The first step in the human resource planning process is
A) forecasting.
B) goal setting.
C) program implementation.
D) program evaluation.
E) groupthink. - Answers A
The process of attempting to ascertain the supply of and demand for various types of human
resources is called
A) outsourcing.
B) downsizing.
C) delegation.
D) forecasting.
E) implementation. - Answers D
Which of the following is true of statistical forecasting methods that capture historic trends?
A) They are useful for predicting events in the labor market that have no historic precedent.
B) They are particularly useful in situations where there is no long, stable history.
C) They provide predictions that are much more precise than judgmental methods.
D) They remove the need for subjective judgments of experts.
E) They include variables such as intuition and guesswork in economic decision-making. -
Answers C
How do statistical forecasting methods differ from judgmental forecasting methods with regard
to the labor market?
A) Judgmental methods are not useful in situations that have no historic precedent.
B) Statistical methods are the best option for events that have no historic precedent.
C) Forecasting using judgmental methods is always more precise than forecasting using
statistical methods.
,D) Statistical methods are excellent for capturing historic trends.
E) Judgmental methods are better than statistical methods for events that have historic
precedent - Answers D
Which of the following is the definition of a leading indicator?
A) It is an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity between two currencies.
B) It is a measurement of consumer confidence, which is defined as the degree of optimism
about the state of the economy.
C) It is an economic indicator found by adding the unemployment rate to the inflation rate of an
economy.
D) It is an indicator to measure changes in the price level of consumer goods and services
purchased by households.
E) It is an objective measure that accurately predicts future labor demand. - Answers E
Statistical planning models almost always have to be complemented by
A) competitor information.
B) subjective judgments.
C) transitional matrices.
D) unstable history.
E) labor forecasts. - Answers B
A(n) _____ shows the proportion of employees in different job categories at different times.
A) invertible matrix
B) transitional matrix
C) definite matrix
D) task role matrix
E) orthogonal matrix - Answers B
Which of the following statements is true about downsizing?
A) The typical organizational response to a surplus of labor as been downsizing, which is slow
but low in human suffering.
, B) An organization turns to downsizing only in times of recession.
C) In firms that are high in research and development intensity, downsizing has been linked to
higher long-term organizational profits.
D) The negative effects of downsizing seem to be reduced in service industries characterized by
high levels of customer contact.
E) Downsizing efforts often fail because employees who survive the purges often become
narrow-minded, self-absorbed, and risk averse - Answers E
Which of the following is true about transitional matrices?
A) Transitional matrices can be read across rows but cannot be read from top to bottom.
B) Transitional matrices provide a comparison of the proportion of workers in protected
subgroups with the proportion that each subgroup represents in the relevant labor market.
C) Transitional matrices provide an objective measure of the effectiveness of an organization's
human resource recruitment policy.
D) Transitional matrices are extremely useful for charting historic trends in a company's supply
of labor.
E) Transitional matrices show the increase in productivity of employees over a period of time. -
Answers D
The goals that are set in the human resource planning process should come directly from
A) the mid-level managers who tend to be most in touch with the organization's needs.
B) the results of the previous year's appraisal process.
C) the analysis of the labor supply and demand.
D) the strategic choices made by the company's top-level managers.
E) the feedback provided by the organization's customers. - Answers C
Which of the following is true about offshoring?
A) The smaller and newer a vendor, the better it is for the company to conduct business.
B) Small overseas upstarts do not take risks that larger, more established contractors take.
C) Any work that is proprietary and requires tight security should be offshored.
D) A company should avoid outsourcing work that is self-contained and does not need an
exchange of information.