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Management, 3e (Hitt)
Chapter 7 Managing Diverse Human Resources
1) Although managers are likely to create employee performance appraisal forms and processes,
it is the HR department that actually assesses employee performance.
2) The capabilities that employees possess can form the basis of competitive advantage.
3) If a company decides to outsource specific workforce demands, the financial risks to that
company will increase if those demands fluctuate.
4) A job specification describes the skills, experience, and education that a candidate should have
to perform the job.
5) Employment agencies tend to be expensive, so they are usually not cost-effective for low-
level and low-paying jobs.
6) Structured interviews tend to have lower levels of validity than unstructured interviews.
7) Personality tests are good overall predictors of job performance.
8) When mentoring, a guide or knowledgeable person higher up in the organization helps a new
employee "learn the ropes" of the organization and provides other advice.
9) Job analysis focuses on a job's components, while job design is the process of determining
which components ought to be put together and how they should be arranged to enhance
performance.
10) Job sharing involves two people working part-time in the same job.
11) In graphic rating scales, the characteristics being evaluated are clearly defined and are not
left to individual interpretation.
12) Graphic rating scales allow managers to quantify results quickly and compare the
performance ratings of employees.
13) Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) are a performance appraisal system in which
information about an employee is gathered from supervisors, co-workers, subordinates, and
sometimes suppliers and customers.
14) Instead of using hierarchical and segmented salary systems, many companies are now
moving to broadband systems, where the range of pay is large and covers a wide variety of jobs.
15) At-risk compensation is also referred to as fixed compensation.
16) In "cafeteria-style" benefit plans, employees have a set number of "benefit dollars" that they
can use to purchase specific benefits that fit their particular needs.
17) Placing an employee in several functional areas over the course of his or her career is called
cross-functional job rotation.
18) U.S. firms must abide by the same nondiscrimination laws relative to their U.S. personnel
overseas as their U.S. employees residing in the U.S.
19) Quid pro quo sexual harassment involves requests or implied suggestions that sexual
relations are required in exchange for continued employment or benefits.
20) An organization cannot use criteria that might be regarded as discriminatory, even if the
criterion in question is a bona fide occupational qualification.
21) The Equal Pay Act of 1963 requires that employees of all races performing equal jobs
receive equal pay.
22) Which of the following pieces of information would most indicate that a company's assets
are mainly intangible?
A) The company operates on a global basis.
B) Plant and equipment contribute most to the company's output.
C) The company is primarily service and information oriented.
D) The company has a diverse workforce.
23) In which of the following cases is a firm most likely to have intangible critical assets?
A) JEG Inc. manufactures automobile parts for a number of car manufacturers and the major
portion of its investment is in machinery and equipment.
B) N&S Corp. is a transport and shipping company with a presence throughout the U.S. and its
fleet of trucks contributes significantly to its output.
C) Orangetree Inc. has a number of hotels across the country. The company's success depends on
increasing customer satisfaction by perfecting employees' customer service techniques.
D) BLT is a fast food chain on the East Coast. The company recently automated most of its
processes in order to increase customer convenience.
24) A(n) ________ is a statement that describes the skills, experience, and education that a
candidate should have to perform the job.
A) job rotation
B) job analysis
C) job specification
D) job assessment
25) A ________ is a list of duties and capabilities required for a particular job.
A) job assessment
B) job evaluation
C) job rotation
D) job description
26) Which of the following is a method of generating job candidates?
A) job sharing
B) job posting
C) job rotation
D) job analysis
27) ________ is an internal recruiting method in which a job, its pay, level, description, and
qualifications are announced to all current employees.
A) Job rotation
B) Job sharing
C) Job posting
D) Job design
28) Which of the following would be the most helpful to employees who want to chart potential
career paths within their company?
A) job postings
B) employee referrals
C) employment agencies
D) school placement centers
29) Auto parts manufacturer JEG Inc. has a number of vacancies at lower management levels
and wants to fill the positions from within the company itself rather than recruit externally. The
company plans to e-mail the job specifications to all employees and post the jobs on the
company Web site. Which of the following is a disadvantage of job posting?
A) All employees do not have equal opportunities to apply for a job.
B) Unqualified applicants will need explanations about why they did not get the job.
C) Job postings prevent some qualified employees from having the opportunity to apply for a
particular job.
D) Unqualified employees can find out the qualifications they need to get a particular job.
30) Auto parts manufacturer JEG Inc. has a number of vacancies at lower management levels
and wants to fill the positions from within the company itself rather than recruit externally. The
company plans to e-mail the job specifications to all employees and post the jobs on the
company Web site. Which of the following, if true, will strengthen the company's decision?
A) The majority of JEG employees have only a basic level of education.
B) JEG recently instituted a technical skills improvement program for shop floor employees.
C) JEG favors a paternalistic managerial style and its organization culture tends to be rigid and
controlling.
