WGU C202 Flashcards
What situation is an example of a managerial ethical dilemma?
- Exchanging birthday cards with a a longtime employee
- Seeing an employee of work hours behaving rudely to a clerk in a store
- Reading an article in the newspaper about a drive committed by the relative of an employee
- Being asked to directly supervise a family member
Being asked to directly supervise a family member
A human resource manual specifies that employees cannot be terminated or punished for refusing to follow an illegal request made by a supervisor. Which standard is being applied to resolve this ethical dilemma?
- Virtue standard
- Rights standard
- Utilitarian standard
- Common good standard
Rights standard
What is the goal of affirmative action?
- To bar employment decisions based on ability and qualifications
- To rely on legal remedies past practices that innately caused an effect on applicants
- To seek to remedy past practices that innately caused an adverse effect on applicants
- To focus on changing institutional demographics in an organization from the top-down
To seek to remedy past practices that innately caused an adverse effect on applicants
A female employer is accused of having an employment practice that negatively impacts women. The employer responds that she has the same requirements for male and female applicants and wants to hire other women.
Why is this case a potential demonstration of adverse impact?
1. Adverse impact is based on intentional sex discrimination
2. Adverse impact must be the result of unequal promotion rather than unequal hiring.
3. Adverse impact must be proven by examination of a society’s history of discrimination, not an individual’s history
Adverse impact must be the result of unequal promotion rather than unequal hiring.
Which protected classes must a company sets hiring goals for under Executive Order 11246?
- Religious groups and workers over the age 40
- Minorities and disabled veterans
- Minorities and women
- Native Americans and people with disabilities
Minorities and women
An employer terminates an employee for being unattractive and putting less effort in personal appearance. Why is this permitted under an at-will relationship?
An employer can terminate an employee for an immoral reason.
Which law guarantees that a woman can take unpaid time off following the birth of her child without fear of losing her job?
- The Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
- The Family Friendly Leave Act of 1994
- The Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act of 2008
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
What is the goal of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994?
- To increase racial diversity in all branches of the military
- To encourage more women to consider employment in the military
- To prevent discrimination against employees who may be called into active military service
- To guarantee that workers with military backgrounds receive pay from private employers while serving on military deployments
To prevent discrimination against employees who may be called into active military service.
Which event should be covered under workers’ compensation?
- Spraining an ankle while running on vacation
- Breaking an arm while at work
- Losing a job for poor performance
- Being fired from at at-2ill position
Breaking an arm while at work.
How does an organization’s human resource strategy support the organization’s business strategy?
- By directing publicity and advertising approaches that communicate its vision
- By encouraging innovative supply chain solutions
- By helping it to acquire, develop, and retain the talent needed to fulfill its strategy
- By providing management with useful production metrics for assessing progress
By helping it to acquire, develop, and retain the talent needed to fulfill its strategy.
What is the primary function of human resource management?
- Controlling costs
- Retaining talent
- Developing production goals
- Setting legal regulations
Retaining talent
How does effective human resource management improve organizational performance?
- It helps determine the ultimate long-range goals of a company
- It enhances a company’s ability to cope with growth and change
- It directs the company’s leadership to make smarter financial decisions
- It assesses the market’s need for new or improved products and services
It enhances a company’s ability to cope with growth and change.
Which characteristic of an employee should human resource management focus on to enhance organizational culture?
- Fit within an organization
- Length of association with an organization
- Need for employment within an organization
- Motivation to advance within an organization
Fit within an organization.
Which belief is an example of bias creating barriers to equal treatment in an organization?
- Extroverted employees are the most effective
- Increasing profits is an appropriate company goal
- Ability to adapt to change is a useful employee trait
- A small workplace can accommodate diverse cultures
Extroverted employees are the most effective
Which factor in successful organizational change can be provided through effective human resource management?
- Trust
- Quality
- Innovation
- Optimism
Trust
What it’s he organization’s formal system of task, power, and reporting relationships called?
- An organizational design
- An organizational structure
- An organizational chart
- An organizational style
An organizational structure
How does human resource management support organizational leadership?
- By documenting hiring processes that promote accession, efficiency, and timeliness
- By providing employees with opportunities for professional development and growth
- By creating clear policies related to employee schedules and document control
- By setting individual limits for vacation time and financial benefits
By providing employees with opportunities for professional development and growth
Which decision can human resource management assist with during the combination stage of mergers and acquisitions?
