Chapter 6—Human Resource Decision Making in Organizations
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Ethical behavior and legal behavior are
a.
always the same.
b.
always decided by the individual.
c.
not always the same.
d.
defined by law as the same.
e.
never the same.
2. An action can be
a.
legal and ethical.
b.
legal and unethical.
c.
not legal and ethical.
d.
not legal and unethical.
e.
all of these.
3. Which type of justice refers to beliefs about the fairness of the processes utilized to determine
consequences?
a.
Distributive
b.
Procedural
c.
Interactional
d.
Person-organization
e.
Reciprocal
4. Cinergy, a Midwest gas and electric utility, agreed not to penalize workers who left the company before
the age of 65 and also offered leaving employees a bonus equivalent to two weeks’ pay for every year of
employment with Cinergy. Cinergy is
a.
generating a pool of qualified applicants.
b.
encouraging voluntary early retirement.
c.
terminating unproductive employees.
d.
reducing the workforce through natural attrition.
e.
cutting its human resource department.
5. Sally’s boss Kim had to choose which workers to lay off. Sally felt that Kim did not handle the situation
professionally because she announced who would be laid off in front of all the employees in a meeting,
which embarrassed some workers. In this situation, Sally perceives
a.
a lack of procedural justice.
b.
illegal discrimination.
c.
a lack of interactional justice.
d.
a lack of distributive justice.
e.
violation of employment-at–will.
6. Andy tries to be fair to his employees but does not tolerate lateness. Will, one of his employees, reported
to work late one day because he had a car wreck, the first tardy since he was hired over a year ago. Andy
decided to give Will a written warning to make an example for the other employees. Will felt that he did
NOT receive ____ justice.
a.
procedural
b.
involuntary
c.
distributive
d.
legal
e.
interactional
7. Which of the following statements is MOST accurate in describing the outcomes of downsizing?
a.
Downsizing is more effective at increasing performance than is a reduction in tangible
assets.
b.
Downsizing usually does NOT increase profits in the long run.
c.
Downsizing is more effective in the long run than in the short run.
d.
Downsizing is almost always effective in reducing long-run expenses.
e.
Downsizing is effective in increasing stock prices in the long run.
8. Guo-Ping would like to take action to stop a recent decline in profits and stock price at his firm. What
strategy would you recommend to Guo-Ping?
a.
Lay off employees to increase profits the most.
b.
Make no changes. Employees and investors will react positively when they see you are not
panicking.
c.
Reduce facilities and other tangible assets to cut expenses.
d.
Acquire a competitor to increase size and market power.
e.
Lay off employees so that the survivor syndrome will cause the other workers to increase
productivity.
9. Following a bankruptcy in 2003, Air Canada laid off thousands of employees⎯approximately 10
percent of its workforce. Which of the following is NOT one of the likely outcomes for Air Canada?
a.
Workers who were not laid off will feel guilty.
b.
Turnover will increase among workers who were not laid off.
c.
Employee morale will decline.
d.
Remaining workers will have higher disability claims.
e.
Workers who were not laid off will be satisfied and happy.
10. Voluntary turnover occurs when
a.
employees choose to leave the organization for a variety of reasons.
b.
a facility is closed and all of its workers are put out of work.
c.
an unsatisfactory employee must be terminated.
d.
job satisfaction is very high.
e.
managers choose to leave job vacancies unfilled.
11. Tom, one of Pino’s employees, is failing to perform to standard. Pino wants to use progressive discipline
to change Tom’s behavior. What should Pino do the next time he observes Tom’s failure to perform?
a.
Put a written record of the incident in Tom’s personnel file.
b.
Tell Tom’s superior.
c.
Ask the human resources department for help.
d.
Give Tom a verbal warning.
e.
Write a negative performance appraisal of Tom.
12. Which of the following disciplinary problems is MOST likely to lead to immediate termination?
a.
Errors in work products
b.
Physically fighting another coworker
c.
Frequent absenteeism
d.
