Bauer, Human Resource Management, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Chapter 1: Introduction to Human Resource Management
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. ______ refers to the constellation of decisions and actions associated with managing
individuals throughout the employee life cycle to maximize employee and organization
effectiveness in attaining goals.
A. Knowledge revolution
B. People decisions
C. Human resource management
D. Organizational culture
2. Filling out an application is part of the human resource management ______ function.
A. training
B. selection
C. hiring
D. screening
3. Ultimately, HRM is about “people decisions,” which means ______.
A. decisions made about people
B. decisions people make
C. decisions made managers
D. decisions made by applicants
4. ______ bias is the tendency to rely more on information that is readily available to us
and thus we discount alternative information.
A. Availability
B. Anchoring
C. Overconfidence
D. Ethical
5. ______ bias is the tendency to rely too much on the first piece of information given.
A. Availability
B. Anchoring
C. Overconfidence
D. Ethical
6. ______ bias is the tendency to seek confirmation of one’s own beliefs or
expectations.
A. Availability
B. Anchoring
C. Overconfidence
D. Ethical
7. When making decisions, Larry tends to rely more on information that is readily
available to him and to discount alternative information. It is likely that Larry is guilty of
______ bias.
A. availability
B. anchoring
C. overconfidence
D. ethical
8. A small construction company with all male workers is hiring. The human resource
manager does not consider placing ads that might be targeted toward women because
he believes the work is better suited for men. This is an example of ______.
A. a clan culture
B. bias
C. the Hawthorne Effect
D. perspective
9. Suzanne, a human resource manager, interviews Carol. Carol shares that she
currently works at ABC Hospital. Suzanne has hired others from ABC Hospital before,
and they have performed well. She decides to hire Carol instead of another equally
qualified applicant from an unknown hospital based on her past experience hiring from
ABC Hospital. This is an example of ______ bias.
A. availability
B. anchoring
C. overconfidence
D. ethical
Bauer, Human Resource Management, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
SHRM: Workforce Management
10. Malcolm, a human resource manager, hears that an internal applicant for an open
position calls out sick frequently. During an interview, the applicant explains that a
recent issue in her current position was absences related to recovering from pneumonia
but that she is better now. Malcolm worries frequent call outs will be an issue if he
moves this applicant into a new position. This is an example of ______ bias.
A. availability
B. anchoring
C. overconfidence
D. ethical
11. Kathleen, a human resource manager, believes all nurse educators should be
nurses rather than professional trainers. She discusses her belief with the Director of
Nursing for confirmation, even though the Director of Training has explained that
professional trainers can provide the required trainings assigned to the opened position.
This is an example of ______ bias.
A. availability
B. anchoring
C. overconfidence
D. ethical
12. Which of the following is an example of availability bias?
A. The human resource manager’s gut instinct tells him a potential hire is not right, so
he looks for evidence to confirm his suspicion.
B. The human resource manager is looking for a replacement for an excellent former
employee, so she compares all potential hires to that employee.
C. The human resource manager hires someone because she is a recent graduate from
a university that other successful hires have come from.
D. The human resource manager carefully weighs the information about a new hire
before making a decision.
13. Which of the following is an example of anchoring bias?
A. The human resource manager’s gut instinct tells him a potential hire is not right, so
he looks for evidence to confirm his suspicion.
B. The human resource manager is looking for a replacement for an excellent former
employee, so she compares all potential hires to that employee.
C. The human resource manager hires someone because she is a recent graduate from
a university that other successful hires have come from.
D. The human resource manager carefully weighs the information about a new hire
before making a decision.
14. Which of the following is an example of overconfidence bias?
A. The human resource manager’s gut instinct tells him a potential hire is not right, so
he looks for evidence to confirm his suspicion.
B. The human resource manager is looking for a replacement for an excellent former
employee, so she compares all potential hires to that employee.
C. The human resource manager hires someone because she is a recent graduate from
a university that other successful hires have come from.
D. The human resource manager carefully weighs the information about a new hire
before making a decision.
15. Research shows that only about ______ of all decisions made within organizations
are successful.
A. 25%
B. 35%
C. 50%
Bauer, Human Resource Management, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
D. 60%
16. When making a decision, if you answer “no” to the question “Would I be proud to
have my course of action shared on the Internet or on the front page of the local
newspaper?” it is likely that your decision does not have the ______ characteristic of
good decision-making.
A. Is this decision ethical?
B. Is this decision based on evidence and data?
C. Does this course of action take a systematic perspective and consider various
stakeholders?
D. Is this course of action time and resource efficient?
17. While decisions should not be made based solely on past experiences, considering
the ______ characteristic of good decision-making allows you to leverage what is
possible to know to rule out alternative courses of action.
