Human resource management gaining a competitive advantage 9th edition noe test bank download

Solution Manual for Human Resource Management

Gaining A Competitive Advantage 9th Edition by Noe Hollenback Gerhart and Wright ISBN 9780078112768

0078112761

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Chapter 05 Human Resource Planning and Recruitment

True / False Questions

1. The last step in the human resource planning process is forecasting.

True False

2. A leading indicator is an objective measure that accurately predicts future labor demand.

True False

3. Statistical planning models are useful when there is a long, stable history that can be used to reliably detect relationships among variables.

True False

4. The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning.

True False

5. The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is to focus attention on the problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus.

True False

6. Hiring employees from external sources is a fast option to avoid an unexpected labor shortage plus its revocability is high.

True False

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the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

7. The typical organizational response to a labor shortage has been either hiring temporary employees or outsourcing, responses that are fast and high in revocability.

True False

8. A reason why downsizing efforts often fail is that employees who survive the purges often become narrow-minded, self-absorbed, and risk-averse.

True False

9. One of the reasons organizations engaged in downsizing was that many firms changed the location of where they did business for economic reasons.

True False

10. Baby boomers are fast approaching retirement, and early indicators show that this group will retire as expected.

True False

11. An advantage of employing temporary workers is that it frees a firm from many administrative tasks and financial burdens associated with being the "employer of record."

True False

12. Outsourcing is a logical choice when a firm does not have certain expertise and is unwilling to invest the time and effort to develop it.

True False

13. Typically, "call center" staffing is the only type of work that is being offshored.

True False

14. Employers prefer hiring and training new employees rather than having to pay existing workers extra for overtime production.

True False

15. A comparison of the proportion of workers in protected subgroups with the proportion that each subgroup represents in the relevant labor market is called a workforce utilization review.

True False

16. Promote from-within policies make it clear to applicants that there are opportunities for advancement within the company.

True False

17. Characteristics of a job vacancy are less important than recruiters or recruiting sources when it comes to predicting job choice.

True False

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18. Research indicates that job applicants find companies with due process policies less attractive than companies with employment-at-will practices.

True False

19. Image advertising is often effective because job applicants develop ideas about the general reputation of the firm and then this spills over to influence their expectations about the nature of specific jobs at the organization.

True False

20. Referrals are people who apply for a vacancy without prompting from the organization.

True False

21. Recruiting advertisements in newspapers and periodicals typically generate more desirable recruits than direct applications or referrals.

True False

22. Public employment agencies serve primarily the blue-collar labor market; private employment agencies perform much the same service for the white-collar labor market.

True False

23. Newspaper ads generate the largest number of recruits and many of these are qualified for the position.

True False

24. Recruiters tend to be viewed by job seekers as more credible when they are personnel specialists rather than subject matter experts in the job being filled.

True False

25. When applicants' reactions to recruiters are examined, age and gender are the two traits that stand out the most.

True False

Multiple Choice Questions

26. The first step in the human resource planning process is _____.

A. forecasting

B. goal setting

C. program implementation

D. program evaluation

E. groupthink

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27. The process of attempting to ascertain the supply and demand for various types of human resources is called _____.

A. outsourcing

B. downsizing

C. delegation

D. forecasting

E. implementation

28. Which of the following is true of statistical forecasting methods that capture historic trends?

A. They are useful for predicting events in the labor market that have no historical precedent.

B. They are particularly useful in situations where there is no long, stable history.

C. They provide predictions that are much more precise than judgmental methods.

D. They remove the need for subjective judgments of experts.

E. They include variables like intuition and guesswork into economic decision making.

29. How do statistical forecasting methods differ from judgmental forecasting methods with regard to the labor market?

A. Judgmental methods are not useful in situations that have no historical precedent.

B. Statistical methods are the best option for events that have no historical precedent.

C. Forecasting using judgmental methods is always more precise than forecasting using statistical methods.

D. Statistical methods are excellent for capturing historic trends.

E. Judgmental methods are better than statistical methods for events that have historical precedent.

30. Which of the following is the definition for the term leading indicator?

A. It is an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity between two currencies.

B. It is a measurement of consumer confidence, which is defined as the degree of optimism about the state of the economy.

C. It is an economic indicator found by adding the unemployment rate to the inflation rate of an economy.

D. It is an indicator to measure changes in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households.

E. It is an objective measure that accurately predicts future labor demand.

31. Statistical planning models almost always have to be complemented by _____.

A. competitor information

B. subjective judgments

C. transitional matrices

D. unstable history

E. labor forecasts

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32. A(n) _____ shows the proportion of employees in different job categories at different times.

A. invertible matrix

B. transitional matrix

C. definite matrix

D. task role matrix

E. orthogonal matrix

Refer to the following hypothetical transitional matrix of the general HR department in a large manufacturing organization.

33. How many of the total HR assistant managers employed in 2012 were promoted to the HR manager position in 2013?

A. 95%

B. 9%

C. 5%

D. 86%

E. 10%

34. From which of the following job categories was no employee promoted in 2013?

A. HR assistant

B. HR administrator

C. HR practitioner

D. HR coordinator

E. HR officer

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35. There were demotions from the _____ job category.

A. HR assistant

B. HR administrator

C. HR practitioner

D. HR coordinator

E. HR officer

36. How many of the HR practitioners employed in 2012 were promoted to the category of HR officer in 2013?

A. 2%

B. 10%

C. 5%

D. 13%

E. 8%

37. Which of the following job categories saw the highest percent of its employees leave the organization in 2013?

A. HR assistant

B. HR coordinator

C. HR practitioner

D. HR administrator

E. HR officer

38. Which of the following is true about transitional matrices?

A. Transitional matrices can be read across rows but cannot be read from top to bottom.

B. Transitional matrices provide a comparison of the proportion of workers in protected subgroups with the proportion that each subgroup represents in the relevant labor market.

