What role do job descriptions play in training?
> Give examples of how the HR manager’s duties are different from 30 years ago?
> Working individually or in groups, evaluate the rating scale in Figure 8.4. Discuss ways to improve it.
> Give examples of five potential appraisal problems.
> One reason for implementing global training programs is the need to avoid business losses "due to cultural insensitivity." What sort of cultural insensitivity do you think is referred to, and how might that translate into lost business?
> Write a short essay discussing some of the ethical and legal considerations in testing.
> For what sorts of jobs do you think computerized interviews are most appropriate? Why?
> What are the main things you would do to recruit and retain a more diverse workforce?
> Briefly describe how you would apply talent management principles in improving your employer’s workforce planning processes.
> We discussed several methods for collecting job analysis data—questionnaires, the position analysis questionnaire, and so on. Compare and contrast these methods, explaining what each is useful for and listing the pros and cons of each.
> Present a summary of what employers can and cannot do legally with respect to recruitment, selection, and promotion and layoff practices.
> Explain why strategic planning is important to all managers.
> Working individually or in groups, write a paper entitled “What the manager should know about how the EEOC handles a person’s discrimination charge.”
> What is Title VII? What does it state?
> Given the fact that each of its stores has only a handful of employees, is her company in fact covered by equal rights legislation?
> Aside from the appeal, what would you do now if you were the Garden’s top management?
> Give at least three examples of how current EEOC policy reflects public policy decisions.
> Based on your personal experiences, list 10 examples showing how you used (or could have used) human resource management techniques at work or school.
> Identify the required HR system policies and activities.
> Working individually or in groups, develop several examples showing how the new HR management practices mentioned in this chapter (using technology, for instance) have or have not been implemented to some extent in the college or university you are now a
> President Obama’s “pay czar” tried to reduce the pay of executives at AIG. According to sites such as www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/08/pay-czar-caveson-aig-pay_n_383973.html, how successful was he, and why?
> Explain how to conduct an appraisal feedback interview.
> Is it true, as Jack Carter claims, that “we can’t be accused of being discriminatory because we hire mostly women and minorities anyway?”
> What performance appraisal system would you develop for the secretaries if you were Rob Winchester? Defend your answer.
> According to http://careercompass.berkeley.edu/perfmgmt resources/evalforms.html, how does Berkeley appraise supervisors? What do you think of the form it uses?
> What are some typical on-the-job training (OJT) techniques? What do you think are some of the main drawbacks of relying on informal on-the-job training for breaking new employees into their jobs?
> Give a short presentation entitled “How to Be Effective as an Interviewer.”
> Explain the shortcomings of background investigations, reference checks, and pre-employment information services, and how to overcome them.
> How should her company terminate employees caught stealing, and what kind of procedure should be set up for handling reference calls about these employees when they go to other companies looking for jobs?
> Would you take the job offer if you were Maria? If you’re not sure, is there any additional information that would help you make your decision, and if so, what is it?
> Explain how you would use the alternation ranking method, the paired comparison method, and the forced distribution method.
> Could an employer actually use a typing test like that in www.iphonetypingtest.com/ to help select employees? If so, how exactly?
> What are the five main things you would do to recruit and retain a more diverse workforce?
> Provide a brief illustrative outline of a strategy map for Siemens.
> Do you think Ms. Browne Sanders had the basis for a sexual harassment suit? Why or why not?
> What conclusions can you draw from sites such as http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2008-05-20-overweight-bias_N.htm about handling and avoiding discrimination against obese people?
> Compare and contrast the issues presented in recent court rulings on affirmative action. Working individually or in groups, discuss the current direction of affirmative action.
> List five strategies for successfully increasing diversity in the workforce.
> How should she and her company address the possible problems of age discrimination?
> Based on the few facts that you have, what steps could Garden management have taken to protect itself from liability in this matter?
> Explain with examples how the evolution of equal employment law in the 1960s helps illustrate how public policy considerations drove the original EEO legislation.
> Choose two tools HR managers use for employment forecasting and explain how to use them.
> Working individually or in groups, bring several business publications such as Business Week and the Wall Street Journal to class. Based on their content, compile a list entitled, “What HR Managers and Departments Do Today.”
> Explain with examples what we mean by the “the changing environment of human resource management.”
> What specific functions should an HR unit carry out? What HR functions would be carried out by the bank’s supervisors and other line managers?
> Illustrate the HR responsibilities of line and staff managers.
> What is sexual harassment? How can an employee prove sexual harassment?
> Judging from what you can find at www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?identifier=CATEGORY_533&catalogId=10002&storeId=10052&langId=-1, what sorts of pay policies does Wegmans seem to have, and why do you think they follow such poli
> Do you think that Vice President Winchester would be better off dropping graphic rating forms, substituting instead one of the other techniques we discussed in this chapter such as a ranking method? Why?
> John Santos is an undergraduate business student majoring in accounting. He has just failed the first accounting course, Accounting 101, and is understandably upset. Explain how you would use performance analysis to identify what, if any, are John's trai
> Discuss at least four basic types of personnel tests.
