A modular benefits plan allows employees to select different bundles of benefits or
different levels of benefits.
The most important information dissemination tool for HR is the employee handbook.
It is not an uncommon problem for individual-based pay-for-performance plans to work
against achieving quality goals.
Teleconferencing permits workers to leave detailed voice messages for those they are
contacting when the receiver of the message is not present.
When a country’s political situation is unstable, it is best to use expatriates in top
management positions.
Awards, merit pay, and bonuses are all similar in that they are paid once a year, do not
raise the employee’s base salary, and are based on performance.
The best environment for individual-based pay-for-performance plans is with jobs with
minimal autonomy.
Qualitative forecasting techniques tend to be less accurate than quantitative forecasting
techniques.
After the controversy over fetal protection in the 70s and 80s, most companies include
comprehensive fetal health provisions in their health insurance.
For recognition programs to be effective, the awards must be monetary and substantial.
Relative ranking systems require managers to make performance distinctions among
workers even if none actually exist.
A manager who is looking at the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a given job is
conducting a job analysis.
The direction phase is represented by employees’:
A) personality traits.
B) mental soundness.
C) competencies.
D) interpersonal skills.
The most important source of information that HR can provide employees is:
A) audiovisuals, due to the decreasing literacy rate.
B) electronic communications, thereby permitting interaction.
C) memos, so employees have reference copies of what has been communicated.
D) the employee handbook, which outlines the company’s entire employee relations
philosophy.
A manager can increase the productive use of e-mail by:
A) saving all messages.
B) answering each message as it comes in.
C) setting up an electronic bulletin board.
D) limiting message capacity to under 20 lines.
In the hiring process, generating a pool of qualified candidates for a job constitutes the
________ phase.
A) recruitment
B) selection
C) socialization
D) interviewing
The information given in the initial meeting between a manager and an employee who
is being laid off should include:
A) reasons why the employee is being laid off.
B) time for the employee to debate the layoff.
C) comments about the employee’s recent appraisal.
D) how much severance pay the employee will receive.
Which country had the highest health-care costs per capita as of 2008?
A) Canada
B) Germany
C) Great Britain
D) United States
Your relatively flat organization is moving toward a boundaryless structure. Layers of
management have been reduced to a minimum. You want employees to be
self-managing, to perform several different tasks, and to take complete responsibility
for the entire production process. ________ would be your best choice as you
implement a job redesign program.
A) Work simplification
B) Team-based job designs
C) Flexible work designs
D) Job enrichment
Dow Construction wants to control its workers’ compensation costs, which have
increased significantly in the past few years. All of the following would be appropriate
for Dow EXCEPT:
A) extending disability payments.
B) contesting potentially fraudulent claims.
C) providing on-site occupational health centers.
D) providing injury-prevention training to workers.
Which of the following actions by an HR manager would most likely improve the
morale of layoff survivors?
A) Avoiding discussion of the firm’s financial issues
B) Mandating new work procedures
C) Encouraging workers to set goals
D) Discussing outplacement options
Employee discipline is most frequently handled by:
A) HR staff.
B) supervisors.
C) third parties.
D) team members.
The primary purpose of a probationary employment period is to:
A) clarify performance expectations.
B) comply with EEOC guidelines.
C) identify incompetent employees.
D) provide training to new hires.
Which of the following guarantees that accrued retirement benefits will be given to
retirement plan participants when they leave the employer?
A) Pension
B) Vesting
C) Portable benefits
D) Flexible spending
What is the primary reason for training SMT members in many different technical
areas?
A) Simplifying schedules
B) Monitoring new budgets
C) Enhancing team flexibility
D) Handling interpersonal conflicts
Additional Case 16.1
Greenway Enterprises is a medium-sized manufacturer of electrical components.
Recently, the company has experienced a number of workplace accidents. OSHA
standards have not been violated in any of the accidents. One of the injured employees,
Floyd, files a workers’ compensation claim, which is upheld by the state. Doctors
indicate that Floyd requires 8 weeks of vocational training before he can return to work.
Refer to Additional Case 16.1. As a result of numerous workplace accidents at
Greenway, the firm’s workers’ compensation rates have increased significantly. Which
of the following would be LEAST effective at keeping the firm’s rates under control?
A) Requesting a variance from OSHA
B) Establishing an on-site health center
C) Providing safety training for workers
D) Auditing and investigating all claims
The ability to get the other party to agree to the bargaining party’s terms is:
A) good faith bargaining.
B) distributive bargaining.
C) integrative bargaining.
D) bargaining power.
If an HR department is reviewing whether to use discipline as a control mechanism or
as a proactive way to encourage appropriate behavior, it is considering its strategic
choices within the HR function of:
A) work flows.
B) performance appraisal.
C) employee rights.
D) employee relations.
A compensation system that assumes that the tasks being performed and the
contribution of those tasks to the company are the best criteria for setting the wage is
a(n) ________-centered compensation system.
A) performance
B) individual
C) equity
D) job
Which of the following is NOT an information dissemination tool?
A) Audiovisual communication
B) Electronic communications
C) Employee retreats
D) Employee relations
Which HR practice would most likely change after a firm implements self-managed
work teams?
A) Work flow analyses
B) Job enrichment plans
C) Organizational designs
D) Performance appraisals
What has been the primary problem facing foreign-based U.S. firms that offer employee
hotlines for reporting ethics violations?
A) Technological malfunctions
B) Communication failures
C) Privacy concerns
D) Bribery charges
Employee rights may be categorized into three groups. Identify these categories and
explain the rights within each.
A policy designed to communicate management’s thinking and practices concerning
employee-related matters and prevent problems in the workplace from becoming
serious is referred to as a(n) ________.
________ is the management concept holding that management practices should be
molded to the different sets of values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors exhibited by a
diverse workforce.
Explain the role of forecasting in human resource planning, the choices of forecasting
techniques a planner has, and why an HR manager would choose one technique over
another.
________ is consistency of measurement, usually across time but also across judges.