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Chapter 8 – Managing a New and Diverse Workforce
1. Understanding fundamental cultural differences increases one’s tolerance in a diverse workforce.
a. True
b. False
2. Prison inmates are not paid for their labor.
a. True
b. False
3. Diversity is a potential source of conflict in organizations.
a. True
b. False
4. The average age of U.S. workers is gradually decreasing.
a. True
b. False
5. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act considers it appropriate to acknowledge differences among people as long as
people are treated fairly.
a. True
b. False
6. The major policy through which a company can reflect its stance on diversity is its mission statement.
a. True
b. False
7. Language training is sometimes part of diversity training.
a. True
b. False
8. Growing birthrates among the post–baby boom generations, which account for larger percentages of new entrants into
the labor force, have changed the average age of U.S. workers.
a. True
b. False
9. The cost argument for diversity assumes that diverse companies will have a better understanding of their different
market segments.
a. True
b. False
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10. The glass ceiling refers to the obstacles faced by people with disabilities at the workplace.
a. True
b. False
11. Which of the following is a difference between individual learning and organizational learning?
a. The individual learning process is cognitive, whereas organizational learning depends more on social processes.
b. Unlike organizational learning, individual learning depends on sharing of information.
c. Individual learning involves a shared vision, whereas organizational learning involves different goals of
employees.
d. Unlike organizational learning, individual learning involves the acquisition of new knowledge.
12. Managing diversity in an organization starts with:
a. increasing the recruitment of minorities and decreasing the recruitment of white employees.
b. treating all employees identically.
c. framing appropriate organizational policies.
d. adopting a hierarchical approach to organizational control.
13. _____ exists in a group or organization when its members differ from one another along one or more important
dimensions.
a. Culture
b. Knowledge
c. Competitiveness
d. Diversity
14. Employees who add value to a firm simply because of what they know are called _____.
a. knowledge workers
b. free riders
c. expatriates
d. blue-collar workers
15. A factor that has contributed to diversity in organizations is:
a. the privatization movement.
b. the awareness by the organizations that they can improve the overall quality of their workforce.
c. the increased need for job embeddedness.
d. the laws that mandate the organizations to adopt ethnocentric practices.
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Chapter 8 – Managing a New and Diverse Workforce
16. In the context of human resource management and social issues, the job of _____ traditionally included manufacturing
automobile license plates, repairing roads, or doing the laundry for other state institutions, but that situation has been
changing.
a. knowledge workers
b. prison inmates
c. expatriates
d. white-collar workers
17. Elmer Inc., a software company, has a diverse workforce. Its employees work hard to meet their goals, and therefore,
the management of the company has formed several extracurricular groups to help the employees relax. Everyone is free
to join any or all of these groups, irrespective of their age, gender, or ethnicity. In the given scenario, which of the
following statements is true of Elmer Inc.?
a. It has an ethnocentric work environment.
b. It has achieved full integration of its informal networks.
c. It has a hierarchical approach to organizational control.
d. It has high levels of job embeddedness.
18. The _____ of a disability suggests that disabilities that are more disfiguring are perceived more negatively.
a. origin dimension
b. nature dimension
c. duration aspect
d. aesthetic aspect
19. Which of the following is a reason for the existence of the glass ceiling in organizations?
a. Some women choose to suspend or slow their career progression to have children.
b. There are no laws prohibiting discrimination against women.
c. Women are not interested in reaching management positions in organizations.
d. Women are not as competent as men in managerial positions.
20. Who among the following is a knowledge worker?
a. An employee who assembles products in a factory
b. A businessman who owns a group of educational institutions
c. An employee who develops software applications for a phone company
d. A shareholder in a firm that is involved in knowledge processing operations
21. _____ is the collective, institutional record of past events.
a. Organizational pluralism
b. Organizational expertise
c. Organizational memory
d. Organizational synergy
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22. Which of the following statements is true of affirmative action?
a. The sole component of an affirmative-action program is job embeddedness.
b. It promotes ethnocentrism among employees.
c. It is similar to diversity management in all aspects.
d. Courts have made it clear that affirmative action may not be the best way to accomplish the goal of greater
diversity.
23. Eduardo Institute, a school opened by former businesswomen, provides vocational training to underprivileged women.
The institute also helps them find jobs, thereby making them financially independent. The management of the school
focuses on dealing with social problems than on making profits. In the given scenario, Eduardo Institute is engaged in
_____.
a. corporate social responsibility
b. greenwashing
c. conscious capitalism
d. social entrepreneurship
24. A factor that accounts for the increased workforce diversity in organizations is:
a. the privatization movement.
b. the increased need for job embeddedness.
c. changing demographics in the labor force.
d. legal actions that have forced organizations to adopt ethnocentric practices.