> Define and give several examples of strategic human resource management.
> Specifically, what other screening techniques could the company use to screen out theft-prone employees, and how exactly could these be used?
> What does www.siop.org/workplace/employment%20testing/ information to consider when purchasing a selection test?
> What are the main types of information that application forms provide?
> Working individually or in groups, use O*NET to develop a job description for a position of your choosing—perhaps an accounting clerk, or your professor in this class. Based on that, use your judgment to develop a job specification. Compare your conclusi
> What items are typically included in a job description? What items are not shown?
> Several years ago, Stanford’s restaurant in Lake Oswego was written up for how well it used HR to keep good employees. What do customers at sites such as http://www.yelp.com/biz/stanfords-restaurant-and-bar-lake-oswego say about Stanford’s and what impl
> How would you have conducted the job analysis? What should Phil do now?
> What are five things employers should keep in mind when using Internet sites to find job candidates?
> Define and give at least two examples of the cost leadership competitive strategy and the differentiation competitive strategy.
> Identify at least four of the strategically relevant HR system policies and activities that Siemens has instituted in order to help human resource management contribute to achieving Siemens’ strategic goals.
> How, specifically, do equal employment laws apply to personnel planning and recruiting activities?
> Using sites such as http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517334,00.html, discuss the details of the discrimination suit against Hooters.
> Working individually or in groups, discuss how you would set up an affirmative action program.
> Explain the Equal Opportunity Commission enforcement process.
> How should Jennifer and her company address the sexual harassment charges and problems?
> From what you know of this case, do you think the jury arrived at the correct decision? If not, why not? If so, why?
> What is the difference between disparate treatment and disparate impact?
> What is human resource management?
> This chapter explained how Randy MacDonald, IBM’s senior vice president of human resources, reorganized IBM’s human resources function. Use sites such as http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/biography/10067.wss to help explain and illustrate the sorts of ex
> Working individually or in groups, interview an HR manager. Based on that interview, write a short presentation regarding HR’s role today in building competitive organizations.
> Explain with at least five examples why “a knowledge and proficiency in HR management concepts and techniques is important to all supervisors or managers.”
> Explain the defenses and exceptions to discriminatory practice allegations.
> Do you think setting up an HR unit in the main office would help?
> What would you do first if you were Jennifer?
> Give examples of how HR management concepts and techniques can be of use to all managers.
> Based on sites such as www.starbucks.com/careercenter/us-careers/partner-experience what do you think of the benefits that Starbucks offers its employees? Do you think they are better, worse, or about average, and why?
> Working individually or in groups, develop a graphic rating scale for the following jobs: secretary, professor, directory assistance operator.
> “Who should do the appraising?”
> Do you think that the experts' recommendations will be sufficient to get most of the administrators to fill out the rating forms properly? Why? Why not? What additional actions (if any) do you think will be necessary?
> What do you think is causing some of the problems in the bank home office and branches?
> Use sites such as www.factorytour.com/tours/toyota.cfm to illustrate how Toyota appraises employees, and why that approach is important for the goals Toyota has for its cars.
> What do you think of Apex’s training process? Could it help to explain why employees “do things their way” and if so, how?
> Explain HR management’s role in relation to the firm’s line management.
> Explain what is meant by reliability and validity. What is the difference between them? In what respects are they similar?
> What would be the advantages and disadvantages to Jennifer’s company of routinely administering honesty tests to all its employees?
> How would you explain the nature of the panel interview Maria had to endure? Specifically, do you think it reflected a well-thought-out interviewing strategy on the part of the firm or carelessness (or worse) on the part of the firm’s management? If it w
> What can you learn from www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/ about how Google goes about recruiting applicants and how Google screens and selects candidates?
> Bring to class several classified and display ads from the Sunday newspaper, help wanted ads, or online sources. Analyze the effectiveness of these ads using the guidelines discussed in the chapter.
> Explain to the head of a company how he or she could use the talent management approach to improve his or her company’s performance.
> How does one identify the essential functions of a job?
> List and briefly explain each of the five steps in the training process.
> Describe the pros and cons of five management development methods.
> Compare and contrast a job offer letter and a contract, and discuss the basic components of each.
> The PHR and SPHR Knowledge Base appendix at the end of this book (pages 468–476) lists the knowledge someone studying for the HRCI certification exam needs to have in each area of human resource management (such as in strategic management, workforce plan
> Explain how you would conduct a job analysis.
> List, with examples, the main generic types of corporate strategies and competitive strategies.
> Working individually or in groups, develop a list showing how trends such as workforce diversity, technological trends, globalization, and changes in the nature of work have affected the college or university you are now attending or in the organization
> Laurie Siegel, senior vice president of human resources for Tyco International took over her job in 2003, just after numerous charges forced the company’s previous board of directors and top executives to leave the firm. Hired by new CEO Edward Breen, Si
> Based on the information in this case, provide examples, for Siemens, of at least four strategically required organizational outcomes, and four required workforce competencies and behaviors.