- Which employees to retain
- What the goal of combination will be
- When to declare the combination a success
- How the new location is designed
Which employees to retain
How can human resource managers serve as internal consultants?
- By helping managers develop business plans
- By helping managers avoid common training pitfalls
- By conducting cost audits
- By assisting in the planning of social events
By helping managers avoid training pitfalls
What are two uses of a job analysis?
- Establishing job requirements and designing job-based safety equipment
- Creating job’s standard operating procedure and establishing succession plans
- Developing a recruiting plan and designing a compensation plan for a particular job
- Producing job performance objectives and determining appropriate efficiency benchmarks
Developing a recruiting plan and designing a compensation plan for a particular job
How can human resource managers use performance metrics to benefit their organizations?
- They can use metrics that reveal weakness in a critical division to include nice staging plans
- They can use metrics that measure trivial aspects of performance to set a tone of high expectations
- They can use metrics that focus on positive results to create a sense of dissatisfaction among employees
- They can use metrics that are reported to suppliers and vendors to increase operational transparency
They can use metrics that reveal weakness in a critical division to influence staffing plans
What should human resource managers use to determine performance metrics?
- Business goals
- Employee needs
- Manager instincts
- Profit expectations
Business goals
What aspect of an organization is increased when policies of inclusion are adopted?
- It’s talent pool
- It’s mission statement
- It’s performance metrics
- It’s workplace safety rating
It’s talent pool
Why might an organization want to increase its efforts at inclusion and diversity?
- To reduce costs of employee benefits
- To reduce negative public relations
- To focus attention on promotion policies
- To increase the average level of employee education
To reduce negative public relations
Classify each example as either a policy or a procedure. Answer options may be used more than once or not at all.
- Employees should avoid using language that could be interpreted as discriminatory
- To receive reimbursement, employees need to submit receipts from travel and dining
- The company advocates, in all operational aspects, for diversity of experience, background, and culture to support innovation, workplace environment, employees, customers and stakeholders
- Employees wishing to take time off should give prior written notice to their supervisors
- Employees should avoid using language that could be interpreted as discriminatory (POLICY)
- To receive reimbursement, employees need to submit receipts from travel and dining (PROCEDURE)
- The company advocates, in all operational aspects, for diversity of experience, background, and culture to support innovation, workplace environment, employees, customers and stakeholders (POLICY)
- Employees wishing to take time off should give prior written notice to their supervisors (PROCEDURE)
How does an employee handbook protect employers?
- It improves the performance and reduced the training costs of new employees
- It discourages employees from taking advantage of legal protections provided by federal law
- It ensures that employees are informed about company expectations, policies, and benefits.
- It reduces the requirements to provide insurance, retirement funds, and other benefits to employees
It ensures that employees are informed about company expectations, policies, and benefits
Which situation is an example of poor person-organizational fit?
- An employee shares the employer’s attitudes and personality, but lacks the specific training required to excel in the position.
- An employee has the necessary training and skills for a position, but has a different set of values than the employer
- An employee who works smoothly with all coworkers is valued while requiring a great deal of assistance to perform the job
- A relatively unskilled employee is able to use experience to get promoted by matching the company’s expected level of competitiveness
An employee has the necessary training and skills for a position, but has a different set of values than the employer
How does souring affect recruiting?
- Sourcing determines whether recruiting programs will be required
- Effective sourcing improves the compatibility of talent pools to open positions
- Strong sourcing decisions can make up for weak recruiting efforts
- Sourcing makes up for deficits in recruiting plans
Effective sourcing improves the comparability of talent pools to open positions
What is the benefit of external recruiting?
- External hires can bring in new ideas and insights
- External hires can be less expensive to identify and recruit
- External hires can be more productive in their positions early on
- External hires can be measured more easily using existing metrics
External hires can bring in new ideas and insights
Which request might be asked during a case interview?
- Tell me about your experiences with past failures and successes
- Describe a situation in which you have successfully solved a difficult problem
- Show which skills you have that will best benefit the company’s goals and mission
- Explain how you would react if you were asked by a coworker to take shortcuts to meet job expectations
Show which skills you have that will best benefit the company’s goals and mission
Why might human resource managers place limited importance on distributive fairness in the hiring process?
- Only those hired tend to appreciate the outcomes of the process
- Executives, rather than candidates, care about fairness in hiring
- This type of fairness cannot be measured in any meaningful manner
- More people benefit from this measurement than from other fairness issues
Only those hired tend to appreciate the outcomes of the process
Which step in an effective training program involves determining the best setting, methods, and materials to be used?
