When conducting exit interviews, the interviewer should be one of the employee’s
former supervisors.
Federal employment laws prevent employers from viewing applicants’ Facebook pages.
The performance appraisal system should praise and criticize past behavior and focus
on the future in terms of how workers will achieve their potential.
Employee separations can stimulate innovation and create opportunities for workplace
diversity.
The most common type of training is customer service training.
An interest inventory is a self-assessment tool employees can use to prioritize their
personal values.
In most firms, expatriates are used for top management positions in international
subsidiaries.
According to the U.S. Supreme Court, workers over 40 years old who file age bias
lawsuits must prove that the employer intentionally discriminated against them.
Firms with strong organizational cultures typically perform better than firms without
such environments.
Innovative firms typically benefit from job analyses that focus on worker characteristics
instead of job characteristics.
Pay-for-performance is likely to enhance the spirit of cooperation in an organization, as
employees will work to help one another improve their job performance.
A corporation that values centralization, long-term career development, and internal
grooming of employees has probably adopted a steady state strategy.
Open pay policies tend to lead to greater dissatisfaction among employees as employees
compare compensation with each other.
Team-based pay plans are the most widely-used pay-for-performance plans in industry.
Policy-setting meetings should close with an action plan and a follow-up memo.
Azzi recently went through company training on using a new computer system, and she
has recently received her Associates of Arts degree in Accounting. Her company is
raising her salary in response to her new abilities and is giving her new, related
responsibilities. The company probably uses a job-based pay system.
Backup care is an employee benefit intended to meet the needs of employees who care
for either elder family members or children.
Featherbedding creates a union agreement that causes employees to pay for services
that they are not receiving and/or forces them to hire extraneous workers.
The United States provides the fewest vacation days of any country in the world.
Mario Development Group wants to give employees incentives while getting the
maximum tax advantage for them and the firm. Flexibility in compensation costs is
important. The firm needs to keep fixed compensation low while still attracting high
quality job candidates. Which of the following would be most appropriate for Mario
Development Group?
A) Scanlon plan
B) Rucker plan
C) Profit sharing
D) Merit pay
Tyrese has just measured Cambridge Corporation’s workforce. He is now trying to
determine whether the tests he used are valid by comparing them to performance
appraisals that supervisors have completed on the workers. He is attempting to find the:
A) predictive validity of the tests.
B) concurrent validity of the tests.
C) content validity of the tests.
D) reliability of the tests.
Management rights are also known as:
A) due process rights.
B) statutory rights.
C) residual rights.
D) contractual rights.
Additional Case 17.1
Hollar, Inc. is a U.S.-based, international car manufacturer with assembly facilities in
12 countries. Currently, expatriate managers and local national managers are hired and
promoted according to the direction of the home office. Hollar has a strategic alliance
with a large African ship building company in order to move into that market. Hollar
recently purchased Tyro, a firm based in France that makes automobile components.
Tyro’s production facilities are located in France, but the firm has dealerships and
customers throughout Europe.
Hollar plans to open a new plant in India within the next four years. Some of Hollar’s
top executives advocate using expatriates to oversee the construction of the new facility.
Another group of Hollar executives assert that host-country nationals should manage
the project.
Refer to Additional Case 17.1. In which stage of internationalization is Hollar, Inc.?
A) Stage 2
B) Stage 3
C) Stage 4
D) Stage 5
Which of the following is most likely a true statement about contract workers?
A) Contractor workers are employed through subcontractors.
B) Contract workers typically follow rigid schedules and guidelines.
C) Contract workers are always highly motivated and productive.
D) Contract workers develop work relationships directly with employers.
Additional Case 12.1
The HR Director of The Camera Center is leading the executive team through a review
of the company’s benefits plan. He begins by explaining how the firm funds the benefits
plan. After a few questions on that matter, he moves on to clarify what they must offer
by law and what benefits the firm would like to provide.
A highly entrepreneurial, performance-driven company, The Camera Center provides an
excellent profit-sharing plan and one of the best retirement packages in the industry.
The firm commits a high portion of compensation funds to the benefits plan. The
workforce tends to be college-educated, young professionals who are just starting their
families.
The CEO wants the total benefits plan reviewed and repackaged, if necessary, to align it
with The Camera Center’s business culture and strategy. He also wants to contain costs
as much as possible and simplify benefits administration.