D) It has been brought to the management's notice that several top performing entry level
employees have received offers from rival companies.
31) Auto parts manufacturer JEG Inc. has a number of vacancies at lower management levels
and wants to fill the positions from within the company itself rather than recruit externally. The
company plans to e-mail the job specifications to all employees and post the jobs on the
company Web site. Which of the following, if true, will weaken the company's decision?
A) The majority of JEG employees have only a basic level of education.
B) JEG recently instituted a technical skills improvement program for shop floor employees.
C) JEG favors a paternalistic managerial style and its organization culture tends to be
controlling.
D) JEG is looking for employees with innate ability and not necessarily formal skills.
32) Which of the following is a method of generating job candidates from outside an
organization?
A) job posting
B) direct marketing
C) onboarding
D) advertising
33) JEG is opening a new manufacturing plant and has approached an employment agency to
begin the recruitment process for shop floor workers. The HR manager objects to this, saying
that the company should conduct its own recruitment. Which of the following is a disadvantage
of using an employment agency to generate job candidates?
A) They generate responses from unqualified applicants who need to receive explanations about
why they did not get the job.
B) Executive search firms are more efficient at generating candidates for lower-level jobs.
C) The services of employment agencies are not cost-effective for low-level and low-paying
jobs.
D) They are less effective when the firm is looking for a different type of employee than it
currently has.
34) Employee referrals are least effective as a recruiting strategy when ________.
A) employees are friends with the potential applicants
B) the firm seeks candidates who are significantly different from current employees
C) employees are not as well compensated as the new recruits will be
D) the firm seeks candidates who can perform the same functions as current employees
35) N&S Corp. is opening a new branch in a nearby city and the HR team is debating the various
methods of generating job candidates. Which of the following will weaken the case for using
employee referrals?
A) Current employees understand the organization, its culture, and the particular job that needs
to be filled.
B) The new office is tapping a new market and deals with a completely new set of clients.
C) The new office will spearhead N&S's venture into a new industry and will operate very
differently from the present systems.
D) Most employees in the present office have the skills required to perform well in the new
branch.
36) N&S Corp. is opening a new branch in a nearby city and the HR team is debating the various
methods of generating job candidates. The team feels that using employee referrals may generate
unqualified or substandard candidates because employees will be biased in favor of their
recommendations. Which of the following facts offers the strongest counterargument for this?
A) Employees usually know the work history, educational background, skills and abilities,
personal characteristics of the applicants.
B) Their personal relationships with the recommended candidates allow employees to convince
the company about the these candidates.
C) Employees tend to recommend individuals who they believe will do well because referrals put
employees' own reputations on the line.
D) Their personal relationship with the recommended candidate allows employees to convince
the individual about the benefits of working for the company.
37) Which of the following is the best definition of a valid selection technique?
A) It is a technique that does not discriminate between candidates on the basis of race, religion,
or gender.
B) It is a technique that has been approved by the Labor Department.
C) It is a screening process that differentiates those who would be successful in a job from those
who would not.
D) It is a technique that is designed to eliminate employer bias in selecting candidates.
38) Shelley arrived at 10:00 a.m. for her interview with a manager at Orangetree. This being her
first round of interview with the company, the manager asked her a set of questions interviewers
ask all prospective candidates they meet for the first time. What sort of interview is Shelley
attending?
A) structured
B) unstructured
C) sampling
D) simulation
39) Which of the following is more likely to occur in an unstructured interview than in a
structured interview?
A) asking all candidates the same set of questions
B) carefully recording interviewees' responses on a standardized form
C) asking each candidate to answer different questions
D) taking approximately the same time to interview each candidate
40) In which of the following cases will unstructured interviews be the most useful selection
technique?
A) JEG needs an operator for the specialized machinery used on the shop floor and must decide
from among ten candidates for the job.
B) N&S Ltd is in the process of recruiting a top-level manager and needs a person who can
interact well with others.
C) Orangetree is holding walk-in interviews for a desk job and needs to eliminate half of the 200
applicants in the first interview round.
D) Papercraft Ltd is looking for a Web site designer and needs test applicants to demonstrate
their proficiency with designing software.
41) Which of the following is true for interviews?
A) In unstructured interviews, interviewers ask all candidates the same set of questions.
B) The validity of unstructured interviews is lower than that for structured interviews.
C) Structured interviews involve asking each candidate to answer different questions based on
their individual qualifications.
D) Recording interview responses on a standardized form decreases the validity of the interview.
42) Which of the following selection techniques is likely to offer the highest validity?
A) ABC 24/7, a news channel, is looking for an anchor to host a talk show on current affairs.
Each candidate is asked a variety of questions depending on their personal work experience and
areas of strength.
B) N&S is conducting campus interviews that attract a large number of applicants. To eliminate
those who do not have the necessary skills, N&S makes applicants fill out a preliminary
questionnaire. Based on the results, N&S then decides who qualifies to the next round.
