Individuals who are sympathetic to unions claim that currently in the United States, it is very difficult for unions to win certification elections, which is why union membership is in a period of decline. To remedy this situation, some experts propose changing the labor relations law governing elections, making it easier for the union to win an election. One way this could be done is to allow a union that receives a majority of employee signatures on the authorization cards during the pre-election period to be recognized as the certified bargaining agent for the work unit of employees. The labor law in Canada already allows unions to win certification elections this way. Do you agree or disagree that the U.S. labor law needs to be changed to be more favorable to unions? Explain your position.
> How do managed-care health insurance plans (HMOs and PPOs) differ from traditional fee-for-service health insurance plans? What are the costs and benefits of each to the employer? To the employee?
> Some experts believe that one way for a multinational firm to avoid political risks in a foreign country is to use local executives for key positions. Why do they reach that conclusion? Do you agree? Explain.
> In recent years many companies sent managers overseas on short-term assignments (for a couple of weeks or less) rather than on a long-term basis. What factors do you think explain this trend? What are the advantages and disadvantages of relying on short-
> Outline a set of features that you would put in place if you were asked to design a selection and training program for expatriates. Based on the materials learned in this chapter, explain why you have suggested each of the specific features.
> Describe why management should address violence in the workplace. Identify a couple of steps that management might take to reduce the threat of workplace violence.
> Describe how social media can be used in employee wellness programs.
> Some jobs involve hazards. Some employers pay a higher wage for those jobs, but safety and health regulations suggest that may not be enough. What other basic steps should an employer take to assure worker safety?
> What, in your opinion, are the three the most significant impacts of a union on the management of human resources? Explain and indicate whether the impact for each one is positive or negative.
> Suppose a goal of management is to reduce the number of grievances filed by union employees each year. Provide three ways that the HRM staff can contribute to this goal?
> What are two of the advantages and two of the disadvantages of a strike from management's perspective? From the union's perspective?
> In recent years most companies have relied heavily on the use of stock-based compensation programs to reward senior executives. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using these incentive programs for executives? A smaller portion of firms have al
> The administration of discipline usually occurs between a manager and a subordinate employee. How can HR staff contribute to the fairness of the administration of discipline? How can HR staff contribute to the reduction of the need to administer discipli
> Compare and contrast the progressive and positive discipline procedures.
> Many U.S. companies outsource activities, such as manufacturing, to factories in Asia and Latin America. For example, Nike manufactures shoes in Indonesia and Hewlett-Packard uses electrical parts made in Chinese factories for its computers. Should the w
> Outline a set of features that you would put in place if you were asked to design a pay-for-performance system. Based on the materials learned in this chapter, explain why you have suggested each of the specific features.
> Do you think a company should keep pay secret and demand that all employees not disclose their pay to coworkers? Why or why not?
> Distinguish between career development and advancement. Describe at least two steps that can be taken to improve development and two that can be taken to improve advancement.
> Your boss has asked for an evaluation of the effectiveness of a training program. Describe the various levels of evaluation you could include in a report to your boss.
> Training is often used to improve performance problems. Describe when training would not be expected to improve performance.
> Can employee turnover be a good thing? Explain. When is employee turnover a bad thing?
> Employees have been terminated due to their postings on social media. Do you think that social media postings should be a cause for termination? Are there circumstances that might make termination a more justifiable management action? For example, what i
> Can being too focused on career enhancement have negative effects? Describe. Can a careerist orientation also have positive effects? Describe.
> Your workers complain that they don’t like the performance appraisal system because all they get is negative evaluations and feedback. What approach to performance feedback could reduce this problem? Describe how this approach would differ from the tradi
> Describe the concept of career anchors. Why are they important in career development?
> Under the ADA, is an obese individual considered to have a disability and, therefore, be eligible for coverage? Explain.
> Kate has severe diabetes that seriously limits her ability to eat. Even when taking insulin to help manage her diabetes, Kate must test her blood sugar several times a day, and strictly monitor the availability of food, the time she eats, and the type an
> Of all the major demographic trends discussed in this chapter, which one(s) do you think will pose the greatest challenges for firms in the next 50 years or so? Explain.
> The Society for Human Resource Management now utilizes the terms “diversity and inclusiveness” together. Why do you think that is the case? What would you do to accomplish both simultaneously? Explain.
> Outline a set of programs that you would put in place to improve the management of diversity in a particular firm. Based on the materials learned in this chapter, explain why you have suggested each of the specific programs.
> What are bona fide occupational qualifications (BFOQs)? What is a business necessity? Can race be a BFOQ? Can it be a business necessity? Why or why not?
> Outline a set of issues that are most likely to pose a major challenge to the management of human resources during the next few decades. Based on the materials learned in this chapter, explain why you have chosen each of these issues.
> Some scholars believe that there is a set of “best” human resource practices that advanced companies should follow (see Figure 1.7), whereas others believe that there is “no one best way” when it comes to HR practices and that these should be adapted dep
> Survivors of layoffs might be considered the lucky ones who still have a job. However, layoff survivors can present a number of problems. What kind of problems might you expect layoff survivors to exhibit? Assuming a layoff of workers is a necessity, wha
> A major complaint one often hears is that the human resource function still remains as one of the weakest and less prestigious functions in many organizations, with the stereotype that it is a “paper shuffling” unit with little impact on the bottom line.
