Human Resources Management, 13e (Dessler) Introduction to Human
Resource Management Exam Questions And Answers Verified 100%
Correct
What are the five basic functions of the management process? Explain some of the specific activities involved in each
function. Which function is most closely associated with human resource management?
The five basic functions are planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. Planning activities include
establishing goals and standards, developing rules and procedures, and developing plans and forecasting. Organizing
activities include giving specific task assignments to subordinates, establishing departments, delegating authority to
subordinates, and establishing channels of authority and communication. Staffing activities include determining what
type of people should be hired, recruiting prospective employees, and setting performance standards. Leading activities
include maintaining morale and motivating subordinates. Controlling activities include setting standards such as sales
quotas, and quality standards and taking corrective action as needed. Staffing is the function most readily related to
human resource management. However, HR managers actually perform all 5 functions.
Why is human resource management important to all managers? What is the role of line managers in human
resource management?
HR management is important to all managers because managers can do everything else right —lay brilliant plans, draw
clear organization charts, set up world-class assembly lines, and use sophisticated accounting controls—but still fail, by
hiring the wrong people or by not motivating subordinates. On the other hand, many managers—presidents, generals,
governors, supervisors—have been successful even with inadequate plans, organizations, or controls because they had
the knack of hiring the right people for the right jobs and motivating, appraising, and developing them. The direct
handling of people is an integral part of every line manager's duties. More specifically, line managers must place the
right person in the right job, orient and train new employees, improve the job performance of each person, gain
cooperation and develop smooth working relationships, interpret the company's policies and procedures, control labor
costs, and protect employees' health and physical condition.
Explain the difference between line authority and staff authority. What type of authority do human resource
managers have?
Authority is the right to make decisions, to direct the work of others, and to give orders. Line managers are authorized
to direct the work of subordinates and are directly in charge of accomplishing the organization's basic goals. Staff
managers are authorized to assist and advise line managers in accomplishing these basic goals. Human resource
managers are usually staff managers because they are responsible for assisting and advising line managers in areas like
recruiting, hiring, and compensation. However, human resource managers do have line authority within their own
department.
What are the three distinct functions carried out by human resource managers? Describe each function in a brief
essay.
The three functions include a line function, a coordination function, and a staff or service function. HR managers exert
line authority within the HR department because they direct the activities of the people in that department. HR
managers also coordinate personnel activities. In the service function, HR managers assist in hiring, training, evaluating,
rewarding, counseling, promoting, and firing employees. They also administer benefit programs and help line managers
comply with EEO, occupational health and safety, and labor laws.
1
, How have technological trends changed the nature of businesses? In what way has technology changed human
resources management?
Everyone knows that technology changed the nature of almost everything we do. We use PDAs to communicate with
the office, and plan trips, manage money, and custom build new computers online. Similarly, technology changes what
businesses do and how they do it. For example, Internet-based communications enables firms to offshore call center
jobs to India, which has had a significant effect on HR management. Technological applications provide support to
human resources. ASPs are used to process employment applications, Web portals are used to enable employees to
manage their benefits packages, and data warehouses help HR managers monitor their HR systems.
Today over two-thirds of the U.S. work force is employed in producing and delivering services, not products. In a
brief essay, explain the reasons for this trend.
Several things account for this trend towards service jobs. With global competition, more manufacturing jobs are
shifting to low-wage countries. For example, Levi Strauss, one of the last major clothing manufacturers in the United
States, closed the last of its American plants a few years ago. There has also been a dramatic increase in productivity
that lets manufacturers produce more with fewer workers. Just-in-time manufacturing techniques link daily
manufacturing schedules more precisely to customer demand, thus squeezing waste out of the system and reducing
inventory needs. As manufacturers integrate Internet-based customer ordering with just-in-time manufacturing
systems, scheduling becomes even more precise. More manufacturers are collaborating with their suppliers to create
integrated supply chains. The net effect is that manufacturers have been squeezing slack and inefficiencies out of the
entire production system, enabling companies to produce more products with fewer employees. So, in America and
much of Europe, manufacturing jobs are down, and service jobs up.