C. Transitional matrices provide an objective measure of the effectiveness of an organization's human resource recruitment policy.

D. Transitional matrices are extremely useful for charting historical trends in a company's supply of labor.

E. Transitional matrices show the increase in productivity of employees over a period of time.

39. The goals that are set in the human resource planning process should come directly from:

A. the mid-level managers who tend to be most in touch with the organization's needs.

B. the results of the previous year's appraisal process.

C. the analysis of the labor supply and demand.

D. the strategic choices made by the company's top-level managers.

E. the feedback provided by the organization's customers.

or distribution

the prior written

of

without

consent

McGraw-Hill Education.

40. The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is:

A. to make sure that employees are held accountable for achieving the stated goals.

B. to ascertain whether or not the company has successfully avoided any potential labor surpluses or shortages.

C. to collect data about current employees, measure their performances, and compare it with global standards in order to get a better idea of the firm's international competence.

D. to focus attention on a problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus.

E. to predict areas within the organization where there will be future labor shortages or surpluses.

41. Due to a series of resignations from the organization, Zylon Inc., a large software firm is facing an acute labor shortage. During which of the following human resource planning steps would the firm contemplate several options to address the labor issue?

A. Goal setting and strategic planning

B. Program evaluation

C. Forecasting

D. Program implementation

E. Data collection

42. Which of the following options is considered a slow option for reducing an expected labor surplus and has a low impact on human suffering?

A. Downsizing

B. Demotions

C. Early retirement

D. Pay reduction

E. Temporary employees

43. Which of the following options is considered a fast option for reducing an expected labor surplus but results in high human suffering?

A. Early retirement

B. Retraining

C. Hiring freeze

D. Natural attrition

E. Demotions

44. Which of the following options for avoiding an expected labor shortage has the benefit of being a fast solution with high revocability?

A. Temporary employees

B. Technological innovation

C. Turnover reductions

D. New external hires

E. Retraining

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45. Which of the following options for avoiding an expected labor shortage is a slow solution and has low revocability?

A. Overtime

B. Temporary employees

C. Retrained transfers

D. Technological innovation

E. Outsourcing

46. _____ is considered a slow option for avoiding an expected labor shortage but has high revocability.

A. Natural attrition

B. Retrained transfers

C. Outsourcing

D. Transfers

E. Technological innovation

47. Which of the following is true of the several options available to reduce expected labor surplus?

A. Early retirement causes relatively less human suffering.

B. The human suffering after pay reduction is relatively low.

C. Retraining causes comparatively more human suffering than other options.

D. A hiring freeze causes immense human suffering.

E. Transfers cause the least amount of human suffering.

48. _____ is the planned elimination of large numbers of personnel designed to enhance organizational effectiveness.

A. Homesourcing

B. Downsizing

C. Retirement

D. Retraining

E. Work sharing

49. Each of the following is a relatively fast method to reduce an expected labor surplus EXCEPT _____.

A. work sharing

B. retraining

C. pay reductions

D. demotions

E. transfers

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50. Which of the following statements is true about downsizing?

A. The typical organizational response to a surplus of labor has been downsizing, which is slow but low in human suffering.

B. An organization turns to downsizing only in times of recession.

C. In firms that are high in research and development intensity, downsizing has been linked to higher long-term organizational profits.

D. The negative effects of downsizing seem to be reduced in service industries characterized by high levels of customer contact.

E. Downsizing efforts often fail because employees who survive the purges often become narrowminded, self-absorbed, and risk-averse.

51. Which of the following is a method used to reduce an expected labor shortage that is low on revocability?

A. Overtime

B. New external hires

C. Temporary employees

D. Outsourcing

E. Retrained transfers

52. Which of the following is most likely to lead to a successful downsizing?

A. Avoiding indiscriminant reductions

B. Informing employees that they are laid off via emails

C. Downsizing at random

D. Avoiding changes in the nature of work roles

E. Removing the company's long-term employees first

53. Which of the following best explains why older people approaching retirement age have no intention of retiring?

A. Many employers want to stay away from the costs of hiring a younger crowd and refuse to retire the older workers.

B. Older workers typically occupy the best-paid jobs and hence prevent the hiring of younger workers.

C. Improved health of older people in general, in combination with the decreased physical labor in many jobs has made working longer a viable option.

D. Employers are ignoring situations where it is more expensive to pay for an older worker's experience than hire younger employees.

E. Statistical forecasting results have shown that older people are an asset to an organization's economic strength.

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54. Which of the following is NOT one of the forces that draw out an older worker's career?

A. The improved health of older people in general

B. The fear of Social Security being cut

C. Employers being constrained by age discrimination legislation

D. Insufficient younger workers to replace the older workforce

E. Employers' fear of losing the experience that older workers possess

55. In the face of demographic pressures dealing with an aging workforce, many employers try to use _____ among their older workers through early retirement incentive programs.

A. paid leave

B. job rotation

C. work sharing

D. voluntary attrition

E. transfers

56. Which of the following is a disadvantage of employing temporary workers as a means of eliminating a labor shortage?

A. The use of temporary workers adds up to many administrative tasks and financial burdens associated with being the "employer of record."

B. Temporary workers pose no threat to current employees, which makes the overall environment less competitive.

C. The low levels of commitment to the organization and its customers that temporary workers bring with them often reduces the level of customer loyalty.

D. Many temporary agencies train employees prior to sending them over to employers, which often means that the company has to retrain them in accord with its own standards.

E. Because temporary workers have little experience in the host firm, the objective perspective they bring is of no value.

57. Which of the following is true about temporary workers?

A. Although they are temporary, these workers have to be included in employee records.

B. The objective perspective that temporary workers bring along with them is of no value because of their lack of experience.

