Q&A Hero

Q: HR strategies that work for one company in an industry will work just as well for another company in the same industry, since business environments tend to be similar within industries.

Q: Additional Case 1.4 Crowe, Inc. has been a powerful steel producer for the last 15 years and predicts a profitable future. Crowe has a very secure position within the steel industry and does not plan to expand into different industries. Top managers exercise significant control over the firm. Crowe strives to develop new products and technologies. The company offers employees long-term career development and grooms employees for promotions through a highly structured HR system. In the past, the company's atmosphere has been very congenial and cohesive at all levels of the organization. Recently, there has been a noticeable shift in employee attitudes. Lower-level employees have expressed discontent about schedules, compensation, and training opportunities. Several employees have been fired, and many others have threatened to quit. Refer to Additional Case 1.4. Which of the following questions is most relevant to the situation at Crowe? A) What tasks are outsourced by the firm? B) What is the firm's current rehiring policy? C) How frequently do managers receive performance appraisals? D) How is work flow structured and communicated by managers?

Q: Additional Case 1.2 As the manager of HR of an old, established company, you are leading the management team in a strategic planning session. During the planning session, managers are being forced to think about the future, see the likely changes in the marketplace, and make plans to use company resources to enhance their competitive edge. The company decides that as part of its business strategy, it wants to attract and retain the best possible employees. You suggest that the company pay a hiring bonus, use a pay scale that is 10% above the industry average, and provide an extra week of vacation after only one year instead of the standard three years. Refer to Additional Case 1.2. The HR strategies suggested are examples of: A) intended strategies. B) emergent strategies. C) diversification strategies. D) business unit strategies

Q: Additional Case 1.2 As the manager of HR of an old, established company, you are leading the management team in a strategic planning session. During the planning session, managers are being forced to think about the future, see the likely changes in the marketplace, and make plans to use company resources to enhance their competitive edge. The company decides that as part of its business strategy, it wants to attract and retain the best possible employees. You suggest that the company pay a hiring bonus, use a pay scale that is 10% above the industry average, and provide an extra week of vacation after only one year instead of the standard three years. Refer to Additional Case 1.2. If this firm chooses to also address its employee and labor relations, it should most likely: A) review its policy on union avoidance or support. B) develop policies to protect employee interests. C) decentralize union policy formation. D) promote exclusively from within.

Q: Additional Case 1.2 As the manager of HR of an old, established company, you are leading the management team in a strategic planning session. During the planning session, managers are being forced to think about the future, see the likely changes in the marketplace, and make plans to use company resources to enhance their competitive edge. The company decides that as part of its business strategy, it wants to attract and retain the best possible employees. You suggest that the company pay a hiring bonus, use a pay scale that is 10% above the industry average, and provide an extra week of vacation after only one year instead of the standard three years. Refer to Additional Case 1.2. The most likely benefit of this strategic planning session is: A) communicating a specific business strategy for the firm. B) identifying the constraints and capabilities of the firm's HR. C) exploiting and expanding the firm's distinctive capabilities. D) identifying gaps between the current situation and a future vision.

Q: Candles, Inc. is currently evaluating the ________ the firm gives its employees, including stock options, benefit packages, and raises based on performance. A) development B) compensation C) bonuses D) salary

Q: If an HR department is reviewing whether to use discipline as a control mechanism or as a proactive way to encourage appropriate behavior, it is considering its strategic choices within the HR function of: A) work flows. B) performance appraisal. C) employee rights. D) employee relations.

Q: When developing performance appraisals, a firm needs to make strategic HR choices concerning: A) how appraisal data will be used in job descriptions. B) training programs for employees with substandard job performance. C) which kind of appraisal system (customized or general) will work best for the organization. D) how to maintain the privacy of managers and employees while collecting data regarding their job performance.

Q: When considering HR strategies regarding employee separations, managers must consider whether to: A) use layoffs or voluntary inducements to downsize a firm. B) encourage decentralization or centralization of the firm to better enhance employee relations. C) compensate long-term employees more than recent hires. D) create rigid job descriptions to separate the responsibilities of managers and subordinates.