89) What is human resource management? What competencies are necessary for HR managers to succeed in today's
business environment? Explain your answer in a brief essay.
Human resource management is the process of acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating employees, and of
attending to their labor relations, health and safety, and fairness concerns. Strategizing, internal consulting, and dealing
with outside vendors and technology call for new human resource management competencies. Modern HR managers
need to be talent managers, culture and change stewards, strategy architects, operational executors, business allies,
and credible activists. Of course, human resource managers still need skills in areas such as employee selection, training,
and compensation.
What is evidence-based human resource management? How does evidence-based human resource management
benefit firms?
Evidence-based human resource management involves using data, facts, analytics, scientific rigor, critical evaluation,
and critically evaluated research/case studies to support human resource management proposals, decisions, practices,
and conclusions. Put simply, evidence-based human resource management is the deliberate use of the best-available
evidence in making decisions about the human resource management practices you are focusing on. Managers should
use evidence-based human resource management because unless managers take a healthy, skeptical, evidence-based
approach to human resources, they may jump to the wrong managerial conclusions. Life is filled with intuitive-sounding
insights, so managers should always be asking questions like, "What is the evidence for this claim?" and "Did this action
really cause this result?"
What ethical issues relate to human resource management? Provide an example to illustrate your answer. Ethics
means the standards someone uses to decide what his or her conduct should be. Six of the ten most serious
workplace ethical issues—workplace safety, security of employee records, employee theft, affirmative action,
2
, comparable work, and employee privacy rights—are human resource management related. HR managers who hire
children younger than 16 or illegal immigrants are violating ethical standards.
How has increasing globalization affected business? What effect does globalization have on HRM?
For businesspeople, globalization means more competition, and more competition means more pressure to lower costs,
to make employees more productive, and to do things better and less expensively. Both workers and companies have to
work harder and smarter than they did without globalization. Job offshoring—having employees abroad do jobs that
Americans formerly did—is a common method for reducing labor costs. In the next few years, many employers plan to
offshore even highly skilled jobs such as sales managers, general managers, and HR managers. However, other firms are
actually "reshoring" jobs—bringing them back to United States. HR managers working for global firms must be able to
develop policies and practices that are effective both at home and abroad.
3
, Human Resources Management, 13e (Dessler)
Chapter 3 Human Resource Management Strategy and Analysis
1) Strategic planning primarily benefits a firm's managers by .
A) creating a hierarchy of decision-makers
B) establishing goals to be accomplished
C) allowing employees to provide input D) clarifying the supply chain network
Strategic planning benefits a firm's managers by establishing the goals that need to be accomplished at every level
of an organization. A firm's strategic plan directs the work that occurs within a firm. A hierarchy of goals is
established from the top of an organization downward.
2) Since most well-run firms utilize a hierarchy of goals to guide major decisions, is
especially important to managers at every level to prevent departments from working at cross-
purposes. A) strategic planning
B) financial auditing
C) employee testing
D) employee benchmarking
Successful firms use a hierarchy of goals that are established at the top and trickle downward. Such a system
enables the strategic plans of a firm to be made clear to each manager and employee. Strategic planning helps
guide managers to make decisions in hiring, training, financing, and inventory that benefit the goals of the firm.
3) What is the first step in the basic planning process?
A) evaluating the possible alternatives
B) implementing a course of action
C) setting an objective D) comparing options
The first step of any type of plan is to set an objective or a goal. Assessing alternatives and comparing options
occur later in the process. Implementing the plan is one of the final steps of the planning process.
4) Which of the following is the most significant difference between managerial planning and the basic planning
process?
A) evaluation of alternative methods
B) establishment of clear objectives
C) assessment of long-term goals
D) interference from corporate hierarchies
The basic planning process is the same in all situations whether planning a career, vacation, or sales technique. The
planning process involves evaluating alternatives, establishing objectives, and assessing goals. However,
managerial planning is hindered by the hierarchy of a corporation, which requires that plans meet budgetary
requirements and match the long-term goals of the firm.
5) Which term indicates the course of action for getting from where you are to where you want to go?
