Florida International University

MAN 4701

File: ch01, CHAPTER 1: The Dynamic Environment of HRM

1)In the 1920s, multinational corporations became commonplace.

2. In a collective society such as the United States, people are primarily concerned with their own family.

3. According to Thomas Friedman, there are three eras of globalization: transportation, communication, and technology.

4. When off the job, an employer cannot legally control an employee’s behavior by prohibiting such things as riding a motorcycle, skydiving, smoking, or drinking alcohol.

5. Interestingly, most organizations take a ‘melting pot’ approach to diversity.

6. Many Gen Xers and Gen Yers, while passionate about their careers, will not sacrifice family and leisure for their career.

7. Given the population and technology shifts occurring today, the authors foresee an end to the labor shortage within the next year or two.

8. Employees who work fewer than 40 hours a week are called part-time employees.

9. Quality management is an organizational commitment to continuous process of improvement that expands the definition of customer to include everyone involved in the organization.

10. Continuous improvement programs aim at constantly improving the quality of products and services.

11. Radical changes in an organization are the focus area of work process engineering.

12. When managers make clear, forceful decisions for subordinates, employee involvement increases.

13. Recent corporate scandals have created a lack of trust for management.

14. Because contract workers’ labor cost is unknown and their service is usually poor as compared to full-time employees, organizations prefer not to use them.

15. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an employee is an individual who performs work for you, and you have the right to control or direct the result of the work but not the means and methods of accomplishing the result.

16. Mergers are a common way for businesses to enter new or global markets, acquire new technology, or gain a financial advantage by achieving economies of scale.

MATCHING KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

17. A process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, driven by international trade and investment, accelerated by information technology.

18. Corporations with significant operations in more than one country

19. The varied personal characteristics that make the workforce heterogeneous.

20. Those individuals born between 1946 and 1965.

21. An activity in an organization aimed at creating greater efficiency by eliminating certain jobs.

22. Linking employee needs to organizational strategy.

23. The part-time, temporary, and contract workers used by organizations to fill peak staffing needs.

24. Employees whose jobs are designed around acquisition and application of information. Ans: Knowledge workers

25. Using outside firms for providing necessary products and services.

26. A formal document that states an organization’s primary values and the ethical rules it expects organizational members to follow.

27. The Japanese term for an organization’s commitment to continuous improvement.

28. Radical, quantum change in an organization.

29. An organization’s full-time employee population.

30. Organizational commitment to continuous process of improvement that expands the definition of customer to include everyone involved in the organization.

31. The transfer of ownership and control of one organization to another.

FILL IN THE BLANKS

32. The fact that organizations are no longer constrained by national borders in producing goods and services illustrates the                                                  of businesses.

33. According to Thomas Friedman,                        was the second era of globalization.

34. Women and                      are the fastest growing segments of the U.S. workforce.

35. In times of labor                    , good wages and benefits are not enough to hire and keep skilled workers.

36. Contacting a pool of qualified applicants is one of the most critical aspects of                                             .

37.                 , a Wyoming statistician, is credited with introducing continuous improvement programs to Japan.

38.                     goes beyond incremental change and requires an organization to face the possibility that what the organization may really need is radical or quantum change.

39. A                may tend to view their work as not critically important to an organization.

40. Work teams, delegation, and peer influence are all examples of                                practices. mployee involvement

41. A set of rules or principles that defines right and wrong is commonly referred to as                              .

MULTIPLE CHOICE

42. During the mid-                   , multinational corporations (MNCs) become commonplace. d) 1960s

43. Kenyata is the training manager of a Chicago-based company. She is working on a training program for a subsidiary in Venezuela. The training program focuses on work-related cultural differences in Venezuela and the United States. It is very important for Kenyata to emphasize that:

44. DeMario, a Canadian native, has just been cleared for assignment as a country manager. He went to school in the United States and speaks English, Spanish, and French. What assignment would work best for him if there is no time for additional training?

45. All of these countries value individualism and acquiring things EXCEPT:

46. All of these countries value collectivism relationships, and concern for others EXCEPT:

47. Different countries perceive status differently. For example, status in French society depends to a large extent on education and seniority. Such an emphasis on education and seniority is called:

48. A California-based software company has just started a joint venture with a Japanese company in Tokyo. Doug, a U.S. expatriate, is the new general manager of the joint-venture. He is very excited about his foreign assignment in Japan. However, Doug has quickly become

frustrated with the lack of assertiveness of his Japanese managers and employees. He feels things are not accomplished fast enough. What should Doug do?

