Assignment No.

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Are people always an organization’s most valuable asset? Why or why not?
Suppose your boss asked you to summarize the major people related concerns
related to opening an office in India. What issues would be on your list?
2. Name a company you hope to work for someday. What is its track record in terms
of corporate social responsibility and sustainability? Are these factors important to
you? Why or why not?
3. Will technology eliminate the need for human resource managers?
4. Do cost-containment pressures work against the effective management of people?
Why or why not?
5. What are the pros and cons of having a more diverse workforce? Is the United
States in a better position to compete globally because of its diverse population?
6. In your opinion, what is the most important role HR managers play?

Assignment No. 2

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Identify the three key elements of the human resources planning model and
discuss the relationships among them.
2. What external forces influence a firm’s strategy?
3. What criteria must be met if firms are to achieve a competitive advantage through
their employees?
4. Explain the difference between a firm’s corporate strategy and business strategy.
Why do firms need to look at both aspects?
5. Why is it often difficult for a firm to match its strategy to HR deliverables?
6. What steps does the firm need to take to execute its strategy and measure the
results?

Assignment No. 3
Activities/assessment:
Read Case Study 1: Going to the Dogs in Chapter 3 of the book Managing Human Resources
18e by Scott A. Snell and Shad S. Morris. Answer the questions at the end of the case.

Assignment No. 4

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Assume you are the general manager of a service department. How might formally
written job requirements help you manage your work unit?
2. Discuss the various ways in which a job analysis can be completed. Compare and
contrast these methods, noting the pros or cons of each.
3. Why is employee motivation such an important aspect of designing today’s jobs?
The job characteristics model has five components—skill variety, task identity,
task significance, autonomy, and feedback. Provide an example of how each
component can be used to improve an organization and the job of an employee.
(Suggestion: Consider your present or a recent job to answer this question.)

Assignment No. 5

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Name some companies with whom you have done business. Then discuss how
you view their employer brands. Would you want to work for them or not? How
might these firms improve their employer brands?
2. Think of a new type of business you would like to start up or manage. Which
sources would you use to recruit employees who could help you make it a
success?
3. Explain how realistic job previews (RJPs) operate. As a manager or business
owner, would you use them?
4. How can a career management program help an organization forced to downsize
its operations?
5. What barriers to career advancement do women and minorities face?

Assignment No. 6

Answer the following Review Questions:

 1. Is there a “best” employment process stepwise? What steps must come first and
last?
2. Compare briefly the major types of employment interviews described in this
chapter. Which type would you prefer to conduct? Why?
3. What characteristics do job knowledge and job sample tests have that often make
them more acceptable to candidates than other types of tests?
4. What is meant by the term criterion as it is used in personnel selection? Give
some examples of criteria used for jobs with which you are familiar.

Assignment No. 7

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. What economic, social, and political forces have made employee training even
more important today than it was in the past?
2. What analyses should be done to determine the training needs of an organization?
After the needs are determined, what is the next step?
3. Which principles of learning do you see demonstrated in your own classes? In
what ways might you bring other principles into them?
4. Suppose that you are the manager of an accounts receivable unit in a large
company. You are switching to a new system of billing and record-keeping and
need to train your three supervisors and 28 employees in the new procedures.
What training method(s) would you use? Why?
5. Participants in a training course are often asked to evaluate the course by means
of a questionnaire. What are the pros and cons of this approach? Are there better
ways of evaluating a course?

Assignment No. 8

Answer the following Review Questions:

1.     1. Describe how the performance management process is linked to employee selection,
training, and development.
2.     2. What sources could be used to evaluate the performance of people working in the following
jobs?
a.     Sales representative
b.     Robotics engineer
c.      Director of nursing in a hospital
d.     HR manager
e.     Air traffic controller
3.     3. Three types of review meetings are described in this chapter.
a.     What different skills are required for each? What reactions can one expect from
using these different skills?
 b.     How can a manager develop the skills needed to conduct a problem-solving
type of meeting?
c.      Which method do you feel is the least desirable? Why?
4.     4. Discuss how you would go about diagnosing an employee’s performance problems. List
several factors to consider.