A. Does this course of action take a systematic perspective and consider various
stakeholders?
B. Is this decision based on evidence and data?
C. Will pursuing this course of action help to make the organization healthier?
D. Is this course of action time and resource efficient?
18. Making a decision that will help employees in your department without considering
how the decision will impact employees in other departments violates the ______
characteristic of good decision-making.
A. Is this decision ethical?
Bauer, Human Resource Management, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
B. Is this decision based on evidence and data?
C. Will pursuing this course of action help to make the organization healthier?
D. Is this course of action time and resource efficient?
19. Stopping to consider the ______ characteristic of good decision-making allows a
manager to consider whether a decision is likely to help or hinder positive employee–
employer relations and could help avoid problems down the line.
A. Is this decision ethical?
B. Is this decision based on evidence and data?
C. Will pursuing this course of action help to make the organization healthier?
D. Does this course of action take a systematic perspective and consider various
stakeholders?
20. Decisions that lead to resource constraints including employee energy and burnout
as well as financial constraints likely do not consider the ______ characteristic of good
decision-making.
A. Is this decision ethical?
B. Is this decision based on evidence and data?
C. Does this course of action take a systematic perspective and consider various
stakeholders?
D. Is this course of action time and resource efficient?
21. The ______ characteristic of good decision involves many people in the decision–
making process and is a helpful way of securing acceptance of a decision.
Bauer, Human Resource Management, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
A. Does this course of action take a systematic perspective and consider various
stakeholders?
B. Is this decision based on evidence and data?
C. Will pursuing this course of action help to make the organization healthier?
D. Is this course of action time and resource efficient?
22. The ______ framework suggests influence in an organization happens through who
is attracted to join the organization, who is selected to join the organization, and who
decides to remain or leave the organization.
A. A-S-A
B. selection impact
C. KSAO
D. organizational
23. Human capital refers to ______.
A. people’s decision-making capabilities
B. an individual’s influence over peers
C. the amount of diversity in the workforce
D. people’s knowledge, skills, and abilities
24. Lower share prices may be an indicator of a(n) ______ workforce.
A. diverse
B. overtrained
C. older
D. disengaged
Bauer, Human Resource Management, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
25. Damaris attended a mandatory training at her company. At the end of the training,
Damaris was tested on what she learned and did not pass the test. The company
values honest feedback and coaching. Given the stated values of the company, what
could you assume happened next?
A. Damaris was provided honest feedback and asked to resign from the company.
B. Damaris was provided feedback and demoted to a role that better matches her skill
set.
C. Damaris was provided feedback and suspended to allow time for her to study.
D. Damaris was provided feedback and coached to master the necessary knowledge
and skills.
26. Jill works in the marketing division of her company. There is emphasis on team work
and she is empowered to reach out to internal business partners for collaboration. Jill
feels she is part of a cohesive group and enjoys working on a team where people
matter. Jill works in a(n) ______ culture.
A. clan
B. adhocracy
C. market
D. hierarchy
27. Organizational ______ is the shared, “taken-for-granted” assumptions that members
of the organization have that affect the way they act, think, and perceive their
environment.
A. culture
Bauer, Human Resource Management, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
B. structure
C. strategy
D. hierarchy
28. Organizational culture is ______.
A. the degree of diversity within an organization
B. the shared assumptions about an organization
C. the value placed on differences
D. the entrepreneurial spirit of employees
29. ______ cultures are collaboration-oriented and are characterized by valuing being
cohesive, people-oriented, team players, and empowering employees.
A. Clan
B. Adhocracy
C. Market
D. Hierarchy
30. ______ cultures focus on creating and emphasize being entrepreneurial, flexible,
taking risks, and being creative.
A. Clan
B. Adhocracy
C. Market
D. Hierarchy
31. ______ cultures are characterized by competition and value being aggressive,
competitive, and customer-oriented.
A. Clan
B. Adhocracy
C. Market
D. Hierarchy
32. ______ cultures focus on controlling and value being efficient, timely, and
consistent.
A. Clan
B. Adhocracy
C. Market
D. Hierarchy
33. Joe is a project manager for a start-up company. The team is working to design a
line of products and needs to move quickly to meet deadlines. Joe notices that the team
leads are willing to take risks and think creatively “outside of the box” when barriers
arise. There is an expectation for people to adapt quickly to change, understanding that
the entrepreneurial spirit of a start-up requires flexibility. Joe works in a(n) ______
culture.
A. adhocracy
B. hierarchy
C. clan
D. market
34. Renee is a sales representative at a major pharmaceutical company. She is
frequently on the road visiting clients and works aggressively to meet exceed her sales
goals. Renee’s boss values her competitiveness. Renee works in a(n) ______ culture.
