MIDTERM EXAMINATION
MGT501- Human Resource Management
BY VIRTUALIANS.PK
GLOSSARY AND SHORT NOTES OF MGT501
Acceptability:
The extent to which a performance measure is deemed to be satisfactory or adequate by those who use it.
Accepting diversity :
Learning to value and respect styles and ways of behaving that differ from one's own.
Action learning :
A process in which participants learn through experience and application.
Action programs :
Programs, including the activities of recruitment, selection, performance appraisal, training, and transfer, that help organizations adapt to changes in their environments.
Active listening :
Listening in which five things are done well: taking time to listen, communicating verbally and nonverbally, not interrupting or arguing, watching for verbal and nonverbal cues, and summarizing what was said and what was agreed to.
Adjustment :
The managerial activities intended to maintain compliance with the organization's human resource policies and business strategies.
Adverse impact discrimination :
Unintentional discrimination that occurs when identical standards or procedures unrelated to success on a job are applied to everyone, despite the fact that such standards or procedures lead to a substantial difference in employment outcomes for the members of a particular group.
Affirmative action :
Action intended to overcome the effects of past or present discriminatory policies or practices, or other barriers to equal employment opportunity.
Age grading :
Subconscious expectations about what people can and cannot do at particular times of their lives.
Agency shop :
A union security provision stipulating that although employees need not join the union that represents them, in lieu of dues they must pay a service charge for representation.
Agreeableness :
The degree to which an individual is cooperative, warm, and agreeable, versus cold, disagreeable, and antagonistic.
Alternation ranking :
A ranking method in which a rater initially lists all employees on a sheet of paper and then chooses the best employee, worst employee, second best, second worst, and so forth until all employees have been ranked.
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) :
A formal, structured policy for dispute resolution that may involve third-party mediation and arbitration.
Annuity problem :
The situation that exists when past merit payments, incorporated into an employee's base pay, form an annuity (a sum of money received at regular intervals), allowing formerly productive employees to slack off for several years while still earning high pay.
Antidiscrimination rule :
A principle that holds that employers can obtain tax advantages only for those benefits that do not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees.
Applicant group :
Individuals who are eligible for and interested in selection or promotion.
Assessment center method :
A process that evaluates a candidate's potential for management on the basis of multiple assessment techniques, standardized methods of making inferences from such techniques, and pooled judgments from multiple assessors.
Assessment phase of training :
The phase whose purpose is to define what the employee should learn in relation to desired job behaviors.
Cascading process :
Periodic review of work plans by both supervisors and subordinates in order to identify goals attained, problems encountered, and the need for training.
Case law :
The courts' interpretations of laws and determination of how those laws will be enforced, which serve as precedents to guide future legal decisions.
Cash-balance plan :
A pension plan in which each employee receives steady annual credit toward an eventual pension, adding to his or her pension account "cash balance."
Central tendency :
In rating employees, a tendency to give employees an average rating on each criterion.
Certiorari :
Discretionary review by the Supreme Court when conflicting conclusions have been reached by lower courts or when a major question of constitutional interpretation is involved.
Change facilitator :
An individual who anticipates the need for change in strategy and prepares the organization for that change; a key role of a human resource professional.
Check-off :
A union security provision under which an employee may request that union dues be deducted from her or his pay and be sent directly to the union.
Circumstantial evidence :
Statistical evidence used as a method of proving the intention to discriminate systematically against classes of individuals.
Closed shop :
A union security provision stipulating that an individual must join the union that represents employees in order to be considered for employment.
Collaborator :
An individual who works well both inside and outside an organization and who shares information rather than promoting competition; a key role of human resources professional.
Collective bargaining unit :
The group of employees eligible to vote in a representation election.
Collectivism :
The extent to which members of a culture give preference to group over individual goals.
Community of interest :
A defined unit that reflects the shared interests of the employees involved.
Comparison quitters :
Rationally evaluate alternative jobs and are relatively free of strong negative emotions toward their former employers.
