Incentive effect means pay can motivate people to perform better.
Answer:
External competitiveness decisions focus on both pay levels.
Answer:
Both skills and competencies can be used as the basis for developing an internal
structure.
Answer:
Strategy refers to the fundamental direction that an organization chooses.
Answer:
Women’s median annual earnings compared to men’s has changed from about 60
percent to 78 percent from 1980 to 2010.
Answer:
The final step in the compensation communication cycle is conducting the
communication sessions.
Answer:
Agency theory argues that employees prefer risky pay since rewards can be greater than
a salary.
Answer:
Gain sharing plans tend not to use a historical standard to set productivity standards
since environmental conditions can change quickly.
Answer:
Grades group job evaluation data on the horizontal axis.
Answer:
Under the contract pay system, each worker was paid according to a uniform contract
for each company.
Answer:
An important implication of reinforcement theory is that when employees receive pay is
important.
Answer:
The objective of the overtime provision of FLSA is to share available work by making
it more costly for employers to schedule overtime for current employees than to hire
Answer:
Greater pay dispersion is related to lower turnover among executives.
Answer:
In practice, organizations use skills and competencies to assess value of labor instead of
marginal revenue product.
Answer:
Professional/managerial jobs often have less detailed job descriptions since their jobs
have more discretion and latitude.
Answer:
Sam is computer system troubleshooter. His company requires him to wear a beeper
when he is not at the office during weekends, but not evenings. Sam is eligible to
receive pay for his “on-call” time.
Answer:
The most frequently jobs misclassified as independent contractors rather than
employees are truck drivers, home health aids and construction workers.
Answer:
Internal alignment is sometimes called internal equity.
Answer:
Offering employees choice in their compensation mix provides firms a distinct
competitive advantage.
Answer:
In calculating labor costs, employment level includes only core employees not
contingent workers.
Answer:
The vast majority of contracts specify that a job is to be compensated on an hourly
basis.
Answer:
Capturing a job’s essential elements requires less detail than required for compensation
decisions.
Answer:
Person-based plans often fail to account for whether or not an individual is using a
particular skill on a particular day.
Answer:
Identifying desired behaviors is the emphasis of agency theory.
Answer:
Employers in highly competitive markets are less able to raise prices without loss of
revenues.
Answer:
When the product is complex such as security systems, the compensation system should
be heavily commission based.
Answer:
The most important reason for conducting job analysis is work-related information is
needed to determine pay and pay differences.
Answer:
The average per hour cost of benefits is higher in state and local governments than in
the private sector.
Answer:
In 47 states, employers are not allowed to self-insure their workers’ compensation
program but must participate in the state’s program.
Answer:
Movingemployees through pay ranges using merit increases is becoming more popular
than automatic progression.
Answer:
Compensation professionals’ conduct is guided by the American Compensation
Association’s Code of Ethics.
Answer:
A market pay line is useful for setting pay for benchmark jobs that match competitors,
but not for non-benchmark jobs.
Answer:
Since business strategies may change often, compensable factors should rarely be added
or deleted.
Answer:
A study of graduating students found students selected jobs based upon the match
between their personalities and employers’ pay policies.
Answer:
Signaling theory argues that higher wages leads to greater efficiency.
Answer:
While interest in teams and team compensation has grown significantly, most
companies are not happy with their team compensation systems.
Answer:
In the process of creating an internal structure, “assess relative value” is done after
_____.
A.determining what to value
B.collecting and summarizing job content information
C.translate into structure
D.job evaluation
Answer:
Which of the following is an advantage of the U.S. approach to total pay?
A.Supports commitment and security
B.Focus on short-term payoffs
C.Greater predictability for companies and employees
D.Companies do not compete with pay
Answer:
Whole Foods’ policy of holding executive salaries to no more than 14 times average pay
of full-time employees is an example of which strategic pay decision?
A.External competitiveness
B.Employee contributions
C.Management
D.Internal alignment
Answer:
The major reasons motivating U.S. corporations to provide domestic partner benefits
include all of the following except:
A.Fairness to all employees regardless of their sexual orientation or marital status
B.Market competition
C.Diversity in today’s tight labor market
D.Federal legislation mandating these provisions
Answer:
All of the following are advantages of the ranking method of job evaluation except:
A.rankings are easy to defend and justify.
B.the evaluation process is fast.
C.the evaluation process is inexpensive.
D.the evaluation process is not complex.
Answer:
A major reason unions accept alternative rewards is:
A.competition from rival unions.
B.international competition.
C.these rewards are very popular among members.
D.strong management forces their acceptance.
Answer:
The common feature to all types of incentive plans is:
A.a standard of performance to determine magnitude of incentive pay.
B.a sharing formula between worker and employer.
C.penalties for poor performance.
D.limits on magnitude of incentive pay.
Answer:
Approximately _____ percent of employers who offer child care also offer elder care.
A.10
B.30
C.50
D.60
Answer:
If a manager wants employees to accept the organization’s pay structure, the best
strategy is to
A.pay everyone the same
B.show them what competitors pay
C.explain to them how pay was determined
D.tell them the pay level is the most the company can pay
Answer:
The ______ method of job evaluation is the most commonly used method in the U.S.
and Europe.
A.ranking
B.factor comparison
C.classification
D.point
Answer:
The job evaluation method that most resembles a bookcase is:
A.ranking.
B.the Hay plan.
C.point method.
D.classification.
Answer:
Which of the following decisions answers the “So What” question?
A.Internal alignment
B.Employee contributions
C.External competitiveness
D.Management
Answer:
The agency that conducts reviews and seeks remedies where insufficient compliance to
affirmative action is found is ____
A.DOL.
