Key to Exercises

Chapter One
1. Choose the correct answer
A ABC B A A
2. True or false
T F F T T
3. Fill in the blanks
(1) The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (2) Equity Theory
(3) Hawthorne Effect (4) The Two-factor Theory (5) Staffing
4. Explain the following terms
(1) Human resources management (HRM) means the policies and practices involved
in carrying out the “people” or human resource aspects of a management position,
including recruiting, screening, training, rewarding, and appraising.
(2) Job satisfaction is an employee’s general attitude toward the job. There are five
major components of job satisfaction:
Attitude toward the work group
General working condition
Attitude toward the company
Monetary benefits
Attitude toward management
(3) Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham
Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Maslow
subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans’ innate
curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human developmental
psychology, some of which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans.
Maslow used the terms Physiological, Safety, Belongingness and Love, Esteem,
Self-Actualization and Self-transcendence needs to describe the pattern that
human motivations generally move through.
(4) Employee compensation refers to all the extrinsic rewards employees receive in
exchange for their work. Pay includes only the actual dollars employees receive in
exchange for their work. Incentives are rewards offered in addition to the base
wage or salary and are directly related to performance. Benefits are rewards
employees receive as a result of their employment and position with an
organization.
(5) Expectancy Theory proposes that a person will decide to behave or act in a certain
way because they are motivated to select a specific behavior over other behaviors
due to what they expect the result of that selected behavior will be. In essence, the
motivation of the behavior selection is determined by the desirability of the
outcome. However, at the core of the theory is the cognitive process of how an
individual processes the different motivational elements. This is done before
making the ultimate choice. The outcome is not the sole determining factor in
 making the decision of how to behave.
Expectancy Theory is about the mental processes regarding choice, or choosing.
It explains the processes that an individual undergoes to make choices. In the study of
organizational behavior, Expectancy Theory is a motivation theory first proposed by
Victor Vroom of the Yale School of Management.
5. Answer the following questions
(1) HRM often involves five activities: staffing, retention, development, adjustment,
and managing change.
(2) The factors include an impressive job title, a good salary, flexible working hours,
opportunities for promotion, days off and long holidays, training and staff
development, a pension, opportunities to travel, parental leave, company car, etc.
(3) In making a self-evaluation for a successful career development, one needs to
consider those factors that are personally significant, such as one’s academic
aptitude and achievement, occupational aptitudes and skills, social skills, interests
and values, salary level and opportunities for advancement, etc.
6. Open

Chapter Two
1. Choose the correct answer
CEBDA
2. True or false
TTFFT
3. Fill in the blanks
(1) audit (2) labor legislation (3) HR management plan
(4) Employee Assessments (5) Delphi technique
4. Explain the following terms
(1) It is the process of determining an organization’s future demand for human
resources.
(2) It is the process of identifying, developing, and tracking key individuals so that
they may eventually assume top-level positions.
(3) Trend analysis means studying variations in your firm’s employment levels over
the last few years to predict future needs. Thus, you might computer the number
of employees in your firm at the end of each of the last five years, or perhaps the
number in each subgroup(like sales, production, secretarial, and administrative
people) at the end of each of those years.
(4) With the Delphi technique, each member of a panel of experts dependently
estimates future demand, specifying any underlying assumptions.
(5) A skill inventory consolidates information about the organization’s human
resources. It provides basic information on all employees, including, in its
simplest form, a list of the names, certain characteristics, and skills of employees.
5. Answer the following questions
(1) What elements are entailed in the HR inventory analysis?
The HR inventory analysis entails:
Skill inventory, or keeping track of the number of employees, and the age,
locations, qualifications, and skills of each employee to determine the specific role
each employee would fill in the short term and long term;
Forecasting resignations and recruitment and understanding their impact on the
skill inventory levels;
Forecasting leaves, transfers, dismissals, sabbaticals, prolonged illness, and
deaths of employees and their impact on inventory levels.

(2) What are the tips you can utilize to keep your HR policy simple?