> Implicit in this chapter is the view that organizational change is necessary for survival. However, organizational change often places individual employees under considerable stress, particularly the stress resulting from having to learn new skills and j
> Why is it so difficult to predict whether a new employee will be a highly motivated employee? What factors can influence employee motivation?
> Choose three traits useful for selecting international assignees, and create a straightforward test (not pencil and paper) to screen candidates for these traits.
> Working individually or in groups, write an expatriation and repatriation plan for your professor, whom your school is sending to Bulgaria to teach HR for the next three years.
> U.S. law does not prohibit selection decisions based on marital status, as long as they are applied equally to men and women. Why might a company have such a policy? Is it ethical? Is it in the best long-term interest of the company?
> Despite the growth of airfreight, ships transport 90 percent of world trade. According to a recent report by the International Shipping Commission, “For thousands of today’s international seafarers, life at sea is modern slavery and their workplace is a
> Expatriates frequently complain that when they accept an international assignment, they put their careers on hold while their peers in the home office continue to climb the corporate ladder. To what would you attribute this perception? What recommendatio
> The March 2004 issue of the journal Occupational Hazards presented some information about what happens when OSHA refers criminal complaints about willful violations of OSHA standards to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Between 1982 and 2002, OSHA re
> Working individually or in groups, answer the question, "Is there such a thing as an accident-prone person?" Develop your answer using examples of actual people you know who seemed to be accident-prone on some endeavor.
> A goal of performance management is to improve performance. Describe the factors that should be considered when diagnosing and improving performance.
> Opponents of "Big Government" claim that excessive regulation of workplace safety hurts productivity and increases costs. They argue that in a free market, employees should be responsible for their own health and safety; that they should be free to choos
> In October 2003, 8,000 Amtrak workers agreed not to disrupt service by walking out; at least not until a court hearing was held. Amtrak had asked the courts for a temporary restraining order, and the Transport Workers Union of America was actually please
> You are a supervisor in a small manufacturing plant. The union contract covering most of your employees is about to expire. Working individually or in groups, discuss how to prepare for union contract negotiations.
> Suppose at a pre-bargaining meeting between the company's negotiating team and top management it is decided that the company will give up to a 4 percent raise. When negotiations start, however, the lead management negotiator states that the company canno
> One strategy for suppressing union activity is to ask certain workers to report to management any union-organizing activities that are taking place at the company. Is this strategy legal? Is it ethical? If you answered yes to both questions, do you think
> What factors explain why unions in the United States have been losing more than 50 percent of all certification elections?
> What factors are encouraging unions and management in the United States to adopt more cooperative strategies today?
> You discover that your superior has been billing the company for business trips that he never took. When you ask him about it, he says this is common practice throughout the company, the other department heads do the same thing, and corporate headquarter
> A computer programming manager suspects that one of her programmers is sharing information with a competitor through electronic mail. Is it appropriate for the manager to examine her employee's e-mail files without the suspected programmer's permission?
> Some people have argued that performance appraisal should not be done. Take the position that performance appraisal is useful and should be done. Describe three benefits of conducting performance appraisal.
> What are the advantages and disadvantages of letting the team administer discipline to a team member?
> Why do employees not take suggestion systems seriously in some companies? What can management do to improve the credibility of its employee suggestion system?
> Bob Allenby's company handbook states that employees will be fired only if they violate the company's listed reasons for termination. Bob is fired, yet his conduct did not match any of the reasons outlined in the handbook. He has decided to file a lawsui
> Should companies have the right to read and monitor their employees’ e-mail?
> Some companies attempt to restrict the behavior of employees while they are off the job. The most common restriction is a prohibition against smoking. Less common, is a prohibition against public drinking. Is it ethical for a company to try to control it
> You are the HR consultant to a small business with about 40 employees. At the present time the firm offers only five days’ vacation, five paid holidays, and legally mandated benefits such as unemployment insurance payments. Develop a list of other benefi
> One way for companies to lower their workers' compensation costs is to move from a state with a high workers' compensation tax rate to one with a lower rate. Is this a legitimate reason for moving a business? What other ethical issues should employers th
> Most large employers provide some sort of retirement fund for their employees. Do you think that companies are ethically bound to offer this benefit? Does the financial condition or size of the firm (good or poor) make any difference to your analysis?
> A state university system in the southeast recently instituted a "Teacher Incentive Program" (TIP) for its faculty. Basically, faculty committees within each university’s college were told to award $5,000 raises (not bonuses) to about 40 percent of their
> Working individually or in groups, develop an incentive plan for the following positions: chemical engineer, plant manager, used-car salesperson. What factors did you have to consider in reaching your conclusions?
> One observer argues that external equity should always be the primary concern in compensation, noting that it attracts the best employees and prevents the top performers from leaving. Do you agree?