Q: Which of the following is a strategic HR issue related to staffing? A) Imposing a hiring freeze to avoid laying off workers B) Developing an appraisal system for work teams C) Empowering supervisors to make hiring decisions D) Providing continuing support to terminated workers

Q: Working on his HR strategic plan, Jose is thinking about whether to recommend specific job descriptions or broad job classes, and detailed or loose work planning. Jose is considering the HR strategic choice related to: A) performance appraisals. B) staffing. C) work flows. D) employee separations.

Q: Emergent strategies generally: A) evolve and change as needs arise. B) involve only portions of an organization. C) encourage strong leadership within a firm. D) are less beneficial to a small company.

Q: Which of the following is a characteristic of most intended strategies? A) They mobilize responses from top management. B) They involve everyone in an organization. C) They develop gradually from experiences. D) They lack strong leadership.

Q: Town House Publishing is implementing a new HR strategy, and to give it the best chance of succeeding, the HR department should most likely: A) increase diversity in the environment. B) ensure managers' commitment to the strategy. C) create a back-up strategy to implement in case the initial strategy fails. D) centralize management in order to communicate more effectively with employees.

Q: Kelly spends her day focusing on recruiting qualified employees for her growing company, reviewing benefit plans in order to offer competitive compensation packages, and creating online job postings. Kelly is most likely facing the strategic HR planning challenge of: A) reinforcing the overall business strategy with her HR strategies. B) concentrating too much on day-to-day problems. C) coping with the external environment. D) securing management commitment to her HR strategies.

Q: Which of the following is a primary challenge of strategic HR planning? A) Encouraging employees to accept empowerment strategies B) Reacting appropriately to problems in the internal and external environment C) Building HR strategies independent of the overall business strategy of the company D) Developing strategies that offer the firm a sustained competitive advantage

Q: In order to stimulate critical thinking, the strategic HR planning process should most likely be: A) focused on day-to-day management issues. B) structured and specific. C) linked to corporate social responsibility. D) ongoing and flexible.

Q: Managers who rely on their personal views and experiences to solve problems are more likely to run the risk of: A) alienating employees who want to contribute to the decision-making process. B) undermining the long-term goals of the company by becoming too independent. C) taking on more responsibility than is necessary in any given business venture. D) making false assumptions about the business and threatening corporate profitability.

Q: Molly heads a large company that has just experienced a major brain drain. She immediately increases compensation to new employees and gives each employee with over 10 years experience an extra 3 days of paid vacation per year. This is an example of: A) strategic HR planning. B) proactive HR strategy. C) reactive HR strategy. D) downsizing.

Q: Strategic human resource planning provides a number of benefits to a company, such as: A) relieving middle managers of their HRM responsibilities. B) blurring the difference between line and staff management. C) reducing costs by diversifying the company's goals and objectives. D) helping to identify the gap between a company's current situation and vision.

Q: Strategic human resource planning is best defined as the process of: A) responding appropriately to HRM problems as they arise. B) winning the commitment of line management to support HRM practices. C) formulating HR strategies and establishing programs to implement them. D) training HR professionals with minimal input from line and staff management.

Q: Review the major challenges at the individual level and offer ways HRM can assist organizations in meeting these challenges.

Q: What types of environmental and organizational challenges face corporations today? What HR strategies help firms handle some of these challenges to achieve and sustain competitive advantages?

Q: How have technology advancements changed HRM? Discuss how these advancements allow HR managers to support line managers more effectively.

Q: ________ provides workers with the skills and authority to make decisions that would traditionally be made by managers.

Q: A measure of how safe and satisfied employees feel with their jobs is referred to as ________.

Q: ________ is subcontracting work to an outside company that specializes in and is more efficient at doing that kind of work.

Q: Beliefs that operate unconsciously and define, in a basic taken-for-granted fashion, an organization's view of itself and its environment refer to ________.

