Test Bank for Industrial Relations in Canada 3rd Edition

Test Bank for Industrial Relations in Canada 3rd

Edition

To download the complete and accurate content document, go to:

https://testbankbell.com/download/test-bank-for-industrial-relations-in-canada-3rd-edit
ion/

Visit TestBankBell.com to get complete for all chapters

Name: Class: Date:

Chapter 6 – The Management Perspective

1. Under a master –servant relationship there was rarely interference by courts, and when there was, it was usually in the
employers’ favour.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

2. Scientific management argues that workers went from performing a large number of tasks to becoming specialists in a
small number of tasks, and in some cases, a single task.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

3. Human relations is grounded in the belief that managers and workers have conflicting views and values, and that these
differences could not be resolved using effective policies and procedures.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False

4. It has been argued that human resources management minimizes workplace democracy.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

5. TThe strategic choice framework can be used to examine how management makes strategic choices.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

6. There is general agreement that a business/organizational strategy process includes three phases.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False

7. Strategic HRM can be defined in terms managing of HRM philosophies, policies, and practices in a manner that
supports the achievement of the organizational strategy.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

8. TA strategy of union acceptance is grounded in the belief that unionization is somewhat inevitable.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

9. TUnion removal strategies include paying unionized workers more than nonunionized workers.

Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 1

Name: Class: Date:

Chapter 6 – The Management Perspective

a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False

10. An example of union avoidance behaviour would include illegally firing union organizers.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

11. The strategy of union substitution applies to nonunion operations and workplaces.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

12. While the evidence of a positive relationship exists, researchers have struggled to prove causation, namely that these
HPWPs cause organizational performance improvements.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

13. Evidence suggests that more than 40 percent of Canadians are employed in some form of nonstandard work
arrangement.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

14. Nonunion employment–management programs are illegal by labour law legislation in Canada.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False

15. Evidence to date suggests that employees in nonstandard work arrangements are better paid than workers in standard
jobs.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False

16. Which approach reflects common-law employment relationships pertaining to non-union workplaces?
a. scientific management
b. human relations
c. master–servant relationship
d. human resources management
ANSWER: c

17. According to the textbook, why did employers hold more power than employees in the master–servant relationship
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 2
Name: Class: Date:

Chapter 6 – The Management Perspective

even though common law required employers to pay wages?
a. Collective bargaining enhanced their power.
b. There were no rules about how much/how often employees were paid.
c. Court decisions favouring employees were ignored by employers.
d. Common law explicitly states that employers hold more power.
ANSWER: b

18. How did Taylorism perpetuate the master–servant relationship?

a. Early assembly lines were small operations with few employees.
b. Time and motion studies required master–servant interaction.
c. Management planning and decision making resulted in control of work and the workplace.
d. Productivity studies showed how to address social needs of workers.
ANSWER: c

19. Why was scientific management a logical evolution from the master–servant model of management?
a. Large numbers of factory employees were more challenging to manage.
b. Frederick Taylor’s theory built on earlier management theories.
c. Simple tasks of an earlier time gave way to more complex tasks.
d. Large numbers of factory workers were more easily managed.
ANSWER: a

20. Which management approach is grounded in the belief that effective management techniques can minimize employer–
employee conflict?
a. human relations
b. master–servant relationship
c. human resources management
d. Taylorism
ANSWER: a

21. Which view is centred on the relationship between individual employees and their employers?
a. human relations
b. master–servant relationship
c. human resources management
d. Taylorism
ANSWER: c

22. How does the textbook describe the way employees view the fairness of workplace procedures?
a. interactional justice
b. organizational justice
c. distributive justice
d. procedural justice
ANSWER: d

23. What factors do human resources professionals seek to achieve balance between?
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 3
Name: Class: Date:

Chapter 6 – The Management Perspective

a. fairness and performance
b. efficiency and inequity
c. fairness and efficiency
d. equity and opportunity
ANSWER: c

24. Freely negotiated collective agreements fill the vacuum between which competing interests?
a. employee rights and firm success
b. management rights and labour tribunal rights
c. government’s need for labour peace and political agendas
d. exploitation and unsafe work practices
ANSWER: a