Creating an entire HR policy and procedures plan is not an easy task, but there are
some tips you can utilize to keep it simple:
When outlining the reporting or complaint process, instead of including actual
names, state the position as people can leave the company or move from position to
position.
Get as much free information as you can from both the U.S. Department of Labor’s
website, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) website, and from
your local department of labor and insert it in your HR management plan. Most of
these required policies really don’t need to be rewritten so why reinvent the wheel?
You pay a lot for that business insurance so ask them for samples of written policies
you can use.
Save money by writing the plan on your own. There are HR management
companies that can do all of this for you, but consider the cost of their services based
on assigned personnel cost that will write the plan to determine which is cheaper.
If you need a specific departmental plan, ask the HR department for help instead of
writing it on your own—you may miss or interpret some areas that HR heads are
trained to understand.
Assess your human resource management plan annually to see if anything occurred
in the prior year that wasn’t covered in the plan and needs further clarification.
(3) What are the four basic steps in HR planning?
HRP consists of four basic steps:
Determing the impact of the organization’s objectives on specific organizational
units.
Defining the skills, expertise, and total number of employees (demand for human
resources) required to achieve the organizational and departmental objectives.
Determining the additional (net) human resource requirements in light of the
organization’s current human resources.
Developing action plans to meet the anticipated human resource needs.

6. Case Study
Case I.
Open
Case II.

1. How would you answer the president’s question--- ‘Human resource planning?
What is that?
The ongoing process of systematic planning to achieve optimum use of an
organization's most valuable asset—its human resources. The objective of human
resource (HR) planning is to ensure the best fit between employees and jobs, while
avoiding manpower shortages or surpluses. The three key elements of the HR
planning process are forecasting labor demand, analyzing present labor supply, and
balancing projected labor demand and supply.
2. What would be required to establish a human resource planning system in this
company?
To establish a human resource planning system in this company we need:
appropriate demand models
good monitoring and corrective action processes
comprehensive data about current employees and the external labour market
an understanding how resourcing works in the organisation.
3. What measures should the president take to retain good young employees?
The president should take the following measures to retain good young employees:
which are responsive to change
where assumptions can easily be modified
that recognise organisational fluidity around skills
that allow flexibility in supply to be included
that are simple to understand and use
which are not too time demanding.
Chapter Three
1. True or false
TTTFF
2. Fill in the blanks
(1) resumes (2)vacancies (3) code unethical (4 ) anglicized (5) unethical

3. Explain the following terms

(1) Online Recruitment
Online recruitment, also known as “E-recruitment” it is the use of technology or
the web based tools to assist the recruitment process.
E-recruitment refers to “the recruitment process, including placing job
advertisements, receiving resumes, and building human resource database with
candidates and incumbents”. From the relevant literature, the words E-recruitment,
online recruitment, cyber recruiting, or Internet recruiting are synonymous. Online
recruitment is one of the worldwide trends for HR functions. The tool can be either a
job website like naukri.com, the organization’s corporate web site or its own intranet.
(2) golden rule
A golden rule is a principle you should remember because it will help you to be
successful. The golden rule is endorsed by all the great world religions; Jesus, Hillel,
and Confucius used it to summarize their ethical teachings. And for many centuries
the idea has been influential among people of very diverse cultures. These facts
suggest that the golden rule may be an important moral truth.
(3) Hays Challenge
 The recruiter Hays launched their interactive game, the Hays Challenge —an
online, interactive recruitment game which showcases all aspects of a career in
recruitment in a fun and engaging way.
(4) intranet
An intranet can be understood as a private analog of the Internet, or as a private
extension of the Internet confined to an organization. The first intranet websites and
home pages were published in 1991, and began to appear in non-educational
organizations in 1994. Intranets are sometimes contrasted to extranets. While intranets
are generally restricted to employees of the organization, extranets may also be
accessed by customers, suppliers, or other approved parties. Extranets extend a private
network onto the Internet with special provisions for authentication, authorization and
accounting (AAA protocol).
