM effectiveness is to use HR analytics to measure a program’s
success in terms of whether it achieved its objectives and whether it delivered value in an
economic sense.
20) Landry, a human resource manager, proposes that her company hire an expert in HR
analytics. This competency could enable the company to measure the economic costs and
benefits of its HR programs, so it can continue only the programs that add value.
21) Which of the following best defines a high-performance work system?
A) an arrangement of machinery and equipment that streamlines the workflow and results in
maximum efficiency and cost savings
B) the right combination of people, technology, and organizational structure that makes full use
of the organization’s resources and opportunities in achieving its goals
C) a computer software system that is designed to help managers solve problems by showing
how results vary when the manager alters assumptions or data
D) a system that is used to collect, record, store, analyze, and retrieve data concerning an
organization’s human resources
E) a performance management system that measures customer satisfaction
22) Which statement is true of high-performance work systems?
A) Creating a high-performance work system is akin to using traditional management practices.
B) To function as a high-performance work system, people, technology, and organizational
structure must be completely independent of one another.
C) To develop a high-performance work system, organizations need to determine what kinds of
people fit their needs and then locate, train, and motivate those special people.
D) A high-performance work system usually excludes reward systems.
E) Integrated high-performance work practices usually have little impact on productivity and
long-term financial performance.
23) Identify the term that refers to the way in which an organization groups its people into useful
divisions, departments, and reporting relationships.
A) job structure
B) organizational structure
C) value chain
D) corporate design
E) relationship management
24) Which group in an organization usually makes most of the decisions about organizational
structure?
A) top management
B) HR department
C) supervisors
D) middle-level managers
E) technical analysts
25) Which element of a high-performance work system determines how the details of the
organization’s necessary activities will be grouped, whether into jobs or team responsibilities?
A) information systems
B) reward systems
C) performance
D) organizational structure
E) task design
26) Giebel United is a new firm located in Indianapolis. The firm has to hire qualified
individuals, compartmentalize them into different departments, and hire a set of managers who
will be able to instruct, monitor, and guide these employees to ensure smooth functioning of the
organization. In this scenario, Giebel United is creating a(n)
A) information system.
B) task-design procedure.
C) reward system.
D) organizational structure.
E) staffing solution.
27) In a high-performance work system, organizational structure promotes cooperation, learning,
and
A) traditional management practices.
B) personal discipline.
C) improved financial performance.
D) continuous improvement.
E) productivity in all levels of the organization.
28) Which statement is true of an organizational structure in a high-performance work system?
A) It promotes high employee turnover.
B) It promotes cooperation and learning.
C) It discourages competition.
D) It helps the organization select the right people with the required qualifications.
E) It encourages people to strive for objectives that support the organization’s overall goals.
29) Which statement is true about task design?
A) It determines what type of information to gather to reduce errors in planning.
B) It empowers people to perform better and create goals that match an organization’s goals.
C) It allows the recruitment of prospective candidates to occur in an easier manner.
D) It involves dividing a task or assignment into smaller tasks or assignments so that short-term
goals can be met.
E) It involves the clustering of details pertaining to an organization’s required activities.
30) In a high-performance work system, task design makes jobs
A) narrow in scope.
B) high in task significance, but low in autonomy.
C) highly specialized.
D) efficient while encouraging high quality.
E) simple and repetitive.
31) What is a key element of high-performance work systems?
A) the organization
B) a rigid hierarchy
C) measurable skill sets
D) the right people
E) exact synchronization between divisions
32) Which element in a high-performance work system contributes to high performance by
encouraging people to strive for objectives that support the organization’s overall goals and
includes the performance measures by which employees are judged?
A) organizational goals
B) task design
C) reward systems
D) information systems
E) training systems
33) Bill is an experienced employee at an organization. The latest policy implemented by the
firm’s management provides only new employees with bonuses and other perks for exemplary
performance. Bill has raised concerns regarding the revised policy, but management stands firm
on its revised policy. For Bill’s company to be a high-performance work system, which element
is Bill seeking to improve?
A) organizational structure
B) staffing
C) reward systems
D) task design
E) information systems
34) In which way do modern information systems contribute most directly to the creation of a
high-performance work system?