Q: A reduction in a company's workforce to improve its bottom line is referred to as ________.

Q: ________ is the transferring of responsibility and decision-making authority from a central office to people and locations closer to the situation that demands attention.

Q: ________ is an organization-wide approach to improving the quality of all the processes that lead to a final product or service.

Q: Forces external to a firm that affect the firm's performance but are beyond the control of management are called ________.

Q: A(n) ________ is an employee involved directly in producing the company's good(s) or delivering the service(s).

Q: A particular HR policy or program that helps to advance a firm's strategic goal is referred to as a(n) ________.

Q: People who work in an organization are called ________.

Q: Firms with strong organizational cultures typically perform better than firms without such environments.

Q: Reverse brain drain refers to the trend of foreigners applying for visas to work in the United States.

Q: Research indicates that fast-growth firms benefit from having managers with marketing and sales backgrounds.

Q: Groupware networks have enabled power and authority to spread more evenly among employees at firms.

Q: Federal laws prevent firms from monitoring employees' use of the Internet.

Q: A significant technology issue for HR is the proper use of the data that its information systems generate.

Q: Norms, rules of the game, and organizational climate are elements of an organization's structure.

Q: Studies show that 90% of all small businesses fail within their first three years.

Q: According to studies, 99.8% of small businesses in the U.S. have fewer than 100 employees.

Q: According to the SBA, a wholesale company with 85 employees and a manufacturing firm with 1,200 employees are both small businesses.

Q: Downsizing is a type of organizational restructuring.

Q: TQM programs are designed to improve the quality of the processes used to produce products.

Q: Training employees helps control an organization's costs and improve efficiency.

Q: The manufacturing sector is now growing more rapidly than the service sector in the U.S. economy.

Q: More and more U.S. companies are forming global alliances and trying to develop worldwide cultures in order to smooth over differences among employees.

Q: A human resource tactic refers to a firm's deliberate use of human resources to gain and maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

Q: Additional Case 1.3 Your company sells high-tech products throughout the world and is following a differentiation business strategy. The business environment for the company is volatile, rapidly changing, and highly complex. The company is highly entrepreneurial and has a strong moral commitment to quality products, employee job satisfaction, and corporate social responsibility. The management team has decided to create a common company culture among the various national and international subsidiaries. Refer to Additional Case 1.3. What is the most likely benefit of creating a common culture at the firm? A) Lowering overall production costs B) Minimizing the need for additional employee training C) Enhancing international and domestic recruiting efforts D) Increasing cooperation among domestic and international employees

Q: Additional Case 1.1 Managers at Caplin Company are having a strategic planning session with the director of HR. They are discussing the fit between the company's overall management philosophy, organizational structure, organizational culture, and the firm's current HR strategies. During the meeting, the management team asks the HR Director for a profile of the current workforce. The HR Director reports that the workforce used to be 85% white, 50% male. Now it is 50% white, 50% minority with twice as many women as men. Supervisors still tend to be white males. The management team discusses how to control costs, improve quality, and create distinctive capabilities. Several ideas are raised, discussed, and tabled; some topics are assigned to an individual for further exploration. Managers comment that some workers arrive at start time, take 30 minutes before initiating any work, and begin to pack up for the day 30 minutes before quitting time. Managers also indicate that employees do not seem concerned about working hard or about building quality products. As the meeting draws to a close, the team briefly discusses the firm's commitment to the surrounding community. As a cost-cutting measure, the firm eliminated its support of an adult literacy program last year. Company facilities were used for conducting reading classes. The management team decides that the firm should reinstate the program and appoints the HR Director to notify the local literacy council. Refer to Additional Case 1.1. Which of the following would most likely improve employee work habits at Caplin? A) Offering telecommuting opportunities to all employees B) Making adjustments to the firm's organizational culture C) Outsourcing most clerical jobs to overseas firms D) Implementing a focus strategy