- Assessing training needs
- Designing training systems
- Evaluating training outcomes
- Developing training objectives
Designing training systems
Which type of training includes both role-paying and action learning?
- Virtual training
- Classroom training
- On-the-job training
- Experiential training
Experiential training
What does a person’s learning style determine?
- The likelihood of being promoted
- The position that is the best fit
- The rewards that will be the most motivational
- The instructional methods that are the most effective for training
The instructional methods that are the most effective for training
During which level of Kirkpatrick’s training evaluation might participants take a test on the training materials?
- Reaction
- Learning
- Behavior
- Results
Learning
How can performance management help an organization evaluate change initiatives, training procedures, and new technologies?
- By generating useful data
- By attracting leaders with vision
- By improving workplace diversity
- By anticipating customers’ future demands
By generating useful data
How can goal setting boost employee performance?
- By clarifying job requirements and rules
- By focusing attention on specific objectives
- By explaining the reasons behind an initiative
- By guaranteeing a positive outcome for stakeholders
By focusing attention on specific objectives
Which source of performance information is most knowledgeable about an employee’s day-to-day performance in self-managed team?
- Coworker
- Customer
- Supervisor
- Subordinate
Coworker
How does providing regular feedback to employees relate to their goals?
- It minimally affects goal accomplishment
- It ensures their goals are met
- It helps direct progress toward goals
- It decreases the need for performance improvement
It helps direct progress toward goals
An employee has already been approached concerning poor performance, but is not improving. Which corrective discipline step should be repeated with a stronger statement of the consequences for not improving?
- Counseling
- Written warning
- Suspension without pay
- Termination
Written warning
Place the steps of progressive discipline in order from first to last.
- Written warning
- Counseling
- Suspension without pay
- Termination
Counseling
Written warning
Suspension without pay
Termination
What is an example of opportunity bias?
- A manager gives an employee low performance ratings in order to maintain the employee’s incentive to continue trying to improve
- A manager gives an employee low performance ratings based on assumptions about the employee’s religious and cultural background
- A manager gives an employee low performance ratings as a result of a failed project, even though the failure was a result of outside factors
- A manager gives an employee low performance ratings after previously having high expectations based on the employee’s educational credentials
A manager gives an employee low performance ratings as a result of a failed project, even though the failure was a result of outside factors
What is a critical factor in creating a culture of safety?
- A system of rewards and punishments based upon operational outcomes
- A commitment of an organization to the projections and well-being of its employees
- A hiring program that identifies prospective employees who are educated
- A clear and consistent training program that educates employees about safety laws
A commitment of an organization to the projections and well-being of its employees
What is a function related to the primary goal of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)?
- To collect fines
- To issue citations
- To correct hazards
- To design projects
To correct hazards
How do employee wellness programs benefit employers?
- By reducing workers’ compensation and disability-related costs
- By reducing the need for elaborate safety training programs
- By limiting the involvement of managers in performance management
- By improving the satisfaction of customers with employee performance
By reducing worker’s compensation and disability-related costs
What determines whether stress is functional or dysfunctional?
- What source causes I t and when it occurs
- Where it is experienced and the source of the stress
- Why is has been created and how long it lasts
- How manageable it is and the emotions it causes
How manageable it is and the emotions it causes
What is an example of bullying in the workplace?
- Setting high expectations
- Posting performance metrics publicly
- Intimidating a coworker
- Implementing a strict disciplinary policy
Intimidating a coworker
What is an example of holding the target of bullying to a different performance standard?
- Forcing the target to work long hours under threat of dismissal
- Talking poorly about the target to those in higher positions
- Assigning the target unrealistic goals and deadlines
- Denying the target annual leave
Assigning the target unrealistic goals and deadlines
Which organization advocates that a well-written and implemented workplace violence prevention program can reduce the incidence of workplace violence in all workplaces?
- Society for Human Resource Administration (SHRA)
- National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
- Association of Fair Labor Protection Act (AFLP)
OSHA
What area two physical changes that can be made to prevent workplace violence? (Choose 2)
- Adding more windows
- Implementing key card access
- Putting in silent alarms
- Updating computer systems
Implementing key card access
Putting in silent alarms
Which tactic can employers use to improve employee engagement and motivation towards safety?
