Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TRUE OR FALSE
1. There is a growing belief among U.S. businesses that, in order to satisfy customers, employees
must be satisfied.
2. The Taylor philosophy improved the relationship between labor and management.
3. Under the Taylor philosophy, the foreman's role was to assure that the work force met
productivity standards.
4. The Taylor system is criticized for its failure to use piecework incentives.
6. Human resource management is actually a modern term for what has been traditionally
referred to as personnel administration.
10. One area that has remained constant as human resource management practices have evolved
is low investment in training.
11. Total quality firms separate health, safety, and ergonomics issues from quality improvement
activities.
12. Deming was strongly opposed to traditional performance appraisal systems because the
performance factors are beyond the control of the individual being appraised.
13. The modern day role of human resource management is more strategic than in the past.
18. Human resource management is a role that is best left to functional specialists.
19. Human resource practices needed to support a cost leadership strategy are similar to the
human resource practices needed to support an innovation strategy.
20. People who are comfortable with uncertainty and who embrace change have become
universally desirable traits in today’s workplace.
21. Employees who seek esteem and self-actualization will flourish in a Theory X environment.
22. Work design is a modern term for job design.
23. Employee involvement initiatives often clash with organized labor structures.
24. There are federal laws that threaten the organization of joint management-worker teams.
25. Worker participation rates in suggestion systems are much higher in Japan than in the United
States
29. Pay is most effective as a motivator to employees who have reached the highest level of
Maslow's hierarchy.
32. In total quality companies, the major objective behind employee involvement initiatives is to
make employees feel important.
33. An early initiator of employee involvement activities in the United States was Lincoln
Electric Company.
34. In the Hackman and Oldham model of job characteristics, autonomy and feedback are the
major determinants of ‘experienced meaningfulness’.
35. The Hackman and Oldham model explains the motivational properties of work design by
combining the technical and human components of the job.
37. Job enlargement is a practice by which individual workers learn several tasks by rotating
from one task to another.
38. Empowerment entails giving people decision-making authority.
39. Self-managed teams are a special type of work team.
41. The elimination or simplification of work rules is one area of management/union relations
that receives major emphasis under the TQ approach.
45. Flexibility is a key aspect of union and management negotiations under TQ.
46. In total quality companies, most training resources are spent on a new employee’s initial
orientation and indoctrination.
47. Studies suggest that the effectiveness of a supervisor is positively correlated to both
cooperation and competitiveness.
48. Total quality firms have developed similar approaches for compensating employees.
49. Studies indicate that cash and non-cash recognition works better for clerical and hourly
workers than for managers and professional employees.
50. Total quality companies recognize and reward teams rather than individuals.
51. Quality circles consist of members who gather to solve a specific problem and then disband.
54. The criteria for hiring customer-contact employees is shifting from attributes such as
enthusiasm and resourcefulness towards criteria based on cognitive and technical skills.
55. A department’s critique of the boss’s performance is an example of 360 degree feedback.
57. One shortcoming of the Baldrige criteria is that the importance of employee well-being is
ignored.
59. Traditional performance appraisal processes are often at odds with the philosophy of total
quality.
60. In many situations, especially when organized labor is involved, the work force tends to
resist efforts to reduce rigidly defined, rule based tasks.
62. Employee involvement works well in a Theory X work environment.
67. Suggestion systems are more effective in the United States than in Japan.
68. A quality circle has cross-functional membership.
MULTIPLE CHOICE69. The Taylor system improved _____ at the expense of _____.
a. union relations, productivity
b. quality, productivity
c. planning, execution
d. output, scientific decision-making
e. productivity, worker creativity
b
71. Which of the following is not regarding the Taylor system?
a. the process must be controlled externally
b. workers who run the process control it
c. people are a part of the process
d. managers have to carefully control people
e. none of the above
73. Which of the following is not regarded as a traditional activity of personnel managers?
74. The Japanese often point to which individual as the major contributor to the adversarial
relationship between labor and management?
a. Deming
b. Juran
c. Feigenbaum
d. Taylor
e. Taguchi
d
75. Which of the following would not be considered a leading practice in human resource
management?
76. Which of the following constitute methods for measuring the effectiveness of human resource
practices?