25. Which of the following is an element of the strategy for dealing with workforce diversity?
a. Job embeddedness
b. Ethnocentrism
c. Continuous supervision
d. Tolerance
26. The systems flexibility argument for diversity suggests that diverse organizations are more competitive because:
a. they understand different market segments in a better way.
b. they are characterized by multiple perspectives and ways of thinking.
c. they are better equipped to respond to changes in their environment.
d. they are known among women and minorities as good places to work.
27. The contemporary perspective on workforce diversity states that:
a. affirmative action is the best way to achieve the goal of greater diversity.
b. diversity seldom becomes a source of conflict in organizations.
c. it is difficult to achieve high levels of productivity in organizations that have a diverse workforce.
d. it is appropriate to acknowledge differences among people as long as people are treated fairly.
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28. _____ is one label that has been frequently used to describe a dedication to build organizations that are accountable,
responsible, transparent, and ecologically sustainable.
a. Individual resource management
b. Corporate social responsibility
c. Social entrepreneurship
d. Organizational competitiveness
29. In the context of the actions that individuals can take to deal with diversity, empathy most likely means:
a. understanding that differences exist among people.
b. tolerating the behavior of others without having to accept it.
c. treating people fairly and equitably.
d. understanding the perspectives of others who are different.
30. A reason for the existence of the glass ceiling in organizations is that:
a. some male managers are still reluctant to promote female managers.
b. there are no laws prohibiting discrimination against women.
c. women are not interested in reaching management positions.
d. women are not as competent as men in managerial positions.
31. Which of the following statements is true of equitable treatment of employees?
a. It is less preferred by employees than identical treatment.
b. It is possible only in a multicultural organization.
c. It gives everyone the same chance to contribute to and advance within an organization.
d. It promotes ethnocentrism in the work environment.
32. Which of the following is a characteristic of a multicultural organization?
a. It promotes ethnocentrism in the workplace.
b. It experiences high levels of job embeddedness.
c. It achieves full integration of its informal networks.
d. It achieves partial structural integration.
33. Charles, a manager in a multinational company, leads a team of ten people from various countries. Although he does
not like certain behaviors exhibited by his team members, he accepts them as fundamental cultural differences between
him and them. Therefore, Charles is dealing with the diversity of his team by using _____.
a. pluralism
b. holism
c. empathy
d. tolerance
34. Which of the following statements is true of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?
a. It mandates that organizations provide all the accommodations requested by employees with disabilities.
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b. It specifies different criteria for dealing with disabilities in men and women.
c. It focuses solely on those disabilities that are permanent in nature.
d. It presents a challenge to managers who try to balance treating everyone the same with treating everyone
equitably.
35. The knowledge workers of an organization:
a. add value to the organization simply because of their experience.
b. often believe they have the right to work autonomously.
c. require little or no specialized training.
d. include blue-collar workers.
36. To manage a diverse organization effectively, managers should first:
a. acknowledge the differences among people.
b. implement ethnocentric staffing strategies.
c. assign organizational roles based on group identity.
d. increase the job embeddedness in the organization.
37. Which of the following statements is true of knowledge workers?
a. They add value to organizations simply because of their experience.
b. They require little or no specialized training.
c. They are usually experts in some abstract information base.
d. They include blue-collar workers.
38. Who among the following individuals is facing the problem of the glass ceiling?
a. Meryl, who refuses a promotion opportunity because she is planning to start a family and does not want extra
responsibilities at work
b. Anna, who is not given a promotion as she is not technically qualified to manage the work and responsibilities
that she would have had to handle if promoted
c. Ben, who is denied a job by several companies despite being qualified because of a physical disability that
resulted from an accident
d. Sean, who feels uncomfortable in his new workplace as he finds it difficult to appreciate and adjust to the new
culture
39. The goods produced by prison inmates at a low cost can compete openly with goods produced by _____.
a. manufacturing companies
b. knowledge workers
c. trading companies
d. unskilled workers
40. Diversity training is specifically designed to:
a. enable members of an organization to function better in a diverse workplace.
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b. help an organization learn from past mistakes and adapt to its environment.
c. ensure that employees give preferential treatment to colleagues belonging to protected classes.
d. ensure that employees do not make presumptions about organizational roles based on group identity.