(5) Talent Pools
A talent pool is typically defined as a database consisting of profiles of
candidates who are actively interested in your organization. If companies have to fill a
vacancy, they can draw on the talent pool and look for a means of profile-matching
appropriate applicants and job opportunities. In the RPO world they are a great tool
for helping clients to recruit more efficiently. Talent pools are usually created when:
There is a surplus of candidates that meet the requirements of the role.
Candidates apply for a role where although they may not be suitable for that role,
they would be an ideal candidate for another.
Candidates apply for a role where they are slightly out of the area or have a
mismatched salary requirement.
4. Answer the following questions
(1) What are the disadvantages of the traditional recruitment procedures?
The conventional recruitment methods used by organizations consist of
contacting friends or employee referrals, engaging executive search, using
newspapers classified ads, and others. Whenever there are changes in company’s
policy, technology, location, mergers, acquisitions, de-mergers, and employees’
resignation, this process continues to take place periodically to add, maintain, or re-
adjust their workforce in accordance to the corporate and human resource planning. A
Study conducted by Goodwin revealed that the use of Internet to advertise a job and
attract potential candidates has been shown to be less expensive than traditional
recruitment techniques. The traditional recruitment procedures are not coping up with
the industry requirements especially in selecting the right candidate quicker.
(2) What are the key limiting factors to E-recruitment?
Companies cannot reach job seekers who are not on the Web.
It is not useful for jobs for which the relevant labor market is local.
The competition for candidates increases, since it is easy for other companies to
find the same candidates.
Lot of resumes online are overstating qualifications, while others may not
express the real value of a candidate. Thus, on one hand the company may waste time
to meet a poor candidate but not give an interview to a good one.
(3) How to handle the racial and gender discrimination in recruitment?
 First, determine if the workplace behavior of others constitutes gender
discrimination. Discrimination comes in many forms and degrees. There can be the
overt example of gender wage gap at your company or it can be a nebulous action by
a co-worker or boss repeatedly asking you be the one to get everyone coffee.
Secondly, ask other people of the same gender if they are experiencing any
discrimination. They can not only provide support for you but can validate that there
is a problem of discrimination in your workplace.
Thirdly, talk to the offending members in the workplace. This is risky because it
may cause a backlash among co-workers. You can end up with the label of a
complainer. This can happen because people do not even realize their own
discrimination.
Then, contact the workplace human resources department to lodge a complaint or
to seek arbitration. Some companies have a specific hotline that you can call to speed
up the process and to protect your anonymity.
Finally, File a formal complaint with the federal labor relations board or the local
governmental agency that handles workplace gender discrimination. Seek counseling
to help you work through any psychological impact from gender discrimination.
There are counselors that specialize in helping people deal with gender
discrimination.
6. Case study
Case I
Open.
Case II
Open.
Chapter Four
1. Choose the correct answer
D B B AA
2. True or false
T T F F T
3. Fill in the blanks
(1) crucial (2) commitment (3) productive (4) loyalty (5) customize
4. Explain the following terms
(1) Orientation is a procedure for providing new employees with basic back-ground
information about the firm.
(2) Job-shadowing allows an employee to learn about and benefit from brief stints of
job training while the employee observes and participates in the work of abother
employee.
(3) Apprenticeship training provides beginning workers with comprehensive training
in practical and theoretical aspects of work required in a high skilled occupation.
(4) Lateral move means an employee moves to an equivalent role in an organization
for job training an career development. The new role usually provides a similar salary
range and a job title at the same level, but the employee’s job responsibilities change
thus affording the employee training and new opportunities.
(5) While the new employees are touring the facility, provide new employees with a
piece of paper with the names of several associates they will be meeting. They are
then asked to obtain the signatures of the people they meet. The employee, who
obtains the most signatures, gets a prize.
5. Answer the following questions
(1) Illustrate some key questions to consider when planning a new orientation.
a. What things do new employees need to know about this work environment that
would make them more comfortable?
b. What impression and impact do you want to have on a new employee's first day?
c. What key policies and procedures must employees be aware of on the first day to
avoid mistakes on the second day? Concentrate on vital issues.
d. What special things (desk, work area, equipment, special instructions) can you
provide to make new employees feel comfortable, welcome and secure?
e. What positive experience can you provide for the new employee. The experience
should be something to make the new employee feel valued by the organization.
f. How can you help the new employee's supervisor be available to them, provide
personal attention and to convey a clear message that the new employee is an
important addition to the work team?
