Question: Why is the departure of women an

> Some people argue that is it is wrong for CEOs to earn multimillion-dollar salaries while some of their employees are earning the minimum wage or even being laid off. Some suggest that a firm’s top earner should earn no more than 20 times what the lowest

> It seems preferable to use objective performance data (such as productivity figures) when available, rather than subjective supervisory ratings, to assess employees. Why might objective data be less effective performance measures than subjective ratings?

> According to a recent report by the Society for Human Resource Management, “many job evaluation methods are subjective. Evaluators’ decisions about which jobs are worth more can be personal and emotional. If the evaluation team knows the job incumbents,

> Working individually or in groups, compile a list of the factors at work or in school that create dysfunctional stress for you. What methods do you use for dealing with the stress?

> In a recent article by professors Hannah Riley Bowless from Harvard and Linda Babcock from Carnegie Mellon, the authors argue that “policy makers, academics, and media reports suggest that women could shrink the gender pay gap by negotiating more effecti

> People have different comfort zones and aspirations that can affect their careers. How does the career anchor system (see Manager’s Notebook, “Anchor Yourself,”) take these individual differences into account? Do you think if people are guided by their “

> What would you suggest about the use of social media as a career development tool? Is it a good option? How could it be better used in career development?

> As a manager, what could you do to offer career development for your workers? Do you think it would be worth it? Why or why not?

> How would you go about retaining and developing older employees who are part of a dual-career couple?

> According to one survey, trainees list the following as some of the traits of a successful trainer: knowledge of the subject, adaptability, sincerity, and sense of humor. What other traits do you think trainers need to be successful in the training situa

> Training provides workers with skills needed in the workplace. However, many organizations have dynamic environments in which change is the norm. How can training requirements be identified when job duties are a moving target?

> Would you design a performance appraisal system based on behaviors, outcomes, or both? Why would you design it this way?

> Why should management be concerned with helping employees retire from their organization successfully?

> According to a 2010 study by economists Angus Deaton and Nobel Prize–winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, “high income doesn’t bring you happiness…[T]he further a person’s household income falls below $75,000, the unhappier he or she is. But no matter h

> Some feel that wellness and employee assistance programs should be evaluated on a cost–benefit basis and discontinued if these programs’ benefits do not exceed their costs. Others feel that because companies create many of the stressful conditions that c

> Assume that you are working in a company and you believe that your supervisor gave you a pay raise that is unfair and less than you deserve based on your performance. This is not the first time this has happened with the current supervisor and you believ

> Do you think the voluntary turnover rate should be considered before opening a business operation there? Why?

> What steps do most companies take to reduce voluntary turnover? Are they effective?

> Social responsibility can be helpful in recruiting job applicants. However, the better the fit between individuals and the organization’s social responsibility commitments, the more this should result in more motivated, loyal, and higher-performing worke

> Traditionally, hiring decisions were primarily based on the extent to which an applicant’s qualifications fit the job. In other words, the focus has been on hiring the person who, based on information collected through the selection process, was expected

> There are potential costs to the use of social media for screening job applicants. For example, checking public profiles could easily reveal to the religion, age, race, and so on of the job candidates. This information could be used by the manager to scr

> The characteristics needed by individual team members depend on the team and the strengths and weaknesses of others who are on the team. In other words, the situation is much more dynamic than assuming that there is one static job with a single set of qu

> If there are distinct roles to be played on a team, how would you go about recruiting and hiring for them?

> Using social media to recruit for job openings may disproportionately tap into younger applicants. Older workers could be unintentionally precluded from the applicant pool to the extent they are less present and active on social networking sites. Why wou

> As a manager looking to hire additional workers, what steps would you take to maximize the effectiveness of your recruitment efforts using social media?

> Working individually or in groups, use Internet resources to find situations where company management and the union reached an impasse at some point during their negotiation process, but eventually resolved the impasse. Describe the issues of both sides

> Protest marches by teachers have become a common occurrence in many cities. Do you think these protests will affect teacher shortages? Explain.

> Assuming that only 10 percent of applicants are potentially qualified for police work, what challenge does it pose from a HR perspective? What criteria would you use to disqualify potential applicants? Explain.

> What steps would you take to make sure that potential applicants are aware of the social responsibility commitments of your organization? That is, what would you recommend be done to make social responsibility part of the employer brand for the organizat

> Should Wagner be held responsible for these problems? Explain.

> Do you think that the use of social media for recruitment is an effective approach to recruit workers?

> If a fraudulent imposter can perform the job, what’s the harm?

> How should Sands’ top executives deal with the complaints expressed by supervisors? How should the director of the HR department deal with the situation? Explain.

> Apart from the potential legal outcomes of the lawsuits discussed, are any larger ethical issues involved? Explain.

> What seems to be the main source of conflict between supervisors and the HR department at Sands Corporation? Explain.

