Ch. 12: Building and Managing Human Resources

Question 1

What is human resource management (HRM)?

Answer 1

Activities that managers engage in to attract and retain employees and to ensure that they perform at a high level and contribute to the accomplishment of organizational goals.

Question 2

What is strategic human resource management?

Answer 2

The process by which managers design the components of an HRM system to be consistent with each other,
with other elements of organizational architecture, and with the organization’s strategy and goals.

Question 3

What is equal employment opportunity (EEO)?

Answer 3

The equal right of all citizens to the opportunity to obtain employment regardless of their gender, age, race, country of origin, religion, or disabilities.

Question 4

What is recruitment?

Answer 4

Activities that managers engage in to develop

a pool of qualified candidates for open positions.

Question 5

What is selection?

Answer 5

Theprocess that managers use to determine the relative qualifications of job applicants and their potential for performing well in a particular job.

Question 6

What is human resource planning?

Answer 6

Activities that managers engage in to forecast their current and future needs for human resources.

Question 7

What does it mean to outsource?

Answer 7

To use outside suppliers and manufacturers to produce goods and services.

Question 8

What is job analysis?

Answer 8

Identifying the tasks, duties, and responsibilities that make up a job and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the job.

Question 9

What is a lateral move?

Answer 9

A job change that entails no major changes in responsibility or authority levels.

Question 10

What is reliability?

Answer 10

The degree to which a tool or test

measures the same thing each time it is used.

Question 11

What is validity?

Answer 11

The degree to which a tool or

test measures what it purports to measure.

Question 12

What is training?

Answer 12

Teaching organizational members how to perform their current jobs and helping them acquire the knowledge and skills they need to be effective performers.

Question 13

What is development?

Answer 13

Building the knowledge and skills of organizational members so they are prepared to take on
new responsibilities and challenges.

Question 14

What is a needs assessment?

Answer 14

An assessment of which employees need training or development and what type of skills or knowledge they need to acquire.

Question 15

What is on-the-job training?

Answer 15

Training that takes place in the work setting as employees perform their job tasks.

Question 16

What is performance appraisal?

Answer 16

The evaluation of employees’ job performance and contributions to their organization.

Question 17

What is performance feedback?

Answer 17

Theprocess through which managers share performance appraisal information with subordinates,
give subordinates an opportunity to reflect on their own performance, and develop, with subordinates, plans for the future.

Question 18

What is objective appraisal?

Answer 18

An appraisal that is based on facts and is likely to be numerical.

Question 19

What is subjective appraisal?

Answer 19

An appraisal that is based on perceptions of traits, behaviors, or results.

Question 20

What is 360-degree appraisal?

Answer 20

A performance appraisal by peers, subordinates, superiors, and sometimes clients who are in a position to evaluate a manager’s performance.

Question 21

What is formal appraisal?

Answer 21

An appraisal conducted at a set time during

the year and based on performance dimensions and measures that were specified in advance.

Question 22

What is informal appraisal?

Answer 22

An unscheduled appraisal of ongoing progress and areas for improvement.

Question 23

What is pay level?

Answer 23

The relative position of an organization’s pay incentives in comparison with those of other organizations in the same industry employing similar kinds of workers.

Question 24

What is pay structure?

Answer 24

The arrangement of jobs into categories reflecting their relative importance to the organization and its goals, levels of skill required, and other characteristics.

Question 25

What is a cafeteria-style benefit plan?

Answer 25

A plan from which employees can choose the benefits they want.

Question 26

What are labor relations?

Answer 26

The activities managers engage in to ensure that they have effective working relationships with the labor unions that represent their employees’ interests.

Question 27

What is collective bargaining?

Answer 27

Negotiations between labor unions and managers to resolve conflicts and disputes about issues
such as working hours, wages, benefits, working conditions, and job security.