-
Chapter 1
Introduction to Human Resource
Management
1.
Multiple Choice
1) The basic functions of the
management process include all of the following
EXCEPT ________.
A) planning
B) organizing
C) outsourcing
D) leading
E) staffing
Answer:
C
Explanation: The five basic functions
of the management process include planning,
organizing, staffing, leading, and
controlling. Outsourcing jobs may be an aspect of
human resources, but it is not one of
the primary management functions.
2) Which of the following is the person
responsible for accomplishing an
organization's goals by planning,
organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling
personnel?
A) manager
B) entrepreneur
C)
representative
D) generalist
E) marketer
Answer:
A
Explanation:
The manager is the person responsible for
accomplishing an
organization's goals
by planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and
controlling the
efforts of the
organization's people. An entrepreneur may manage
people or may hire
a manager to do so
instead, but entrepreneurs are defined as
individuals who start
their own
businesses.
3) Which of the
following includes five basic functions--planning,
organizing, staffing,
leading, and
controlling?
A) job analysis
B) strategic management
C)
employee orientation
D) management
process
E) adaptability screening
Answer:
D
Explanation: The management process
includes five basic functions--planning,
organizing, staffing, leading, and
controlling. Strategic management refers to the
process of identifying and executing
the organization's mission by matching its
capabilities with the demands of its
environment.
4)
Which function of the management process requires
a manager to establish goals
and
standards and to develop rules and procedures?
A) planning
B) organizing
C) staffing
D) leading
E) motivating
Answer:
A
Explanation: Planning, organizing,
staffing, leading, and controlling are the five
main
functions of management. The
planning function involves establishing goals and
standards, developing rules and
procedures, and forecasting.
5) Celeste spends most of
her time at work establishing goals for her staff
of fifty
employees and developing
procedures for various tasks. In which function of
the
management process does Celeste
spend most of her time?
A) leading
B) organizing
C) motivating
D) planning
E) staffing
Answer:
D
Explanation: The planning function of
the management process requires managers to
establish goals and standards, develop
rules and procedures, and develop plans and
forecast. Leading involves motivating
staff, while controlling requires a manger to set
standards, such as sales quotas.
Assigning tasks to employees is an aspect of the
organizing function.
6) Which function of the management
process includes delegating authority to
subordinates and establishing channels
of communication?
A) staffing
B) organizing
C) motivating
D) leading
E) planning
Answer:
B
Explanation: The organizing function of
the management process includes delegating
authority to subordinates and
establishing channels of communication. The
organizing
function also includes
establishing departments and coordinating the work
of
subordinates.
7) When managers use metrics to assess
performance and then develop strategies for
corrective action, they are performing
the ________ function of the management
process.
A) planning
B) leading
C) staffing
D) controlling
E) organizing
Answer:
D
Explanation: The controlling function
of the management process requires managers
to set standards such as sales quotas,
quality, standards, or production levels.
Managers then compare actual
performance with the standards, which often
involves
the use of metrics. Corrective
action is then taken when necessary.
8) Which function of the management
process includes selecting employees, setting
performance standards, and compensating
employees?
A) leading
B) organizing
C) planning
D) motivating
E)
staffing
Answer:
E
Explanation: The staffing
function of the management process is also known
as the
human resource management
function. The staffing function addresses the
process of
acquiring, training,
appraising, and compensating employees, as well as
addressing
issues of labor relations,
worker safety, and fairness.
9) Which basic function of management
includes setting standards such as sales
quotas and quality standards?
A) planning
B) organizing
C) controlling
D) leading
E) staffing
Answer:
C
Explanation:
The controlling function involves setting
standards such as sales quotas
and
production levels. Comparing actual performance
with the standards is also an
aspect of
the controlling function.
10) ________ is the process of
acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating
employees, and attending to their labor
relations, health and safety, and fairness
concerns.
A) Industrial
psychology
B) Labor relations
C) Human resource management
D) Behavioral management
E) Organizational health and safety
management
Answer:
C
Explanation: Human
resource management is the process of acquiring,
training,
appraising, and compensating
employees, and attending to their labor relations,
health
and safety, and fairness
concerns. HRM falls under the staffing function of
the
management process.
11) In the management
process, which of the following is an activity
associated with
the leading function?
A) maintaining employee morale
B) setting performance standards
C) establishing departments
D) training new employees
E)
developing procedures
Answer:
A
Explanation:
The management process includes five functions--
planning, organizing,
staffing,
leading, and controlling. The leading function
requires a manager to get
employees to
accomplish their jobs, maintaining morale, and
motivating subordinates.
12) Personnel activities associated
with human resource management most likely
includes all of the following EXCEPT
________.
A) providing incentives and
benefits
B) orienting and training new
employees
C) appraising employee
performance
D) building employee
commitment
E) developing customer
relationships
Answer:
E
Explanation: Human
resource management involves numerous personnel-
related
activities, and HR managers are
less likely to interact with customers. Managing
compensation, orienting new employees,
appraising employee performance, and
developing employee commitment are
typical aspects of the HR manager's job.
13) Which of the following
best explains why human resource management is
important to all managers?
A) Technological changes and global
competition require clear organization charts.
B) Sophisticated accounting controls
are supported by human resource managers.
C) An enthusiastic labor force is
likely to provide financial support to local
unions.
D) Investing in
human capital enables managers to achieve positive
results for the
firm.
E)
Economic challenges facing the world call for
advanced cost-cutting and
streamlining.
Answer:
D
Explanation: Getting results is the
bottom line of managing, and it is primarily
accomplished through human capital,
which is the knowledge, education, training,
skills and expertise of a firm's
workers. Managers throughout a firm need good
people
to get results, and hiring and
retaining good people is the objective of HRM.
14) According
to experts, the primary hindrance to a firm's
productivity is its inability
to
________.
A) establish effective
manufacturing facilities
B) acquire and
maintain human capital
C) use advanced
accounting controls
D) attain adequate
cash and credit
E) develop
organizational plans
Answer:
B
Explanation:
Experts assert that it's the work force and the
company's inability to
recruit and
maintain a good work force that constitutes a
bottleneck for production.
Projects
backed by good ideas, vigor, and enthusiasm are
less likely to be stopped by
a shortage
of cash than a shortage of human capital, which is
the knowledge,
education, training,
skills and expertise of a firm's workers.
15) ________ is the right
to make decisions, to direct the work of others,
and to give
orders.
A)
Leadership
B) Authority
C)
Delegation
D) Management
E)
Responsibility
Answer:
B
Explanation: The right to
make decisions, to direct the work of others, and
to give
orders is known as authority.
Line authority gives managers the right to issue
orders
to other managers or employees.
In contrast, staff authority gives the manager the
authority to advise other managers or
employees.
16) Which of the
following best defines line authority?
A) management over a small staff in a
public firm
B) management with flexible
decision-making powers
C) a manager's
right to advise other managers or employees
D) a manager's right to advocate on
behalf of his or her department
E) a
manager's right to issue orders to other managers
or employees
Answer:
E
Explanation: Line
authority is a a manager's right to issue order to
other managers or
employees, which
creates a superior-subordinate relationship. Staff
authority refers to
a manager's right
to advise other managers or employees, which
creates an advisory
relationship.
17) In most organizations,
human resource managers are categorized as
________,
who assist and advise
________ in areas like recruiting, hiring, and
compensation.
A) staff managers; line
managers