> While the cases discussed above are all very different, what do they have in common? Explain.

> Is it ethical to require all employees to sign an employment-at-will statement acknowledging that they understand that the employer can terminate their employment at any time for any reason?

> Why would employers want to fire employees whose dependents are having serious health problems? Should this be illegal? What do you think would be the reaction of employees with healthy dependents who suspect this might be happening? Explain.

> Sometimes qualifications and credentials are important. For example, do you think it is important that your professors actually have the required qualifications (e.g., Ph.D.) to teach university-level classes? Is it important that your doctor have the qu

> Should business schools actively promote the enrollment of women into their full-time MBA programs? If so, how should they do it? Explain.

> Some skeptics argue that most sustainability programs (such as the ones discussed above) represent an insincere attempt to create a positive company image at a low cost. Do you agree or disagree? Do you think these types of programs help or hurt the comp

> Would you like to work for a company that offers the sorts of programs that are described in the case? Would this be an important enticement for you to accept a job in such a company and remain employed there? Explain.

> If a lower wage discourages the re-entry of women, what, if anything, can be done about it?

> Do you think employees are more likely to react positively or negatively to office romance policies?

> A company’s sales representative obtained a highly visible tattoo on her neck after being employed at that company. The company has a dress code policy that restricts the display of visible tattoos for work that has close contact with customers. What wou

> Assume that you have chosen to work in a field that is highly vulnerable to future job loss due to automation. What are a few strategies you can use to keep yourself employed in this field as long as possible?

> If a corporation restricts its employees from displaying visible tattoos in the workplace and faces a court challenge of employment discrimination under EEOC regulations, on what basis can the corporation defend its employment practice? Refer to the info

> What alternatives to electronic monitoring could an employer use to effectively control employee theft?

> When trying to re-enter the workforce, women often find that they have to take a lower pay rate to “get back in the game.” Do you think this is fair? Why or why not?

> A company has a speak-up feedback program but unfortunately few employees use it. Managers learn about employee problems only during the exit interview when the employees are leaving to work for a different employer. Provide some ways that a feedback pro

> When a company operates in many different countries with widely diverse legal systems and ethical standards, how can it develop and enforce a global set of criteria as to what is right and wrong? Explain.

> Do you think that Titan is an isolated example or that many companies engage in similar behaviors overseas but are never caught? Do you think it is acceptable for a firm to take the risk and pay a bribe if the firm believes that the chances of getting ca

> How would you account for the sharp differences in the perceptions of the Polish locals and U.S. expatriates?

> Based on what you have learned in this chapter, what do you think are the underlying problems in the Polish subsidiary of Pressman Company?

> Do you think it is appropriate for a company to transfer jobs overseas that may be perceived as too hazardous at home? Explain.

> Would you be willing to follow Dan’s desired career path? Why or why not?

> Based on the materials discussed in this chapter, what courses, experiences, or training programs do you think are most likely to help Dan achieve his dream of a foreign assignment? Explain.

> Assume you run a small business. Working individually or in groups, visit the Web site www.dol.gov/elaws. Write a two-page summary explaining: (1) the various retirement savings programs available to small-business employers, and (2) which retirement sav

> Prepare and give a short presentation titled “How to Be Effective as an Interviewer.”

> Most American businesses are small, but most of the output is produced by large businesses. That sounds paradoxical. How can it be true?

> If the U.S. government wants to pursue a “trade war” against Country X, what weapons does it have? Would using those weapons hurt the United States as well? What if Country X retaliates in kind?

> What are some policies the U.S. government could pursue to ease the burden on the losers from globalization?

> President Trump has said that he doesn’t see why the U.S. economy cannot grow at 3 or 4 percent per annum (or maybe higher) indefinitely. Do you see why?

> The Affordable Care Act (known as “Obamacare”) tried to solve the adverse selection problem by getting everyone into the insurance pool. How? How well did it succeed? President Trump opposes Obamacare. Why? (You may want to do some Internet searching on

> Budget projections show the debt-to-GDP ratio of the U.S. government topping its World War II high before too long. What problems does that pose?

> In 2010 and 2011, the international value of the dollar fell. This development was viewed with alarm in Japan. Why?

> Given what you now know, do you think it was a good idea for the United States to adopt a policy mix of tight money and large government budget deficits in the early 1980s? Why or why not? What were the benefits and costs of reversing that policy mix in

> Explain why American fiscal policy is less powerful and American monetary policy is more powerful than indicated in the closed-economy model described earlier in this book.

> For years, the U.S. government has been trying to get Japan and the European Union to expand their economies faster. Explain how more rapid growth in Japan would affect the U.S. economy.

> In the economy considered in Test Yourself Question 3, suppose the government, seeing that it has not wiped out the deficit, keeps cutting G until it succeeds in balancing the budget. What level of GDP will then prevail?