B.EEOC.
C.OFCCP.
D.FCSS.
Answer:
Which of the following is an example of a popular perk offered to executives?
A.Loans at low or no interest
B.Office space at a company business location
C.An executive dining room
D.Additional secretarial services devoted to company matters
Answer:
_____ is/are not a method of determining employee benefit preferences.
A.Demographic data
B.Competitor pay surveys
C.Employee surveys
D.A cafeteria plan
Answer:
The biggest trend in cost-containment is:
A.benefit limitations.
B.HMO’s.
C.outsourcing.
D.higher deductibles.
Answer:
A focus on competitor’s costs is most closely associated with a _____ strategy.
A.innovator
B.customer-focused
C.cost-cutter
D.differentiated
Answer:
An incentive system with three piecework rates is the _____ plan.
A.Taylor
B.Gantt
C.Halsey 50-50
D.Merrick
Answer:
The _____ often comes into play if organizations target reductions among higher paid
employees because higher paid employees also tend to be older employees.
A.ADA
B.FMLA
C.FLSA
D.ADEA
Answer:
Segmented labor supply involves all of the following except:
A.hiring from different sources
B.paying workers differently who are performing the same work
C.hiring from different sources and differential pay and benefits for the same work
D.employing regulars, part-timers, and temps
Answer:
Which of the following statements is not true?
A. The effect of performance incentives depends on the context
B. Embedding compensation strategy in HR strategy affects results
C. Focusing on employee contributions vs other objectives is a best practice
D. The effect of paying more than competitors depends on the context
Answer:
The issue of how much and what forms of pay are our competitors using is part of
which objective of total compensation strategy?
A.Objectives
B.Internal alignment
C.External competitiveness
D.Management
Answer:
Pay level decisions have a significant impact on expenses. Other things being equal, the
higher the pay level, the higher the:
A.margins.
B.labor costs.
C.return on investments.
D.fixed costs.
Answer:
Which of the following industries does not enjoy as much larger union-nonunion
differentials as the others?
A.Utilities
B.Construction
C.Transportation
D.Agriculture
Answer:
An employer seeking to use pensions to reduce turnover is likely to prefer:
A.fully vested after three years.
B.vesting 20 percent after 2 years and 20 each year thereafter.
C.fully vested after two years.
D.vesting schedules are unlikely to affect turnover.
Answer:
Career growth, hierarchy and flexible design are examples of choices related to the
_____ strategy choice of total compensation.
A.objectives
B.internal alignment
C.external competitiveness
D.employee contributions
Answer:
The main advantage of skill-based pay plans is:
A.the line of sight is clear.
B.they aid in matching workers to the work flow.
C.they are less expensive than job-based plans.
D.courts view them very favorably.
Answer:
The compa-ratio reflects the _____.
A.rate paid for satisfactory performance
B.relationship of actual salaries to the midpoint of the going rates in the market
C.relationship of the midpoint of each range to actual salaries
D.relationship of actual salaries in each range to the midpoint of the range
Answer:
Wages tend to be low in which of the following industries?
A.Education and health care
B.Technology intensive industries
C.Professional services
D.Pharmaceuticals
Answer:
The parable of the vineyard owner and compensation paid to the laborers illustrated:
A.paying workers according to their productivity.
B.pay based upon the content of the job.
C.pay based upon hours of work.
D.ignorance of the owner towards the content of work.
Answer:
The heart of job analysis is _____ data.
A.job content
B.job identification
C.employee knowledge and skills
D.tasks and experience
Answer:
Which of the following is not a likely consequence of a highly decentralized pay
system?
A.Total labor costs would be reduced
B.Pay rates would be very unsystematic
C.Managers would use pay to motivate their own objectives
D.Employees are likely to be treated unfairly
Answer:
The pay for the job of accountant in London, Los Angeles and Berlin is likely to be
different due to
A.use value.
B.currency exchange rates.
C.demand and supply.
D.exchange value.
Answer:
A primary benefits objective of most employers is to:
A.obtain employee cooperation in controlling benefit costs.
B.increase employee knowledge of benefit costs.
C.encourage employee responsibility for their own financial security.
D.increase employee understanding of plan objectives.
Answer:
What are the steps in designing a point plan?
Answer:
Which of the following is not a strength of supervisors as raters?
A. They are knowledgeable about subordinates’ jobs.
B. Their ratings show little halo and leniency.
C. Supervisors have rating experience.
D. They assign work to subordinates.
Answer:
How do managers tackle the fact that neither marginal product nor marginal revenue is
directly measurable?
Answer:
What is the significance of marginal revenue?
Answer:
Describe the importance of an internal structure.
Answer:
_____ is one of the best appraisal formats in terms of legal defensibility.
A.BARS
B.MBO
C.Standard rating scales
D.Ranking
Answer:
Which gain sharing plan is most similar to the standard hour plan?
A.Scanlon
B.Improshare
C.Rucker
D.Cash profit sharing
Answer:
The ability triangle includes _____.
A.selection
B.performance management
C.compensation
D.organization development
Answer:
What is the relevance of certification in a multiskill system?
Answer:
What are the objectives that may be used to assess a skill-based pay plan?
Answer:
A key factor in increasing trust in top management is _____.
A.an acceptable appraisal system
B.high base pay
C.stock options
D.a well-designed piece rate system
Answer:
What are the basic assumptions of labor market theories?
Answer:
What are the major disadvantages of a flexible benefits package?
Answer:
Explain the three general compensation strategies used by companies with worldwide
operations.
Answer:
Compare defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans.
Answer:
Describe stockholders perspective on compensation.
Answer: