Chapter 1

Question 1

How can companies gain a competitive advantage through human resources?

Answer 1

By managing their people in ways that add value to the organization but are difficult for other companies to duplicate.

Question 2

How do organizations use an integrative framework for managing human resources?

Answer 2

Organizations use a strategic approach that involves creating HR policies and practices that are consistent with each other and integrate with the external and organizational environments.

Question 3

What is the HR Triad?

Answer 3

Line managers, HR professionals, and all other employees in the organization

Question 4

What is the strategic importance of managing human resources?

Answer 4

The more effectively a firm manages its human resources, the more successful the firm is likely to be.

Question 5

What are the five special themes in managing human resources?

Answer 5

Managing teams, managing the multicultural workforce, managing globalization, managing ethics and corporate social responsibility, managing with metrics

Question 6

What are two current issues in managing human resources?

Answer 6

Social media: how can it be monitored or controlled; how can it be used to the company’s advantage?
Complexity and uncertainty: HR professionals can make a positive difference by ensuring the process of managing human resources is efficient and effective as possible.

Question 7

Stakeholders

Answer 7

Individuals or groups with interests, rights, or ownership in an organization and its activities

Question 8

Tangible assets

Answer 8

Relatively easy to measure - include assets such as inventory, equipment, real estate, and financial assets

Question 9

Intangible human assets

Answer 9

Comparatively social in nature and include such organizational characteristics as an employer-of-choice reputation, the depth of employee talent and loyalty, and the ability to innovate and change

Question 10

Multinational corporations (MNCs)

Answer 10

Firms with operations in multiple countries

Question 11

Sustainable competitive advantage

Answer 11

A company’s advantage in the market is difficult for competitors to understand and copy

Question 12

Human resources

Answer 12

All of the people who currently contribute to doing the work of the organization, as well as those people who potentially could contribute in the future, and those who have contributed in the recent past

Question 13

Human resource (HR) activities

Answer 13

The formal HR policies developed by the company as well as the actual ways these policies are implemented in the daily practices of supervisors and managers

Question 14

Human resource management (HRM) system

Answer 14

Created by an organization when they systematically understand, create, coordinate, align and integrate all of their policies and practices

Question 15

HR Triad

Answer 15

Consists of HR professionals, line managers, and all of the other employees who are affected by HR policies and practices

Question 16

Human resource (HR) professionals

Answer 16

People with substantial specialized and technical knowledge of HR issues, laws, policies, and practices

Question 17

Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI)

Answer 17

Best known certification provider for HR professionals

Question 18

The World Federation of Personnel Management Associations (WFPMA)

Answer 18

links country- and region-specific professional associations around the world

Question 19

Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Answer 19

an association for HR professionals in the United States that has local chapters in most cities as well as many student chapters

Question 20

HR Profession’s code of ethics

Answer 20

states that HR professionals must regard the obligation to implement public objectives and protect the public interest as more important than blind loyalty to an employer’s preferences

Question 21

Globalization

Answer 21

refers to a process in which companies in countries around the world are increasingly linked by their activities and the opportunities they provide each other

Question 22

Social Media

Answer 22

refers to a set of technologies and communication channels targeted at forming and enabling a potentially massive community of participants to productively collaborate

Question 23

Corporate Social Responsibility

Answer 23

The continuing commitment by business to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the community and society at large.