25. What does Barbash’s concept of equity have in common with organizational justice theory?
a. secure employment
b. meaningful work
c. equitable treatment at work
d. non-discrimination at work
ANSWER: c

26. Which organizational justice concept corresponds to Dunlop’s concept of substantive rules?
a. strategic choice
b. procedural justice
c. equity
d. due process
ANSWER: b

27. How are human resources management and industrial relations similar?
a. Both were founded on human relations theory.
b. Both separate strategy from function.
c. Both believe that bargaining is the best way to ensure equity.
d. Both were founded on organization justice theory.
ANSWER: d

28. Which view emphasizes the importance of management and strategies in industrial relations?
a. master–servant
b. human relations
c. strategic choice framework
d. Taylorism
ANSWER: c

29. At what level does strategic choice theory highlight the importance of decision making?
a. union
b. firm
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 4
Name: Class: Date:

Chapter 6 – The Management Perspective

c. individual employee
d. high performance work group
ANSWER: b

30. Back-to-work legislation is often justified as an example of government action at which level of the strategic choice
model?
a. collective bargaining
b. workplace
c. long-term strategic
d. procedural justice
ANSWER: a

31. Which argument suggests that the strategic choice framework applies in Canada?
a. There is a low level of union density in the private sector.
b. There is a rise in nonunionized industries in Canada.
c. There is a rising union density in Canada’s private sector.
d. Governments have shifted toward supporting labour issues.
ANSWER: b

32. Which argument suggests that the strategic choice framework does NOT apply in Canada?
a. Labour legislation in Canada is pro-management.
b. Canada’s union density rate has fallen rapidly.
c. Union organizing has avoided new sectors of the economy.
d. Canada’s public sector is heavily unionized.
ANSWER: d

33. Which management strategy is grounded in the belief that unionization is a democratic right?
a. union resistance
b. union acceptance
c. union substitution
d. union removal
ANSWER: b

34. In which management strategy does management partly accept employees’ right to unionize and yet seeks to limit the
spread of unions in the firm?
a. union resistance
b. union removal
c. union substitution
d. union acceptance
ANSWER: a

35. According to the textbook, which management strategy regarding unionization is Canada leaning towards?
a. We have not seen a radical shift toward union removal policies.
b. There is a trend toward nonunion approach in older operations.
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 5
Name: Class: Date:

Chapter 6 – The Management Perspective

c. There is no clear evidence to support any strategy.
d. New firms are unionizing at a greater rate.
ANSWER: b

36. What is a comprehensive human resources strategy designed to improve organizational performance?
a. strategic human resources management
b. human relations
c. high-performance work practices
d. participative management
ANSWER: c

37. Which cluster includes high-performance practices?

a. ability enhancing practices
b. employer acceptance practices
c. management-by-objectives
d. human relations practices
ANSWER: a

38. According to the textbook, what effect have unions had on companies who have adopted HRWPs?
a. Results are inconclusive whether a union facilitates or impedes the implementation of HRWP.
b. Unions impede the development of HRWPs.
c. Unions facilitate the development of HRWPs.
d. Unions are indifferent to the development of HRWPs.
ANSWER: a

39. What characteristic do nonunion employee–management plans share with unionized workplaces?
a. Workers pay dues similar to union dues.
b. Employee representatives are democratically elected by workers.
c. Employers pay workers for attendance at association meetings.
d. Minutes of meetings are edited by management.
ANSWER: b

40. Which group would not have access to grievance arbitration under labour laws?
a. Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association
b. Canadian Union of Public Employees
c. Dofasco
d. Ford Motor Company
ANSWER: c

41. What reason does the text give for arguing that many professional organizations are quasi-union in nature?
a. They can go on strike.
b. They include skilled tradespersons.
c. They are certified by labour relations boards.
d. Employers and employees can agree to an arbitration process.
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 6
Name: Class: Date:

Chapter 6 – The Management Perspective

ANSWER: d

42. Why are nonstandard work arrangements popular as a management strategy?

a. They can align labour levels to match business production needs.
b. They provide work–life balance.
c. They standardize work schedules for employees.
d. They enhance the relationship between pay and performance.
ANSWER: a