C. Despite prior training from temporary agencies, companies have to retrain temporary workers to match company standards.

D. Some full-time employees perceive the temporary help as a threat to their own job security.

E. Instead of replacing long-term employees with temporary employees, many organizations supplement their core staff with a small set of temporary workers who act more like assistants to the core staff than potential replacements.

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58. Which of the following is true about outsourcing?

A. Outsourcing became a valid choice after certain methods of production and manufacturing became obsolete.

B. Outsourcing is a logical choice when a firm simply does not have certain expertise and is not willing to invest time and effort into developing it.

C. Technological advancements have slowed the momentum of outsourcing being done today.

D. Statistical forecasting resulted in companies transferring their operations and functions overseas.

E. Companies shifting their operations overseas did so because customers were complaining about poor client services domestically.

59. A special case of outsourcing where the jobs that move actually leave one country and go to another is called _____.

A. homesourcing

B. co-sourcing

C. reshoring

D. telecommuting

E. offshoring

60. Is the argument that "call center" staffing is the only type of work being offshored valid?

A. No, because countries to where jobs are being offshored are facing a shortage of skilled labor and are refusing "call center" jobs.

B. Yes, because the level of education and infrastructure does not support high-end support jobs like reading X-rays and other medical tests.

C. Yes, because the state of online security and privacy is less advanced in developed countries.

D. No, because figures have shown that countries like China and India are trying to climb the skill ladder of available work.

E. Yes, because in order to maintain employment rates in their own countries, companies avoid offshoring jobs.

61. Which of the following is true about offshoring?

A. The smaller and newer a vendor, the better it is for the company to conduct business.

B. Small overseas upstarts do not take risks that larger, more established contractors take.

C. Any work that is proprietary and requires tight security should be offshored.

D. A company should avoid outsourcing work that is self-contained and does not need an exchange of information.

E. Small overseas upstarts often promise more than they can deliver.

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62. When a company faces a shortage of employees in the work force, and it predicts that current demand for products or services may not extend to the future, it will:

A. try to garner more hours out of the existing labor force.

B. recruit and train new employees.

C. be willing to hire part-time employees.

D. decrease the production rate by half to meet quality standards.

E. lease out its machinery to other factories, thereby maintaining income.

63. A _____ is a short-term elimination of paid workdays applied to salaried workers, as opposed to hourly workers.

A. work sharing culture

B. demotion

C. furlough

D. layoff

E. suspension

64. The programs developed in the strategic-choice stage of the process are put into practice in the _____ stage.

A. forecasting

B. program-implementation

C. goal-setting

D. evaluation

E. program feedback

65. A critical aspect of the program implementation step of human resource planning is:

A. setting a benchmark for determining the relative success of a program.

B. making sure that some individual is held accountable for achieving the stated goals.

C. selecting the best option for redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus.

D. ascertaining whether or not the company has successfully avoided any potential labor surpluses or shortages.

E. focusing attention on redressing a pending labor supply problem.

66. The final step in the planning process is to _____.

A. evaluate results

B. set goals and objectives

C. formulate strategies

D. establish forecasting methods

E. implement recruiting methods

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67. The process of determining whether there are any subgroups whose proportion in a given job category within a company is substantially different from their proportion in the relevant labor market is called _____.

A. adverse treatment analysis

B. workforce utilization review

C. subgroup reconciliation

D. discrimination analysis

E. leading indicator

68. Which of the following is the accurate definition of workforce utilization review?

A. It is a comparison of the proportion of workers in protected subgroups with the proportion that each subgroup represents in the relevant labor market

B. It is a comparison of the proportion of workers who are underperforming with the proportion of those in the labor market who are not yet hired

C. It is a comparison of the proportion of workers who are underperforming with the proportion of those who are excelling in the workplace

D. It is a comparison of the proportion of workers who are being paid higher than the national average with the proportion of workers who are being paid lower than the national average

E. It is a comparison of the proportion of workers whose performance ratings are lower than the internal average with the proportion of those whose performance ratings are higher

69. _____ forecast and monitor the proportion of various protected group members, such as women and minorities that are in various job categories and career tracks.

A. Ethnocracies

B. Group rights

C. Affirmative action plans

D. T-test techniques

E. Employment background checks

70. _____ is the practice or activity carried on by an organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees.

A. Human resource recruitment

B. Applicant tracking system

C. Customer relationship management

D. Sensitivity training

E. Customer experience transformation

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71. _____ is a generic term used to refer to organizational decisions that affect the nature of the vacancies for which people are recruited.

A. Budgetary policies

B. Personnel policies

C. Judicial policies

D. Fiscal policies

E. Monetary policies

72. Policies that state that either party in an employment relationship can terminate that relationship at any time, regardless of cause, are called _____.

A. due process policies

B. employment-at-will policies

C. counter cyclical hiring policies

D. employee liability policies

E. affirmative action policies

73. A policy that lays out the steps an employee can take to appeal a termination decision is called a(n) _____.

A. counter cyclical hiring policy

B. outsourcing policy

C. employment-at-will policy

D. due process policy

E. affirmative action policy

74. Which of the following is an example of an intrinsic reward?

A. A manufacturing organization offering a monthly bonus on joining the firm at a particular position in a particular city

B. A firm providing free vehicles to employees who are promoted to the managerial level

C. The Army appealing to the patriotism in people to get more new recruits

D. A bank offering loans at a subsidized rate to its employees

E. A school management giving monthly bonuses to the teachers

75. The approach that pays employees higher wages than what competitors pay their employees in similar roles is called the _____.

A. premium-wage approach

B. free-rider effect

C. lead-indicator approach

D. lead-the-market approach

E. first-mover advantage

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76. Sometimes, organizations advertise just to promote themselves as a good place to work in general. This is called _____.