49. Which of the following statement about knowledge workers is FALSE?

50. How has technology changed HRM practices?

51. Shaneka is employed by a company that monitors employee emails and telephone conversations. While off the job, Shaneka’s employer can legally do all of the following EXCEPT:

52. Your text mentioned that telephone calls are monitored in which of these organizations?

53. Which of the following is an implication of technology in HRM?

54. All of these changes are causing an increased diversity in the U.S. workforce EXCEPT:

55. Which of the following is NOT true regarding workforce diversity in the United States?

56. According to the text, communication via a blog has all of the following advantages EXCEPT:

1. it’s a quick and efficient means of advertising a company’s products.
2. companies can discuss ideas among organizational members.
3. dissatisfied customers and disgruntled employees can write about anything they do not like.
4. companies can provide more believable public relations information.
5. employees can discuss the good things that are happening to them, which personalizes the faceless company to the readers.

57. A recent survey found that women in                              are world leaders with 45 percent holding senior management positions.

1. United States
2. Thailand
3. Canada
4. Brazil
5. Hong Kong

58. Today, the percentage of women managers in the United States is approximately a) 50%

b) 37%

c) 12%

d) 15%

e) 8%

59. Which of the following is NOT true regarding work/life issues in the United States?

1. Fewer families have only a single breadwinner.
2. The line between work and non-work has become blurred.
3. Many employees are asked to put in longer hours.
4. It has become easier for married employees to find the time to fulfill non-work commitments.
5. Communication technology allows employees to work at anytime from anywhere.

60. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that by 2014 nearly 2.4 million jobs will go unfilled due to all of these factors EXCEPT:

1. a major exodus of baby boomers due to retirement.
2. a declining birthrate.
3. potential training redundancy is developing.
4. immigrants do not have skills in the needed areas.
5. the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 may reduce immigration.

61. Why are so many organizations exhibiting a trend toward downsizing?

1. Quality emphasis programs are creating flatter structures and redesigning work to increase efficiency.
2. Greater control reduces flexibility.
3. Quality programs create steeper hierarchies with fewer workers at the lower levels.
4. Organizations are no longer global.
5. Big companies are vanishing.

62. Which statement is the best comparison of downsizing and rightsizing?

1. Rightsizing maintains long term employee commitment. Downsizing leads to outsourcing.
2. Rightsizing links long term organizational goals to staffing levels. Downsizing is one of the actions that may be performed.
3. Rightsizing maintains competitive levels of employee surplus. Downsizing emphasizes quality management.
4. Rightsizing is another term for offshoring. Downsizing is another term for outsourcing.
5. Rightsizing is a euphemism for a racist workforce. Downsizing means cutting the number of employees.

63. A large manufacturing firm needs to increase production to meet a seasonal demand. The demand is not sufficient to justify building new production facilities. Of the following options, which one provides the greatest flexibility and responsiveness to the changing environment?

1. downsizing.
2. flextime.
3. outsourcing.
4. telecommuting.
5. automating.

64. Technology increasingly impacts HRM practices in the following areas EXCEPT:

1. recruiting
2. employee selection
3. training and development
4. motivating factory workers
5. motivating knowledge workers

65. Work process engineering is:

1. another name for downsizing.
2. another name for rightsizing.
3. a continuous improvement method that radically increase an organization’s productivity.
4. an organizational commitment to incrementally improving the quality of products and services.
5. is a radical change in an organization.

66. According to the authors, one of the biggest challenges facing HR leaders is

1. understanding that workers will need to be recruited in a different way than just advertising a position and then selecting a candidate.
2. creating an environment that balances core and contingency employees.
3. training immigrant workers who do not have the skill set for the available jobs.
4. ensuring management treats all of their employees with respect.
5. rewriting HR policy manuals to satisfy the new generation of workers.

67. HRM typically provides which of these types of training to temporary employees?

1. Orientation
2. Retirement planning
3. Benefits options
4. Career management
5. Technology certification

68. An amusement park needs customer representatives during the summer season. The best staffing option for this amusement park is to use:

69. Which of the following is not a component of continuous improvement?

70. Which of the following quality experts has been credited for helping Japanese firms improve their productivity following World War II?

71. Which of the following is a component of continuous improvement?

72. According to W. Edward Deming, a well-managed organization is one in which:

73. The Japanese term “Kaizen” represents:

74. Which of the following statements best compares continuous improvement and work process engineering?

75. Which type of organizational change may provide a false sense of security?

76. Suppose you are the HR manager of an organization that has just adopted the philosophy of continuous improvement. You can support improvement programs in all of these ways except

77. Which of the following provides the best description of work process engineering?

78. A major drawback of focusing on continuous improvements is that it:

79. Ivan is the vice-president of human resources for a large manufacturing organization involved in work process engineering. What kinds of training needs should he anticipate?

80. All of the following types of employees are considered contingent employees EXCEPT: