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Appendix B-61
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner.
This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
manner so as to provide "reasonable accommodation?" Reasonable accommodation requires the
employer to recognize the abilities and skills of an individual (applicant or employee) and to make
"reasonable" modifications to the job that would allow the person to perform the work. The cost of
the "reasonable accommodation" must not impose an "undue financial or administrative burden" on
the organization.
Exercise 4.1
Assessment Questions
1. Could you use this job analysis to determine essential functions on the job? How could this
be done?
If done according to directions, the essential job functions should be fairly evident especially after
Appendix B-62
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
2. When preparing the job description, why is it important to list the critical customers for the
products or services and the major tasks and duties of the job? Are there tasks that could be
excluded with little or no effect on critical customers?
The identification of the critical customers for each job puts the job in the proper perspective. Tasks
should not be performed simply because a supervisor stipulated that they should be performed. The
clear linkage between each task and the requirements of the customers should be established. If tasks
3. How often should a position description be updated? Explain your response.
Employees should probably review their PDs at least once a year depending on the extent to which
the job changes over time. The major tasks, the percent, rating, and any job specifications should be
4. Explain how your job description could be used to evaluate your performance or to develop
methods for hiring people for the position? Do you think having a highly detailed job
description is actually counterproductive for certain jobs? Explain your answer.
The tasks identified in the job description could be used on a task-based rating scale in which raters
are asked to indicate the extent to which the tasks are performed effectively. The particular raters
(i.e., customers) who could provide ratings on the major tasks could also be determined from the
Appendix B-63
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner.
This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
There is no "correct" answer to the productivity of a highly detailed job description, but discussion
about the possible implications of a highly specific PD should be explored. Many students believe, for
example, that such detail will lead to an "it's not my job" mentality such that if a task is not written in
a PD, the incumbent does not have to perform it. Of course, the coordination across jobs and the
need to cover all critical tasks at the work unit level can be emphasized in PDs within the context of
work products and customer requirements.
5. How could the O*Net be used for developing job descriptions?
6. You are assigned the task of writing a position description for a personnel recruiter. How
would you proceed?
Appendix B-64
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
Chapter Exercise 4.2
The Use of the Critical Incident Technique
To Analyze the Job of University Professor
Objectives. The purpose of Exercise 4.2 is to give the student hands-on experience with the critical
incident technique, a popular method of job analysis. Students will learn how to write useful incidents
and how to use the data to produce specific work products of job analysis.
Description. Chapter 4 discusses the critical incident technique as a good job analysis method for the
development of performance appraisal systems. This exercise follows the steps typically used in the
context of the criteria for useful incidents. These criteria are repeated in Table 4.2.1. Part B, Step 1
should take no longer than 20 minutes. Step 2 of Part B calls for groups of six to conduct a "content
analysis" for purposes of deriving the underlying functions of the incidents. Table 4.2.2 presents some
suggested functions that have been identified in previous research using the critical incident
technique to analyze the job of professor. To save time, the instructor can skip Steps 2 and 3 of Part B
Table 4.2.1.
If the instructor chooses to follow all steps in the exercise as described in the text, allow at least 30
minutes for Step 2 and another 20 minutes for Step 3. The process of developing a common set of
functions can be expedited by assigning common sets of functions to the groups and asking each
Appendix B-65
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner.
This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
group to generate a function name and definition from those that are similar. In other words, it is
likely all groups will identify and define a function called something like "testing and grading." The
instructor could assign all of these similar functions to a particular group (assembled for Step 2) and
charge that group with agreeing to a common function label and definition. Step 4 is a "retranslation"
step that is designed to determine whether the work functions identified and defined in previous
steps now adequately represent all incidents. The incidents should be divided evenly among the
group members and the instructor should make certain each incident has one "final function label."
Table 4.2.1
Criteria For Useful Critical Incidents
1. Incident must be specific in nature.
Table 4.2.2
Examples of Functions Representing Critical Incidents
What is a function? A function is a category of incidents that fits together conceptually.
SAMPLE FUNCTIONS
DEFINITIONS
LECTURE ORGANIZATION
EXTENT TO WHICH LECTURES ARE ORGANIZED
COURSE RELATED ADVISING AND FEEDBACK
EXTENT TO WHICH ADVICE AND FEEDBACK IS
GIVEN IN THE COURSE
GRADING AND TESTING
ASSESSES STUDENT PERFORMANCE BASED ON
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
CLASSROOM INTERACTION
EXTENT TO WHICH CLASS SESSIONS ARE
CONDUCTED IN A MANNER CONDUCIVE TO
Appendix B-66
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner.
