Question: Why is it so difficult to be

> How can managers maximize the positive effects of technology at work?

> The pace of developments in new technologies is becoming faster than the abilities of workers to adjust to them. What recommendations would you make to high-level policymakers in organizations and government to address this issue?

> What might governments do to cushion the blow from job losses?

> In the United States, about 6 million manufacturing jobs disappeared in the first decade of the 21st century. What factors other than free trade and foreign competition might explain that?

> What are some of the benefits of increased flows of digital information and knowledge?

> Do simulations like Motorola’s “travel well”? That is, do you think they will work in different cultures?

> How accurate are such workplace simulations? In what form might results show up?

> Can you identify any differences between managing domestically and managing internationally?

> General Motors (GM) manager Courtland Kelley had been the head of a nationwide GM inspection program and then the quality manager for the Chevy Cavalier and its successor, the Chevy Cobalt. He found flaws and reported them, over and over, and repeatedly

> As you have seen in this chapter, many employers are offering company-sponsored savings programs known as 401(k) plans. While expert’s advice that workers need to save about 15 percent of their annual salaries each year to be able to retire comfortably,

> Forging a Winning Workforce Nucor’s egalitarian culture places a premium on teamwork and idea-sharing between frontline workers and management. Result: A highly profitable partnership. Pay-for-Performance On average, two-thirds of a Nucor steelworker’s p

> The gold medal performance of the U.S. ice hockey team in the 1980 Winter Olympics has been described as the “Miracle on Ice” The “miracle” was the product of an effective performance-management system implemented by the U.S. team’s head coach, Herb Broo

> How can effective HRM contribute to sustainability?

> In the 3 months since he began working for Alibaba Group Holdings, Ltd., Matt Shofnos, age 30, has improved his Mandarin, helped an American retailer target Chinese consumers, and donned a Captain America costume to meet the company’s chief executive. Al

> Arguably, the bottom line of recruiting success is the number of successful new hires. Organizations know that it is important to measure the outcomes of recruitment, but, unfortunately, most focus on measures that show how efficient they are: time to fi

> Merrill Lynch, like many other financial companies, was caught in a bad situation during the Great Recession. Sub-prime lending woes and a downwardly spiraling housing market resulted in enormous financial losses. The company benefited from high returns

> Talk, talk, talk. As Ken Hartman, an African American midlevel manager at Blahna Inc. recalls, that’s all he got from the white men above him in top management—despite the fact that Blahna had long enjoyed a reputation as a socially responsible company.

> ONO Inc. is an auto-supply company with 11 employees. In addition, there are two supervisors and Fred Donofrio, the owner and general manager. Last year, ONO did $7 million in business and earned $355,000 in profits ($525,000 before taxes). The auto-supp

> The robots are coming! The robots are coming! Well, not so fast. According to a 2017 study from the McKinsey Global Institute, only 5 percent of all occupations are at risk of being entirely automated by 2025. Even when the technical potential exists, th

> When appointed CEO of PepsiCo in 2006, Ms. Indra Nooyi was only the 11th woman to run a Fortune 500 company. Since then, Ms. Nooyi has been ranked in the top 10 of Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most powerful women. In 2016, she ranked #2 on F

> Skyline Machine Shop is a medium-sized firm located in San Jose, California. It employs almost 1,000 workers when business is good. Skyline specializes in doing precision machining on a subcontract basis for several large aerospace companies. Skilled mac

> Your company wants to encourage more employees to participate in work site wellness programs. Would you recommend rewards for participating or punishments for not participating?

> Identify three preventive steps that an employer might take to avoid incidents of workplace violence.

> How can effective HRM contribute to improvements in productivity and quality of work life?

> Should organizations be willing to invest more money in employee wellness? Why or why not?

> You observe a coworker threatening another employee. What should you do?

> If the benefits of EAPs cannot be demonstrated to exceed their costs, should EAPs be discontinued?

> Explain how a disease-management program might be used to address substance-abuse problems.

> Discuss the relative effectiveness of engineering versus management controls to improve job safety and health.

> What can firms do to encourage all employees to behave safely on the job?

> Should OSHA’s enforcement activities be expanded? Why, or why not?

> How does the imposition of employee discipline for poor performance (or conversely, the failure to discipline) serve as a signal to other employees?

> What might explain the finding that across cultures, employee-voice systems are associated with judgments of fairness?

> Discuss the similarities and differences among employee voice, interactional justice, and informational justice. Can you give an example of each one?

> What difficulties do you see in shifting from a hierarchical, departmentalized organization to a leaner, flatter one in which power is shared between workers and managers?

> In the course of your job, you learn that someone is “cooking the books.” Discuss the steps you would take to resolve the issue.

> What are some guidelines to follow in determining a reasonable compromise between a company’s need to run its business and employee rights to privacy?

> How can a firm avoid lawsuits for employment at will?

> Is it ethical to record a conversation with your boss without his or her knowledge? If yes, under what circumstances?

> What advice would you give to an executive who is about to negotiate an employment contract?

> Discuss the similarities and differences in these concepts: procedural justice, workplace due process, and ethical decisions about behavior.

> In performance reviews, why is it more important to focus on the future than to dwell on the past?

> Google’s Project Oxygen found that technical skill is the least important characteristic of a good boss. What kinds of other skills are more important?

> Why is it so difficult to compare industrial relations systems in different countries?

> Your company has just learned that it is the target of a union-organizing campaign. How will you advise managers about what they can and cannot say to employees?

> Considering everything we have discussed in this chapter, describe management styles and practices that will be effective for your country’s businesses in the next decade.

> Why is it in the best interests of management and labor to work together? Or is it?

> Compare and contrast mediation, interest arbitration, and grievance arbitration.