Q: Additional Case 1.1 Managers at Caplin Company are having a strategic planning session with the director of HR. They are discussing the fit between the company's overall management philosophy, organizational structure, organizational culture, and the firm's current HR strategies. During the meeting, the management team asks the HR Director for a profile of the current workforce. The HR Director reports that the workforce used to be 85% white, 50% male. Now it is 50% white, 50% minority with twice as many women as men. Supervisors still tend to be white males. The management team discusses how to control costs, improve quality, and create distinctive capabilities. Several ideas are raised, discussed, and tabled; some topics are assigned to an individual for further exploration. Managers comment that some workers arrive at start time, take 30 minutes before initiating any work, and begin to pack up for the day 30 minutes before quitting time. Managers also indicate that employees do not seem concerned about working hard or about building quality products. As the meeting draws to a close, the team briefly discusses the firm's commitment to the surrounding community. As a cost-cutting measure, the firm eliminated its support of an adult literacy program last year. Company facilities were used for conducting reading classes. The management team decides that the firm should reinstate the program and appoints the HR Director to notify the local literacy council. Refer to Additional Case 1.1. Caplin's discussion of costs, quality, and capabilities shows that the firm is trying to address the: A) organizational challenge of competitive position. B) environmental challenge of rapid change. C) individual challenge of matching workers with jobs. D) market challenge of changing customer needs.

Q: Additional Case 1.1 Managers at Caplin Company are having a strategic planning session with the director of HR. They are discussing the fit between the company's overall management philosophy, organizational structure, organizational culture, and the firm's current HR strategies. During the meeting, the management team asks the HR Director for a profile of the current workforce. The HR Director reports that the workforce used to be 85% white, 50% male. Now it is 50% white, 50% minority with twice as many women as men. Supervisors still tend to be white males. The management team discusses how to control costs, improve quality, and create distinctive capabilities. Several ideas are raised, discussed, and tabled; some topics are assigned to an individual for further exploration. Managers comment that some workers arrive at start time, take 30 minutes before initiating any work, and begin to pack up for the day 30 minutes before quitting time. Managers also indicate that employees do not seem concerned about working hard or about building quality products. As the meeting draws to a close, the team briefly discusses the firm's commitment to the surrounding community. As a cost-cutting measure, the firm eliminated its support of an adult literacy program last year. Company facilities were used for conducting reading classes. The management team decides that the firm should reinstate the program and appoints the HR Director to notify the local literacy council. Refer to Additional Case 1.1. The change in the workforce at Caplin is an example of the environmental challenge of: A) decentralization. B) skill shortages. C) workforce diversity. D) rapid change.

Q: Many profitable American companies eliminate jobs every year. This trend can most likely be attributed to which of the following factors? A) Decreasing benefits costs B) Decreasing retirement age C) Increasing corporate competition D) Increasing union membership

Q: One of your best MIS people quit to work for a competitor in a neighboring city. When she left, she took with her a partially completed proposal for an enhanced MIS system that would reduce costs and increase the speed of handling information. You've just experienced a: A) productivity shift. B) reverse brain drain. C) brain drain. D) glass ceiling.

Q: Empowerment is best defined as: A) emphasizing the decision-making power of workers. B) requiring workers to perform tasks to avoid punishment. C) forcing workers to comply with external control mechanisms. D) losing talented workers to competitors and start-up ventures.

Q: You are talking with a manager about one of his employees, Tom. The manager describes Tom as a person who has a strong desire to do the best possible job and put in the maximum effort to perform his assigned tasks. The manager is describing Tom's: A) abilities. B) capabilities. C) motivation. D) productivity level.

Q: Karl is trying to improve company productivity by focusing on employee competence. Karl is focusing on the ________ factor of productivity. A) motivation B) ethical behavior C) quality of work life D) ability

Q: Wilton Carpet and Flooring supports local children's sports teams by providing uniforms and practice gear. Which of the following terms best describes the activities of the firm? A) Outsourcing B) Egalitarianism C) Empowerment D) Social responsibility

Q: When it comes to managers dealing with ethical issues, it is most safe to say that: A) what is ethical or unethical is seldom clear cut. B) issues clearly resolve themselves into right and wrong choices. C) ethical codes have significantly helped managers with ethical issues. D) employee expectations of ethical managerial behavior are rapidly declining.