77. Studies suggest that of the top employee needs in the workplace, employees rank _____ as
their number one need, while managers believe that employees rank _____ as their number one
need.
a
78. In the context of TQ, managerial roles can be described as:
a. controllers
b. appraisers
c. directors
d. facilitators
e. none of the above
d
79. People who exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty, and who are risk takers, would
best fit a company strategy based on:
a. cost leadership
b. innovation
c. a and b
d. none of the above
b
80. Studies indicate the worker participation rates in suggestion systems _____ in Japan
compared to ______ in the United States
81. A worker can explain how his/her work fits into the overall sequence of events in an
operation. This is an example of the job characteristic of:
d
82. Under Herzberg's theory of motivation, job security would represent a _____ factor and
advancement would represent a _____ factor
a. referent, release
b. maintenance, motivational
c. attribute, innovative
d. supervision, innovative
e. attribute, release
83. An early initiator of employee involvement activities in the United States was:
85. _____ is commonly one of the highest initial costs of a quality initiative.
a. New equipment
b. Training
c. Turnover
d. Salaries
e. Appraisal
b
86. Herzberg's two-factor theory suggests that two type of factors affect job performance. These
factors are:
87. The stage of Maslow's needs hierarchy that corresponds closely to Herzberg's motivational
category is:
a. physiological needs
b. safety and security
c. social acceptance
d. self-realization
e. autonomy
a. McGregor
b. Herzberg
c. McClelland
d. Taylor
e. Maslow
89. Job characteristics that have been found to have an impact on Hackman and Oldham’s critical
psychological states include:
a. skill variety
b. task variety
c. autonomy
d. a and b
e. a and c
e
90. Teams of workers and supervisors that meet regularly to address workplace problems
involving quality and productivity are known as:
a. work teams
b. problem-solving teams
c. quality circles
d. virtual teams
91. A job characteristic related to the degree to which a job gives the participant a feeling that the
work has a substantial impact on the organization or the world is known as:
a. task identity
b. autonomy
c. task significance
d. feedback from the job
e. task variety
92. A group of employees fully responsible for all aspects of processing claims at an insurance
company is an example of a:
a. quality circle
b. project team
c. virtual team
d. self-managed team
e. problem solving team
93. For an established, traditionally managed company that wants to begin developing successful
teams, an important early step is:
b
94. The "Theory X - Theory Y" model was developed by:
a. McGregor
b. Herzberg
c. McClelland
d. Taylor
e. Maslow
a
95. Which of the following represent reasons that employees withhold ideas for improvement?
e
96. The "preference-expectancy theory" was developed by:
a. Vroom
b. Maslow
c. Herzberg
d. Schuler
e. Jackson
97. Under the Hackman and Oldham model, _____ is the psychological need of workers to feel
that their work is making a significant contribution to the organization and society.
a. experienced meaningfulness
b. experienced autonomy
c. experienced identity
d. experienced responsibility
e. experienced validation
a. Herzberg
b. Skinner
c. Porter and Lawler
d. Schuler and Jackson
e. Maslow
99. The _____ was enacted in 1937 to prohibit unfair labor practices.
e
100. The concept of _____ involves increasing a worker's level of responsibility so as to provide
the worker the opportunity to use a wider range of skills.
a. job security
b. job enlargement
c. job rotation
d. job enrichment
e. job realignment
102. Motivation models that describe how and why people are motivated to work are called:
a. content models
b. environment models
c. concentric models
d. process models
e. trait models
a. Deming
b. Ishikawa
c. Juran
d. Kano
e. Crosby
b
104. Which of the following is not a content theory of motivation?
a. two-factor theory
b. hierarchy of needs theory
c. acquired needs theory
d. preference-expectancy theory
e. Theory X - Theory Y model
a. preference-expectancy theory
b. contingency model
c. acquired needs theory
d. goal-setting model
e. path-goal leadership model
c
106. All of the following are major segments of the Hackman and Oldham model except:
a. outcomes
b. critical psychological states
c. valences
d. moderating variables
e. core job characteristics
a. pay systems
b. positive reinforcement
c. productivity
d. group enlargement
e. valences
108. Which of the following is a core job characteristic according to the Hackman and Oldham
model?
a. task identity
b. work effectiveness
c. relaxation
d. work motivation
e. feedback
109. Historically, union leaders and labor relations managers have emphasized which of the
following aspects of labor relations?
