Wallace Consulting is a small firm with 60 employees. In the past, Wallace Consulting
has experienced a high level of employee theft. Which of the following would be the
LEAST effective method of preventing employee theft at Wallace Consulting?
A) Performing regular financial audits
B) Developing open lines of communication
C) Appraising performance with 360-feedback
D) Protecting assets with internal control systems
How does plantwide pay-for-performance work?
A) Employees are rewarded for quality improvements.
B) Employees receive a portion of the firm’s cost savings.
C) Employees are divided into teams that receive rewards based on team performance.
D) Employees receive bonuses based on the corporation’s stock market performance.
Managers using a rational perspective to appraise performance believe that:
A) the goal of an appraisal is accuracy.
B) the employee is an active participant in the process.
C) the focus of the process is management of performance.
D) the assessment of specifics follows the overall assessment of the worker.
Sadie is meeting with her boss to discuss her indirect compensation, which is another
term for:
A) nonmonetary perks.
B) employee benefits.
C) base pay.
D) total compensation.
Additional Case 13.1
The HR department at Devlin Enterprises has a variety of communication tasks it has
been assigned to handle. First, Isabelle, the HR benefits specialist, needs to
communicate recent benefits policy changes to all employees at Devlin. Second,
Randall, an operations manager, wants to provide feedback to his subordinates about
their performance in his TQM program. Randall also wants to let other managers and
employees at Devlin know how well his TQM teams are performing each day. Finally,
David, a customer service manager, requests low-cost training for some of his customer
service representatives who work from off-site telemarketing centers.
Refer to Additional Case 13.1. David is concerned that his remote customer service
representatives are spending too much time with personal e-mails. David wants to set
up a system to monitor employee e-mails. Such an action would most likely:
A) involve a federal privacy violation against Devlin.
B) be within the legal rights of Devlin.
C) require an official court order.
D) require employee permission.
About ________ of all employers offer some childcare benefits.
A) 7%
B) 10%
C) 15%
D) 20%
Which of the following requires employers to provide employees with information
about hazardous substances in the workplace?
A) The doctrine of contributory negligence
B) The Hazardous Waste Act
C) Right-to-know regulations
D) The general duty provision of OSHA
Additional Case 7.3
In a training session for managers, you state that performance improvement is the most
important part of the performance appraisal process. During the session, you explain
how the group of supervisors can manage employee performance more effectively.
During the ensuing discussion, Chris, a middle manager with 20 subordinates, explains
that he has a finely tuned ability to discover the causes of performance problems.
According to Chris, employees either lack motivation for the job or lack the skills and
knowledge to perform the job.
Another supervisor, Gena, says that after she determines the cause of a performance
problem, she creates a supportive environment and works in partnership with the
employee to solve the problem. While Gena strives to show acceptance, she also finds it
effective to point out to subordinates how their negative personality traits affect their
work performance. Gena states that by giving employees all the time needed and
offering suggestions, performance improvements typically occur.
Refer to Additional Case 7.3. Which of the following questions would be LEAST
relevant for Chris and Gena to ask when faced with employee performance problems?
A) Is the employee’s performance erratic?
B) Is the employee’s performance lower on all tasks?
C) Have all workers received 360-degree feedback?
D) Are performance problems occurring with all workers?
The individual retirement account (IRA) is primarily appropriate for:
A) employees without company pension plans.
B) employees of small businesses.
C) self-employed workers.
D) small business owners.
Workplace safety is a significant issue because approximately ________ employees
were injured on the job in 2011.
A) 3,000,000
B) 1,000,000
C) 500,000
D) 250,000
The recruiting pool that most likely contains people who already enjoy the firm’s
product is:
A) current customers.
B) contingent workers.
C) temporary workers.
D) incumbent employees.
Jermaine is a retail associate at a music warehouse. He has recently received a booklet
from management that outlines the qualifications and experience he needs to have in
order to advance within the company. It shows different alternatives and jobs that he
could fill in the future depending on the areas in which he wishes to train and
specialize. Jermaine is probably reading a:
A) career path chart.
B) skills inventory.
C) job posting book.
D) career workbook.
Which of the following qualifications would most likely minimize culture shock for an
expatriate?
A) Interpersonal skills
B) Bilingual capabilities
C) Advanced college degree
D) Sophisticated technical knowledge
Which of the following is LEAST likely to cause the failure of a pay-for-performance
program?
A) HR hiring unskilled employees
B) High-tech firms using piece-rate plans
C) Employees failing to receive adequate training
D) Managers lacking performance appraisal training
Which of the following must have written affirmative action plans?
A) Non-profit groups
B) Government contractors
C) Privately-held corporations
D) Publicly-held corporations
A quantitative forecast:
A) can utilize any variables which increase flexibility.
B) is very helpful in a dynamic business environment.
C) is highly subject to judgment errors.
D) relies primarily on past data.
Those who manage employee performance effectively share some common
management characteristics, such as:
A) the ability to motivate.
B) a minimal use of progressive discipline.
C) the exploration of causes of performance problems.
D) a behavioral-based approach to managing employees.
The line, “Grade 2, Clerk-Typist, $12.35 hr.,” is most likely from a:
A) job-based pay structure.
B) skill-based pay structure.
C) decentralized pay system.
D) knowledge-based pay system.
Organizational restructuring over the past two decades has primarily led to firms with:
A) more managers and fewer laborers as automation eliminates lower-level jobs.
B) fewer people between the CEO and the lowest-ranking worker.
C) fewer self-managed work teams.
D) more mid-level managers.
A work group differs from a team in what way?
A) In a team, everyone is equal. In a work group, some members have more power than
others.
B) A work group depends on an outside supervisor for direction, while a team
self-directs.
C) A work group self-directs, while a team depends on an outside supervisor for
direction.
D) A team tends to have better rapport between members than a work group.
When considering HR strategies regarding employee separations, managers must
consider whether to:
A) use layoffs or voluntary inducements to downsize a firm.
B) encourage decentralization or centralization of the firm to better enhance employee
relations.
C) compensate long-term employees more than recent hires.
D) create rigid job descriptions to separate the responsibilities of managers and
subordinates.
The benefits amount corresponds to which direct compensation decision?
A) Individual-based pay versus job-based pay
B) Fixed versus variable pay
C) Monetary versus nonmonetary rewards
D) Open versus secret pay
The lifelong employment policy in Japan has:
A) encouraged cooperation between unions and management.
B) significantly decreased employees’ desire to unionize.
C) created hostility between unions and management.
D) reduced union influence and bargaining strength.