C) Orangetree finds it more important that new employees fit in with the company culture and
other employees. Thus, interviews are generally conducted individually by a number of top
managers, who assess candidates' fit with the company.
D) Papercraft is a family firm and the CEO has the final say in all employee hires. Employees
are often hired on the basis of a brief interview with the CEO, rather than the company's formal
interview process.
43) Which of the following is true regarding work sampling?
A) Work sampling is expensive and difficult to administer.
B) Work sampling tests only general aptitude and not specific skills.
C) A person who performs well in the work sample will not perform well on the job.
D) Work sampling is not an accurate predictor of how a candidate will do on the job.
44) Candidates for university teaching positions are routinely required to teach a 50-minute class
in their discipline while selection committee members observe both the candidate's work and
students' responses. What is this selection technique called?
A) assessment center
B) physical examination
C) unstructured interview
D) work simulation
45) Which of the following selection techniques is the least useful predictor of how a candidate
will do in a particular job?
A) written tests
B) work simulation
C) work sampling
D) assessment centers
46) Which of the following is true for assessment centers?
A) They avoid using work sampling and simulation techniques.
B) They are time- and resource-intensive selection tools.
C) They focus on conducting personality tests of job candidates to find out if they work well
with teammates.
D) They are a cost-effective selection method for employees moving up within a firm.
47) In which of the following cases will written tests be the most useful selection technique?
A) JEG needs an operator for the specialized machinery used on the shop floor and must decide
from among ten candidates for the job.
B) N&S Corp. is conducting internal recruitment for a trainer for employees and needs a person
who can interact well with others.
C) Orangetree is holding walk-in interviews and needs to eliminate at least half of the 200
candidates depending on their aptitude.
D) Papercraft Inc. is looking for artists who can design and produce specialized gift items and
has placed ads on several job portals.
48) Which of the following statements is true about using physical testing as a selection method?
A) Physical exams cannot be used as a method to reduce insurance claims.
B) Drug testing is not permissible unless the firm can demonstrate that it is a bona fide
occupational qualification.
C) Physical tests cannot be used unless the requirements being screened relate to job
performance.
D) Physical tests can only test current illnesses or capacity; they cannot be used to test for
potential problems.
49) When a job has high physical demands, companies require physical examinations as part of
the screening process. Information gathered from the examinations can be used in all of the
following ways EXCEPT ________.
A) helping to reduce insurance claims
B) selecting physically qualified applicants
C) checking for issues unrelated to job performance
D) protecting against lawsuits by identifying high-risk applicants
50) ________ provide new employees a broad overview of the industry, the company and its
business activities; its key competitors; and general information about working for the company.
A) Orientation programs
B) On-the-job training
C) Problem-solving conferences
D) Staff development meetings
51) Which of the following strategies should managers avoid when designing orientation
programs?
A) reducing paperwork to minimize information overload
B) alternating heavy information with lighter presentations
C) scheduling informal meetings between new hires and immediate supervisors
D) matching each new employee with a "buddy" based on job similarity rather than personality
compatibility
52) ________ orientation sessions are generally designed to help the new employee get up to
speed on the new job, co-workers, policies, procedures, and expectations.
A) Career path
B) Job rotation
C) Work-unit
D) Critical incident
53) Which of the following is an off-the-job training method?
A) correspondence courses
B) mentoring
C) job rotation
D) apprenticeship
54) ________ skill development programs address skills such as effective listening, conflict
resolution, negotiation, and coaching.
A) Technical
B) Conceptual
C) Interpersonal
D) Motor
55) Alison is a newly promoted manager at N&S. Though she has the requisite qualifications in
terms of experience and process knowledge, her team told her supervisors that Alison's
management style is abrasive and authoritarian. Which of the following sets of skills does Alison
need to improve?
A) technical skills
B) conceptual skills
C) interpersonal skills
D) motor skills
56) A(n) ________ is an on-the-job training technique.
A) correspondence course
B) cross training program
C) online learning
D) critical incident
57) ________ skill development programs include a variety of skills and abilities, such as
problem solving, decision making, planning, and organizing.
A) Technical
B) Conceptual
C) Interpersonal
D) Motor
58) The practice of moving individuals to various types of jobs within the organization at the
same level or next-immediate-higher level for periods of time from an hour or two to as long as a
year is known as ________.
A) apprenticeship
B) mentoring
C) job rotation
D) job sharing
59) Orangetree has hired new employees following a campus recruitment drive. Tim and Sandy,
the new employees, have the skills to do the job but lack experience in the work environment.
Orangetree assigns two older employees in the same department to help Tim and Sandy get
accustomed to the functioning of the organization. This is known as ________.
A) apprenticeship
B) mentoring
C) job rotation
D) job sharing