A. product advertising

B. image advertising

C. informative advertising

D. proactive advertising

E. subliminal advertising

77. Which of the following is an example of image advertising?

A. Orange Inc. releases an advertisement promoting the product it produces.

B. Paper Corp. publishes its profit details in the newspaper.

C. Richmond Inc. releases an advertisement on television about an event it is promoting.

D. Umbrella Corp. asks its employees to work on Saturdays for the next three months to meet project deadlines.

E. Rain Inc. releases television advertisements that give an idea about the pleasant working conditions in the organization.

78. Which of the following is an advantage of relying on internal recruitment sources?

A. It is a good way to strengthen one's own company, while weakening one's competitors at the same time, because it increases diversity.

B. It generates a sample of applicants who are well known to the firm.

C. The applicants are relatively less knowledgeable about the company's vacancies and are hence easily trainable.

D. Because of the applicants' lack of knowledge about a particular position, their expectations are easy to meet.

E. It results in a workforce whose members all think alike and who therefore are more suited to innovation.

79. _____ are people who apply for a vacancy without prompting from the organization.

A. Internal employees

B. Direct applicants

C. Referrals

D. Poached employees

E. Virtual employees

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80. Ron works as a sale executive for Janus Inc., a large manufacturer of turbocharged engines. He hears about a vacancy for sales manager at Ios Inc., a competitor in the same industry, and sends in his résumé requesting Ios to consider him for the vacancy. Ron is an example of a(n) _____.

A. poached employee

B. virtual employee

C. internal employee

D. referral

E. direct applicant

81. _____ are people who are prompted to apply for a job by someone within the organization.

A. Direct applicants

B. Internal employees

C. Boomerang employees

D. Referrals

E. Virtual employees

82. Jack is a maintenance supervisor at a large petroleum refinery in Texas. His friend, Ronald, who works at another refinery in Louisiana, informs Jack about a vacancy for a maintenance manager's position at the Louisiana refinery and asks him to apply for the position. Jack is an example of a(n) _____.

A. referral

B. direct applicant

C. virtual employee

D. internal employee

E. poached employee

83. Which of the following best exemplifies the process of self-selection?

A. An applicant posts his/her resume on an online job bulletin board.

B. An applicant decides to interview with a particular company while at a job fair.

C. An applicant is asked to return for a second interview with a firm.

D. An applicant asks a friend for advice on which companies to apply to.

E. An applicant calls a firm to check whether or not he has been selected.

84. Recruiting advertisements in newspapers and periodicals:

A. are exempt from the requirements of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

B. are used exclusively to attract applicants who are currently employed.

C. are likely to typically generate less desirable candidates than direct applications or referrals.

D. are generally used to attract candidates from a specific minority community.

E. are less expensive than direct applications or referrals.

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85. Which of the following is the biggest downside for large job sites?

A. Most job sites do not return with quick results, which can be frustrating for an applicant.

B. The sheer size and lack of differentiation between candidates listed on the site.

C. Job sites offer lackluster customer service, which is a huge disappointment for applicants.

D. Most job sites post jobs that are completely unrelated to an employee's expertise and job interest.

E. While they promise excellent service, the exuberant service charges discourage applicants from using job sites.

86. The _____ requires that everyone receiving unemployment compensation be registered with a local state employment office.

A. Social Security Act

B. Employers Liability Act

C. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act

D. Protection of Employment Regulations

E. Equal Pay Act

87. Executive search firms (ESFs):

A. work almost exclusively with high-level, unemployed executives.

B. require the person being placed to make the initial contact with the prospective employer directly.

C. are unaffected by the reduced employment levels because of the recent recession.

D. serve as an important confidentiality buffer between the employer and the recruit.

E. have remained unaffected by the increased use of low cost electronic search vehicles.

88. Yield ratios express the:

A. output yielded by a new hire in relation to the cost of recruiting the new hire.

B. percentage of applicants who successfully move from one stage of the recruitment and selection process to the next.

C. ratio between the price paid to a recruiting firm for potential applicants versus the number of applicants hired.

D. cost of hiring new employees as opposed to promoting internal employees to vacant positions.

E. quality of new hires by comparing the cost of training new recruits to the cost of hiring them.

89. Which of the following pairs of recruiter characteristics does an applicant tend to respond to most positively?

A. Warmth and informativeness

B. Race and qualifications

C. Age and experience

D. Gender and warmth

E. Experience and qualifications

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90. Which of the following actions is most likely to enable organizations to increase the impact that recruiters have on those they recruit?

A. Withholding the company's information

B. Excluding personnel specialists

C. Recruiting individually

D. Providing highly positive, unrealistic descriptions of the job

E. Providing timely feedback

Essay Questions

91. Explain forecasting and the different types of forecasting methods.

92. Describe what occurs at the goal setting and strategic planning step of the human resource planning process.

93. Discuss the major options organizations have for reducing labor surpluses. In doing so, discuss how they vary in terms of speed and the amount of human suffering.

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94. Forecasting indicates that the need for skilled technical employees in your company will increase dramatically this year. If the company continues on its present course, it will experience a substantial labor shortage by year's end. Something must be done fast, but management is concerned about maintaining its flexibility. Which of the options for avoiding expected labor shortages would be most appropriate under these circumstances? Explain your answer.

95. Explain downsizing and discuss the major reasons why organizations engage in it. Explain why downsizing strategies are or are not generally successful.

96. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using temporary employees as an option in response to labor shortages.

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97. Describe outsourcing and offshoring and provide examples. Why are they used? What are some of the problems with these efforts? When is it a good idea to use outsourcing or offshoring?

98. Discuss the employment-at-will policies and due process policies.

99. What are private and public employment agencies? Explain the differences between the two types of agencies.

100.Which are the two traits that stand out when applicants' reactions to recruiters are examined?