(2) Why is employee training worth the investment?
Training is crucial to the ongoing development of employees and their retention and
success.
Training minimizes the cost of turnover.
Training helps your business run better.
Training is a recruiting tool.
Training promotes job satisfaction.
Training is a retention tool.
Training adds flexibility and efficiency.
Training is essential for knowledge transfer.
Training gives seasonal workers a reason to return.
(3) How to provide effective job-training for employees？
You can expand your answer according to the following items.
1. Mentoring
2. Periodic in-house training from internal or external resources
3. Implement a book club at work
4. Require employees who attend external training to do job training
5. Promotion
6. Transfer
7. Lateral move
8. Hold brown bag lunches
9. On-the-job training
10. Coaching
11. Job shadowing
12. Provide internet, intranet, and webinar training classes and resources
6. Case study
(1) Staff unmotivated by safety training: something was missing from the safety
program. Supervisors did their duty and conducted required monthly safety meetings
with their teams, but in too many cases it amounted to taking material provided by the
Safety Department and going through the motions.
Some of the supervisors were dreading the training before it began. “When you have
safety training, guys are usually bored to death to be honest with you.”
(2) The employees think it is useless to have the safety training because some
supervisors just stand up front and read the safety materials verbatim. They are very
boring to listen to it.
(3) It was the best they ever had, Alesia says. And the improvement in safety
performance was noticeable after the training, The training was very successful in
helping Steel Dynamics improve its safety performance, Alesia says. “I think it had a
big impact.” “I think it empowered supervisors to come up with more of their own
solutions to safety issues.”
Case II
Open
Chapter Five
1. Choose the correct answer
1-5 A B B C C; 6-10 B A B C B
2. True or false
T F T T F
3. Fill in the blanks
(1) research (2) Obviously (3) weaknesses
(4) valuable (5)implemented
4. Explain the following terms
(1) Incentive bonuses are a creative form of compensation that some employers
offer their employees. When discussing compensation with a potential
employer be prepared to discuss incentive bonuses related to your position.
(2) This type of incentive is based on yearly payout that is determined by
evaluating individual employees. An individual incentive plan can cause the
employee to take aggressive action that might get out of control. Moreover,
standards set are sometimes unreasonable. Individual incentive plans are
known to create friction between management and workers, as the employees
seek to maximize profits, whereas the management is concerned about the
deteriorating quality.
(3) According to this scheme, a minimum base salary is ensured. To avail the full
salary, an employee is required to achieve the set targets. This scheme gets very
discouraging, especially if the set goals seem out of reach. It is a kind of
negative re-enforcement, a penalty and should be avoided.
(4) The greatest evil that beset this bonus is its infrequency. It is given yearly,
which tends to lessen its usefulness because there are no rewards to motivate
the workers through the year. It’s not easy to link it with performance. The
workers focus on what makes them look good in front of their supervisor,
 instead of targeting profits. For instance, in a school, teachers might focus on
maintaining discipline that puts them in limelight, rather than teaching their
subject to perfection.
By empowering employees to reward their peers for exceptional performance,
whether it’s going the extra mile or helping without being asked, you reinforce
positive behaviors which link back to your company’s mission, vision and
values. Peer recognition is especially meaningful for the recipient when it not
only creates a personal connection between colleagues, but also includes a
tangible gift award.
5. Answer the following questions
(1) Higher salary, paid annual leave, promotion, peers recognition, and etc, are
personal needs. According to the different individual’s preference, people will
give their different answers. Allow students explain their answers.
(2) As the teacher, you can group the answers given by the students from the aspects
of interpersonal, organizational, and technical skills.
(3) Google’s motivation strategy is very constructive and advisable to companies of
IT industry. Having busy working lives, the employees from this line are under
high pressure. Maybe higher financial rewards will not satisfy them stronger.
