Shirley’s husband has recently died. She is eligible for survivor benefits if she:
A) is at least 55 years old.
B) is at least 55 years old and has an unmarried child younger than 19 years of age.
C) cares for a dependent parent of 60 years of age or older.
D) is at least 60 years of age.
The degree to which a society views assertiveness as important to success and
encourages rigidly stereotyped gender roles, is Hofstede’s cultural dimension of:
A) power distance.
B) individualism.
C) uncertainty avoidance.
D) masculinity/femininity.
You are reviewing the performance appraisal conducted by your middle managers. You
notice that Carrie tends to give each employee the same score across all dimensions of
the evaluation. For example, Brian’s scores all are in the average range while Karl’s all
tend to be in the excellent range, even though you know that each man has done very
well on some and very poorly on some of the dimensions. Brian and Karl’s evaluations
exhibit a:
A) severity error.
B) halo error.
C) leniency error.
D) central tendency error.
Some employers’ experience with the disabled is similar to Pizza Hut’s, which found the
turnover rate of the disabled:
A) slightly less than the turnover of non-disabled employees.
B) about 10 times less than the turnover of non-disabled employees.
C) approximately the same as the turnover of non-disabled employees.
D) about 10 times higher than the turnover of non-disabled employees.
Profit sharing is one type of:
A) team-based pay-for-performance plan.
B) corporate-wide incentive pay plan.
C) plantwide incentive pay plan.
D) gainsharing plan.
HRM strategies at stage ________ of internationalization are designed to blend
individuals of diverse backgrounds into a team sharing a vision and corporate identity.
A) 2
B) 3
C) 4
D) 5
A firm is required to abide by executive orders when it has:
A) at least 10 employees and earns over $50,000 a year.
B) previous EEOC violation complaints.
C) pending discrimination trials.
D) government contracts.
Additional Case 3.2
You have recently been hired as the HR Director of a mid-sized architectural service
company that designs buildings for both private firms and federal agencies. Your
predecessor lost her job when she did not anticipate and handle an HR-based lawsuit to
the CEO’s satisfaction. The CEO believes that HRM should help the company avoid
problems. As HR Director, you have three primary tasks: to anticipate future problems,
advise management, and be an advocate for employees. Your boss doesn’t see a conflict
in these roles.
The upper-management team consists of all males who are over the age of 50. Most of
the upper-level managers have been with the company for at least 25 years. Middle
managers, who are mostly in their 30s, are 40% female, and 3% minority. Hourly
employees are 60% minority and 35% female. The communities from which the firm
hires hourly employees is approximately 75% minority and consists primarily of
Haitians and Hispanics.
You discover many incomplete employee recruitment records that lack I-9 forms. You
immediately begin to work on an affirmative action plan because of what you see
happening in the company.
Refer to Additional Case 3.2. Which of the following is most likely true about this firm?
A) A quid pro quo sexual harassment case could be made against the firm.
B) The firm is in compliance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act.
C) A prima facie case for discrimination could be made using the four-fifths rule.
D) The firm is guilty of reverse discrimination.
Once the utilization analysis has been completed, what is the next step in developing an
affirmative action plan?
A) Setting goals for correcting the underutilization of protected class groups
B) Recruiting protected-class members for available positions
C) Redesigning jobs so that underrepresented workers are more likely to be qualified
D) Determining the percentage of protected classes in the available labor market
Additional Case 7.1
Shannon is the CEO of a firm that provides high-tech service support to other small
businesses. He plans to revise the performance appraisal system to align it more closely
with company goals. The tailored program should be fair and ethical and should
produce consistent results.
Shannon wants service employees to work together to maximize service quality. Since
the sales force has not been particularly aggressive, sales are lagging. Shannon believes
that profits and customer satisfaction will increase if sales people start providing
after-sale service to customers.
In the past, Shannon’s sales managers have been receiving the same raises, regardless of
their effectiveness. Now, Shannon wants to identify and reward the best-performing
managers. By comparing managers across functions, Shannon believes he will be able
to identify workers who are ready for more challenging responsibilities.
Refer to Additional Case 7.1. Shannon’s first step in developing the new performance
appraisal system is to:
A) identify the performance dimensions to measure.
B) identify the performance appraisal tool(s) he wants to use.
C) develop the performance management process he will use.
D) communicate the changes in the program to the employees.
Your text argues that the performance appraisal process in most organizations is a(n):
A) absolute process.
B) rational exercise.
C) political exercise.
D) trait-based process.
Additional Case 10.2
O’Donnell International is updating its job-based compensation system with a primary
goal of achieving internal equity. Sean is responsible for gathering and organizing
information concerning the tasks and duties of specific jobs. Susie is to determine the
prerequisites for the successful accomplishment of each job analyzed. Jeff will work
with three line managers to determine the compensable factors for specific lower-level
jobs. The HR director, the president, and two VPs will review the information on
management jobs in order to determine the compensable factors in each before putting
all jobs at the firm into a job hierarchy.
Refer to Additional Case 10.2. Which of the following would be most appropriate for
Jeff to use?
A) MAA
B) Hay Guide
C) Ranking system
D) Classification system
Additional Case 9.2
Martin, the director of HR at Austin Designs, is meeting with the career development
team. The firm’s CEO has decided that the company needs to invest the time and effort
into improving the direction and development phases of the current career development
program; however, development funds are limited. The CEO and most of the executive
management team are self-made professionals who believe strongly in individual
responsibility. The organizational structure of Austin Designs is very flat. The company
has a wide variety of jobs but few levels of high responsibility. Feedback from
employees suggests that they don’t know when promotional opportunities are available.
Refer to Additional Case 9.2. What would be the best directional tool for addressing the
employees’ complaint?
A) Establishing a job-posting system
B) Eliminating the firm’s glass ceiling
C) Conducting more performance appraisals
D) Requiring annual skills assessment exercises
Voluntary separations may include:
A) early retirements.
B) hiring freezes.
C) discharges.
D) job redesigns.
You are trying to convince the management of Marcelle, Inc. to pay its employees the
“going rate,” no more, no less. You are trying to:
A) reach external equity.
B) reach internal equity.
C) reduce Marcelle’s work force.
D) increase Marcelle’s work force.