Additional Case 12.2
Tri-State Shipping employs 45 workers. They ship commodities across the country.
Until recently, they had only legally required benefits, but business has become very
profitable and they can now offer their employees more benefits.
The average age of their employees is 50. Most employees have been there for more
than 20 years, and the company prides itself on keeping workers. The majority of the
jobs require heavy lifting or the operation of heavy equipment for loading and
unloading trucks, trains, etc. Their workers’ compensation tax has been running about
5% per year. They are in one of the lowest workers’ compensation tax rate states, but
TSS has had a lot of injuries. The lifting required and type of equipment used tends to
result in a lot of sprained backs, mashed fingers, or bruised muscles. When workers are
injured, they tend to heal quickly and return to work quickly.
Despite its reputation for keeping workers, the dock supervisor recently fired a 21-year
old employee who had been with TSS for 12 months. Even though everyone liked him,
the young man just couldn’t learn his job.
Refer to Additional Case 12.2. Given Tri-State Shipping’s workforce and the company’s
culture, which of the following benefits would most likely support its culture?
A) Sabbatical leave
B) Health savings accounts
C) Severance pay
D) Preretirement counseling
Tomas is considering his company’s most critical needs and challenges in the future and
his own strengths and interests. Tomas is most likely in the process of:
A) linking his needs to the firm’s needs.
B) laying the groundwork for a mentoring program.
C) establishing a management development program.
D) evaluating the marketability of his skills in a global setting.
Which of the following is most likely a true statement about recruiting?
A) Internal recruiting enhances organizational communication.
B) External recruiting fills positions quickly and inexpensively.
C) External recruiting promotes innovation and new perspectives.
D) Internal recruiting requires developing new organizational policies.
Which of the following methods is LEAST likely to protect the security of HRIS
records?
A) Grant permission to access employee information only on a need-to-know basis
B) Develop policies and guidelines that govern utilization of the HRIS information
C) Require passwords and special codes to access different areas of the database
D) Provide access to the HRIS only to employees and their spouses
A company wants a moderately extensive approach to cross-cultural training that will
take a month or less and will focus on psychological and managerial skills. Their best
choice for cross-cultural training would be a(n):
A) affective approach.
B) information-giving approach.
C) fictional-cultural approach.
D) impression approach.
Which of the following is LEAST likely an example of workplace bullying?
A) Anita criticizes an employee’s personal life.
B) Ben targets an employee with harmful rumors.
C) Cameron uses profanity when talking to an employee.
D) Darrel subjects an employee to unwanted terms of endearment.
Additional Case 3.2
You have recently been hired as the HR Director of a mid-sized architectural service
company that designs buildings for both private firms and federal agencies. Your
predecessor lost her job when she did not anticipate and handle an HR-based lawsuit to
the CEO’s satisfaction. The CEO believes that HRM should help the company avoid
problems. As HR Director, you have three primary tasks: to anticipate future problems,
advise management, and be an advocate for employees. Your boss doesn’t see a conflict
in these roles.
The upper-management team consists of all males who are over the age of 50. Most of
the upper-level managers have been with the company for at least 25 years. Middle
managers, who are mostly in their 30s, are 40% female, and 3% minority. Hourly
employees are 60% minority and 35% female. The communities from which the firm
hires hourly employees is approximately 75% minority and consists primarily of
Haitians and Hispanics.
You discover many incomplete employee recruitment records that lack I-9 forms. You
immediately begin to work on an affirmative action plan because of what you see
happening in the company.
Refer to Additional Case 3.2. Based on your utilization study of the company, which of
the following EEO-related problems does the firm most likely have?
A) Minorities are significantly underrepresented in management.
B) Women are significantly underrepresented in middle management.
C) The firm’s hourly workforce does not reflect the labor pool population.
D) You are probably in violation of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act.
Which of the following is an advantage of team-based pay-for-performance plans?
A) They encourage independence among employees.
B) They make performance measurement easier.
C) They encourage individual productivity.
D) They allow for financial flexibility.
For which of the following reasons can employees refuse to obey superiors and be
protected from losing their jobs?
A) Provoking verbal assaults
B) Exhibiting alcohol-related misconduct
C) Showing reasonable cause of safety concerns
D) Being asked to do something that is legal but unethical
The rights of employers to run a business and retain any resulting profits are called:
A) property rights.
B) management rights.
C) civil service rights.
D) corporation rights.
Managers primarily evaluate the effectiveness of recruiting sources based on:
A) how long new employees stay.
B) how much time is needed for training.
C) the diversity levels within management.
D) the bonuses required to minimize turnover.
A number of self-development suggestions are offered by your text, such as:
A) acquiring management experience.
B) joining a cross-cultural work team.
C) developing your interpersonal skills.
D) taking responsibility for your own direction.
Conducting an organizational analysis prior to designing and implementing a training
program tells the HR professional the:
A) degree of need for the training.
B) job dimensions for training design.
C) overall support for the training program.
D) knowledge, skills, and abilities to be developed by the training.
Which of the following is NOT an example of workplace violence?
A) Harassment
B) Threats
C) Assault
D) Fraud
Gainsharing works best when:
A) the organization is a large, global conglomerate.
B) the firm relies heavily on supervisors.
C) technology is used to gain efficiency.
D) product demand fluctuates.
Employment-at-will is a pervasive law, originally designed to equalize
employer/employee power. Explain the concept and the limitations of its use.
________ is a company strategy to reduce the scale and scope of its business in order to
improve the company’s financial performance.
A job that is similar or comparable in content across firms is called a(n) ________.
A(n) ________ is a review of the effectiveness of an organization’s diversity
management program.
A(n) ________ is a member of the HR department who ensures that company policies
are followed and consults with both supervisors and employees on specific employee
relations problems.
A discipline procedure that encourages employees to monitor their own behaviors and
assume responsibility for their actions is referred to as ________.
________ is an increase in base pay, normally given once a year.
A policy with which all federal agencies and organizations doing business with the
federal government must comply is referred to as a(n) ________.
A(n) ________ is a team consisting of volunteers from a unit or department who meet
one or two hours per week to discuss quality improvement, cost reductions, or
improvement in the work environment.