MST Solution, s2 2013

The University of the South Pacific
Faculty of Business and Economics

School of Management and Public Administration
MG 106DFL – Introduction to Human Resource Management
Mid Semester Examination, Semester 2, 2013
Time allowed: One Hour
(An extra ten minutes is allowed for reading this paper.)
Instructions
1. Write down your names, ID number and other details in the space provided in the Answer
Book.
2. There are three sections in paper and all sections are compulsory.
3. Answers to all questions are to be written in the Answer Book.
Summary of the questions
Sections Guidelines Total

Marks
A There are ten objective type multiple-choice questions. All 5
questions are compulsory
B There are ten objective type True and False type questions. 5
All questions are compulsory
C There are three Short Answer type questions in this section. 10
Answer all three questions from this section
Total 20
Section A
1
Write down numbers 1 – 10 on the left hand margin of your Answer Book. Beside each number
write the letter that represents the best answer to each question.
[5 marks]
1. Which one of the following statement is NOT true about human resource management?
A. It consist of organisations “people’s practices”
B. It contains policies, practices and systems that influences employees’ behaviour
C. HRM influences who works in the organisation and how people work
D. HRM implies that employees are interchangeable, easily replaced assets that
must be managed like any other physical asset.
2. Which one of the following best represents an ethical principle of a successful

company?
A. The company's owners, rather than its employees, assume responsibility for the
actions of the company.
B. The company has a strong quality orientation.
C. The company emphasizes mutual benefits in its customer, client, and vendor
relationships.
D. The company does not produce products that can be used for violent purposes
3. How can HRM practices help employee empowerment in organisations?
A. Jobs must be designed such that decision control remains with managers.
B. Pay and other rewards should reflect employees' loyalty to the organization.
C. Managers should provide feedback only during the employee performance review.
D. Mangers should encourage employees to communicate with staff throughout the
organization
4. Organisations usually aspire to review its critical work processes to make them more
efficient and to be able to deliver higher quality service. This process is known as:
A. Offshoring.
B. Total quality management
C. Reengineering.
D. High performance work systems (HPWS).
5. As a method of downsizing, early-retirement programs have been shown to be:
2
A. humane and involve less suffering.
B. very effective in selectively reducing the workforce.
C. achieving the cost-cutting goals of the company.
D. distinguish clearly between good and poor performers
6. How does e-HRM affect recruitment in organisation
A. Online simulations, including tests and e-mail, can measure job candidates' ability to
deal with real-life business challenges.
B. Employees can review salary and bonus information and seek information about and
enroll in benefit plans.
C. Post job openings online, candidates can apply for jobs online
D. Online learning can bring training to employees anywhere, anytime.
7. Which of the following is a direct cost of health and safety issues to organisations
A. Damage to plant equipment.

B. Worker’s compensation
C. Lost productivity
D. Replacement of employees
8. A mathematical procedure that predicts the dependent variable on the basis of knowledge
known about independent variables is known as
A. Multiple Regression
B. Simple linear regression
C. Regression Analysis
D. Statistical modeling
9. Which one of the following strategies may not be applicable to address labour shortage
in organisations:
A. Overtime for existing employees

B. Retraining less-skilled employees
C. Demotions
D. Subcontracting some of the work
10. An employer may fulfil its duty to prevent or minimise hostile work environment by
doing all of the following, except:
A. Developing an anti-harassment policy

B. Promptly and thoroughly investigating harassment allegations
3
C. Making the details of the harassment case public
D. Properly disciplining offenders
Section B
True or False Type Questions
Write down numbers 1 – 10 on the left hand margin of your Answer Book. Beside each number
write either True or False for each of the statements given below.
[5 marks]
1.Managers and economists have traditionally seen human resource management as a necessary
expense rather than as a source of value to their organizations. True
2.The skills needed by HR professionals fall into four basic categories: human relations,
decision-making, leadership, and communication. False
3. Human capital describes employees in terms its training, profitability, relationships and

employee intelligence False
4.Managing cultural diversity involves encouraging career development for women and

minorities and simultaneously establishing a strong affirmative action policy False
5. Human resource information system helps organizations in avoid litigation and lawsuits True
6. All industrial accidents are a result of unsafe working conditions. False
7. Quid pro quo harassment is promising benefits in return for a sexual favour. True
8. Altruism is a behaviour that involves helping a colleague who has been absent from work or
helping others with heavy workload True
9. Quantitative approach to forecasting involves the interest, abilities and aspirations of

individual employees with the current and future staffing needs False
10. Outsourcing involves contracting with an outside vendor to provide a product or service to a
firm True
Section C
Write approximately half a page to answer each of the following questions in your Answer
Booklet
4
Question 1
List any two roles of supervisors in human resource management
Supervisors help in analyse work, interview job candidates, participate in selection process,
provide training, conduct performance appraisal and recommend pay increases, employee
relations.
Issues such as employee discipline, redundancies are left for specialists to deal with
[2 marks]
Question 2
Alternative work arrangements are methods of staffing other than the traditional hiring of
fulltime employees. Identify any four forms of alternative work arrangement learnt in the course.
Explain any two disadvantages of this non-traditional employment relationship.
Alternative work arrangements are methods of staffing other than the traditional hiring of
full-time employees. There are a variety of AWA which employers may choose from:
Independent contractors, On-call workers, Temporary workers and Contract company
workers, casual and part time workers etc. There is some debate about whether non
traditional employment relationships are good or bad. Some labour analysts argue that
alternative work arrangements are substandard jobs featuring low pay, fear of
unemployment, poor health insurance and retirement benefits, and dissatisfying work.
[4 marks]
Question 3
Identify any four HRM practices that can achieve high performance work systems in
organisation
5
HRM practices that support high – performance work systems through:
Teamwork,
Employees’ participation,
Formal performance feedback,
Ongoing training
Employees’ rewards and compensation relate to the company’s financial performance
[4 marks]
The End

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The University of the South Pacific

Faculty of Business and Economics

Mid Semester Examination, Semester 2, 2013

Time allowed: One Hour

(An extra ten minutes is allowed for reading this paper.)

Summary of the questions

Sections Guidelines Total

2. Which one of the following best represents an ethical principle of a successful

3. How can HRM practices help employee empowerment in organisations?

5. As a method of downsizing, early-retirement programs have been shown to be:

6. How does e-HRM affect recruitment in organisation

A. Damage to plant equipment.

A. Overtime for existing employees

A. Developing an anti-harassment policy

3. Human capital describes employees in terms its training, profitability, relationships and

4.Managing cultural diversity involves encouraging career development for women and

6. All industrial accidents are a result of unsafe working conditions. False

9. Quantitative approach to forecasting involves the interest, abilities and aspirations of

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