MIDTERM 1 - The Challenge of HR & OB Management

Question 1

In general, many companies are realizing diminished demand for “touch labor” and an increasing demand for “knowledge workers.”

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Knowledge workers are employees who responsibilities focus on problem solving.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

A Human Resource Information System (HRIS) provides current and accurate data for control and decision-making by managers.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

To proactively manage change, organizations should wait to see how external forces impact an organization’s performane, then develop a plan to address those changes.

Answer 4

False

Question 5

The strategies companies are pursuing today inceasingly involve one or more elements of globalization.

Answer 5

True

Question 6

A firm’s ability to compete through people depends upon its ability to manage human capital.

Answer 6

True

Question 7

Human capital is owned by the oganization and is part of the company’s core competencies.

Answer 7

False

Question 8

Companies are increasingly rotating non-HR managers into HR positions and vice versa to give exposure to different areas of the organization.

Answer 8

True

Question 9

Proactive change is change that occurs when external forces have started affecting performance.

Answer 9

False

Question 10

Human capital is intangible, but can still be managed by the way organizations mange jobs, products, and technologies.

Answer 10

False

Question 11

Development of human capital is the responsiblity of HR group.

Answer 11

False

Question 12

Total-quality mangement is a set of principles and practices whose core ideas include doing things right the first time and striving for continuous improvement.

Answer 12

True

Question 13

To be successful, organizations should constantly seek to align their processes with customer needs.

Answer 13

True

Question 14

A religious organization is permitted to discriminate on the basis of religion.

Answer 14

True

Question 15

The courts have defined business necessity as a practice that is necessary to the safe and efficient operation of the organization.

Answer 15

True

Question 16

Victoria’s Secret stores may not discriminate against a male applying for a job as a fitting room attendant.

Answer 16

False

(Job Specific)

Question 17

If a pay disparity between the sexes exists, employers cannot legally lower the wages of one gender to comply with the law.

Answer 17

True

Question 18

The Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 strengthened the enforcement power of the EEOC.

Answer 18

True

Question 19

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act requires pregnancy leave dates to be based on the individual employee’s ability to work.

Answer 19

True

Question 20

Employers are legally required to treat pregnancy the same way they treat any other medical disability.

Answer 20

True

Question 21

If someone is regarded as having a disability, they are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Answer 21

True

Question 22

A disabled person must have an obvious physical impairment or deformity to be considered disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Answer 22

False

Question 23

U.S. Government-Owned corporations are exempted from the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Answer 23

False*

Question 24

“Reasonable accommodation” for a disability may include reassignment to another, vacant position.

Answer 24

True

Question 25

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 alows employers to set a different cutoff test scores on the basis of race and sex.

Answer 25

False

Question 26

Job design is the process of studying and designing equipment and systems that are easy and efficent for employees to use so that their physical well-being is not compromised.

Answer 26

False

Question 27

Software programs, more often than not, actually hinder the job analysis process.

Answer 27

False

Question 28

Job design considers organizational objectives, industrial engineering considerations, ergonomic concerns, and job descriptions.

Answer 28

False

Question 29

Job enrichment has become a panacea for personnel problems.

Answer 29

False

Question 30

Job enrichment can imporve employee performance in cases of dissatisfaction with pay and benefits.

Answer 30

True

Question 31

Adding more meaningful tasks to an employee’s job is an effort to make it more rewarding is an example of job enrichment.

Answer 31

True

Question 32

Which of the folloiwng is NOT a competitive chalenge within the Human Resources Management framework?

a. changes in the market place
b. globalization
c. technology
d. employee rights

Answer 32

d. employee rights

Question 33

The World Trad Organization (WTO) utilizies _____ to establish rules and guidelines for global commerce.

a. NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
b. GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade)
c. FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas)
d. APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation)

Answer 33

b. GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade)

Question 34

Knowledge workers require skills in all of the following areas except:

a. computer programming
b. planning
c. decision-making
d. problem solving

Answer 34

a. computer programming

Question 35

Which of the following is the largest employment agency in the United States?

a. Snelling Personnel Services
b. Kelly Services
c. Manpower Inc.
d. Labor Ready

Answer 35

c. Manpower Inc.

Question 36

An HRIS extends information technology beyond storing and retrieving information to:

a. overseeing producting planning
b. providing current and accurate data for pruproses of control and decision making
c. providing managers easy aess to personnel records
d. serving as an intranet communication system

Answer 36

b. providing current and accurate data for pruproses of control and decision making

Question 37

Employers must be able to show that job specifications:

a. relate specifically to the duties of the job
b. describe fully the actual tasks, duties, and responsibilities of the job.
c. are non-related to job descriptions
d. contain the criteria for evaluating the performance of the holder to the job

Answer 37

a. relate specifically to the duties of the job

Question 38

A job description is:

a. a group of related activities and dutie
b. the different duties and responsibilites performed by one employee
c. a statement of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform work
d. a statement of the tasks, duties and responsibilities of a job.

Answer 38

d. a statement of the tasks, duties and responsibilities of a job.