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Chapter 05 Human Resource Planning and Recruitment Answer Key

True / False Questions

1. The last step in the human resource planning process is forecasting.

FALSE

The first step in the planning process is forecasting.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy Learning Objective: 05-01 Discuss how to align a company's strategic direction with its human resource planning.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

2. A leading indicator is an objective measure that accurately predicts future labor demand.

TRUE

A leading indicator is an objective measure that accurately predicts future labor demand.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy Learning Objective: 05-02 Determine the labor demand for workers in various job categories.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

3. Statistical planning models are useful when there is a long, stable history that can be used to reliably detect relationships among variables.

TRUE

Statistical planning models are useful when there is a long, stable history that can be used to reliably detect relationships among variables.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-02 Determine the labor demand for workers in various job categories.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-21

4. The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning.

TRUE

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning. The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is to focus attention on the problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-02 Determine the labor demand for workers in various job categories.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5. The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is to focus attention on the problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus.

TRUE

The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is to focus attention on the problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

6. Hiring employees from external sources is a fast option to avoid an unexpected labor shortage plus its revocability is high. FALSE

There are several options to avoid an unexpected labor shortage. Hiring employees from external sources is a slow option to avoid an unexpected labor shortage, and additionally its revocability is low.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-22

7. The typical organizational response to a labor shortage has been either hiring temporary employees or outsourcing, responses that are fast and high in revocability.

TRUE

The typical organizational response to a labor shortage has been either hiring temporary employees or outsourcing, responses that are fast and high in revocability.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

8. A reason why downsizing efforts often fail is that employees who survive the purges often become narrow-minded, self-absorbed, and risk-averse.

TRUE

A reason why downsizing efforts often fail is that employees who survive the purges often become narrow-minded, self-absorbed, and risk-averse.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

9. One of the reasons organizations engaged in downsizing was that many firms changed the location of where they did business for economic reasons.

TRUE

Downsizing is the planned elimination of large numbers of personnel designed to enhance organizational effectiveness. One of the reasons for downsizing was that, for economic reasons, many firms changed the location of where they did business.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-23

10. Baby boomers are fast approaching retirement, and early indicators show that this group will retire as expected.

FALSE

A popular means of reducing a labor surplus is to offer an early retirement program. But although many baby boomers are approaching traditional retirement age, early indications are that this group has no intention of retiring any time soon.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

11. An advantage of employing temporary workers is that it frees a firm from many administrative tasks and financial burdens associated with being the "employer of record."

TRUE

The use of temporary workers frees a firm from many administrative tasks and financial burdens associated with being the "employer of record."

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

12. Outsourcing is a logical choice when a firm does not have certain expertise and is unwilling to invest the time and effort to develop it.

TRUE

Whereas a temporary employee can be brought in to manage a single job, in other cases a firm may be interested in getting a much broader set of services performed by an outside organization; this is called outsourcing. Outsourcing is a logical choice when a firm simply does not have certain expertise and is not willing to invest time and effort into developing it.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-24

13. Typically, "call center" staffing is the only type of work that is being offshored.

FALSE

Offshoring is a special case of outsourcing where the jobs that move actually leave one country and go to another. The stereotype that "call center" staffing is the only type of work being offshored is increasingly invalid, as countries like China, India, and those in eastern Europe try to climb the skill ladder of available work.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

14. Employers prefer hiring and training new employees rather than having to pay existing workers extra for overtime production.

FALSE

Despite having to pay workers time-and-a-half for overtime production, employers see this as preferable to hiring and training new employees especially if they are afraid that current demand for products or services may not extend to the future.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

15. A comparison of the proportion of workers in protected subgroups with the proportion that each subgroup represents in the relevant labor market is called a workforce utilization review.

The proportion of workers in protected subgroups can be compared with the proportion that each subgroup represents in the relevant labor market. This type of comparison is called a workforce utilization review. This process can be used to determine whether there is any subgroup whose proportion in the relevant labor market is substantially different from the proportion in the job category.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-25

TRUE

16. Promote from-within policies make it clear to applicants that there are opportunities for advancement within the company.

TRUE

Promote from-within policies make it clear to applicants that there are opportunities for advancement within the company.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-04 Describe the various recruitment policies that organizations adopt to make job vacancies more attractive.

Topic: The Human Resource Recruitment Process

17. Characteristics of a job vacancy are less important than recruiters or recruiting sources when it comes to predicting job choice.

FALSE

If the research on recruitment makes one thing clear, it is that characteristics of a vacancy are more important than recruiters or recruiting sources when it comes to predicting job choice.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-04 Describe the various recruitment policies that organizations adopt to make job vacancies more attractive.

Topic: The Human Resource Recruitment Process

18. Research indicates that job applicants find companies with due process policies less attractive than companies with employment-at-will practices.

FALSE

Research indicates that job applicants find companies with due process policies more attractive than companies with employment-at-will policies.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-04 Describe the various recruitment policies that organizations adopt to make job vacancies more attractive.

Topic: The Human Resource Recruitment Process

5-26

19. Image advertising is often effective because job applicants develop ideas about the general reputation of the firm and then this spills over to influence their expectations about the nature of specific jobs at the organization. TRUE

Even though it does not provide any information about any specific job, image advertising is often effective because job applicants develop ideas about the general reputation of the firm and then this spills over to influence their expectations about the nature of specific jobs or careers at the organization.

AACSB: Analytic Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-04 Describe the various recruitment policies that organizations adopt to make job vacancies more attractive.

Topic: The Human Resource Recruitment Process

20. Referrals are people who apply for a vacancy without prompting from the organization. FALSE

Direct applicants are people who apply for a vacancy without prompting from the organization.

