Diff: 2
Chapter: 1
LO: 1.1: Answer the questions, "What is human resource management?" and "Why is knowing HR management concepts and techniques important to any supervisor or manager?"
Skill: Concept
48) What are the five basic functions of management? Explain some of the specific activities involved in each function. Is one function more important for human resource management?
Answer: The five basic functions are planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. Planning activities include establishing goals and standards, developing rules and procedures, and developing plans and forecasts. Organizing activities include giving specific task assignments to subordinates, establishing departments, delegating authority to subordinates, and establishing channels of authority and communication; and coordinating the work of subordinates. Staffing activities include determining what type of people should be hired, recruiting prospective employees selecting employees, and setting performance standards. Leading activities include getting others to get the job done, maintaining morale and motivating subordinates. Controlling activities include setting standards such as sales quotas quality standards or production levels, and taking corrective action as needed. Staffing is the function most readily related to human resource management. However, HR managers actually perform all five functions.
Diff: 3
AACSB: Application of knowledge
Chapter: 1
LO: 1.1: Answer the questions, "What is human resource management?" and "Why is knowing HR management concepts and techniques important to any supervisor or manager?"
Skill: Application
49) What is human resource management? Why is human resource management important to all managers? What is the role of line managers in human resource management?
Answer: Human resource management is the process of acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating employees, and of attending to their labor relations, health and safety, and fairness concerns. HR management is important to all managers because managers can do everything else right—lay brilliant plans, draw clear organization charts, set up world-class assembly lines, and use sophisticated accounting controls—but still fail by hiring the wrong people or by not motivating subordinates. On the other hand, many managers—presidents, generals, governors, supervisors—have been successful even with inadequate plans, organizations, or controls because they had the knack of hiring the right people for the right jobs and motivating, appraising, and developing them. The direct handling of people is an integral part of every line manager's duties. More specifically, line managers must place the right person in the right job, orient and train new employees, improve the job performance of each person, gain cooperation and develop smooth working relationships, interpret the company's policies and procedures, control labor costs, and protect employees' health and physical condition.
Diff: 3
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Chapter: 1
LO: 1.1: Answer the questions, "What is human resource management?" and "Why is knowing HR management concepts and techniques important to any supervisor or manager?"
Skill: Synthesis
50) List and explain five personnel mistakes you do not want to make as an HR manager.
Answer: The answer should include any of the following: to hire the wrong person, to experience high turnover, to have employees not doing their best, to have the company taken to court because of discriminatory actions, to have your company cited for unsafe practices, to have undertrained employees, and to commit unfair labor practices.
Diff: 2
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Chapter: 1
LO: 1.1: Answer the questions, "What is human resource management?" and "Why is knowing HR management concepts and techniques important to any supervisor or manager?"
Skill: Application
51) In a brief essay, compare the role of human resource management in small businesses and in high-performance work systems.
Answer: Small firms generally do not have the critical mass required for a full-time human resource manager. Their human resource management therefore tends to be informal. Small firms typically do little or no formal training and recruit employees with newspaper ads and through word-of-mouth. In contrast, a high-performance work system (HPWS) is a set of human resource management policies and practices that together produce superior employee performance.
Diff: 3
AACSB: Application of knowledge