Bertha wishes to discharge one of her poorly performing employees. She has tried
progressive discipline with no effect. She asks you, the HR manager, what she must do
to discharge the employee. You should most likely tell her the policy and procedures,
and then ask her if she has ________ in order to protect the company from a wrongful
discharge suit.
A) documented the inappropriate behavior
B) given sixty days notice as required by law
C) used non-progressive disciplinary actions
D) analyzed the department’s diversity levels
Which term refers to fines awarded to a plaintiff for psychological harm the plaintiff
suffers?
A) Punitive damages
B) Disciplinary fines
C) Restorative justice
D) Compensatory damages
Effective employee relations is primarily built upon:
A) the training and development of managers.
B) compliance with relevant employment laws.
C) downward communication channels in the organization.
D) cooperation between managers and employee relations representatives.
Which of the following is NOT a goal of most employee feedback programs?
A) Improving management-employee relations
B) Giving employees a voice in decision making and policy formation
C) Providing mediation between two or more employees with interpersonal problems
D) Ensuring that employees receive due process on complaints made against
management
In the U.S., workers’ economic benefits have historically been established by:
A) labor contract negotiation.
B) federal legislation.
C) government contracts.
D) work rules.
Additional Case 1.3
Your company sells high-tech products throughout the world and is following a
differentiation business strategy. The business environment for the company is volatile,
rapidly changing, and highly complex. The company is highly entrepreneurial and has a
strong moral commitment to quality products, employee job satisfaction, and corporate
social responsibility. The management team has decided to create a common company
culture among the various national and international subsidiaries.
Refer to Additional Case 1.3. The entrepreneurial climate and moral commitment are
elements of this firm’s:
A) organizational culture.
B) market posture.
C) organizational structure.
D) globalization strategy.
To forecast labor demand and supply, a firm must have historical staffing data.
Members of OSHA’s $100,000 club have:
A) invested more than $100,000 in health and safety equipment for employees.
B) purchased health and safety insurance coverage of at least $100,000.
C) received fines of $100,000 or more for safety or health violations.
D) paid more than $100,000 in workers’ compensation claims.
Balancing equity is most likely difficult because:
A) EEOC regulations are extensive and complicated.
B) internal and external equity often oppose one another.
C) open pay employers strive primarily for internal equity.
D) managers prefer focusing on establishing external equity.
Which of the following is a characteristic of adverse impact?
A) Neutral actions
B) Prejudiced actions
C) Unequal treatment
D) Direct discrimination
A retirement plan that allows a self-employed person, or people working for a small
business, to make larger tax-deductible contributions to a retirement account is called:
A) a 401(k) plan.
B) an individual retirement account.
C) a simplified employee pension plan.
D) a profit-sharing Keogh plan.
Long-term disability insurance:
A) takes effect after unemployment insurance runs out.
B) begins after a disability of six months.
C) replaces 100% of an employee’s income for up to six months.
D) supplements unemployment insurance payments.
With regards to employee benefits, the United States differs from other developed
countries in that:
A) the United States government covers the costs of most employee benefits.
B) United States employers provide a small percentage of employee benefits.
C) most other countries provide better benefits than the United States.
D) United States employers provide most of their employees’ benefits.
Which of the following is true about the influence of “liking” on performance
appraisals?
A) Correlations exist between rater liking and performance ratings.
B) Most employees doubt that rater liking affects performance appraisals.
C) Correlations exist between employee liking and performance criteria.
D) The impact of liking is greatest in absolute performance appraisal systems.
________ are benefits for temporary or permanent partial disability based on the degree
and duration of the disability.
A) Total disability benefits
B) Impairment benefits
C) Rehabilitation benefits
D) Medical expense benefits
Formal or informal relationships between people in an organization are known by
which term?
A) Work flow group
B) Organizational culture
C) Management team
D) Organizational structure
Additional Case 7.2
As an HR manager at a publishing firm, you are reviewing performance appraisals for a
report to the CEO regarding manager performance. The CEO wants to know not only
how employees are doing, but also how well managers are evaluating their employees.
Matt, Madeline, and Edward are the firm’s key managers.
Reading through Matt’s evaluations, you note that he tends to rate all of his subordinates
in the middle of the scale. You recall a conversation during which Matt commented that
his subordinates were overall satisfactory but not excellent. Matt would like to get them
more training and institute an incentive program for motivational purposes.
Madeline’s employee evaluations of her team range from excellent to poor. You are
startled to see that Madeline has rated Juan rather low. Pulling Juan’s file, you note that
he has always had very high ratings until this time. You remember a meeting two
months ago when Juan vehemently disagreed with Madeline in front of the CEO, who
agreed with Juan’s opinion to Madeline’s embarrassment.