A. adhocracy
B. clan
C. hierarchy
D. market
35. Liam works in a call center. The supervisors are always present and walking around
the floor. There is a lot of emphasis on scripting and the metrics such as time to answer
a call and one call resolution. Liam works in a(n) ______ culture.
A. adhocracy
B. market
C. hierarchy
D. clan
36. By 2030, ______ or more of those in the United States are projected to be aged 65
or older, which is more than double the percentage in 1970.
A. 10%
B. 20%
C. 30%
D. 40%
37. In 2015, for every dollar a Caucasian male employee made, Asian male employees
made ______.
A. 1.20
B. 0.76
C. 0.68
D. 1.75
38. By 2055, Caucasians are estimated to make up less than ______ of the population
in the United States.
A. one third
B. one fourth
C. one half
D. three fourth
39. Which of these is an example of a glass ceiling?
A. Companies are more hesitant to hire women because of concerns about legal claims.
B. Women and people of color are more likely to participate in a gig economy than
White males.
C. African American male employees make 76 cents for every dollar a Caucasian male
makes.
D. Only a handful of large multinational corporations are run by CEOs of Hispanic
descent.
40. A ______ economy is characterized by the prevalence of temporary employment
positions, and individuals are employed as independent workers rather than actual
employees of an organization.
A. gig
B. product
C. market
D. freelance
41. A(n) ______ is defined as a single project or task that a worker is hired to do on
demand.
A. competency
B. benchmark
C. signal
D. gig
42. Sue and many of her colleagues accept work as independent workers moving from
project to project on demand. They are instructional designers and find a prevalence of
freelance opportunities. This is an example of ______.
A. a weak economy
B. a gig economy
C. a slow economy
D. an interest-based economy
43. Kelsi recently was hired by a company, on a temporary basis, to design a new
product. This is an example of a(n) ______.
A. job
B. side hustle
C. gig
D. extraction
44. Paige finds that gigs work best for her because she has young children and needs
to adapt to their changing schedules. A characteristic of gigs that attract people like
Paige is ______.
A. flexibility
B. stability
C. mobility
D. adaptability
45. Most gigs do not offer ______.
A. benefits
B. flexibility
C. experience
D. knowledge
46. Which are the fastest growing economies?
A. United States and China
B. India and Korea
C. China and India
D. United States and India
47. ______, put forth in 1965, states the capacity of computer chips would double
roughly every 2 years at around the same cost.
A. Hawthorne effect
B. Law of Big Data
C. Law of Capacity
D. Moore’s law
48. ______ refers to data that are large in volume, variety, and velocity.
A. Analytics
B. Predictive modeling
C. Big data
D. General data
49. ______ is a system of principles that govern how a business operates, how
decisions are made, and how people are treated.
A. Organizational culture
B. Business ethics
C. Hierarchy
D. Adhocracy
50. Who is involved in human resource management?
A. human resource managers
B. recruiters
C. everyone in the organization
D. leadership teams
51. How many years of human resource-related experience do most HR manager jobs
require?
A. 5–7 years
B. 4–6 years
C. 3–5 years
D. 1–2 years
52. Sarah is looking for a job at a new company in human resources. She has worked
for the past couple of year in human resources and particularly likes the training
functions of the job. She often wishes she could just focus on this one aspect of her job.
What role is well-matched to Sarah’s desire to focus on one aspect of human resource
management?
A. human resource generalist
B. human resource business partner
C. human resource specialist
D. human resource assistant
53. In an HR ______ function, the employee attends to all aspects of one specific HRM
function such as recruitment, compensation, or training.
A. generalist
B. business partner
C. specialist
D. assistant
54. In an HR ______ function, the employee’s work spans multiple HR functions.
A. generalist
B. business partner
C. specialist
D. assistant
55. Alexandra’s work in human resource management spans across multiple human
resource functions. Her job description fits the role of a ______.
A. human resource business partner
B. human resource generalist
C. human resource manager
D. human resource assistant
56. The second most frequently advertised job in human resource management is
______.
A. human resource business partner
B. human resource generalist
C. human resource specialist
D. human manager
57. An HR ______ serves as a consultant to management on HR-related Issues.
A. business partner
B. generalist
C. specialist
D. assistant
58. Elaine serves as a consultant about human resource matters to various areas of the
business at her company. She works closely with business areas to help align business
objectives with employees and management. She also helps to address small concerns
before they become large concerns. What job title does Elaine’s job description
support?
Bauer, Human Resource Management, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
A. human resource specialist
B. human resource manager
C. human resource associate
D. human resource business manager
59. ______ is the first thing a hiring manager considers about an applicant when looking
to fill a human resource position.