Assignment No. 9

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Tomax Corporation has 400 employees and wishes to develop a compensation

policy to correspond to its dynamic business strategy. The company wishes to
employ a high-quality workforce capable of responding to a competitive business
environment. Suggest different compensation objectives to match Tomax’s
business goals.
2. Since employees may differ in terms of their job performance, would it not be more
feasible to determine the wage rate for each employee on the basis of his or her
relative worth to the organization? Explain.
3. Describe the basic steps in conducting a wage and salary survey. What are some
factors to consider? One of the objections to granting wage increases on a
percentage basis is that the lowest-paid employees, who are having the most
trouble making ends meet, get the smallest increase, while the highest-paid
employees get the largest increase. Is this objection a valid one? Explain.
4. What is a compensation scorecard and how does it help align a company’s
strategy with its compensation system?

Assignment No. 10

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Working individually or in groups, identify the factors for a successful incentive

plan.
2. Contrast the differences between straight piecework, differential piece rate, and
standard hour plans. Explain where each plan might best be used.
3. A frequently heard complaint about merit raises is that they do little to increase
employee effort. What are the causes of this belief? Suggest ways in which the
motivating value of merit raises may be increased.
4. What are the reasons behind the different payment methods for sales employees?
5. What are the reasons for the success of the Scanlon and improshare plans?
6. Because of competitive forces within your industry, you have decided to
implement a profit-sharing plan for your employees. Discuss the advantages of
 profit sharing and identify specific characteristics that will ensure success for your
plan.
7. Create a list of different types of incentives companies can offer professionals not
interested in administrative positions

Assignment No.11

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Many organizations are concerned about the rising cost of employee benefits and
question their value to the organization and to the employees. In your opinion,
what benefits are of greatest value to employees? To the organization? Why?
2. Employers are required by law to provide specific benefits to employees. What
laws mandate benefits to employees, and what are the provisions of those laws?
3. Working in teams of 3 or 4, assume your team was hired as a benefits consultant
to a small business having 50 to 60 employees. What benefits do you believe this
employer should offer, given limited resources? Justify your reasons for offering
these benefits.
4. Describe 401(k) pension plans, listing their advantages and disadvantages.

Assignment No. 12
Activities/assessment:
 
Read Case Study 2: Too Much Fatigue and Stress? You Decide in Chapter 12 of the book
Managing Human Resources 18e by Scott A. Snell and Shad S. Morris. Answer the questions
at the end of the case.

Assignment No. 13

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Explain three areas in which employee rights and employer responsibilities could
result in conflict. How might this conflict arise?
2. What are the legislative and court restrictions on employer drug testing in both the
private and the public sectors?
3. Discuss why documentation is so important to the disciplinary process. What
constitutes correct documentation?
 4. What do you think would constitute an effective alternative dispute resolution
system? What benefits would you expect from such a system? If you were asked
to rule on a discharge case, what facts would you analyze in deciding whether to
uphold or reverse the employer’s action?

Assignment No. 14

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Contrast the arguments concerning union membership that are likely to be

presented by a union with those likely to be presented by an employer.
2. Describe the steps in the traditional organizing drive.
3. Describe what it means for HR managers when employees win an election to
unionize. What can HR do at this point to make sure the employees’ and
company’s interests align?
4. Of what significance is the bargaining zone in the conduct of negotiations? What
are some influences affecting negotiated outcomes? The negotiations between
data services international and its union have become deadlocked. What form of
bargaining power does each side possess to enforce its bargaining demands?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each form of bargaining power for
both the employer and union?
5. What are some of the actions being taken by unions to cope with the
contemporary challenges they face?
6. How can companies respond to the labor changes that result from increased
technology and globalization?

Assignment No. 15

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. In recent years, we have observed an increase in foreign production throughout

the world. What PEST factors would you consider to be most relevant to H&M’s
HR managers when trying to figure out if they should open up a plant in Vietnam
to make clothes?
2. What major HR issues must be addressed as an organization moves from an
international form to a multinational, global, and transnational form?
3. Starbucks is opening new stores abroad every day, it seems. If you were in
charge, would you use expatriate managers or host-country nationals to staff the
new facilities? Explain your thinking.
Assignment No. 16

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Do you think the fundamental principles of getting employees highly involved with
their work provides an adequate context for designing high-performance work
systems? What other concerns or guidelines for developing high-performance
work systems would you suggest?
2. Although achieving both horizontal and vertical fit are important for high-
performance work systems, which do you consider more critical and why?
3. This Unit emphasizes the processes required to implement a high-performance
work system. What are the most critical steps to successfully implementing one?
4. Do high-performance work systems always result in a win-win situation for
employers and their employees? Why or why not?