A) by encouraging employees to strive for objectives that support the organization’s goals
B) by determining the details of the organization’s necessary activities
C) by enabling organizations to give many employees access to information
D) by grouping people into useful divisions and departments
E) by selecting people who can perform their jobs well
35) Allie was recently promoted at a leading IT firm. Her supervisor has given her access to
previously restricted programs, and Allie can now retrieve certain confidential data necessary to
her job responsibilities. Given the nature of her work, which element of a high-performance
work system is illustrated in this scenario?
A) organizational structure
B) staffing
C) reward systems
D) task design
E) information systems
36) Outcomes of a high-performance work system include higher productivity and
A) efficiency.
B) maintenance.
C) manpower.
D) equipment.
E) resources.
37) High-performance work systems result in
A) simple, repetitive jobs.
B) high employee turnover.
C) high production costs.
D) high product quality.
E) centralized decision making.
38) As part of his company’s initiative to create a high-performance work system, Cody, an HR
manager, has been reorganizing work so that teams of employees will concentrate on
coordinating their efforts to make sure customers are satisfied. The vice president of human
resources has asked Cody to explain to a team of executives how this project will help the
company’s financial performance. What would be the most effective explanation for Cody to
use?
A) Getting employees focused on customer satisfaction should take their focus off compensation,
lowering costs.
B) Improving customer satisfaction should increase demand, leading to greater sales and profits.
C) Satisfied customers should result in higher quality, which, in turn, will increase the degree of
innovation.
D) Customer satisfaction should lower employee absenteeism and turnover, which reduces costs
and raises profits.
E) Focusing on customer satisfaction will drive up productivity, which, in turn, drives up profits.
39) Which statement is true about the outcomes of high-performance work systems?
A) The outcomes of high-performance work systems include high employee turnover.
B) Sales revenues increase the outcomes of high-performance work systems.
C) Clients are the main force that drives the outcomes of a high-performance work system.
D) The outcomes of each employee contribute to a system’s overall high performance.
E) Incentives provided to each employee play a big part in contributing to outcomes.
40) Which of the following would most likely aid in the formation of a high-performance work
system?
A) employees’ rewards and compensation that relate to the company’s financial performance
B) work design that allows employees to use a single skill
C) technology that is used to discourage flexibility
D) employees that receive little formal performance feedback
E) training that is discouraged because of increasing costs
41) A manufacturing firm aims to become a high-performance work system. To do this, a survey
team asks employees for comments and suggestions on how they can improve the firm. Some of
the newest hires say they feel left out of decision-making processes, while some of the
experienced employees say their objections towards the firm switching to cheaper manufacturing
equipment went unheard. Which condition would help the firm strengthen the formation of its
high-performance work system?
A) The newest employees should be encouraged to focus on their tasks rather than being
involved in improving work methods.
B) The management should allow experienced employees to participate in planning changes in
equipment, layout, and work methods.
C) The new employees should be left out of planning changes because they are not accustomed
to the firm’s way of doing things yet.
D) The firm should hire a third party to gain an outsider’s assessment on what needs to be done.
E) The survey team should ignore the employee comments and push for the changes they would
like to see instead.
42) Which condition contributes to high performance?
A) Teams perform work only if the employees are interested in a project.
B) Work design gives employees the opportunity to utilize a variety of skills.
C) Training is not ongoing, but it is implemented when necessary.
D) Changes to layout and work methods are handled by management.
E) Employees’ rewards and compensation relate mainly to individual performance.
43) ________ is a necessary condition of high performance because it contributes to good long-
term relationships with employees, customers, and the public.
A) Emotional behavior
B) Ethical behavior
C) Physical behavior
D) Mental behavior
E) Cognitive behavior
44) What is a valid reason for ethical behavior to be a necessary condition for high performance?
A) It fosters competitiveness.
B) It empowers first-line managers and supervisors.
C) It helps an organization maintain the status quo.
D) It contributes to good long-term relationships with employees, customers, and the public.
E) It encourages people to be highly innovative.
45) The most popular way of empowering employees is by
A) narrowing the scope of jobs.
B) designing work so that it is performed by teams.
C) adopting a centralized decision-making approach.
D) paying bonuses to all employees regardless of contribution.
E) providing employees with simple, repetitive jobs.
46) A work team can be empowered by
A) reducing the team’s interaction with other departments or teams.
B) keeping roles independent and separate from one another.
C) authorizing the team to make decisions traditionally made by managers.
D) confining the scope of work done by the team and its members.
E) assigning management of work schedules to the manager.