What they want is relaxation and spiritual rewards.
6. Case study
Case I
(1) According to Theory X, employers have to threaten workers because it assumes
that people are lazy and dislike work.
(2) According to Theory Y, employers should give their workers responsibilities
because it assumes that people have a psychological need to work and want
achievement and responsibility.
(3) Maslow criticized Theory Y because concluded that its demands for
responsibility and achievement are excessive for many people.
(4) Maslow argued that even though they might want to be given responsibilities at
work, they even need the security of order and direction.
Case II
(1) Herzberg suggested that good labor relations and working conditions do not
motivate workers.
(2) According to Herzberg, the kind of things that motivate such as having a
challenging and interesting job, recognition and responsibility, promotion, and so
on.
(3) The problem with saying that only challenging, interesting and responsible jobs
are motivating is that there are and always will be plenty of boring, mindless,
repetitive and mechanical jobs in all these sectors of the economy, and lots of
unskilled people who have to do them.
(4) Ways of motivating people in unskilled jobs include: to give them some
responsibilities, not as individuals but as part of a team; to ensure that people in
repetitive jobs change them every couple of hours; to make people consider the
importance of a company’s shared values or corporate culture, with which all the
 staff can identify.
(5) The problem with trying to motivate workers by the belief that their company is
the best is that not all the competing companies in an industry can seriously claim
to be the best.
Discussion
The answers are open, the teacher can arrange some groups to choose and discuss
these topics, then give some evaluation at the class.
Chapter Six
1. Choose the correct answer
C B A D C
2. True or False
F F T T T
3. Fill in the blanks
(1) incentives deficiencies (2) curve predetermined (3) halo
(4) denial aggression (5) interview remedy reinforce
4. Explain the following terms
(1) Evaluating an employee’s current and/or past performance relative to his or her
performance standards.
(2) An appraisal method that involves setting specific measurable goals with each
employee and then periodically reviewing the progress made.
(3) An appraisal method that aims at combining the benefits of narrative and
quantified ratings by anchoring a quantified scale with specific narrative
examples of good and poor performance.
(4) In performance appraisal, the problem that occurs when a supervisor's rating of a
subordinate on one trait biases the rating of that person on other traits.
(5) The problem that occurs when a supervisor has a tendency to rate all subordinates
either high or low.
5. Answer the following questions
(1) 360-degree feedback is an appraisal method in which performance information
is collected “all around” an employee, from supervisors, subordinates, peers, and
internal or external customers.
It may provide a more objective measure of a person’s performance and minimize
biases that result from limited views of behavior. It also makes the process more
legally defensible.
Differences among raters can present a challenge, especially in the use of 360-
degree for discipline or pay decisions. Bias can just as easily be rooted in customers,
subordinates, and peers as in a boss, and their lack of accountability can affect the
ratings. What’s more, it takes more time and, therefore, be more costly.
(2) The supervisor usually evaluates employees in organizations. The evaluation
should be done by supervisors, subordinates, peers, and internal or external
customers.
The criteria are open. The students are open to express their opinions
(3) open
6. Case study
 Case I
(1) open
(2) open
Case II
(1) Based on the information presented in the chapter, the students need to determine
if the workers and managers should be evaluated formally or informally, and the need
to provide reasons for their decision.
(2) The students need to be familiar with different appraisal methods discussed in
the chapter.

Chapter Seven
1. Choose the correct answer
A C B A C
2. True or false
T F T T F
3. Fill in the blanks
(1) risk (2) feminine (3)multiplicity
(4) hierarchy (5) self-respect
4. Explain the following terms
(1) Geert Hofstede carried out one of the most comprehensive studies on how values
in the workplace are influenced by culture. He conducted detailed interviews with
thousands of IBM employees in 53 countries from 1978-83 and has continued to
develop his research since. Through his large database of statistics he was able to
determine five dimensions of culture, which include: small vs. large power distance
(PD), individualism vs. collectivism (IDV), Masculinity vs. femininity (MAS), weak
vs. strong uncertainty avoidance (UA), long vs. short term orientation (LTO)
(2) As a concept and as a reality, culture is broad and multifaceted. On a daily basis,
culture influences who we are--as individuals, families, communities, professions,
industries, organizations and nations--and how we interact with each other within and
across regional and national borders. Defined as a set of values and beliefs with
learned behaviors shared within a particular society, culture provides a sense of
identity and belonging. From language, communication styles, history and religion to
norms, values, symbolism and ways of being, “culture” is everywhere.