Refer to Additional Case 12.1. When reviewing the legally required benefits, the HR
Director would most likely address:
A) health insurance.
B) pensions and retirement plans.
C) family and medical leave.
D) life and disability insurance.
Additional Case 4.4
Xavier has just become the head of HR at Hot Rods, Inc. He notices that the company is
very homogenous, especially in light of the very diverse community in which it is
located. He is surprised to find that the number of women and other minorities is quite
low in all positions. As one of his first responsibilities, Xavier wants to implement a
diversity program at Hot Rods.
Refer to Additional Case 4.4. Xavier most likely finds that there is relatively little
interaction between men and women and between minorities and non-protected class
members at Hot Rods. These are clear examples of:
A) segmented communication networks.
B) the effects of the glass ceiling.
C) resistance to change.
D) competition for opportunities.
Which of the following is a true statement?
A) Regular exposure to loud noise of 95 decibels has been linked to high blood
pressure.
B) OSHA requires hearing protection for employees exposed to an average of 65
decibels of noise.
C) The majority of employees who should wear hearing protection are doing so on a
regular basis.
D) Damage from exposure to loud noise is noticeable on a day-to-day basis when
decibels exceed 100.
Which of the following is most likely a symptom of a troubled employee?
A) Early departures from work
B) Unusual on-the-job accidents
C) Altercations with co-workers
D) All of the above
A company would most effectively use a retreat for which of the following purposes?
A) Problem-solving a specific issue by a deadline
B) Communicating new company policies
C) Holding a strategic planning session
D) Setting prices on a new product
Which of the following is most likely true about appealing a disciplinary decision?
A) Supervisors should prevent employees from appealing discipline in order to protect
themselves from wrongful discharge charges.
B) Managers should not inform employees of their rights to appeal, but simply allow
employees to search them out if the need arises.
C) Employees should have to go through a complex appeal process in order to cull out
weak appeals.
D) Open-door policies and employee relations representatives facilitate quick
resolutions.
The ________ is the most important part of the job description because it influences all
other parts of the job description.
A) job duties and responsibilities section
B) job summary
C) minimum qualifications section
D) identification information
All of the following are recommended activities for career advancement EXCEPT:
A) understanding business trends.
B) balancing your work and family
C) resolving problems at work.
D) marketing yourself.
Which of the following is a disadvantage of an absolute judgment performance
appraisal system?
A) Managers make irrelevant and unfair distinctions among employees
B) Conflict develops among employees competing for the best rating
C) Legal defense of evaluations is difficult
D) Standards vary among managers
Additional Case 8.2
Aysha, an HR manager, has been assigned the task of implementing a training and
development program at her firm, Singer Enterprises. The firm has offices in New York,
California, and India. Executives at the firm want to develop more innovative products
and improve customer service. Singer employs 50 product development specialists and
200 customer service representatives.
Aysha must determine the fit between the current organizational culture at Singer and
the firm’s new mission and vision. After gathering the results of a needs assessment,
Aysha will be responsible for implementing appropriate training programs. In an initial
review, Aysha discovers that a large percentage of customer service errors stem from
representatives who simply do not remember all the different pricing programs and
policy changes. Aysha also learns that the firm’s product development team is scattered
throughout the firm’s offices and that members rarely have face-to-face meetings.
Refer to Additional Case 8.2. Which of the following would be the best method for
improving the firm’s customer service?
A) Establishing a performance support system
B) Implementing cross-functional training
C) Providing realistic job previews
D) Offering teletraining
You are an HR manager working for a firm that is adhering to an overall cost leadership
strategy. What HR strategies would fit the strategy of the firm and help the firm gain a
competitive advantage?
A pyramid-shaped organizational structure that consists of hierarchies with many levels
of management is referred to as a(n) ________.
A pay plan in which most employees are part of the same compensation system is
referred to as a(n) ________.
A(n) ________ is a device or situation that replicates job demands at an off-the-job site.
A(n) ________ is a pay plan in which different compensation systems are established
for employees or groups at different organizational levels.
________ is that which energizes, directs, and sustains human behavior.
A company designing a compensation plan needs to make several decisions. Explain a
company’s pay options in terms of: fixed versus variable pay, performance versus
membership, and individual versus job-based system.