41. Offering foreign language courses to employees in a multicultural organization is an example of _____.
a. organizational learning
b. vicarious learning
c. knowledge management
d. diversity training
42. Which of the following is a factor that contributes to the gradual increase in the average age of U.S. workers?
a. Continuous aging of the baby boom generation
b. Increasing birthrates among the post–baby boom generations
c. Low legal limits for mandatory retirement
d. Low levels of insurance coverage for older workers
43. Every time Adrian Inc., a popular fashion magazine based in the United States, launches an edition in a new country,
the members of the main editorial team in its headquarters learn the native language of the new country so that they can
interact well with the team in the other country. The company also provides language training for its foreign employees on
assignments in the United States. In the given scenario, Adrian Inc. is offering _____ to its employees.
a. discipline training
b. behavioral modification training
c. knowledge management training
d. diversity training
44. The glass ceiling is best described as a _____.
a. gender-related problem
b. race-specific issue
c. program in diversity training
d. process in knowledge management
45. The process by which a company understands past mistakes and adapts to its environment is called _____.
a. organizational pluralism
b. organizational learning
c. organizational engineering
d. organizational synergy
46. The _____ for diversity suggests that organizations with diverse workforces will generally be more innovative than
will less diverse organizations.
a. systems flexibility argument
b. resource acquisition argument
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c. marketing argument
d. creativity argument
47. The problem-solving argument for diversity suggests that more diverse organizations will be more competitive
because they tend to:
a. easily understand different markets.
b. have a larger pool of unique information.
c. have lower rates of employee turnover and absenteeism.
d. become known among women and minorities as good places to work.
48. Which of the following statements is true of a multicultural organization?
a. It achieves partial structural integration.
b. It promotes ethnocentrism in the workplace.
c. It experiences high levels of job embeddedness.
d. It is characterized by an absence of prejudice and discrimination.
49. Sabrina had to take a nine-year long career break after she gave birth to twins. She knows that it would take longer for
her to get promoted if she were to join back work. Hence, she decides to start a cake shop instead. The given scenario
illustrates the concept of _____.
a. the glass cliff
b. the glass ceiling
c. diversity management
d. pluralism
50. Which of the following organizations trades in knowledge?
a. A consulting firm that sells its expertise in dealing with management problems
b. A recruitment agency that specializes in finding executives for companies
c. A food manufacturing firm that manufactures health products
d. A leading newspaper that provides political magazines as supplements to its readers
51. Which of the following organizations would most likely hire knowledge workers?
a. A pharmaceutical manufacturing firm that is looking for a receptionist
b. A bank that is looking to hire people for its customer service team
c. A lifestyle magazine that is hiring reporters
d. A software firm that is looking for engineers to develop a new product
52. _____ refers to the cultural composition of a group or organization.
a. Ethnocentricity
b. Xenocentrism
c. Ethnicity
d. Pluralism
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53. In the context of the competitive advantage of diversity, the _____ suggests that organizations that manage diversity
effectively are in a better position to attract the right talent from minority groups.
a. systems flexibility argument
b. resource acquisition argument
c. cost argument
d. marketing argument
54. _____ places a heavy emphasis on recognizing and appreciating differences among people at work and attempting to
provide accommodations for those differences to the extent that is feasible and possible.
a. Equal employment opportunity
b. Diversity management
c. Affirmative action
d. Social entrepreneurship
55. An organization can promote diversity by:
a. ensuring that diversity exists in its key committees and executive teams.
b. attracting diverse work groups by inducing high levels of job embeddedness in the workplace.
c. encouraging diversity through its ethnocentric practices.
d. adopting a hierarchical approach to controlling diversity.
56. When every group represented in a company strives to understand every other group better, the company is said to be
characterized by _____.
a. pluralism
b. full structural integration
c. ethnocentrism
d. xenophobia
57. Which of the following is a reason for the increased workforce diversity in organizations?
a. Legislation that has forced organizations to hire more broadly
b. The privatization movement
c. Legislation that mandates organizations to adopt ethnocentric practices
d. The increased need for job embeddedness
58. A multicultural organization is one that:
a. adopts a hierarchical approach to organizational control.
b. experiences high levels of job embeddedness.
c. achieves full structural integration.
d. promotes ethnocentrism in the workplace.
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59. _____ is one that has achieved high levels of diversity, can capitalize fully on the advantages of the diversity, and has
few diversity-related problems.
a. A xenophobic firm
b. An ethnocentric organization
c. Social entrepreneurship
d. The multicultural organization
60. Which of the following statements is true of the strategies for dealing with diversity?
a. Offensive behavior by a person should be pointed out in a friendly, low-key manner.
b. Tolerance should include accepting and enjoying the behavior of others.
c. Adopting a hierarchical approach to organizational control is the solution to effective diversity management.
d. Understanding individual differences involves accommodating all types of behaviors.
61. Briefly explain the factors that have led to increased workforce diversity.
62. Discuss the characteristics of a multicultural organization.
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63. In the context of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, explain with an example the issue of identical treatment
versus equitable treatment.
64. Explain the fundamental similarities and differences among people at work.
65. Briefly explain the six arguments used to describe the contribution of diversity to competitiveness.