HRM Chapter 2

Lina has a one-year contract to work in the IT department for a new company, Pie Makers. Lina is part of the

• external labor market.

• internal labor force.

• gig economy.

• company's high-performance work system.

• company's outsourcing strategy.

Which scenario exemplifies an individual in the external labor market?

• Jason, a contract worker, working for a certain period specified in a written contract

• Arman, a temporary worker, being paid by a company for his services

• Annabelle, an engineering graduate, looking for a job

• Jerusha, an employee, going through training

• Vineet, an employee, securing his financial services certification

Madison, a business researcher, believes that organizations will have to spend a lot of money on employee health care in the future. Her colleague Jamaal argues that organizations will not have to increase their spending on employee health care benefits. Which statement weakens Jamaal's argument?

• The labor force is expected to grow at a greater rate by 2028 than at any other time in U.S. history.

• The largest proportion of the labor force is expected to be in the 16- to 25-year age group.

• The fastest-growing age group is workers 16-25, who are prone to having accidents.

• The fastest-growing share of the workforce is at least 55 years old.

• The total cost of labor in the United States will decrease considerably in the near future.

Managing cultural diversity involves

• forming different pay structures for various groups.

• creating separate career tracks for employees with families.

• avoiding the use of affirmative action policies.

• reducing cultural diversity through selective hiring.

• encouraging career development for women and minorities.

Given the increasing use of computers to do routine tasks, which employee skill is most likely to be actively sought by the employers today?

• physical strength

• mastery of a particular piece of machinery

• interpersonal skills

• ability to perform routine tasks

• ability to work with a variety of tools

Organizations that have the best possible fit between their social system and their technical system are referred to as

• workforce analysis systems.

• holistic management systems.

• supply chain systems.

• high-performance work systems.

• total quality management systems.

Jones Inc., a financial services company, specializes in customers' preferences and cost-efficient processes. They also encourage self-managing teams that make all decisions regarding business development and the sale of services to their customers. The firm ensures that there is a good fit between its work system and its people. This scenario implies that Jones Inc. has a

• workforce analysis system.

• high-performance work system.

• supply chain system.

• total quality management system.

• holistic management system.

What is a characteristic of current-day high-performance work systems?

• mismatches in technical system and social system

• employee empowerment in decision making

• increase in individual assignments

• centralized decision making

• reduced reliance on knowledge workers

Which statement is correct regarding skilled knowledge workers?

• They do not have considerable autonomy to make decisions.

• They are most likely to experience a lack of opportunities in a slow economy.

• They are not easily replaced because they own the knowledge that the company requires to produce its products.

• They are not expected to be technically efficient and are only involved in direct interactions with customers.

• They do not have a lot of job opportunities because employers can simply order these employees to perform tasks.

Kaleb works at Growing Green, an environmentally conscious clothing company. He works as a social media analyst, primarily focusing on understanding the tastes and needs of the customers. He achieves this by regularly interacting with customers through various promotional activities and events through social media sites, and then building databases that help the company better develop eco-friendly articles of clothing that appeal to their client base. This implies that Kaleb

• is an HR professional.

• encourages centralized decision making.

• is a knowledge worker.

• encourages a narrow business focus.

• belongs to the external labor market.