> From the summer of 2015 to the summer of 2016, market forces raised the international value of the Japanese yen sharply. Why do you think the government of Japan was unhappy about this currency appreciation? If they wanted to stop the yen’s appreciation,

> Explain why the members of the Bretton Woods conference in 1944 wanted to establish a system of fixed exchange rates. What flaw led to the ultimate breakdown of the system in 1971?

> How are the problems of a country faced with a balance of payments deficit similar to those posed by a government regulation that holds the price of milk above the equilibrium level? (Hint: Think of each in terms of a supply-demand diagram.)

> If the dollar appreciates relative to the euro, will the German camera you have wanted become more or less expensive? What effect do you imagine this change will have on American demand for German cameras? Does the American demand curve for euros, theref

> What items do you own or routinely consume that are produced abroad? From what countries do these items come? Suppose Americans decided to buy fewer of these things. How would that affect the exchange rates between the dollar and these currencies?

> Suppose the United States finds Country X guilty of unfair trade practices and penalizes it with import quotas. So U.S. imports from Country X fall. Suppose, further, that Country X does not alter its trade practices in any way. Is the United States bett

> Under current trade law, the president of the United States must report periodically to Congress on countries engaging in unfair trade practices that inhibit U.S. exports. How would you define an “unfair” trade practice? Suppose Country X exports much mo

> Country A has a mercantilist government that believes it is always best to export more than it imports. As a consequence, it exports more to Country B every year than it imports from Country B. After 100 years of this arrangement, both countries are dest

> After the removal of a quota on sugar, many U.S. sugar farms go bankrupt. Discuss the pros and cons of removing the quota in the short and long runs.

> In the eighteenth century, some writers argued that one person in a trade could be made better off only by gaining at the expense of the other. Explain the fallacy in this argument.

> Now raise exports to $650 and find the equilibrium again. How large is the multiplier?

> You have a dozen shirts and your roommate has six pairs of shoes worth roughly the same amount of money. You decide to swap six shirts for three pairs of shoes. In financial terms, neither of you gains anything. Explain why you are nevertheless both like

> The year 2017 closed with the unemployment rate just below 4 percent, real GDP growing at roughly 2.5 percent, inflation slightly below 2 percent, and the federal budget showing a deficit under 3 percent of GDP. a. Give one or more arguments for engaging

> It is often said that the Federal Reserve Board typically cares more about inflation and less about unemployment than the administration. If this is true, why might presidents often worry about what the Fed might do to interest rates?

> What is meant by “rational” expectations? Why does the hypothesis of rational expectations have such stunning implications for economic policy? Would believers in rational expectations want to shorten a recession by expanding aggregate demand? Would they

> Explain why expectations of inflation affect the wages that result from labor-management bargaining.

> What is a Phillips curve? Why did it seem to work so much better in the period from 1954 to 1969 than it did in the 1970s?

> Why is it said that decisions on fiscal and monetary policy are, at least in part, political decisions that cannot be made on “objective” economic criteria?

> There is no sense in trying to shorten recessions through fiscal and monetary policy because the effects of these policies on the unemployment rate are sure to be temporary.” Comment on both the truth of this statement and its relevance for policy formul

> When inflation and unemployment fell together in the 1990s, some observers claimed that policy makers no longer faced a trade-off between inflation and unemployment. Were they correct?

> Explain the difference between crowding out and crowding in. Given the current state of the economy, which effect would you expect to dominate today?

> This question is a variant of the previous problem that approaches things in the way that a fiscal policy planner might. In an economy whose consumption function and tax function are as given in Test Yourself Question 1, with investment fixed at 320 and

> Comment on the following: “Deficit spending paves the road to ruin. If we keep it up, the whole nation will go bankrupt. Even if things do not go this far, what right have we to burden our children and grandchildren with these debts while we live high on

> Explain how the U.S. government managed to accumulate a debt of more than $18 trillion. To whom does it owe this debt? Is the debt a burden on future generations?

> During the year 2008, U.S. economic performance deteriorated sharply. Can this decline be blamed on inferior monetary or fiscal policy? (You may want to ask your instructor about this question.)

> Many observers think that the Federal Reserve succeeded in using deft applications of monetary policy to “fine-tune” the U.S. economy into the full-employment zone in the 1990s without worsening inflation. Use the data on money supply, interest rates, re

> Explain why lags make it possible that policy actions intended to stabilize the economy will actually destabilize it.

> Explain why their contrasting views on the shape of the aggregate supply curve lead some economists to argue much more strongly for stabilization policies to fight unemployment and other economists to argue much more strongly for stabilization policies t

> Given all the pros and cons, do you think the Federal Reserve should try to prevent asset price bubbles from forming? If so, how would it do that?

> Distinguish between the expenditure lag and the policy lag in stabilization policy. Does monetary or fiscal policy have the shorter expenditure lag? What about the policy lag?