- Incentives
- Posters
- Training
- Safety Inspections
Incentives
How does a safe workplace positively relate to employee motivation and engagement?
- It creates an environment that reduces and discourages functional stress
- It encourages an environment for high employee production performance
- It develops training opportunities through intuitive job design
- It discourages employee feedback on redundant issues
It encourages an environment for high employee production performance
What is the influence tactic that enhances one’s formal authority to make a request by referring to precedents, rules, contracts, or other official documents.
- Ingratiation
- Legitimating
- Personal appeal
- Assertiveness
Legitimating
Which act was intended to curb common work stoppages, strikes, and general labor conflict?
- Wagner act
- Railway Labor Act
- Taft-Hartley Act
- Landrum-Griffith Act
Wagner Act
What is a psychological contract the workplace?
- An agreement a company has with an outsourced psychiatrist for employee assistance
- A relationship between the human resource department and a psychologist to develop tactics for employee motivation
- The hidden expectations and promises between an employer and an employee
- The agreement an employer makes with an employee concerning the employee’s performance initiatives
The hidden expectations and promises between an employer and an employee
Which type of compensation can developmental opportunities be considered?
- Direct financial compensation
- Non financial compensation
- Incentive pay
- Indirect financial compensation
Non financial compensation
What is the disadvantage of a pay-for-performance plan?
- It hardly connects to an employee’s extrinsic motivation
- It potentially negates an employee’s intrinsic motivation
- It normally reduces production and efficiency
- It normally promotes entitlement culture
It potentially negates an employee’s intrinsic motivation
What are two reasons why companies offer employee benefits?
- To provide employees with work-life balance
- To support job and layout design
- To promote employees’ work projects
- To boost employee satisfaction
To provide employees with work-life balance
To boost employee satisfaction
Which type of a benefit are domestic partner benefits?
- Mandatory
- Customary
- Optional
- Special
Optional
What is the goal of an organization that offers the benefits of a. Wellness program, flextime, and personal days?
- To decrease employee engagement
- To decrease employee absenteeism
- To increase family security
- To increase retirement security
To decrease employee absenteeism
What is the result of people being committed to, involved with, enthusiastic, and passionate about their work?
- Organizational citizenship behavior
- Job dissatisfaction
- Employee engagement
- Job security
Employee engagement
Which action enhances employee engagement?
- Having little authority to make decisions on projects
- Allowing employees to use their talents
- Providing feedback to employees twice a year
- Having a limited performance evaluation system
Allowing employees to use their talents
What is affective commitment?
- Having a positive emotional attachment to the organization and strong identification with its values and goals
- Feeling obliged to stay with an organization for moral or ethical reasons
- Staying with an organization because of perceived high economic and/or social costs involved with leaving
- Maintaining employment due to workplace benefits and competitive pay
Having a positive emotional attachment to the organization and strong identification with its values and goals
What is an example of voluntary turnover?
- An employee leaves for a higher paying job
- An employee is let go for performance problems
- An employee is fired for ethical issue
- An employee leaves due to company downsizing
An employee leaves for higher paying job
What are two potential costs of voluntary turnover?
- It leads to better customer service
- It leads to having to train a replacement worker
- It leads to losing a poor performer
- it disrupts teamwork
It leads to having to train a replacement worker
It disrupts teamwork
What are two retention strategies for reducing voluntary turnover?
- Quality leadership
- Flexible work
- Performance evaluation
- Raising work standards
Quality leadership
Flexible work
Which factor may increase a company’s voluntary turnover?
- Good economic environment
- Poorer economic environment
- Excellent pay and benefits
- Performance accountability
good economic environment
What is they difference between replacement planning and succession management?
- Identifying specific backup candidates versus building feeder groups up and down the leadership pipeline
- Employing efficient hiring processes for production employees versus employing a focused hiring process for well-qualified external candidates
- Increasing employee performance versus assessing employee performance against a given standard practice
- Employing a focused process for improving employee productivity versus employing a broad, team-oriented production scheme for capacity planning
Identifying specific backup candidates versus building feeder groups up and down the leadership pipeline
What is an example of workforce redeployment?
- A firm laying off employees when closing a key plant facility
- A production firm assigning a group of employees to the marketing department for ease of payroll
- A firm assigning a Java IT expert to a new client requesting a Java IT engineer
- Moving an employee to a new location to satisfy the employee’s family needs
A firm assigning a Java IT expert to a new client requesting a Java IT engineer