AACSB: Analytic Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-05 List the various sources from which job applicants can be drawn; their relative advantages and disadvantages; and the methods for evaluating them.

Topic: The Human Resource Recruitment Process

21. Recruiting advertisements in newspapers and periodicals typically generate more desirable recruits than direct applications or referrals. FALSE

Advertisements to recruit personnel are ubiquitous, even though they typically generate less desirable recruits than direct applications or referrals and do so at greater expense.

AACSB: Analytic Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-05 List the various sources from which job applicants can be drawn; their relative advantages and disadvantages; and the methods for evaluating them.

Topic: The Human Resource Recruitment Process

5-27

22. Public employment agencies serve primarily the blue-collar labor market; private employment agencies perform much the same service for the white-collar labor market.

TRUE

Public employment agencies serve primarily the blue-collar labor market; private employment agencies perform much the same service for the white-collar labor market.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-05 List the various sources from which job applicants can be drawn; their relative advantages and disadvantages; and the methods for evaluating them.

Topic: The Human Resource Recruitment Process

23. Newspaper ads generate the largest number of recruits and many of these are qualified for the position.

FALSE

Newspaper ads generate the largest number of recruits, but relatively few of these are qualified for the position.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-05 List the various sources from which job applicants can be drawn; their relative advantages and disadvantages; and the methods for evaluating them.

Topic: The Human Resource Recruitment Process

24. Recruiters tend to be viewed by job seekers as more credible when they are personnel specialists rather than subject matter experts in the job being filled.

FALSE

Some studies indicate that applicants find a job less attractive and the recruiter less credible when he is a personnel specialist.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-06 Explain the recruiter's role in the recruitment process; the limits the recruiter faces; and the opportunities available.

Topic: The Human Resource Recruitment Process

5-28

25. When applicants' reactions to recruiters are examined, age and gender are the two traits that stand out the most.

FALSE

Two traits stand out when applicants' reactions to recruiters are examined. The first, which could be called "warmth," reflects the degree to which a recruiter seems to care about the applicant and is enthusiastic about her potential to contribute to the company. The second characteristic could be called "informativeness."

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-06 Explain the recruiter's role in the recruitment process; the limits the recruiter faces; and the opportunities available.

Topic: The Human Resource Recruitment Process

Multiple Choice Questions

26. The first step in the human resource planning process is _____.

A. forecasting

B. goal setting

C. program implementation

D. program evaluation

E. groupthink

The human resource planning process consists of forecasting, goal setting and strategic planning, and program implementation and evaluation. The first step in the planning process is forecasting.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-01 Discuss how to align a company's strategic direction with its human resource planning.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-29

27. The process of attempting to ascertain the supply and demand for various types of human resources is called _____.

A. outsourcing

B. downsizing

C. delegation

D. forecasting

E. implementation

In personnel forecasting, an HR manager attempts to ascertain the supply of and demand for various types of human resources.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-01 Discuss how to align a company's strategic direction with its human resource planning.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

28. Which of the following is true of statistical forecasting methods that capture historic trends?

A. They are useful for predicting events in the labor market that have no historical precedent.

B. They are particularly useful in situations where there is no long, stable history.

C. They provide predictions that are much more precise than judgmental methods.

D. They remove the need for subjective judgments of experts.

E. They include variables like intuition and guesswork into economic decision making.

Statistical methods are excellent for capturing historic trends in a company's demand for labor, and under the right conditions they give predictions that are much more precise than those that could be achieved through subjective judgments of a human forecaster.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-01 Discuss how to align a company's strategic direction with its human resource planning.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-30

29. How do statistical forecasting methods differ from judgmental forecasting methods with regard to the labor market?

A. Judgmental methods are not useful in situations that have no historical precedent.

B. Statistical methods are the best option for events that have no historical precedent.

C. Forecasting using judgmental methods is always more precise than forecasting using statistical methods.

D. Statistical methods are excellent for capturing historic trends.

E. Judgmental methods are better than statistical methods for events that have historical precedent.

Statistical methods are excellent for capturing historic trends in a company's demand for labor, and under the right conditions, they give predictions that are much more precise than those that could be achieved through subjective judgments of a human forecaster.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-01 Discuss how to align a company's strategic direction with its human resource planning.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

30. Which of the following is the definition for the term leading indicator?

A. It is an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity between two currencies.

B. It is a measurement of consumer confidence, which is defined as the degree of optimism about the state of the economy.

C. It is an economic indicator found by adding the unemployment rate to the inflation rate of an economy.

D. It is an indicator to measure changes in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households.

E. It is an objective measure that accurately predicts future labor demand.

A leading indicator is an objective measure that accurately predicts future labor demand.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-02 Determine the labor demand for workers in various job categories.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-31

31. Statistical planning models almost always have to be complemented by _____.

A. competitor information

B. subjective judgments

C. transitional matrices

D. unstable history

E. labor forecasts

Statistical planning models are useful when there is a long, stable history that can be used to reliably detect relationships among variables. However, these models almost always have to be complemented by subjective judgments of people who have expertise in the area.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-02 Determine the labor demand for workers in various job categories.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

32. A(n) _____ shows the proportion of employees in different job categories at different times.

A. invertible matrix

B. transitional matrix

C. definite matrix

D. task role matrix

E. orthogonal matrix

Transitional matrices show the proportion (or number) of employees in different job categories at different times.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-02 Determine the labor demand for workers in various job categories.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-32

Refer to the following hypothetical transitional matrix of the general HR department in a large manufacturing organization.

33. How many of the total HR assistant managers employed in 2012 were promoted to the HR manager position in 2013?

As per the figure, only 5 percent of the HR assistant managers were promoted to the position of HR manager. At the same time, 86 percent remained in the same role and 9 percent of the HR assistant managers left the organization.

