Chapter 1 - The World of Human Resources Management

Question 1

Human resources management (HRM)

Answer 1

The process of managing human talent to achieve an organization’s objectives.

Question 2

Human capital

Answer 2

The knowledge, skills, and capabilities of individuals that have economic value to an organization.

Question 3

Six sigma

Answer 3

A set of principles and practices whose core ideas include understanding customer needs, doing things right the first time, and striving for continuous improvement.

Question 4

Reengineering

Answer 4

The fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in cost, quality, service, and speed.

Question 5

Downsizing

Answer 5

The planned elimination of jobs.

Question 6

Outsourcing

Answer 6

Contracting out work that was formerly done by employees.

Question 7

Change management

Answer 7

Change management is a systematic way of bringing about and managing both organizational changes and changes on the individual level.

Question 8

What have organizations done to be successful in engineering change?

Answer 8

• Linked the change to the business strategy.
• Showed how the change creates quantifiable benefits.
• engaged key employee, customers, and their suppliers early when making a change.
• made an investment in implementing and sustaining change.

Question 9

Reactive changes

Answer 9

Changes that occur after external forces have already affected performance.
External forces examples include a recession, a law change, the competition, a recession, a law change, or an ethical crisis.

Question 10

Proactive change

Answer 10

Change initiated to take advantage of targeted opportunities

Particularly used in fast-changing industries in which followers are not successful.

Question 11

Globalization

Answer 11

The trend to opening up foreign markets to international trade and investment.

Question 12

What are the five major steps a six sigma team follows? (Hint: DMAIC)

Answer 12

D - Define the scope of the project.
M - Measure customer requirements and process outputs.
A - Analyze the current situation and set clear goals.
I - Improve the process through planned experimentation.
C - Control to validate and lock in the improvement, and then sustaining it so that there is no backslide.

Question 13

Corporate social responsibility

Answer 13

The responsibility of the firm to act in the best interests of the people and communities affected by it activities.

Question 14

Sustainability

Answer 14

Doing business in a way that does as little harm to the environment and depletes as few natural resources as possible.

Question 15

Green human resource management (GHRM)

Answer 15

A rapidly growing phenomenon that refers to the unification of environmental management and HRM.

Benefits include increased retention, increased job satisfaction and engagement, and increase ability to attract new talent.

Question 16

Collaborative software

Answer 16

Software that allows workers to interface and share information with one another electronically.

Question 17

Knowledge workers

Answer 17

Workers whose responsibilities extend beyond the physical execution of work to include planning, decision making, and problem solving.

Question 18

Human resources information system (HRIS)

Answer 18

A computerized system that provides current and accurate data for purposes of control and decision making.

Has become a potent weapon for lowering administrative cost, increasing productivity, speeding up response times, improving decision making, and tracking a company’s talent.

Question 18

Workforce (HR) analytics

Answer 18

The process of gathering and analyzing data to improve a firm’s human resources management.

Question 19

Furloughing

Answer 19

A situation in which an organization asks or requires employees to take time off for either no pay or reduced pay.

Question 20

Offshoring

Answer 20

The business practice of sending jobs to other countries

Question 21

Nearshoring

Answer 21

The process of moving jobs closer to one’s home country

Question 22

Homeshoring

Answer 22

The process of moving jobs to work-fromhome domestic independant contractors.

Question 23

Employee leasing

Answer 23

The process of dismissing employees who are then hired by a leasing company (which handles all HR-related activities) and contracting with that company to lease back the employees.

Question 24

Line managers

Answer 24

Non-HR managers who are responsible for overseeing the work of other employees.

Question 25

What are the 8 major activities an HR managers is typically responsible for?

Answer 25

1. Strategic advice and counsel.
2. Service.
3. Policy formulation and implementation.
4. Employee advocacy.
5. Business mastery.
6. HR mastery.
7. Change mastery.
8. Personal credibility.