43. Which of the following do employees in nonstandard work arrangements experience more often than those in standard
jobs?
a. better benefits and wages
b. more job security
c. increased unionization
d. low wages
ANSWER: d

44. Which term refers to “precarious employment”?

a. professional employment
b. sales employment
c. management occupations only
d. non-standard work arrangements
ANSWER: d

45. Name three of the key principles of Barbash’s concept of equity.

ANSWER: 11. Employees need to have a say in the work they perform (“voice”).
2. Employees require due process in the handling of complaints.
3. Employees are entitled to fair treatment at work.
4. Employees are entitled to meaningful work.
5. Employees need fair compensation and secure employment.

46. Name three elements of organizational justice theory.

ANSWER: 1. Distributive justice
2. Procedural justice
3. Interactional justice

47. The strategic choice framework states that IR decisions are made at three levels. What are the three levels?
ANSWER: 1. The business level (i.e., long-term strategic level)
2. The collective bargaining level
3. The day-to-day workplace level

48. Name the four phases of business/organizational strategy process.

ANSWER: 1. Assessments of external and internal environment
2. Strategy formation
3. Strategy implementation
4. Strategy evaluation

Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 7

Name: Class: Date:

Chapter 6 – The Management Perspective

49. What are the three key elements of human resources strategies?
ANSWER: 1. Specific practices (e.g., selection, promotion)
2. Specific policies (e.g., policies and procedures related to performance appraisal)
3. Overall human resources philosophy

50. List the four specific management strategies related to unions according to Thompson (1995).
ANSWER: 1. Union acceptance
2. Union resistance
3. Union removal
4. Union substitution

51. Describe the two high-performance models that have emerged in Canada.
ANSWER: 1.TCompensation-based: This focuses on rewards (e.g., compensation) as a way to improve firm productivity
and innovation. It often includes forms of incentive pay (skill-based pay, profit-sharing, etc.).
2.TParticipative management: This focuses on increasing employee participation/involvement as a way to
improve firm productivity. As such, it examines how giving front-line employees more decision making and
control can improve firm performance. It often uses teams and TQM.

52. Employers argue that nonstandard work provides many advantages to both workers and employers. Discuss (1) the
advantages of nonstandard work as proposed by employers, and (2) the research evidence concerning these jobs versus
“standard” jobs.
ANSWER: 1. Employers argue that nonstandard work arrangements can offer the advantages of increased flexibility,
better work–life balance, improved ability to recruit and retain employees, lower turnover rates, less employee
stress and anxiety, less commuting time, and lower child-care costs.
2. The evidence to date suggests that employees in nonstandard work arrangements have fewer benefits, lower
wages, and less job security relative to workers in “standard” jobs.

53. Explain the concept of scientific management as it relates to employer–employee relationships.

ANSWER: The Industrial Revolution brought forth a new form of workplace organization. We saw a movement toward
large-scale industrial workplaces employing large groups of workers. In these workplaces, much of the focus
was on mass production through assembly lines. Workers went from performing a large number of tasks to
becoming specialists in a small number of tasks, and in some cases, a single task. Much of the push for task
specialization started in the early 1900s with the advent of Frederick Taylor’s theory of scientific
management.

Two key principles of Taylor’s theory follow. First, work should be divided into simple tasks, and workers
should be trained to perform a small number of these simple tasks. Second, managers should perform all
planning and decision-making tasks while workers merely perform simple tasks in accordance with the plans
and decisions made by management. Given the role of management in the planning and decision making, and
the employees’ role of following directions, we see that elements of the master–servant relationship remained
in this industrial-based perspective. That is, the master made the rules, and the worker followed with little say
in work processes or the workplace as a whole. In many ways, this perspective saw the employee as an
extension of the machines they ran; the goal was to reduce costs by making the production line (and those
running it) as efficient as possible. This quest for efficiency exists today.