Telling an unprofessional joke
e.
Lying to one’s superior
13. What is the term for the ability of an employer or employee to terminate an employment relationship at
any time?
a.
Employment-by-right
b.
Work rights
c.
Employment-at-will
d.
Contingent work
e.
Psychological contract
14. Which of the following is NOT an exception to employment-at-will?
a.
A law forbids termination for a specific reason.
b.
An employee is terminated for cause.
c.
An individual has an implied contract.
d.
An individual has a contractual right to his or her job.
e.
A person’s right to due process has been violated.
15. Julie fired Annette. Which of the following circumstances would MOST improve the chances of Annette
getting her job back?
a.
Julie did not document Annette’s poor performance in writing.
b.
Julie is white and Annette is Asian-American.
c.
Julie used a positive discipline plan rather than a more traditional plan.
d.
Annette is a member of a labor union.
e.
The company was hiring new workers at the same time as the firing.
16. When an organization seeks to keep qualified workers, this is called
a.
natural attrition.
b.
voluntary turnover.
c.
retention.
d.
termination.
e.
downsizing.
17. In addition to job satisfaction, what other factors are thought to play a role in job turnover?
a.
The economy
b.
Profound events that impact the employee
c.
The labor market
d.
The degree of job embeddedness
e.
All of these
18. An advantage of seeking to retain effective employees is
a.
the retained employees can bring fresh ideas to the organization.
b.
turnover opportunities create advancement for current employees.
c.
morale will increase if dissatisfied workers stay at the firm.
d.
avoiding the expense involved in replacing employees.
e.
nothing. There are NO advantages to retaining effective employees.
19. A shock, or profound event, can sometimes cause turnover if the
a.
shock is negative.
b.
labor market is currently favoring employers.
c.
shock increases job satisfaction.
d.
worker is very embedded in his or her job.
e.
shock causes the worker to reexamine his or her fit with the firm.
20. John often gets into heated arguments with his bosses over his job responsibilities. He is likely to be
dissatisfied with his job due to
a.
the pay.
b.
the work itself.
c.
relationships with supervisors.
d.
relationships with coworkers.
e.
a negative personality.
21. Allison often stays at work after hours to help fellow coworkers with their training and tasks; this is
known as
a.
organizational citizenship behavior.
b.
job satisfaction.
c.
turnover.
d.
absenteeism.
e.
job dissatisfaction.
22. Job satisfaction is often based on a person’s
a.
coworkers.
b.
pay.
c.
supervisors.
d.
type of work.
e.
all of these.
23. Today, there is a severe shortage of nurses in some medical specialties, and hospitals are working hard to
retain their current nursing staff. What would be MOST effective in retaining nurses?
a.
Realistic job previews
b.
Better working conditions
c.
Job satisfaction surveys
d.
Increasing job specialization
e.
Early retirements
24. Which of the following strategies would likely be MOST effective in allowing a high-tech company to
retain its engineers and computer scientists for an extended period of time?
a.
Realistic job previews
b.
Stock options
c.
Stock options that cannot be exercised for the first five years of employment
d.
Reducing the job requirements to make the jobs simpler and easier to do
e.
Regular administration of job satisfaction surveys
25. Which of the following is NOT a critical dimension of procedural justice?
a.
ethicality
b.
free from bias
c.
representativeness
d.
work autonomy
e.
voice
26. Realistic information during the merger or acquisition process can
a.
reduce stress.
b.
increase job satisfaction.
c.
increase commitment.
d.
reduce turnover.
e.
all of these.
27. Failure (or success) or mergers and acquisitions can be assessed by looking at
a.
employee surveys.
b.
stock prices.
c.
accounting measures.
d.
research-and-development (R&D) expenditures.
e.
all of these.
28. The merger of ______ was considered an utter failure.
a.
United/Continental
b.
Chevron/Texaco
c.
Merrill Lynch/ Bear
Stearns
d.
AOL/Time Warner
e.