This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
LEARNING
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
EXTENT TO WHICH UNDERSTANDING IS
ENHANCED BY CLASSROOM LECTURE AND
DISCUSSION
Appendix B-67
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner.
This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
Table 4.2.3
Examples of Critical Incidents
The professor:
1. Was specific when referring to a situation and used qualified examples that the students could
easily relate to such as beer and pizza. This resulted in retention of information.
2. Showed lack of preparation; for example, class lectures not pertinent to assignment required.
Students were not able to achieve end result effectively.
7. Presented a unique exercise that showed students the importance of planning and
communication.
8. Utilized a personal profile to study student's behavioral patterns. When interpreted by the
instructor, students were able to determine their management style.
13. Taught on a level far above the comprehension level of the class. The students did not do well
on the exams and they did not grasp the material that was being presented.
Appendix B-68
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
14. Motivated students by being prepared, allowing students to ask questions, providing answers
to those questions, and offering extra help to those students who needed it. Students had no
difficulty retaining material.
17. Lectured on material that was not pertinent to the course; spoke too fast, making it difficult
for the students to take adequate notes. Results were jumbled notes that were difficult to
decipher.
18. Used personal experiences in the lecture. The teaching method appeared to cause confusion
when point was not made clear.
22. Questioned students in class by using name cards. After each question, cards were reshuffled
so students never knew when they would be questioned again. This resulted in student
attentiveness and preparedness.
Appendix B-69
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner.
This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
25. Was ineffective in transferring knowledge to the student. A complaint was made to the dean
of the college about the professor, which marked a decided change in his attitude, and the
way the material was presented.
32. Read exclusively from the textbook. Lack of preparation resulted in student boredom and
missed classes.
33. Did not allow freedom of expression resulting in students feeling intimidated.
38. Mixed lecture with student presentations occurring at strategic times during the course. By
breaking up a lengthy class, this improved class attention.
Appendix B-70
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner.
This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
39. Did not establish rapport with the class; instead read from prepared notes that followed
textbook. Results were poor attendance and poor retention.
40. Turned a student's lack of confidence in math to one of meeting his shortcoming head-on.
Result was math becoming one of his best subjects.
41. Showed empathy in helping the student overcome his lack of confidence in math. Student
registered for math classes and felt more confident.
42. Was unable to maintain class discipline. Threatened consequences if noise didn't cease, but
no action ensued.
43. Gave the students a list of historical figures and relevant dates they would be tested on.
Everyone received an "A." Teaching the test?
47. Was not very responsive to the student’s questions and problems. Student retention was
limited at best.
48. Failed to provide the student with the answers on how to arrive at the solution to a problem
resulting in confusion and limited understanding.
Appendix B-71
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
Exercise 4.2 Assessment Questions
1. How could the critical incidents be used to prepare professors for teaching assignments?
The CIT can be used to compile a training manual that describes the behaviors exhibited by effective
and ineffective professors. Many universities now require graduate students to take a course in
2. The book describes the critical incident method as one of the best for developing
performance-appraisal systems. How do you propose to get from the incidents and job
functions to an actual performance-appraisal system for evaluating professors?
The instructor can explain that Exercise 4.2 follows the procedure that is used in the development of
BARS, a popular rating format. Figure 7.6 in the text (p. 150) presents an example of one rating scale
3. Why are results or outcomes requested with CIT? What could be done with these data?
This requirement is designed to focus the job analysis on customer requirements through exhibited
outcomes. The outcomes can also be related to the goals of the unit or the individual. The
requirement to describe the context for the incident along with the outcomes also provide more of a
Appendix B-72
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
Chapter Exercise 4.3
Job Analysis at CompTech
Objectives. The purpose of Exercise 4.3 is to familiarize students with job analysis and the legal and
practical purposes in the products of the job analysis. Students are also asked to select the best
methods to obtain job specifications and to develop training programs. This exercise illustrates the
importance of the KASOCs matching the job outcomes and how the specifications can hinder or help
the process of retention. This gives the students experience with the “nuts-and-bolts” of Human
Resource Management.