(3) Cross-cultural intelligence is the ability to switch ethnic and/or national contexts
and quickly learn new patterns of social interaction with appropriate behavioral
responses.
(4) Long vs. short term orientation refers to how much society values long-standing,
as opposed to short term, traditions and values. Cultures with high long-term
orientation place strong importance on family, discipline and social obligations.
(5) Individualism refers to societies that emphasize individual achievements and
rights.
5. Answer the following questions
(1) In “masculine” cultures, people (whether male or female) value competitiveness,
assertiveness, ambition, and the accumulation of wealth and material possessions
(2) For the multinational enterprises, the three different levels of cross-culture should
be carefully paid attention to.
The first level is the deepest, which is referred to the cultural divergence between
two different countries or nationalities.
The second level is in the middle, which is the divergence of two different company
cultures, and it is quite common when the merger and acquisition happens during two
enterprises.
The third level is the shallowest, which is the personal culture divergence. It usually
appears between two persons who have different ages, genders or are in different
positions or departments during the same company and so on.
(3) On basis of the barriers’ severity, they could include the following three types: the
cultural divergence, the cultural shock and the cultural conflict.
6. Case study
Case I.
In Spain, human relations count far more than logic or efficiency. Spaniards
influence colleagues with personal appeal — not rules, regulations or deadlines. They
do not like being rushed and no one is ever too busy when asked to lend an ear. Thus,
in Spain, when a candidate is asked, “What do you do when working on a tight
schedule with several priorities? Give an example of how you handle this,” a S.T.A.R.
might give the following answer: “When our project team was working on a tight
schedule, we knew that the deadlines were out of reach. Knowing that the extenuating
circumstances were beyond our control, there was little we could do to meet the
deadlines imposed by headquarters. To ease everybody’s sense of urgency and stress, I
made sure that the team members were following the instructions I had clearly
defined for them at the outset of the project. Plus, they knew they could count on me
to take the responsibility for any delays. We worked late into the night preparing some
presentations to explain where the project was expected to be delayed, and of course,
we finished our sales forecasts for the upcoming year.”
Bob’s efficiency was totally out of synch with the relationship-building, hierarchal
and paternalistic structure of the newly acquired Spanish company — a company that
needed a culturally sensitive, effective manager (especially during the integration
phase), not an achievement and profitability-focused number cruncher.
The reason that the company could not determine if Bob’s style and approach
would integrate well with the Spanish division is because the right questions weren’t
evaluated in the right contexts. The behavioral interview questions were evaluated
ethnocentrically, giving great credit to answers that could only be predictive of
success or failure in U.S.-based positions. So, is behavior interviewing effective when
screening for international positions? The answer is yes, but with modifications.
Case II
(1) Malaysia is a high-context culture where communication requires awareness
of facial expressions, tone of voice and eye contact, and
(2) the United States is a low-context culture where people depend more on
words than on external expressions for meaning. Differences in collectivism-
individualism also explain the miscommunication between Fred and Hisham.
Collectivism emphasizes creating harmony and loyalty between people. Yet, due to
Fred's direct and assertive approach in the performance appraisal, Hisham
experienced individual criticism and consequently suffered a loss of "face" for his
team. On his end, Fred acted within the values of his individualistic culture and
emphasized individual responsibility, not group responsibility, in Hisham's
performance appraisal. Clearly, Fred is unaware of the cultural context in which he
spoke to Hisham.
(3) Had Fred received cross-cultural training regarding the Malaysian workplace
and appropriately communicated his feedback, Hirsham may not have requested the
transfer.