Sample Examination Students

Sample Final Examination 1 HRM/532 Version 1

HRM/532 Sample Final Examination

This Sample Examination represents the Final Examination that students complete in Week Six. As in the following Sample Examination, the Final Examination includes questions that assess the course objectives. Although the Sample Examination includes one question per objective, the Final Examination includes three questions per course objective.

Refer to the questions in the following Sample Examination to represent the type of questions in the Final Examination. Refer to the weekly readings and content outlines for each week as study references for the Final Examination.

Week One: Public Personnel Management

Objective: Describe the personnel management activities in the public sector.

1. What are two resources managers should use in order to keep their competencies current?

a. College courses and internships b. Professional associations and clubs c. Professional associations and research libraries d. The Internet and professional development

Objective: Describe the evolution of the public service systems.

2. If you were hired under the original merit system, what did you prove through your application?

a. That you were a member of the president’s political party b. That you were knowledgeable in many areas c. That you were fit for the job d. That you were English-speaking

Objective: Explain the challenges of managing the public workforce in the 21st century.

3. The rapidity of change in HRM in the public sector is most likely caused by:

a. The relationship between the public and private sector, changing economics, and the developments in social policies b. Changing demographics, political control and changes, and public needs c. The development of modern HRM systems, the popularity of market-based values, and the costs of maintaining standard practices and structures d. The rate of innovation in technology, the relationship between markets and governing actions, and the degree of dynamism in the marketplace

Week Two: Recruitment, Selection, and Retention

Objective: Develop a strategy for recruiting and retaining public sector employees.

4. If you would like to get valid and reliable information about a prospective employee, but would like to keep your recruiting costs to a minimum, which selection method should you use?

a. Face-to-face interview b. References c. Biodata d. Probationary appointment Sample Final Examination 2 HRM/532 Version 1

Objective: Determine the effect of compensation on employee recruitment and retention.

5. If you offer your public service employees a defined contribution plan, what does it allow them to do?

a. Earn a fixed percentage on retirement investments through group plans b. Select a financial manager to make decisions regarding investments of their retirement contributions c. Make choices about their how their retirement contributions are invested. d. Withdraw their contributions and investments after a fixed period of time

Objective: Analyze the steps of the succession planning process in the public sector

6. As the HRM agency manager, you have been given the task to downsize your agency. You choose to downsize through attrition, which means that:

a. You will layoff the amount of employees needed based on hire dates or seniority levels b. As employees vacate their positions, you will combine the positions and hire new employees for these positions at a much lower wage c. As employees vacate their positions, you will leave the positions open or will remove them d. You will offer incentives for employees to retire early

Week Three: Employee Performance

Objective: Explain the purpose of evaluating employee performance.

7. If you agree with Total Quality Management, you believe that individual performance evaluations:

a. Should be abandoned because they are not taken seriously or used properly; Evaluation should be based on organizational performance instead b. Should be implemented frequently in order to get the most accurate feedback possible, to constantly reevaluate goals, and to continually motivate employees c. Should be abandoned because it focuses on the wrong unit and creates unnecessary competition rather than cooperation between employees d. Should be implemented frequently, and should also include peer-based evaluation

Objective: Contrast the various types of performance evaluations.

8. One of your employees, James, has just sent you suggestions for what his objectives should be for the next year. Because you are following the orthodox MBO system, what is the next course of action you should take?

a. Send the objectives to the next level of management so that they can consider which ones most closely match the needs of the organization b. Send the objectives to other members of his team to see if they are in agreement because they will also be held to those objectives c. Enter the objectives into his personnel file to be reviewed at his next performance evaluation d. Send the objectives back to him and tell him to also formulate a plan for achieving the objectives before he sends them back to you

Objective: Develop a fair and effective performance evaluation system.

9. Future trends in the design and philosophy of work in the public sector may make it necessary for managers to utilize what two forms of evaluation?

a. Peer and self-rating b. Peer and upper management Sample Final Examination 3 HRM/532 Version 1

c. Self-rating and stakeholder d. Stakeholder and peer

Week Four: Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining

Objective: Analyze the relationship between management and unions in the public sector.

10. Having to bargain with a large number of small units can be difficult for management in many ways. Which of the following situations would benefit you most as a manager dealing with this issue?

a. Individual meeting times are set up with each unit so that you are able to deal with each unit specifically. b. The smaller units form a coalition so that you are able to bargain multiple contracts simultaneously. c. The units form a ranking system so that you are able to determine what requests are most and least important. d. You meet with all of the units simultaneously so that you are able to bargain multiple contracts simultaneously.

Objective: Explain the collective bargaining process in the public sector.

11. Who must ratify a public sector collective bargaining contract before it becomes law?

a. The union’s membership, the voting public, and the appropriate legislative body b. The union’s membership and the National Labor Relations Board c. The union’s membership and the appropriate legislative body d. The appropriate legislative body and union representatives

Objective: Evaluate the challenges of collective bargaining in the public sector.

12. What are three benefits public sector unions have over private sector counterparts?

a. Governmental stability, union members are voters, and support of elected officials b. Fixed geographic area, union members are voters, and support of court opinions enforcing individual rights as defined by seniority system c. Stable pay structures, support of court opinions enforcing individual rights as defined by seniority systems, and higher standards of living d. Fixed geographic area, union members are voters, and support of elected officials

Week Five: Ethics, Employee Rights, and Diversity

Objective: Explain the importance of ethics in human resource management.

13. Why are public sector employees discouraged from incurring debt?

a. They may be influenced by debtors or may use their status to avoid repayment b. It gives the appearance that government employees are not paid enough c. Most creditors give money to specific political parties in order to further their own agendas d. It is much harder to prosecute public sector employees if legal action must be taken for unpaid debts

Objective: Evaluate the potential consequences of violations against the legal rights and protections of employees

14. Rutan v. Republican Party, Branti v. Finkel, and O’Hare v. Northlake are all court cases centered on what protection? a. The Fourth Amendment Sample Final Examination 4 HRM/532 Version 1

b. Property Rights c. The First Amendment d. Affirmative Action

Objective: Describe the diversity management practices in the public sector.

15. How does the development of diversity management programs differ from Affirmative Action (AA) and Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO)? a. Diversity management programs must take into account for all possible races in any given area b. Unlike AA and EEO, diversity management programs are developed entirely apart from the parent organization c. Diversity management programs are a response by organizations to meet the needs and harness the strengths of a diverse workforce d. The development of diversity management programs is completed based solely on the demographics of a particular geographic area