A) goal
B) plan
C) proposition
D) assessment
1
Resource Management Exam Questions And Answers Verified 100%
Correct
What are the five basic functions of the management process? Explain some of the specific activities involved in each
function. Which function is most closely associated with human resource management?
The five basic functions are planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. Planning activities include
establishing goals and standards, developing rules and procedures, and developing plans and forecasting. Organizing
activities include giving specific task assignments to subordinates, establishing departments, delegating authority to
subordinates, and establishing channels of authority and communication. Staffing activities include determining what
type of people should be hired, recruiting prospective employees, and setting performance standards. Leading activities
include maintaining morale and motivating subordinates. Controlling activities include setting standards such as sales
quotas, and quality standards and taking corrective action as needed. Staffing is the function most readily related to
human resource management. However, HR managers actually perform all 5 functions.
Why is human resource management important to all managers? What is the role of line managers in human
resource management?
HR management is important to all managers because managers can do everything else right —lay brilliant plans, draw
clear organization charts, set up world-class assembly lines, and use sophisticated accounting controls—but still fail, by
hiring the wrong people or by not motivating subordinates. On the other hand, many managers—presidents, generals,
governors, supervisors—have been successful even with inadequate plans, organizations, or controls because they had
the knack of hiring the right people for the right jobs and motivating, appraising, and developing them. The direct
handling of people is an integral part of every line manager's duties. More specifically, line managers must place the
right person in the right job, orient and train new employees, improve the job performance of each person, gain
cooperation and develop smooth working relationships, interpret the company's policies and procedures, control labor
costs, and protect employees' health and physical condition.
Explain the difference between line authority and staff authority. What type of authority do human resource
managers have?
Authority is the right to make decisions, to direct the work of others, and to give orders. Line managers are authorized
to direct the work of subordinates and are directly in charge of accomplishing the organization's basic goals. Staff
managers are authorized to assist and advise line managers in accomplishing these basic goals. Human resource
managers are usually staff managers because they are responsible for assisting and advising line managers in areas like
recruiting, hiring, and compensation. However, human resource managers do have line authority within their own
department.
What are the three distinct functions carried out by human resource managers? Describe each function in a brief
essay.
The three functions include a line function, a coordination function, and a staff or service function. HR managers exert
line authority within the HR department because they direct the activities of the people in that department. HR
managers also coordinate personnel activities. In the service function, HR managers assist in hiring, training, evaluating,
rewarding, counseling, promoting, and firing employees. They also administer benefit programs and help line managers
comply with EEO, occupational health and safety, and labor laws.
1
, How have technological trends changed the nature of businesses? In what way has technology changed human
resources management?
Everyone knows that technology changed the nature of almost everything we do. We use PDAs to communicate with
the office, and plan trips, manage money, and custom build new computers online. Similarly, technology changes what
businesses do and how they do it. For example, Internet-based communications enables firms to offshore call center
jobs to India, which has had a significant effect on HR management. Technological applications provide support to
human resources. ASPs are used to process employment applications, Web portals are used to enable employees to
manage their benefits packages, and data warehouses help HR managers monitor their HR systems.
Today over two-thirds of the U.S. work force is employed in producing and delivering services, not products. In a
brief essay, explain the reasons for this trend.
Several things account for this trend towards service jobs. With global competition, more manufacturing jobs are
shifting to low-wage countries. For example, Levi Strauss, one of the last major clothing manufacturers in the United
States, closed the last of its American plants a few years ago. There has also been a dramatic increase in productivity
that lets manufacturers produce more with fewer workers. Just-in-time manufacturing techniques link daily
manufacturing schedules more precisely to customer demand, thus squeezing waste out of the system and reducing
inventory needs. As manufacturers integrate Internet-based customer ordering with just-in-time manufacturing
systems, scheduling becomes even more precise. More manufacturers are collaborating with their suppliers to create
integrated supply chains. The net effect is that manufacturers have been squeezing slack and inefficiencies out of the
entire production system, enabling companies to produce more products with fewer employees. So, in America and
much of Europe, manufacturing jobs are down, and service jobs up.
