Exam III Study Guide

Intro to HRM, Spring 2017

 

Some information about the exam:

o   40 questions

o   All multiple choice

o   13% of questions originate from articles in packet and/or videos, 87% from lecture slides

 

Example questions:

 

1. All of the following are considered in picking a pay level EXCEPT:

 

A. Labor-market competition

B. Product-market competition

C. Job evaluation

D. Market pay benchmarks

 

Answer: C. Job evaluation

 

2. As important as commitment is to employers, it is often difficult to witness directly. Instead, employers look for specific behaviors considered to represent the opposite of commitment. Which of the following represents this kind of behavior?

     

A. Exercising

B. Absenteeism

C. Staying at work late

D. Staying focused

 

Answer: B. Absenteeism

 

 

Compensation

 

q  Equity Theory

o   Situations that would result in over- and under-reward inequity

 

 

o   How can equity be restored in over- and under-reward inequity conditions?

 

 

 

o   From the handout with survey questions about equity sensitivity (justice perceptions), what are the three levels of equity sensitivity, and their definitions

 

 

 

q  Pay structure

o   Definitions of pay level and job structure, and whether they are applicable to internal or external comparisons (Hint: think back to the example I did in class where I compared two jobs in two different companies...)

 

 

o   What type of justice does pay structure influence, and how is this type of justice defined?

 

o   The three factors involved in choosing a pay level and how they impact the choice of pay level

 

 

 

q  Contemporary explanations for the existence of the gender pay gap

o   What is the Equal Pay Act of 1963

 

o   What is the description of the “Glass Ceiling” phenomenon

 

o   Additional possible reasons (from the slides)

 

 

 

q  The three components of Expectancy Theory

o   How these components contribute to calculating overall motivation (you do not need to be able to use the formula for calculations, just understand the concept behind it)

 

 

 

 

q  In applying the theories of compensation, we discussed plans for organizations to recognize employee contributions (e.g., merit pay, gainsharing)

o   Understand the basic idea behind each plan

o   Know the performance measure for each plan (i.e., whether the plans are earned based on individual, unit/group, or organization performance)

o   Know the payment method for each plan (e.g., cash bonus)

 

 

 

 

Benefits and Retention

 

q  Intended voluntary turnover

o   The two forms of commitment (and their definitions) that contribute to decreasing intended turnover

 

 

o   Factors that contribute to increasing each of the two forms of commitment

 

 

 

o   A comparison between the “traditional” and the “new” view of intended voluntary turnover

 

 

 

q  Specific forms of psychological and physical withdrawal behavior (e.g., daydreaming)

 

 

 

q  Unintended voluntary turnover

 

o   The two forms of health that contribute to decreasing intended turnover

 

o   Factors that contribute to increasing each of the two forms of health (e.g., fitness programs)

 

 

 

 

q  When managing stress, know the performance implications of employee stress AND strain (e.g., does it increase or decrease task performance, citizenship behavior, counterproductive behavior)

 

 

 

 

Separation

 

q  Understand the principle of “Employment at will” and situations for which employees can (or cannot) be terminated under this principle.

 

 

q  Understand constructive discharge

o  What it looks like

 

 

o  Why some employers use it

 

 

 

o  Legal implications

q  Understand wrongful discharge

o   How to establish wrongful discharge

 

 

 

 

q  The two forms of justice that decrease the likelihood of being sued for wrongful discharge

o   The components of each form

 

 

 

 

q  Be able to identify whether a disciplinary program follows the appropriate steps

 

 

 

q  From the study comparing companies who downsized with companies who didn’t:

o  Why doesn’t downsizing work?

 

 

 

q  From the article “Challenges facing downsizing agents”:

o   What are some negative effects on agents who are responsible for conducting terminations?

 

o   Who may be more susceptible to these negative effects?

 

 

 

Social Networks & Emerging Topics in HRM

 

q  Network centrality measures

o   Definitions

 

 

 

o   How to assess degree centrality in an example

 

 

 

q  Antecedents and consequences of social networks

 

 

o   The role of strong versus weak ties in getting a job

 

o   From the article “Connecting yourself to a new job,” know the difference between “networking” in the common sense and “building strategic connections.”

 

 

 

q  The employees’ perspective and the company’s perspective on social networking at or about work

 

 

 

q  What is gamification, and how can it be used to complement HR activities?

 

 

 

q  From the article “Competent Jerks, Loveable Fools,” how do people choose their work partners, and which characteristics are the most heavily weighted?

 

 

 

q  Under what conditions you can and can’t fire employees for social media misbehavior