AACSB: Reflective Thinking Blooms: Apply Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-02 Determine the labor demand for workers in various job categories. Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-33

A. 95% B. 9% C. 5% D. 86% E. 10%

34. From which of the following job categories was no employee promoted in 2013?

A. HR assistant

B. HR administrator

C. HR practitioner

D. HR coordinator

E. HR officer

Of all the HR coordinators that were employed in 2012, none were promoted to the position of HR assistant manager in 2013. Additionally, 14 percent of the HR coordinators left the organization.

AACSB: Reflective Thinking Blooms: Apply

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-02 Determine the labor demand for workers in various job categories.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning

35. There were demotions from the _____ job category.

A. HR assistant

B. HR administrator

C. HR practitioner

D. HR coordinator

E. HR officer

Of the total HR officers specialists employed in 2012, 5% were demoted to the position of HR practitioner, while 2% were promoted to the position of HR coordinator. 5% of HR officers left the organization in 2013.

AACSB: Reflective Thinking Blooms: Apply

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-02 Determine the labor demand for workers in various job categories.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-34

36. How many of the HR practitioners employed in 2012 were promoted to the category of HR officer in 2013?

A. 2%

B. 10%

C. 5%

D. 13%

E. 8%

Of the total HR practitioners employed in 2012, 10 percent were promoted to the category of HR officer in 2013, while 77 percent remained in the same position. The remaining 13 percent left the organization.

AACSB: Reflective Thinking Blooms: Apply

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-02 Determine the labor demand for workers in various job categories.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

37. Which of the following job categories saw the highest percent of its employees leave the organization in 2013?

A. HR assistant

B. HR coordinator

C. HR practitioner

D. HR administrator

E. HR officer

Of the total HR coordinators in 2012, 14 percent left the organization, the highest of any position. Additionally, none of the remaining HR coordinators were promoted to the position of HR assistant manager.

AACSB: Reflective Thinking Blooms: Apply Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-02 Determine the labor demand for workers in various job categories.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-35

38. Which of the following is true about transitional matrices?

A. Transitional matrices can be read across rows but cannot be read from top to bottom.

B. Transitional matrices provide a comparison of the proportion of workers in protected subgroups with the proportion that each subgroup represents in the relevant labor market.

C. Transitional matrices provide an objective measure of the effectiveness of an organization's human resource recruitment policy.

D. Transitional matrices are extremely useful for charting historical trends in a company's supply of labor.

E. Transitional matrices show the increase in productivity of employees over a period of time.

Matrices such as the transitional matrix are extremely useful for charting historical trends in a company's supply of labor. More important, if conditions remain somewhat constant, they can also be used to plan for the future.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-02 Determine the labor demand for workers in various job categories.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

39. The goals that are set in the human resource planning process should come directly from:

A. the mid-level managers who tend to be most in touch with the organization's needs.

B. the results of the previous year's appraisal process.

C. the analysis of the labor supply and demand.

D. the strategic choices made by the company's top-level managers.

E. the feedback provided by the organization's customers.

The goals in the human resource planning process should come directly from the analysis of labor supply and demand and should include a specific figure for what should happen with a job category or skill area and a specific timetable for when results should be achieved.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-36

40. The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is:

A. to make sure that employees are held accountable for achieving the stated goals.

B. to ascertain whether or not the company has successfully avoided any potential labor surpluses or shortages.

C. to collect data about current employees, measure their performances, and compare it with global standards in order to get a better idea of the firm's international competence.

D. to focus attention on a problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus.

E. to predict areas within the organization where there will be future labor shortages or surpluses.

The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is to focus attention on a problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus. The goals should come directly from the analysis of labor supply and demand and should include a specific figure for what should happen with the job category or skill area and a specific timetable for when results should be achieved.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

41. Due to a series of resignations from the organization, Zylon Inc., a large software firm is facing an acute labor shortage. During which of the following human resource planning steps would the firm contemplate several options to address the labor issue?

A. Goal setting and strategic planning

B. Program evaluation

C. Forecasting

D. Program implementation

E. Data collection

The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is to focus attention on a problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus.

AACSB: Reflective Thinking

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Apply

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-37

42. Which of the following options is considered a slow option for reducing an expected labor surplus and has a low impact on human suffering?

A. Downsizing

B. Demotions

C. Early retirement

D. Pay reduction

E. Temporary employees

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning. As part of this step, many organizations determine that they might have surplus staff in the future. One of the options for reducing an expected labor surplus is early retirement, which is a slow option to reduce surplus staff, but it has a low impact on human suffering.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

43. Which of the following options is considered a fast option for reducing an expected labor surplus but results in high human suffering?

A. Early retirement

B. Retraining

C. Hiring freeze

D. Natural attrition

E. Demotions

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning. As part of this step, many organizations determine that they might have surplus staff in the future. One of the options for reducing an expected labor surplus is demotions, which is a fast option to reduce surplus staff, but it typically results in high human suffering.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-38

44. Which of the following options for avoiding an expected labor shortage has the benefit of being a fast solution with high revocability?

A. Temporary employees

B. Technological innovation

C. Turnover reductions

D. New external hires

E. Retraining

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning. As part of this step, many organizations determine that they might have a labor shortage. One of the options for avoiding an expected labor shortage is hiring temporary employees, which is a fast solution to the problem and is easily revocable.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

45. Which of the following options for avoiding an expected labor shortage is a slow solution and has low revocability?

A. Overtime

B. Temporary employees

C. Retrained transfers

D. Technological innovation

E. Outsourcing

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning. As part of this step, many organizations determine that they might have a labor shortage. One of the options for avoiding an expected labor shortage is adopting technological innovation, which is both a slow solution to the problem and not easily revocable.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-39

46. _____ is considered a slow option for avoiding an expected labor shortage but has high revocability.