Description. The use of measurement in HRM is highlighted in this case. Statistics regarding the
managers’ performance correlated with the specification of either the MBA requirement or the three
years of previous store manager experience is needed to determine whether or not to keep these
criteria. Discussion should center on how to obtain the data and which data is crucial for the analysis.
Individual analysis requires approximately 30 minutes of outside class preparation provided Chapter 4
has been read. Allow 20-30 minutes for group discussion.
Table 4.3.1
Answers to Form 4.3.1
1. What are the current job specifications for the store manager job? Based on the
information you have (or could have), how would you assess the validity of these
specifications? What approaches or methods would you use? (You can propose particular
statistical analysis, particular job analysis methods, or both; be specific.)
Current job specs are the MBA degree and the number of years experience required. The best
method would be to investigate the relationship between manager performance and the job
specifications. Students should request data on incumbent MBAs and managers who have had three
Appendix B-73
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner.
This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
previous experience are not correlated with performance. The most relevant discussion in Chapter 4
are on pages 95 and 96.
From page 95 and 96- “Job specifications often are contested in court because they have adverse
impact against groups protected by EEO laws. Certainly job specifications that result in adverse impact
against groups covered by EEO legislation should be derived from a thorough analysis. Where data are
available in company records that shed light on the relationship between a given job specification and
some measure of effectiveness, these data should certainly be used. A regional manager of a 500-
store clothing retailer proposed that all assistant managers in his region should have college degrees.
However, research from the HR Department indicated there was no correlation between having or
not having a college degree and performance as an assistant store manager. In addition, HR
2. What hypotheses or proposals do you have so far regarding CompTech’s strategic position?
What do you regard as the critical strengths and weaknesses based on the data you have?
The data in Exhibit 4.3.1 indicates a problem in hiring store managers at a time when CompTech is
planning a major expansion (30 vacancies). Although they have only 12 openings for Associate
3. Carlyle is giving strong consideration to hiring a full-time Compensation Manager for
Comptech (CompTech has never employed such a specialist) How should she proceed as she
considers this action?
The O*NET is a great place to start since a job description and salary information are available.
apparently no job description for the assistant and associate positions. How should she
Appendix B-74
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
proceed?
5. Carlyle is partial to the use of The ability to fill store manager positions and the vacancy time
is to some extent a function of geographical area. Carlyle is not sure the standard annual
salary that Comptech pays the store manager is competitive. How could she proceed with a
study of salary for store manager and its relationship to recruitment, vacancies and
turnover?
6. Given Carlyle’s interest in the training program and the “job-related” selection tests, what job
analysis method should be used for the development of these HR products?
7. Could Carlyle use the O*Net to address any issues? If so, what could she learn?
8. Do you see any potential EEO issues that should be considered at CompTech? Explain your
answer with as much detail as possible.
Appendix B-75
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
Appendix B-76
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
CHAPTER 5 – CHAPTER EXERCISES
Chapter Exercise 5.1
A Turnover Problem at the Fort Lauderdale Herald
Renee Fitzgerald
Objectives . The purpose of Exercise 5.1 is to give the student an opportunity to analyze data and
consider those data in the context of a real organizational problem, i.e. turnover. Much like the
discussion in the text, the emphasis here is that the data can be helpful in planning and problem
solving and that an empirical approach to problem solving is usually superior to a non-empirical
approach. The exercise also requires the student to integrate material from Chapter 3 (EEO).
Description. This exercise requires about one hour of out of class preparation in addition to reading
the chapter. The student is asked to calculate yield ratios. Table 5.1.1 presents recommended
answers to Form 5.1.1.
Table 5.1.1
Answers to Form 5.1.1
1. What are the yield ratios for each step in the recruitment and selection process? What are the
implications of these ratios for future hiring?
The yield ratios for each step are as follows:
Potentially Qualified: 149/633=0.23
Implications:
The yield ratios can help determine the basis for planning future recruitment efforts. By going
backwards you can determine how many applicants will be necessary in order to fill a certain number
2. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of the various recruiting methods used by the Fort
Lauderdale Herald? (Use the data in Exhibit 5.1.1 and Chapter 5 discussion.) Where should they
focus their recruitment efforts in the future?