Q: What is the primary HR challenge of outsourcing? A) It raises labor costs because of overtime requirements. B) A firm is still accountable for the actions of its subcontractors, but it exercises less control over them. C) Subcontractors tend to take on less work than they can handle, which means that the firm needs to hire additional workers. D) Customers tend to be more satisfied with subcontractors than with regular employees, which creates conflict in the workplace.

Q: Knott's Construction builds one house every month. Mr. Knotts and Scott perform all the structural work themselves while they subcontract the plumbing and electrical work. This subcontracting is an example of: A) restructuring. B) recruiting. C) egalitarianism. D) outsourcing.

Q: A critical ethical issue for HR managers related to technology use in work environments is the: A) increase in authoritarian management. B) right to privacy. C) misuse of technology by self-managed work teams. D) overly close supervision of technology users.

Q: All of the following are key elements of organizational culture EXCEPT: A) working norms. B) language usage. C) dominant values. D) available technology.

Q: Organizational culture most likely refers to: A) ethical decisions in the workplace. B) an organization's mission and vision statements. C) basic beliefs shared by members of an organization. D) the non-pervasive atmosphere within which people work.

Q: According to the text, what percentage of new businesses fail in their first year of operation? A) 30% B) 40% C) 50% D) 60%

Q: According to research, the contributions that self-managed work teams offer a large firm are typically: A) minimal. B) very positive. C) apt to decline as firms become more decentralized. D) never significant enough to warrant a change in most businesses.

Q: Self-managed work teams are: A) an uncommon method of managing a small business. B) very costly to the companies that must pay benefits to team members. C) groups of peers in a company setting who take responsibility for a particular area or task. D) a positive contribution to large corporations who are worried about being too "top heavy."

Q: Organizational restructuring over the past two decades has primarily led to firms with: A) more managers and fewer laborers as automation eliminates lower-level jobs. B) fewer people between the CEO and the lowest-ranking worker. C) fewer self-managed work teams. D) more mid-level managers.

Q: The current trend to downsize most likely results in: A) higher worker output. B) better decision making. C) lower salary expenditures. D) greater workforce diversity.

Q: Which term refers to transferring responsibility and decision-making authority from a central office to people closer to the situation that demands attention? A) Decentralization B) Restructuring C) Downsizing D) Outsourcing

Q: HR policies affect a firm's competitive position in all of the following ways EXCEPT by: A) improving quality. B) controlling costs. C) creating distinctive capabilities. D) developing mission statements.

Q: Which of the following would not be measured by a job simulation? A) Effective handling of irate customers B) Technical applications of project management C) Ability to work in a multi-ethnic environment D) Sound judgment when faced with ethical dilemmas

Q: Companies spend around ________ billion dollars each year on employee training programs. A) 20 B) 35 C) 55 D) 70

Q: The need for skilled employees in the United States has: A) intensified in the service sector due to technology advancements. B) decreased because the number of jobs requiring a college education has declined. C) leveled off because government programs have improved skill levels of the workforce. D) decreased due to the rising number of highly-educated immigrants in the technology field.

Q: Growth in service sector employment is most likely tied to: A) advances in technology that eliminate manufacturing jobs. B) the increasing number of women entering the workforce. C) increasing efforts to match individuals to the correct jobs. D) an overabundance of highly educated job candidates.

Q: Firms are increasingly introducing family-friendly programs to: A) comply with federal EEO legislation. B) hire and retain the best workers. C) provide essential training. D) gain tax benefits.

Q: A dual-career family is one in which: A) the major bread winner works two jobs. B) the wife is a homemaker and the husband works outside of the home. C) both husband and wife work. D) both husband and wife own their own business.