A. Natural attrition

B. Retrained transfers

C. Outsourcing

D. Transfers

E. Technological innovation

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning. One of the options for avoiding an expected labor shortage that is a slow solution and is high on revocability is retrained transfers.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

47. Which of the following is true of the several options available to reduce expected labor surplus?

A. Early retirement causes relatively less human suffering.

B. The human suffering after pay reduction is relatively low.

C. Retraining causes comparatively more human suffering than other options.

D. A hiring freeze causes immense human suffering.

E. Transfers cause the least amount of human suffering.

Early retirement is a slow option to reduce an expected labor surplus, but along with hiring freezes, natural attrition, and retraining, it causes low human suffering.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-40

48. _____ is the planned elimination of large numbers of personnel designed to enhance organizational effectiveness.

A. Homesourcing

B. Downsizing

C. Retirement

D. Retraining

E. Work sharing

Downsizing is the planned elimination of large numbers of personnel designed to enhance organizational effectiveness.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

49. Each of the following is a relatively fast method to reduce an expected labor surplus EXCEPT _____.

A. work sharing

B. retraining

C. pay reductions

D. demotions

E. transfers

Methods like transfers, work sharing, pay reductions, and demotions are relatively faster methods of reducing an expected labor surplus than retraining.

AACSB: Analytic Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-41

50. Which of the following statements is true about downsizing?

A. The typical organizational response to a surplus of labor has been downsizing, which is slow but low in human suffering.

B. An organization turns to downsizing only in times of recession.

C. In firms that are high in research and development intensity, downsizing has been linked to higher long-term organizational profits.

D. The negative effects of downsizing seem to be reduced in service industries characterized by high levels of customer contact.

E. Downsizing efforts often fail because employees who survive the purges often become narrowminded, self-absorbed, and risk-averse.

One of the reasons downsizing efforts often fail is that employees who survive the purges often become narrow-minded, self-absorbed, and risk-averse. Motivation levels drop off because any hope of future promotions or even a future with the company dies out.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

51. Which of the following is a method used to reduce an expected labor shortage that is low on revocability?

A. Overtime

B. New external hires

C. Temporary employees

D. Outsourcing

E. Retrained transfers

Hiring new external recruits is a method that is low on revocability. The other options are high on revocability.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-42

52. Which of the following is most likely to lead to a successful downsizing?

A. Avoiding indiscriminant reductions

B. Informing employees that they are laid off via emails

C. Downsizing at random

D. Avoiding changes in the nature of work roles

E. Removing the company's long-term employees first

The key to a successful downsizing effort is to avoid indiscriminant across-the-board cuts, and instead perform surgical strategic cuts that not only reduce costs, but also improve the firm's competitive position.

AACSB: Analytic Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

53. Which of the following best explains why older people approaching retirement age have no intention of retiring?

A. Many employers want to stay away from the costs of hiring a younger crowd and refuse to retire the older workers.

B. Older workers typically occupy the best-paid jobs and hence prevent the hiring of younger workers.

C. Improved health of older people in general, in combination with the decreased physical labor in many jobs has made working longer a viable option.

D. Employers are ignoring situations where it is more expensive to pay for an older worker's experience than hire younger employees.

E. Statistical forecasting results have shown that older people are an asset to an organization's economic strength.

The improved health of older people in general, in combination with the decreased physical labor in many jobs, has made working longer a viable option.

AACSB: Analytic Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-43

54. Which of the following is NOT one of the forces that draw out an older worker's career?

A. The improved health of older people in general

B. The fear of Social Security being cut

C. Employers being constrained by age discrimination legislation

D. Insufficient younger workers to replace the older workforce

E. Employers' fear of losing the experience that older workers possess

Several forces fuel the drawing out of older workers' careers. They are: the improved health of older people in general, the fear of Social Security being cut, employers being increasingly constrained by age discrimination legislation, and employers' fear of losing the experience that older workers bring to the company.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

55. In the face of demographic pressures dealing with an aging workforce, many employers try to use _____ among their older workers through early retirement incentive programs.

A. paid leave

B. job rotation

C. work sharing

D. voluntary attrition

E. transfers

In the face of demographic pressures dealing with an aging workforce, many employers try to induce voluntary attrition among their older workers through early retirement incentive programs.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Remember

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

5-44

56. Which of the following is a disadvantage of employing temporary workers as a means of eliminating a labor shortage?

A. The use of temporary workers adds up to many administrative tasks and financial burdens associated with being the "employer of record."

B. Temporary workers pose no threat to current employees, which makes the overall environment less competitive.

C. The low levels of commitment to the organization and its customers that temporary workers bring with them often reduces the level of customer loyalty.

D. Many temporary agencies train employees prior to sending them over to employers, which often means that the company has to retrain them in accord with its own standards.

E. Because temporary workers have little experience in the host firm, the objective perspective they bring is of no value.

Low levels of commitment to the organization and its customers on the part of temporary employees often spill over and reduce the level of customer loyalty.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation

Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

57. Which of the following is true about temporary workers?

A. Although they are temporary, these workers have to be included in employee records.

B. The objective perspective that temporary workers bring along with them is of no value because of their lack of experience.

C. Despite prior training from temporary agencies, companies have to retrain temporary workers to match company standards.

D. Some full-time employees perceive the temporary help as a threat to their own job security.

E. Instead of replacing long-term employees with temporary employees, many organizations supplement their core staff with a small set of temporary workers who act more like assistants to the core staff than potential replacements.

There is often tension between a firm's temporary employees and its full-time employees. Surveys indicate that 33% of full-time employees perceive the temporary help as a threat to their own job security.

AACSB: Analytic

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation Blooms: Understand

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Learning Objective: 05-03 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of eliminating a labor surplus and avoiding a labor shortage.

Topic: The Human Resource Planning Process

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