BP/AMOCO
29. An individual’s beliefs about right and wrong are considered to be part of individual
a.
voice.
b.
representativeness.
c.
ethics.
d.
consistency.
e.
personality.
30. Ethics is formed primarily from the ____ context in which people and organizations function.
a.
corporate
b.
group
c.
professional
d.
societal
e.
organizational
Scenario 6.1
In 2003, managers at Bambino, a national retailer of baby products, noticed that sales and profits were
slumping. Store managers were ordered not to fill any vacant positions, which saved some money.
However, by January of 2004, it was essential that Bambino cut expenses further. The firm decided to
offer incentives for early retirement to some of the more senior top managers. Many of them decided to
voluntarily leave for retirement or other jobs. Expenses still remained high, and in May, the firm asked
store managers to reduce staff by laying off 10 percent of their workers (about two workers per store).
When those cuts were still not enough, management called for store closings in some locations. For
example, in Phoenix the store closing was announced to employees on August 1 and accomplished by
December 1. In locations where stores were not closed, managers were ordered to terminate any
underperforming employees, identified by low performance appraisal scores on the last two evaluations.
31. Refer to Scenario 6.1. The process Bambino tried is considered
a.
ethical.
b.
unethical because they laid of 10% no matter how each store was performing.
c.
unethical because they closed stores.
d.
unethical because they fired people.
e.
unethical because they fired people based on just two performance evaluations.
32. Refer to Scenario 6.1. Was it legal for Bambino to lay off 10 percent of their workers?
a.
No, because of employment-at-will concerns.
b.
No, because the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act prohibits mass layoffs.
c.
No, because Bambino didn’t provide verbal and written warnings of the layoffs.
d.
No, because the layoffs were not based on job performance.
e.
Yes.
33. Refer to Scenario 6.1. What was the SECOND reduction strategy that Bambino tried?
a.
Termination
b.
Layoffs
c.
Natural attrition
d.
Performance appraisal
e.
Early retirement
34. Refer to Scenario 6.1. Which of Bambino’s actions is likely to have a positive impact on profitability in
the long term?
a.
Early retirements
b.
Layoffs
c.
Store closings
d.
Natural attrition
e.
All of these
35. Refer to Scenario 6.1. Which of the following is NOT a likely outcome of Bambino’s actions?
a.
Workers will suffer from the survivor syndrome.
b.
Voluntary turnover will increase.
c.
Job satisfaction and morale will decline.
d.
There will be more organizational citizenship behaviors.
e.
The layoffs and store closings will be a “shock” to remaining workers.
TRUE/FALSE
36. Ethics and the law always coincide precisely.
37. Someone’s sense of ethics is always part of any decision made, but individuals as well as countries can
differ in terms of their sense of what constitutes ethical behavior.
38. Employee leasing involves paying a fee to a company that provides a pool of employees on a temporary
basis.
39. If a company uses many contingent workers, the easiest way to downsize involves employing more of
these contingent workers while keeping the number of permanent employees constant.
40. Involuntary turnover is the same as firing.
41. In many European countries, employees can be terminated only for criminal behavior.
42. The job descriptive index (JDI) is the most commonly used measure of job satisfaction.
43. Job enrichment has been consistently linked with lower levels of job satisfaction.
44. Mergers and acquisitions are usually a success when measured by stock value.
45. Employees involved in mergers and acquisitions must retain their self-identity.
SHORT ANSWER
46. Define the three types of justice that workers may perceive as lacking during a layoff. Describe a specific
hypothetical example of an action the firm can take to increase the workers’ perceptions of each type of
justice.
47. “You can hire more brains. You can hire more brawn. But you can’t hire more ethics.” Do you agree
or disagree with this statement? Why?
48. Describe a basic model of the turnover process. What other models or mechanisms have been proposed
to explain turnover? Explain how each of the proposed alternatives relates to the basic model.
49. How does each of the retention strategies mentioned in your text address one of the three causes of job
dissatisfaction?
50. What can HR managers do to help make a merger or acquisition a success?