89) What is human resource management? What competencies are necessary for HR managers to succeed in today's
business environment? Explain your answer in a brief essay.
Human resource management is the process of acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating employees, and of
attending to their labor relations, health and safety, and fairness concerns. Strategizing, internal consulting, and dealing
with outside vendors and technology call for new human resource management competencies. Modern HR managers
need to be talent managers, culture and change stewards, strategy architects, operational executors, business allies,
and credible activists. Of course, human resource managers still need skills in areas such as employee selection, training,
and compensation.
What is evidence-based human resource management? How does evidence-based human resource management
benefit firms?
Evidence-based human resource management involves using data, facts, analytics, scientific rigor, critical evaluation,
and critically evaluated research/case studies to support human resource management proposals, decisions, practices,
and conclusions. Put simply, evidence-based human resource management is the deliberate use of the best-available
evidence in making decisions about the human resource management practices you are focusing on. Managers should
use evidence-based human resource management because unless managers take a healthy, skeptical, evidence-based
approach to human resources, they may jump to the wrong managerial conclusions. Life is filled with intuitive-sounding
insights, so managers should always be asking questions like, "What is the evidence for this claim?" and "Did this action
really cause this result?"
What ethical issues relate to human resource management? Provide an example to illustrate your answer. Ethics
means the standards someone uses to decide what his or her conduct should be. Six of the ten most serious
workplace ethical issues—workplace safety, security of employee records, employee theft, affirmative action,
2
, comparable work, and employee privacy rights—are human resource management related. HR managers who hire
children younger than 16 or illegal immigrants are violating ethical standards.
How has increasing globalization affected business? What effect does globalization have on HRM?
For businesspeople, globalization means more competition, and more competition means more pressure to lower costs,
to make employees more productive, and to do things better and less expensively. Both workers and companies have to
work harder and smarter than they did without globalization. Job offshoring—having employees abroad do jobs that
Americans formerly did—is a common method for reducing labor costs. In the next few years, many employers plan to
offshore even highly skilled jobs such as sales managers, general managers, and HR managers. However, other firms are
actually "reshoring" jobs—bringing them back to United States. HR managers working for global firms must be able to
develop policies and practices that are effective both at home and abroad.
3
, Human Resources Management, 13e (Dessler)
Chapter 3 Human Resource Management Strategy and Analysis
1) Strategic planning primarily benefits a firm's managers by .
A) creating a hierarchy of decision-makers
B) establishing goals to be accomplished
C) allowing employees to provide input D) clarifying the supply chain network
Strategic planning benefits a firm's managers by establishing the goals that need to be accomplished at every level
of an organization. A firm's strategic plan directs the work that occurs within a firm. A hierarchy of goals is
established from the top of an organization downward.
2) Since most well-run firms utilize a hierarchy of goals to guide major decisions, is
especially important to managers at every level to prevent departments from working at cross-
purposes. A) strategic planning
B) financial auditing
C) employee testing
D) employee benchmarking
Successful firms use a hierarchy of goals that are established at the top and trickle downward. Such a system
enables the strategic plans of a firm to be made clear to each manager and employee. Strategic planning helps
guide managers to make decisions in hiring, training, financing, and inventory that benefit the goals of the firm.
3) What is the first step in the basic planning process?
A) evaluating the possible alternatives
B) implementing a course of action
C) setting an objective D) comparing options
The first step of any type of plan is to set an objective or a goal. Assessing alternatives and comparing options
occur later in the process. Implementing the plan is one of the final steps of the planning process.
4) Which of the following is the most significant difference between managerial planning and the basic planning
process?
A) evaluation of alternative methods
B) establishment of clear objectives
C) assessment of long-term goals
D) interference from corporate hierarchies
The basic planning process is the same in all situations whether planning a career, vacation, or sales technique. The
planning process involves evaluating alternatives, establishing objectives, and assessing goals. However,
managerial planning is hindered by the hierarchy of a corporation, which requires that plans meet budgetary
requirements and match the long-term goals of the firm.
5) Which term indicates the course of action for getting from where you are to where you want to go?
A) goal
B) plan
C) proposition
D) assessment
1