Edward’s employee evaluations have very little justification. Gary, the CEO’s
son-in-law, is typically an average performer, but Edward gave him a very high rating.
Jenny, another average performer, has a very low rating. You recall a comment from
Edward that Jenny needed motivation to work harder.
Refer to Additional Case 7.2. Madeline’s evaluation of Juan most likely suggests that
she:
A) faces legal issues.
B) has actor/observer bias.
C) has a political agenda.
D) needs frame-of-reference training.
Automotive, Inc. (A.I.) is an automotive manufacturing company that uses
self-managed teams to produce large automotive parts. When performing evaluations,
A.I. needs to remember to:
A) appraise both individual and team performance.
B) value individual performance over team performance.
C) value team performance over individual performance.
D) use behavioral measures to assess overall team performance.
In 1990, a California Supreme Court ruling:
A) set the groundwork for universal random drug testing in safety-sensitive jobs.
B) struck down all random drug testing even for safety-sensitive jobs.
C) accepted the argument that drug testing was not a violation of the right of privacy.
D) required employers to show a compelling interest to use random drug testing.
Additional Case 9.1
Ron, the CEO at CableNet, wants to invest in career development because he is
concerned that the firm is not prepared to meet future needs and challenges. Rudy, the
operations manager, states that CableNet has already invested significantly in employee
training, and a career development program would be a costly duplication. Rudy
produces a recent productivity and quality study that shows significant improvement
among employees to support his assertion that a development program is unnecessary.
Charles, an IT manager, states that most supervisors currently discuss career options
with their subordinates as part of the management process. Charles asserts that
managers are taking care of their employees well enough and that nothing else is
necessary. Tanya, the HR director, suggests that assigning employees to various jobs
would give them a wider base of skills at a minimal expense. She asserts that an active
career development program would help the company with EEO-related matters, which
are a concern to her. The workforce is about 30% female and 45% minority, but upper
management is 100% Asian-American male.
Refer to Additional Case 9.1. Tanya’s comments show that the company is most likely
facing the challenge of:
A) meeting the needs of a diverse workforce.
B) forming unrealistic employee expectations.
C) overemphasizing career advancement.
D) investing too much in development.
HR can most likely help employers control health-care costs by:
A) shifting their companies into traditional insurance programs.
B) forming a self-funding arrangement for health insurance.
C) requiring that employees use only HMO plans.
D) offering low deductible health plans.
Additional Case 8.4
RightChoice is a computer retailing company. It is very popular with employees
because of flexible shifts, rotating job schedules, and the lenient policies regarding time
off for family care. This also makes employee cohesiveness very important because
sometimes employees will be called to work on days off or pulled off of another job in
order to help in a different department. Though this may be a difficulty for a larger
business, the atmosphere and benefits that come with such flexibility are appreciated by
employees.
The application process includes a brief interview and a short test to determine whether
applicants have mastered basic literacy skills. During the most recent hire cycle,
RightChoice found that some applicants who desired retail and customer service
positions had not mastered basic reading, writing, and arithmetic. In response,
RightChoice garnered the assistance of a local community college, along with some
middle and upper-level managers in providing training to the new employees to give
them the necessary skills in performing their jobs.
After this hire, Lexi, an upper-level manager suggests that the new employee
socialization process should consist of a short-term program that explains to the
employees their job position and its place in the company, and a tour of the business.
Refer to Additional Case 8.4. The literacy training that RightChoice provides its
employees is focused on:
A) job skills literacy.
B) reading comprehension.
C) management skills.
D) functional literacy.
Additional Case 1.2
As the manager of HR of an old, established company, you are leading the management
team in a strategic planning session. During the planning session, managers are being
forced to think about the future, see the likely changes in the marketplace, and make
plans to use company resources to enhance their competitive edge.
The company decides that as part of its business strategy, it wants to attract and retain
the best possible employees. You suggest that the company pay a hiring bonus, use a
pay scale that is 10% above the industry average, and provide an extra week of vacation
after only one year instead of the standard three years.
Refer to Additional Case 1.2. The HR strategies suggested are examples of:
A) intended strategies.
B) emergent strategies.
C) diversification strategies.
D) business unit strategies
A firm that encourages an entrepreneurial climate would most likely:
A) implement a variable pay compensation system.
B) display a strong top-down managerial preference.
C) discourage innovation and risk taking among workers.
D) rely on authoritarian employee-manager relationships.
Which of the following is used in frame-of-reference training?
A) Role playing of employee behaviors
B) Fictitious examples of worker performance
C) Actual examples of incorrect performance ratings
D) Previous performance appraisals conducted by managers