Final exam “Long-Answer” questions

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS – MAKE SURE YOU ANSWER THE FIRST QUESTION AND THEN CHOOSE FOUR (4) FROM THE LIST.

ALL STUDENTS must provide a list of at least 10 areas of Human Resource Management that you learned through this course or that you gained better understanding of as a result of taking this course. Provide details and explanations of these factors. Each item should be presented in complete sentences (not just something like “compensation” or “laws”. I can read the index myself if that is all this is for!) I want to know what your “take away” is from this course that has helped you in your life now or will be of value to you as you begin or continue in your career. This question is worth 20 points.

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You must select at least 4 questions from the following list and respond to them. Your answers must provide full and complete responses. Points will be deducted for incomplete answers, incorrect spelling, grammar, or sentence structure. Each question will be worth 10 points. You may complete an extra question for 5 bonus points.

Chapter 10

Provide several sentences to explain the responsibilities for career development from the three different levels. Add a comment to explain how this might be done or what this would “look like” in practice.

· What is each employee’s role in the career development process?

· The manager’s role?

· The employer’s role?

Chapter 10 option 2

Discuss at least four (4) procedural suggestions for managing dismissals effectively and advise what you, as a supervisor, could do to avoid someone accusing you of wrongful dismissal.

Chapter 11

Review the Improving Performance: HR Tools for Line Managers and Entrepreneurs on page 373-374 16th edition and answer Discussion question Talk about it 4 or 11-4 at the end of the section – What type of job evaluation method would you use in a company with 15 employees? Why? Your answer should be at least two paragraphs with a minimum of 3 sentences each. You must provide a full explanation of the method (assume that the reader has never taken this course or is new to HR terminology) as well as a section on why you chose this method for this situation. If you can, relate this to your “company” created for this class or companies/organizations that you have worked for in the past.

Chapter 11 option 2

From page 32 question 11-7: After Walmart raised it minimum starting pay to $10 an hour, some longer-term employees (like one earning $12 per hour) complained that the strictly entry-level increase was unfair to them. And when the head of a company called Gravity Payments decided to pay all his employees at least $70,000 a year, some longer-tenure employees complained that it was unfair to raise new peoples’ salaries and not theirs. How should Walmart and Gravity address these complaints? You must have at least two paragraphs, one addressing Walmart and one for Gravity. You should explain why these new policies are good for the company, good for existing employees, good for new employees or why it is not a good idea for those groups of people. How could the companies mentioned address or correct the perceived unfairness in a manner that would validate their existing employees while still attracting new employees?

Chapter 12

From the Improving Performance: HR as a Profit Center section on pages 398-399 16th edition, answer discussion question Talk about it 2 or 12-2 at the end of this section. “Design an incentive plan for a professor.” Provide at least 3 possible incentives and explain, from your experience, the desired behaviors that they would motivate toward and why this incentive would be motivating to personnel in this position. Note: salary or hourly pay increases cannot be included in your list of suggestions.

Chapter 12 option 2

Compare and contrast five (5) types of incentive plans as mentioned in the textbook. These could include motivational plans for individuals, managers, sales personnel, or teams. Your comparisons should define the method and explain what group of persons this would best apply to. Be sure to always list possible disadvantages or problems with each plan that you present.

Chapter 13

Respond to Discussion Question 13-4 from Improving Performance: HR Tools for Line Managers and Entrepreneurs – Benefits and Employee Leasing on page 443 -16th edition. “Explain how you believe you’d react to having your employer switch you to a leasing firm, and why.” In your response, describe your job title and how your job fits in with the organization. Also provide the size of the organization. Your response should include advantages and disadvantages from employee leasing and why you would be pleased or displeased with being switched to a leasing firm.

Chapter 13 option 2

You are the HR consultant to a small business with about 40 employees. Now, the firm offers only 5 days of vacation, 5 paid holidays, and legally mandated benefits such as unemployment insurance payments. Briefly describe what type of business this is. Then develop a list of at least 4 other benefits you believe it should offer, along with your reasons for suggesting them.

Chapter 14

Explain how you would ensure fairness in disciplining, discussing particularly the prerequisites to disciplining, disciplining guidelines and the discipline without punishment approach. Be sure to include all of these factors in your response, not just one or two.

Chapter 14 option 2

Provide two or more examples of behaviors that would probably be unethical but legal, and three that would probably be illegal but ethical. Explain why you placed these behaviors in the category that you did.

Chapter 15

Per the section: Improving Performance: HR Tools for Line Managers and Entrepreneurs on page 507 – 16th edition, write a 30-50 word guide that summarizes the essence of these do’s and don’ts. Try to capture the essence of the reasoning behind the individual guidelines.

Chapter 15 option 2

List at least 4 reasons why employees join unions. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a union member?

Chapter 16

Per the section, Improving Performance: HR as a Profit Center on page 534-535 -16th edition, list six more (other than those mentioned in the textbook) unsafe incidents you believe might occur in a bakery, and a “safe manner” for doing each. How would you reinforce these good behaviors?

Chapter 17

You are the HR manager of a firm that is about to send its first employees overseas to staff a new subsidiary. Your boss, the president, asks you why such assignments often fail and what you plan to do to avoid such failures. Describe the type of “company” that this is (as you imagine it for this question) and provide a well-written response to the boss’s questions. What steps could be taken in advance of sending out employees that would help to bring about the success of the transfer and benefit the company long term?

Chapter 17 option 2

Per the section, Improving Performance: HR Tools for Line Managers and Entrepreneurs on page 573-16TH edition, choose one country abroad and write 150-200 words on this topic: “Here is what we should cover in our realistic preview to someone we are sending to this country.”

Chapter 18

Explain and give at least five examples of ways entrepreneurs can use small size—familiarity flexibility, and informality – to improve their HR processes.