Chapter 1

Question 1

What is Human Resource Management?

Answer 1

Leadership and management of people within an organization using systems, methods, processes and procedures that motivate employees to achieve outcomes and contribute to organizations goals

Question 2

What is Strategic Human Resource Management?

Answer 2

The process of integrating the strategic needs of an organization into the choice of HR systems and to support the overall mission, strategies and preformance of the business

Question 3

Human Resource activities should allign with organizations strategies? True/False

Answer 3

True

Question 4

What are the steps of Strategic Human Resource Management

Answer 4

1) Organizational mission, goals, and strategy analysis
2) Environmental scan
3) Analysis of organizational character and culture
4) Choice and implementation of human resource strategies
5) Review, eductaion and audits of HR strategies

Question 5

What is a Mission Statement

Answer 5

Outlining the puropse, long term objectives and activities the organzatiuon will persue in the cource of the future.

Question 6

What is an enviromental scan? and what are the 5 forces?

Answer 6

Continuous monetering of the economic, technological, demographic, cultural , and legal forces (5 forces)

Question 7

What are the 5 environmental forces

Answer 7

1) Economic
2) Technological
3) Demographic
4) Cultural
5) Legal

Question 8

What are the four critical economic forces?

Answer 8

1) Economic cycles
2) Global Trade
3) Productivity and innovation improvment
4) Knowledge Workers

Question 9

What are Economic Cycles

Answer 9

Economy experiances boom (economy is doing well) and bust cycles (recession).

In recession workers, wages and morale is lower

Question 10

What is productivity?

Answer 10

Ratio of an organization’s outputs (goods) to its inputs (people, capital, materials and energy)

Question 11

What is a knowledge worker?

Answer 11

Members of occupations generating, processing, analyzing, or synthesizing ideas and information.

Someone whose primary job involves handling or working with information and applying specialized knowledge. Describes individuals who use their intellect and expertise, rather than manual labor, to produce value in the workplace.

(such as scientists and management consultants)

Question 12

Three Critical Technological Forces

Answer 12

1) Connectivity and work design
2) Automation
3) Data and analytics

Question 13

What is connectivity and work design?

Answer 13

Connectivity has effected the way organizations conduct business and has given us the ability to work flexability but has also created the need to set limitations of social networking and greater cybersecurity

Question 14

Why do we automate? What are the cons of automation?

Answer 14

• increase speed
• Provide better service
• Increase flexibility
• Increase predictability in operations
• Achieve higher standards of quality

Cons: workers have fewer oppertunities for socialization on the job and require higher skilled workers

Question 15

What are the four critical demographic forces?

Answer 15

1) Gender balance
2) Educational attainment of workers
3) Aging population
4) Generational shift

Question 16

What is gender balance?

Answer 16

An understanding of demographic forces in sex, gender identity and gender expression to create an inclusive workplace. Having this understanding helps managers create inclusive workplaces. (Ex: more woman work part time, and are growing in professional jobs like health care and science)

Question 17

What is educational attainment? Is it higher or lower today than in the past?

Answer 17

The highest educational level attained by an individual worker, employee group or population. Educational attainment has increased dramatically over the past several years and is expected to continue.

Question 18

What is the age crisis?

Answer 18

The ever-increasing trend of more people leaving the workforce than entering it. It is also creating bottlenecks in professional inductries because most will keep their job for many years in fear of not finding another.

Question 19

What is the generational shift? And how does it effect managers?

Answer 19

Generational diversity creates an interpersonal dynamic for leaders and they must be aware of the different motivators of each generations and be able to tailor activities to different age demographics

Question 20

What is sociocultural forces?

Answer 20

Challenges facing a firms decision makers because of cultural differences among employees or changes in core cultural or social values occurring at the larger societal level

Question 21

What is cultural mosaic?

Answer 21

The Canadain ideal of encouraging each ethical, racial, and social group to maintain its own cultural heritage, forming a national mosaic of different cultures.

Question 22

What is an organizational structure?

Answer 22

The product of all an organizations features and how they are arranged - people, objectives, technology, size, age, policies. Reflects the past and shapes the future

Question 23

What is organizational culture?

Answer 23

The core belifs and assumptions that are widely shared by all organizqational members. Each organization has its own individual structure

Question 24

When formulating/choosing and implementing human resource strategies, HR must focus on what 3 activities?

Answer 24

There should be a clear line of sight between HR strategy and corporate goals, unsuitable strategic options should be dropped from consideration.

1) Identifying oppertunities, risks and challanges
2) Making data-informed decisions alligned to strategy
3) Optimization for high performance

Question 25

What happens in step 5 review, evaluation, and audit, in the model of strategic human resource management

Answer 25

• HR strategies are examined and considered for changing factors
• Human resource audit is conducted with the intention of identifying and correcting deficiencies

Question 26

What does a small organization human resource department look like?

Answer 26

Owner > Managers > Human resource manager > Client/ benefit support

Question 27

What does a large organizations human resource department look like?

Answer 27

CEO > head of human resource department > Middle or first level managers > Front line workers/ human resource team

Question 28

What is staff authority?

Answer 28

Authority to advise not direct

Question 29

What is line authority

Answer 29

Posessed by managers of operating departments: authority to make decisions about production, performance, and people.

Question 30

What is functional authority?

Answer 30

Authority that allows staff experts to make decisions and take actions normally reserved for line managers

Question 31

What is todays HR professional designation?

Answer 31

Chartered Professional in Human Resources or CPHR

Question 32

What is a human resource audit?

Answer 32

An examination of the HR policies, practices and systems of a firm (or dividson) to eilminate deficiencies and improve ways to achieve goals.