Question 39

Discrepancies between knowledge, skills, and abilities of the jobholder and the KSA required for the job can be remedied by:

a. training
b. discipline
c. cooperation
d. corporate leadership

Answer 39

a. training

Question 40

____ is the process of studying and designing equipment and systems that are easy and efficent for peple to use and that ensure their physical well-being.

a. Job design
b. Industrial engineering
c. Ergonomics
d. Job enlargement

Answer 40

c. Ergonomics

Question 41

The worth and compensation of a job should depend on all of the following except:

a. the conditions and hazards under which hte work is perfomed.
b. the skill and effort the job requires
c. the amount of responsibility involved
d. the sex of the employee

Answer 41

d. the sex of the employee

Question 42

Job analysis is called the cornerstone of HRM because:

a. the information obtained is proactive
b. it is the first jo given to new HRM employees
c. the information it collects serves so many HRM functions
d. it is required by law

Answer 42

c. the information it collects serves so many HRM functions

Question 43

The process of obtaining informationa bout jobs by dtermining their duties, tasks, or activities is called:

a. job design
b. job evaluation
c. job analysis
d. job search

Answer 43

c. job analysis

Question 44

____ is a field of tudy concerned with analyzing work methods and establishing time standards.

a. Ergonomics
b. Job design
c. Industrial engineering
d. Competency-based analysis

Answer 44

c. Industrial engineering

Question 45

The Americans with Diabilitie Act requires that job duties and responsibilities:

a. be essential job functions for job success
b. be adjusted to describe the reasonable accommodations that the employer is willing to provide
c. be limited to not more thatn twenty idividual job taks
d. be written by job incumbents most familiar with the job

Answer 45

a. be essential job functions for job success

Question 46

Once essential functions for a job are defined, the organization is legally required to make a _____ to the disability of the individual.

a. general accommodation
b. reasonable accommodation
c. general note
d. reasonable acclimatization

Answer 46

b. reasonable accommodation

Question 47

Under which method of analyzing jobs would you videotape jobs for later study?

a. interviews
b. questionnaires
c. observation
d. diaries

Answer 47

c. observation

Question 48

Which of the following is not a method to gather job analysis information?

a. diaries
b. applications
c. questionnaires
d. obervations

Answer 48

b. applications

Question 49

For each vacant position HR staff and managers typically review_____ resumes.

a. 20 to 100
b. 15 to 50
c. 10 to 20
d. 1 to 8

Answer 49

a. 20 to 100

Question 50

______is the most commonly used search tactic by job seekers and recruiters to get the word out abut new positions.

a. Social Networking
b. Mobile recruiting
c. The Internet
d. Newspaper advertising

Answer 50

c. The Internet

Question 51

The approach to recruitment that informs applicants about all aspects of the job including both desirable and undesirable facets is called:

a. honesty recruiting
b. the realistic job preview
c. balance recruiting
d. negative/positive job assessment

Answer 51

b. the realistic job preview

Question 52

The benefits of providing job applicants with a balanced, honest, and realistic portrayal of a job position include all of the following except:

a. improved job satisfaction
b. reduced voluntary turnover
c. realistic job expectations
d. enhanced expectaions and aspirations

Answer 52

d. enhanced expectaions and aspirations

Question 53

_____are people who are not looking for jobs but coud be persuaded to take new ones given the right opportunity.

a. Passive job seekers
b. Transient employees
c. Global people
d. Expendable labor

Answer 53

a. Passive job seekers

Question 54

Some surveys show_____is the most popular type of e-recruiting.

a. social networking
b. e-mail
c. text messaging
d. fax

Answer 54

c. text messaging

Question 55

ESSAY

What are the seven competitive challenges facing human resources management and organizational behavior departments?

Answer 55

1. Responding Strategically to Changes in the Marketplace (RSCM)

• Being able to adapt has become the key to capturing opportunities and overcoming obstacles (competitive environments now include global). Good HR managers are developing reactive and proactive change strategies.

2. Competing, Recuriting and Staffing Globally

-the strategies companies today are pursuing today increasingly inove one ore more elements of globalization. HR managers have to balance complicated et of issues related to different regions, cultures, and laws outside U.S. borders.

3. Setting and Achieving CSR and Sustainability Goals

The responsibility of the firm to act in the best interest of the people and communities affected by its activities. To help eliminate “carbon footprint” it is advised that the organiation makes an effort to produce a good or service without damaging the environment or depleting a resource.

4. Advancing HRM with Technology

HR managers must be able to face and deal with issues related to information shared effortless among employees.

5. Containing Costs While Retaining Top Talent and Maximizing Productivity

6. Responding to Demographic and Diversity Challenges of the Workplace

7. Adapting to Educational and Cultural Shifts Affecting the Workforce

Question 56

ESSAY

Discuss the concept of downsizing and some of the hidden costs associated with it.

Answer 56

Downsizing is general defined as a planned elimination of jobs. Some hidden costs associated with it include:

1. Severance and rehiring costs
2. Accrued vacation and sick day payouts
3. Pension an benefit payouts
4. Potential lawsuits from aggrieved workers
5. The loss of institutional memory and trust in management
6. A lack of staffers when the economy rebounds
7. Survivors who ar risk averse, paranoid, and focused on corporate politics