Method
Advantage
Disadvantage
Website/Job Board
- Least expensive method (total)
- Quick response (reducing time
lapse data)
- Increases candidate pool
- Easy to add/edit job posting
- Depending on website, can
prescreen candidates based on
preliminary questions or resume
- Candidates can research firm prior
to applying for position
- Software can eliminate potential
candidates due to poorly
designed software
- Can receive a tremendous
number of resumes,
overburdening the receiver
- Limited evidence empirical
evidence showing web recruiting
- Large pool of unqualified
candidates
- Low rate for interview
Newspaper ads
− Short deadlines
− Ad size flexibility
− Circulation concentration
− Easy for prospects to ignore
− Competitive clutter
− Unspecialized circulation
Appendix B-78
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
applicants
− Had the highest six-month survival
rate
− Can reach a large audience
− Incurred low costs to the Herald
(lowest cost per employed person)
To read it
− Poor printing quality
Walk-in applicants
- Inexpensive (Less expensive than
the newspaper in total recruitment
costs)
- Effective for entry-level & unskilled
positions
- Relies on company reputations (A &
D)
- Increases probability of hiring the
very best employees due to large #
resumes
- Relies on company reputations
(A & D)
- Produced less qualified
applicants
- Low six-month survival rate
Public employment
agency
- Inexpensive method
- Candidates are prescreened
- Increases pool of candidates
- More than half who accepted the
job were still employed six months
later
- Recruiter maybe rewarded on
quantity of candidates
submitted not the quality
-
Assuming they still publish a paper (things are not good for newspapers these days), the newspaper ads
provide the best ratio of applicants to potentially qualified individuals. The Herald should focus its
recruitment on newspaper ads and public employment agencies for the best ratios of applicants to job
offers given.
3. Recommend at least three HR planning/recruitment/selection strategies designed to do any of
the following: (1) improve customer satisfaction, (2) increase the efficiency of the customer
service function, (Ms. Saline encourages you to be as creative in your thinking as possible), and (3)
increase the tenure of the customer service reps. (or decrease the need for them).
A. CRITICAL: Focus on BIG PICTURE. Why are there so many complaints? Focus on customer
satisfaction; diagnose problems that have the most to do with customers. Evaluate (fire?
replace?) independent contractors?
Appendix B-79
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner.
This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
C. From the job analysis, an accurate job description should be written. This information should be
reflected in all advertisements.
D. Expand the number of recruitment sources which are used, e.g. other websites, junior colleges,
senior citizen centers/newspapers the hours may be convenient for students or retirees because
the job is structured in such a way that it is perceived as temporary (no benefits, 30-hour work
week, no career track), the Herald should recruit in markets where temporary work is sought.
E. Do a feasibility study of work-from-home CSR design to determine if the centralized operation
could be closed.(telecommuting quite effective)
F. Evaluate the possibility of outsourcing the whole operation to save money.
4. What additional studies or data are necessary given the data presented in Exhibit 5.1.1? (Ms.
Saline is very interested in potential legal issues).
Data on racial composition should be analyzed in order to determine whether statistically defined
Exhibit 2: Disparate Impact
All sources
Total #
applicants
%
Potentially
Qualified
%
Qualified
& Offered
Job
%
Whites
341
54%
91
61%
64
71%
African
Americans
177
28%
43
29%
20
22%
Hispanics
115
18%
15
10%
5
6%
Totals
633
149
90
Appendix B-80
| Appendix B – Chapter Exercises
Total Applicants
Four-fifths rule/ 80% rule
Whites: 0.54 × 0.8 = 0.424
The advertising method does not appear to be reaching the minority races of Blacks,
Hispanics, and others. Each group application rate is less than 42.4% applicant rate for
Whites, the advertising methods has an adverse impact on the individual ethic groups
of African Americans and Hispanics.
Potentially
Qualified
Four-fifths rule/ 80% rule
Whites: 0.61 × 0.8 = 0.488
Since 39% qualified rate for African Americans, Hispanics, and Others is less than
48.8% pass rate for whites, the potentially qualified procedure has an adverse impact
on African Americans, Hispanics and Others.
Qualified &
Offered Job
Four-fifths rule/ 80% rule
Whites: 0.71 × 0.8 = 0.568
Since 28% hire rate for African Americans, Hispanics, and Others is less than 56.8%
hire rate for whites, the hiring practices has an adverse impact on African Americans,
Hispanics and Others.