A. Level of education and experience
B. Involvement with a professional organization
C. The applicant’s credential compared to the internal talent pool
D. Other offers the applicant may have
60. Given the projected growth rate of 9% for human resource management jobs over
the next decade, this field is considered ______.
A. to have moderate risk associated to it
B. to have decreasing opportunities
C. to have a positive job outlook with solid career opportunities
D. to have high risk associated to it
61. A ______ is a cluster of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics
(KSAOs) necessary to be effective at one’s job.
A. forte
B. competency
C. technical skill
D. leadership vision
Bauer, Human Resource Management, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
62. Shane provides human resource management job applicants a self-assessment to
rate themselves on their ability to communicate effectively and manage relationships
with colleagues. This is an attempt to assess the ______ competency cluster.
A. business competencies
B. interpersonal competencies
C. core technical competencies
D. leadership competencies
63. ______ occurs when a human resource manager compares a company metric to
that same metric achieved by another similar company.
A. Comparing
B. Contrasting
C. Analyzing
D. Benchmarking
64. A ______ is a number that conveys two important pieces of information: sign and
magnitude.
A. p value
B. regression coefficient
C. correlation coefficient
D. statistical significance
65. A ______ occurs when a correlation is found between two variables that are not
directly related but that may share a common cause.
A. regression coefficient
B. t test
C. spurious correlation
D. p value
66. The ______ refers to the alteration of one’s behavior to fit what you think is wanted
of you, due to the knowledge of being studied or observed.
A. benchmark
B. Hawthorne effect
C. observation bias
D. overconfidence bias
67. To improve productivity and efficiency, ______ emphasized the study of actions in
order to establish the most efficient possible way to do a task.
A. scientific management
B. adhocracy
C. benchmarking
D. industrial studies
68. Balancing how much weight a worker could lift and sustainability so that the worker
was not too tired, a ______ study determined that 21 pounds was the optimal amount to
be shoveled at one time.
A. benchmarking
B. Hawthorne
C. scientific management
D. human capital
69. In the ______, the idea that specific competencies can be identified for
effectiveness and that data can help individuals within organizations be more effective
became more commonplace.
A. Industrial Revolution
B. Strategic and Technology HR and Competencies and Analytics Eras
C. Human Relations Era
D. World War II and Post-War Era
70. Cornell University establishing the School of Industrial and Labor Relations as the
first university program to focus on HRM issues was a key event in the ______ of the
evolution of HRM.
A. Industrial Revolution
B. Strategic and Technology HR and Competencies and Analytics Eras
C. Human Relations Era
D. World War II and Post-War Era
71. Until the ______, workers were thought of as interchangeable parts of the
organizational machine with little attention paid to how their own thoughts or desires
might influence how much or how well the work was done.
A. Industrial Revolution
B. Strategic and Technology HR and Competencies and Analytics Eras
C. Human Relations Era
D. World War II and Post-War Era
True/False
1. “How should we motivate and reward employees to be effective, innovative, and
loyal?” is the type of questions those involved in HRM need to ask.
2. Small, unconscious biases are harmless in HRM.
3. Overreliance on the first piece of information given to us is called the availability bias.
4. Regardless of your major, understanding human resource management is beneficial
for you and your career.
5. Engaged employees are busier and thus have more errors in their work.
6. Employing people who are valued, highly supported, and engaged promotes
company success.
7. The Competing Values Framework characterizes types of cultures by their emphasis
on collaboration, creating, controlling, or competing.
8. A factory where there is much focus on control and efficiency is an example of a clan
culture.
9. A start-up company where the focus is on being entrepreneurial and taking risks is an
example of an adhocracy culture.
10. A gig economy ensures the stability of consistent income and security of health-care
benefits.
11. Descriptive analytics focus on what is happening in the present.
12. Predictive analytics allow managers to project needs for upcoming years based on
what is currently known.
13. Everyone in a business organization is involved in human resource management.
Bauer, Human Resource Management, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
14. Top management teams set the tone for how much human resource management is
valued as strategic function to enhance an organization’s effectiveness.
15. An organization with more 35,000 employees is more likely to hire human resource
specialists than a smaller company with only 100 employees.
Essay
1. Describe human resource management (HRM).
2. Describe how HRM systems can be used to overcome one of the following biases:
availability, anchoring, or confirmation.
3. Provide an example of each type of culture included in the Competing Values
Framework. Analyze why the example works for the assigned culture.
4. Apply what you have learned about changing demographics to show the impact on
the work of human resource management.
5. Based on what you have learned from the textbook, write a job description for a
human resource manager including job duties, education and experience requirements,
and a salary.