54. Explain the concept of human resources management as it relates to employer–employee relationship.
ANSWER: Many of the concepts of the HRM perspective grew out of the human relations school and the closely
associated field of organizational behaviour. At the core of this view is the relationship between individual
employees and their employers, often represented by management. Most HRM practitioners and scholars
focus on issues associated with the selection, performance appraisal, training, and compensation of individual
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 8
Name: Class: Date:

Chapter 6 – The Management Perspective

employees. In this role, the HRM professional seeks to balance the need for fairness in workplace procedures
with the organization’s need to remain efficient and productive. It can be argued that the HRM perspective
minimizes the elements of industrial democracy, or democratic processes in the workplace (since it is not
focused on collective representation), as well as the inherent conflict between management and worker as they
attempt to achieve their competing needs.

55. Explain the three elements of the strategic choice framework as it relates to industrial relations.
ANSWER: The strategic choice framework highlighted three elements. First, IR decisions are made at three levels: the
business level (i.e., long-term strategic level); the collective bargaining level; and the day-to-day workplace
level. The (or strategic) level would represent the senior management of the organization where long-term
strategies are developed and implemented. The collective bargaining level would represent the level of the
firm where collective agreements are negotiated and implemented. The workplace level focuses on the front-
line management group that deals with day-to-day workplace issues within the organization. Second, effective
strategies require these three levels (i.e., strategic, collective bargaining, and workplace) to work in one
direction in order to achieve major goals. Thus, these strategic choices must be designed to achieve a
significant goal, planned and executed from the highest level, and must have a long-term focus. Third,
strategic choices can have a longer-term impact on all actors of the industrial relations system. The key here is
that the strategic choice of one actor can impact the other actors and indeed the IR system.

56. Explain 2 management strategies related to unions.

ANSWER: A strategy of union acceptance is grounded in the belief that unionization is somewhat inevitable.
Management accepts the fact that unionization is a democratic right and part, if not all, of the company’s
operations will be unionized. However, this does not mean that management will relinquish control of the
operation to the union. Rather, the goal is for management to obtain the best deal that it can to meet its
operational needs.

A union resistance strategy in essence contains two somewhat contrasting elements. On one hand,
management accepts the right of employees to organize and may follow a union-acceptance strategy in the
parts of the organization that are currently unionized. In such unionized workplaces, management will seek to
get the best deal that it can and will negotiate in good faith without any attempt to remove the union. On the
other hand, management will oppose any further unionization of its workforce. This attempt to stop union
inroads may include active opposition to union drives and challenging certification procedures. Examples of
union avoidance behaviours include illegally firing union organizers or supporters, restricting union access to
the workplace, hiring consultants to assist in an anti-union campaign, training managers to oppose the drive,
and threatening to close the operation if it becomes unionized.

Union removal seeks to remove the union wherever it exists in the workforce. This is also sometimes called
“union busting.” Again, it essentially has two elements. In unionized workplaces, management endeavours to
ensure that unionized employees’ working conditions, wages, and benefits are not superior to those of
nonunion employees. In so doing, they attempt to send a message to union members that the union is not
getting them a better employment package than they would receive if they were not union members. In
nonunionized workplaces, management will try to discourage union activity by sending the message that there
is little to gain from unionization and will openly resist any union certification drives.

The strategy of union substitution applies to nonunion operations and workplaces. In essence, taken to its
fullest, union substitution is designed to give nonunion employees all of the due process elements (e.g., appeal
procedures, clear policies applied consistently), representation (e.g., teams), and compensation advantages of
unionization. Take for example the fact that many nonunion employers have employee handbooks that contain
policies concerning discipline, discrimination, hours of work, wages, benefits, appeal processes, and
performance expectations. In essence, these handbooks are very similar to a collective agreement with the
exception that each individual employee signs the book as there is no collective agreement negotiated by a
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 9
Test Bank for Industrial Relations in Canada 3rd Edition

Name: Class: Date:

Chapter 6 – The Management Perspective

union. Therefore, it can be argued that management, through its HRM policies and practices, attempts to
provide a substitute to unionization that makes employees see unionization as unnecessary. This strategy is
also called a union avoidance strategy in that one avoids unionization through a substitution strategy.

Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 10

Visit TestBankBell.com to get complete for all chapters