a. collective bargaining
b. work rules
c. grievance procedures
d. management and worker domains
e. all of the above
110. New approaches to ensuring that job candidates have the required level of customer-focused
skills include:
e
111. Organizations have commonly used performance appraisals to:
112. Deming argued that the performance appraisal process was detrimental because it usually
fails to account for _____ factors that effect individual performance.
a. system
b. personal
c. machine
d. technology
e. value
114. Research has shown that the effectiveness of supervisors and subordinates is positively
correlated to _____ and negatively correlated to _____.
a. behavior, individualism
b. cooperation, competitiveness
c. favoritism, self-centeredness
d. competitiveness, cooperation
e. status, age
c
116. The major difference between quality circles and self- managed teams is:
117. The person who is given responsibility for plant-wide control and operation of quality
circles by the steering committee is often called the:
a. circle foreman
b. facilitator
c. QC circle pro
d. executor
e. provider
a. pride in workmanship
b. self respect
c. self reliance
d. heightened sense of responsibility
e. all of the above
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS119. Define the term human resource management. Identify
at 4 groups of activities that are performed as part of human resource management.
120. Contrast the role and function of human resource management under the traditional and TQ
approaches.
y = f(S,I)
where: y = sales
S = system factors, and
I = individual performance factors.
Suppose that a salesperson is compensated based on a sales quota. Use the above model to
explain Deming's position on an appraisal and reward system that depends on sales.
Response should argue that sales quotas are subject to factors (i.e.,
systems factors) beyond the control of the individual. Such factors include geographic location,
unforeseen competitive responses, state of the economy, etc. Deming would argue that such a
performance goal is unfair to the worker and can result in loss of morale and pride of
workmanship.
124. Discuss the differences between process, content, and environmentally based theories of
motivation.
Content models describe how and why people are motivated to work in a
static context. Process theories explain the dynamics of how people make choices in an effort to
obtain desired rewards. Environmentally based theories explain the actions and motivations of
individuals in the context of external factors not immediately under the individual’s control.
125. Explain the Hackman and Oldham model of work design for organizational effectiveness.
Response should identify the four major segments of the model: critical
psychological states, core job characteristics, moderating variables, and outcomes. Three critical
psychological states drive the model: experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility,
and knowledge of results. Response should elaborate on these states. Response should also
identify and elaborate the 5 core job characteristics that impact the critical psychological states:
task significance, task identity, skill variety, autonomy, and feedback from the job. An advanced
response would note that quality is related to all 5 of these characteristics.126. Discuss the
current status of labor relations in the TQ environment. What roles should labor relations
managers and union leaders play?
127. Identify the Baldrige category that relates to human resource management. Identify and
describe the examination items and key management processes that comprise the category.
128. There is growing belief that people represent a company’s only real source of sustainable
competitive advantage. Argue to support this assertion.
129. Compare and contrast the human resource practices appropriate for firms pursuing a) a cost
leadership strategy, b) an innovation strategy. Focus on practices related to staffing, appraising,
compensating, and training/development.
130. Identify at least 3 approaches leading companies take when training employees.
131. Identify five types of teams available to an organization and the context in which they are
best applied.
Quality circles are teams of workers and supervisors that meet regularly
to address workplace problems involving quality and productivity. Problem-solving teams
gather to solve a specific problem and then disband. Management teams consist mainly of
managers from various functions like sales and production that coordinate work among teams.
Work teams are organized to perform entire jobs, rather than specialized, assembly line-type
work. Project teams have a specific mission to develop something new or to accomplish a
complex task. Virtual teams communicate by computer, take turns as leaders, and jump in and
out as necessary.
132. Are quality circles most appropriately applied towards the organization’s ‘vital few’ or
‘useful many’ problems. Defend your choice.
Quality circles are most appropriate for the useful many problems.
Department workers and their supervisors are best able to identify, analyze, and solve problems
in their immediate area. In most organizations, there are many of these problems, but each
problem has relatively low payback potential. In most organizations, the most costly problems
are the one that span multiple departments or functions. These problems are likely chronic—in
part because the existing organizational structure does not specify any single entity with problem
solving responsibility. Such problems are smaller in number, but large in payback (the ‘vital
few’). Such problems are best handled by cross-functional teams of managers that have the
responsibility and the access to resources to successfully solve the problem.
133. Discuss the reasons why quality circles have not been totally successful in many U.S.
organizations.
a. Problem-solving
b. Management teams
c. Work teams
d. Virtual teams
135. Discuss the similarities and differences between self-managed teams and quality circles.