> Do you think it is ethical for a company to give its CEO and its other top executive’s multimillion-dollar pay packages that are not closely tied to the company's performance?
> How much consideration should the organization give to the psychological health of its employees when designing a pay-for-performance system?
> In 2002, Ford announced some of the details concerning the firing of former CEO Jacques A. Nasser, which followed a $5.4 billion loss during his last year in the job (Mullaney & Darnell, 2002). In addition to an annual pension for life of nearly $1 milli
> An insurance company compensates its work teams by awarding an annual bonus based on three factors: productivity, customer satisfaction, and quality of work. In one of its teams, four members came up with a way to speed up claims payments that, in turn,
> Some companies have introduced “business literacy” programs on the assumption that pay-for-performance programs will only work if employees are aware of what brings money into the firm. Most employees are totally unaware of their company’s financial situ
> Working individually or in groups, choose three occupations (such as management consultant, HR manager, or salesperson) and use some of the sources described in the appendix to this chapter to make an assessment of the future demand for this occupation i
> How much responsibility does a company have for managing its employees' careers? Can a company take too much responsibility for employee career development? In what ways might this be harmful to employees?
> Working individually or in groups, you are to develop a short-programmed learning program on the subject “Guidelines for Giving a More Effective Lecture.”
> Are companies ethically responsible for providing literacy training for workers who lack basic skills? Why or why not?
> Some companies reimburse the educational expenses of employees who take classes on their own. In an era when people can count less and less on a single employer to provide them with work over the course of their careers, do you think employers have a res
> Traditionally, employee training has primarily been used to remove deficiencies. As described in this chapter, how can technology be used to shift training toward a tool that can improve capability?
> Working individually or in groups, develop, over the period of a week, a set of critical incidents covering the classroom performance of one of your instructors.
> Working individually or in groups, develop a graphic rating scale for the following jobs: secretary, engineer, directory assistance operator.
> Performance appraisal is a management tool. As such, managers often use the tool to benefit themselves or the company. For example, a manager may use overly positive performance ratings as a reward for someone who spearheaded a project for the manager. L
> Is it appropriate for organizations to evaluate and compensate employees according to objective measures of performance, even though performance is at least partially determined by factors beyond their control? Should a salesperson, for instance, be paid
> How much notice of a layoff should a company be obligated to give?
> What can a company do to help a community when it decides to close a plant that is important to the community's economic prosperity?
> Write a short essay discussing some of the ethical and legal considerations in testing.
> Working individually or in groups, visit the local office of your state employment agency. Come back to class prepared to discuss the following questions: What types of jobs seemed to be available through this agency, predominantly? To what extent do you
> Some experts contend that urinalysis is an invasion of privacy and therefore should be prohibited unless there is a reasonable cause to suspect an employee of drug use. Is it ethical for companies to insist that applicants undergo urinalysis? Suppose a c
> In June 2003 Lockheed Martin Corp. sued the Boeing Corp. in Orlando, Florida, accusing it of using Lockheed’s trade secrets to help win a multibillion-dollar government contract. Among other things, Lockheed Martin claimed that Boeing had obtained those
> Working individually or in groups, bring to class several classified and display ads from the Sunday’s help wanted ads. Analyze the effectiveness of these ads using the guidelines discussed in the chapter.
> Use the Internet to find employers that now do preliminary selection interviews via the Web. Print out and bring examples to class. Do you think these interviews are useful? Why or why not? How would you improve them?
> Suppose you are asked to write a recommendation letter for a friend whom you like but consider unreliable. Would it be ethical for you to write a positive reference even though you anticipate that your friend will not be a good employee? If not, would it
> James L. Schneider, owner of a small computer design and software consulting company in San Francisco, complains that he has a difficult time competing with firms that bring foreign software engineers into the United States to do similar work for one-thi
> Conflicts among minority groups may arise as they compete for what they perceive as a limited number of jobs and promotion opportunities. Is this perception accurate? What can firms do to avoid these kinds of conflicts?
> The United States is often viewed (by outsiders) as a litigious society, where everyone has a lawyer and is willing to sue someone else on the merest basis. Until recently, Europeans believed that sexual harassment suits are just part of this American pe
> To what extent should employers be responsible for the appropriate care of their employees’ children?
> What ethical problems might arise from giving preferential treatment to certain employees based on their group membership?
> Many managers and executives use golfing as an opportunity to combine business and pleasure. How could this practice damage an organization's diversity efforts? Are there any recreation activities that could enhance diversity efforts?
> Many organizations have policies requiring that members of certain demographic groups (such as women and African Americans) sit on certain (or all) committees. Are there any dangers to such a policy? Could the potential benefits outweigh the potential co
> Why should managers be concerned with understanding human resource law instead of leaving it to the experts?
> Is it ethical for top managers to receive cash bonuses while at the same time asking lower-level employees to accept a pay freeze?
> Working individually or in groups, describe the advantages and disadvantages of using the forced distribution appraisal method for college professors.
> What three steps are involved in developing an affirmative action program? How much flexibility does an employer have in developing the specific points in such a program?