> What are the key features of the U.S. industrial relations system?

> Discuss the rights and obligations of unions and management during a union-organizing drive.

> Are the roles of labor and management inherently adversarial?

> What might be some advantages and some disadvantages of cafeteria-style benefits?

> How do voluntary benefits programs allow smaller companies to offer a wider array of benefits than they otherwise would be able to?

> A major problem with benefits is that many employees don’t know much about them—until they need to use them. What can organizations do to deal with that problem?

> Your company has just developed a new, company-sponsored savings plan for employees. Develop a strategy to publicize the program and to encourage employees to participate in it.

> How will demographic changes and increasing diversity in the workplace affect the ways that organizations manage their people?

> What can large firms do to control health-care costs? What about small firms?

> In terms of the “attract-retain-motivate” philosophy, how do benefits affect employee behavior?

> The new world of employee benefits is best described as “sharing costs, sharing risks.” Discuss the impact of that philosophy on the broad areas of health care and pensions.

> What should a company do over the short and long term to maximize the use and value of its benefits choices to employees?

> How do tight versus loose labor market conditions affect wage rates?

> If you were implementing an employee stock-ownership plan, what key factors would you consider?

> Distinguish profit-sharing from gain-sharing.

> In your opinion, why are more firms tying executive incentives to long-term (3 years or more) company performance?

> What cautions would you advise in interpreting data from pay surveys?

> Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of competency- or skill-based pay systems.

> What are some advantages of having a common set of leadership attributes for all managers to strive for? Are there any downsides to this approach?

> What can companies do to ensure internal, external, and individual equity for all employees?

> What steps can a company take to align its compensation system with its general business strategy?

> Should discussions of employee job performance be separated from salary considerations?

> How can we overcome employee defensiveness in performance-feedback interviews?

> How is performance appraisal for teams different from performance appraisal for individuals?

> The chief counsel for a large corporation comes to you for advice. She wants to know what makes a firm’s review system legally vulnerable. What would you tell her?

> Working in small groups, develop a performance-management system for a cashier in a neighborhood grocery with little technology but lots of personal touch.

> You have been asked to design a rater-training program. What types of elements would you build into the process that are specific to managers, specific to employees, and common to both?

> What is the difference between performance management and performance appraisal?

> What would an effective performance-management system look like?

> Develop a policy to inform employees of your organization’s BYOD approach to electronic devices.

> What advice would you give to a prospective expatriate regarding questions to ask before accepting the assignment?

> Many people travel to the south rim of the Grand Canyon on vacation each year. The National Parks Service keeps records of the number of vehicles entering the park. According to their website, the following table lists the total vehicles that entered the

> Use the table in Example 2 to answer these questions. a. Add a relative frequency column. Calculate the relative frequencies. Round each to the nearest thousandth. b. Which price range(s) has a relative frequency greater than 0.18 and less than 0.27? c.

> Winnie needs to travel to Los Angeles. She has decided to go by bus. She researched three different bus companies and compiled the following frequency table for all of the ticket prices available leaving on January 29.

> Kate is a professional musician. She wants to make an essential purchase of an upgraded used bass guitar for her work. She found the following prices for the same make and model bass guitar from various sellers: $699, $599, $699, $680, $590, $720, $650,

> For most people, health club membership expenses are considered discretionary. Alli lives in a big city and wants to join a health club. She researched monthly membership costs and found the following for health clubs within a 5-mile radius of her apartm

> Medications are essential expenses. DeWitt has composed a price list of antibiotics available at different pharmacies in his neighborhood. In reviewing his list, he can’t find the number of pharmacies selling the antibiotics for $8. Exa

> There are many cell phone case options on the market. This discretionary item comes in a variety of colors, materials, thicknesses, protection levels, and more. Amit runs a small business that sells computer and phone accessories. He has kept the followi

> Airline flights can be either discretionary or essential. For most people, the price you pay for where you sit in the plane is a discretionary expense. The seat map for a particular flight is shown here. There are a total of 149 seats on this flight. A

> Write the sigma notation mean formula for the 4 consecutive days that would have the lowest mean of the week.

> Round the following value / to the nearest minute. Interpret the answer in the context of the problem.

> Create a distribution of five numbers that has range 10, maximum score 20, and mean 12.

> Round the following value / to the nearest minute. Interpret the answer in the context of the problem.

> Write the sigma notation mean formula for the consecutive 3-month period that would have the highest mean of the year.

> Write the formula for the mean water bill from April through November using sigma notation and determine that mean. Round your answer to the nearest cent.

> Write the formula for the mean water bill for the first 6 months of the year using sigma notation and determine that mean. Round your answer to the nearest cent.

> Write the formula for the mean water bill for the entire year using sigma notation and determine that mean. Round your answer to the nearest cent.

> Before the last school year began, it was estimated that the average discretionary personal expenses each school year for a student attending a 4-year public college were $2,110. This past summer Ashley decided to poll seven of her friends attending a 4-

> The Super Bowl is a big money-making and money-spending event. The discretionary spending amounts on Super Bowl weekends are in the billions of dollars. Examine the chart below that lists TV viewer numbers and Super Bowl weekend-related expenses by year.

> In Application 6 for section 1-5 in the textbook, you were given the following table about discretionary personal back-to-school personal expenses. a. Determine the linear regression equation that best fits the data presented in the table. Let x represen

> The table below lists the percentage of households with an income of $100,000 or more that spent money on fitness-related activities over the course of one year as reported by statista.com. a. Without making a scatter plot, what trend do you see in the

> MoviePlay is an online movie rental service. They have a sliding price list based upon the popularity of the movies. The table below shows the rentals by price category for the month of September. Let x represent the price and y represent the number of m