Compensable factors :
Common job characteristics that an organization is willing to pay for, such as skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions.
Compensation :
The human resource management function that deals with every type of reward that individuals receive in return for performing work.
Compensatory damages :
In civil cases, damages that are awarded to reimburse a plaintiff for injuries or harm.
Competencies :
Characteristics of individuals that are necessary for successful performance, with behavioral indicators associated with high performance.
Competency-based pay system :
A pay system under which workers are paid on the basis of the number of jobs they are capable of doing, that is, on the basis of their skills or their depth of knowledge.
Competency models :
Attempt to identify variables related to overall organizational fit and to identify personality characteristics consistent with the organization's vision.
Competitive strategies :
The means that firms use to compete for business in the marketplace and to gain competitive advantage.
Conditional quitters :
Will quit their job as soon as they get another job offer that meets certain conditions.
Conscientiousness :
The degree to which an individual is hard-working, organized, dependable, and persevering versus lazy, disorganized, and unreliable.
Consideration :
The aspect of leadership behavior that reflects management actions oriented toward developing mutual trust, respect for subordinates' ideas, and consideration of their feelings.
Conspiracy doctrine :
A claim by employers that employees are conspiring against them in restraint of trade (for instance, by striking for higher wages).
Contract compliance :
Adherence of contractors and subcontractors to equal employment opportunity, affirmative action, and other requirements of federal contract work.
Contrast effects :
A tendency among interviewers to evaluate a current candidate's interview performance relative to the performances of immediately preceding candidates.
Contrast error :
A rating error occurring when an appraiser compares several employees with one another rather than with an objective standard of performance.
Contributory plans :
Group health care plans in which employees share in the cost of the premiums.
Control group design :
A study design in which training is provided to one group but not to a second group that is similar to the trained group in terms of relevant characteristics.
Cosmopolitan managers :
Managers who are sensitive to cultural differences, respect the distinctive practices of others, and make allowances for such factors when communicating with representatives of different cultural groups.
Cosmopolitan perspective :
A perspective that comprises sensitivity to cultural differences, respect for distinctive practices of others, and making allowances for such factors in communicating with representatives of different cultural groups.
Cost control :
The practice of keeping business costs at the lowest possible level in order for the business to be competitive.
Cost shifting :
In health care, a situation in which one group of patients pays less than the true cost of their medical care.
Cost-reduction strategy :
A competitive strategy with the primary objective of gaining competitive advantage by being the lowest-cost producer of goods or provider of services.
Criteria :
The standards used to measure performance.
Critical incidents :
In job analysis, vignettes consisting of brief actual reports that illustrate particularly effective or ineffective worker behaviors; a behavior oriented rating method consisting of such anecdotal reports.
Culture shock :
The frustrations, conflict, anxiety, and feelings of alienation experienced by those who enter an unfamiliar culture.
Ethical decisions about behavior :
Decisions that concern a person's conformity to moral standards or to the standards of conduct of a given profession or group; decisions that take into account not only a person's own interests but also, equally, the interests of all others affected by the decisions.
Ethnic minorities :
People classified according to common traits and customs.
Externalities :
Social costs of production that are not necessarily included on a firm's profit-and-loss statement.
Featherbedding:
Requiring an employer in a labor contract provision to pay for services that are not performed by hiring more employees than are needed or by limiting production.
Financial rewards :
The component of an organizational reward system that includes direct payments, such as salary, and indirect payments, such as employee benefits.
Glass ceiling :
The barrier faced by women in breaking through to senior management positions, so called because although women can see the top jobs, they cannot actually reach them.
Global challenge :
Training needs stimulated by the expansion of many firms into global markets. Such needs involve the training of local nationals, as well as preparing employees from the home country to work in foreign markets.
Global corporation :
A corporation that has become an "insider" in any market or nation where it operates and is thus competitive with domestic firms operating in local markets.
Globalists:
Sophisticated international executives drawn from many countries.
Goal theory :
The theory that an individual's conscious goals or intentions regulate her or his behavior.
Goals and timetables :
Flexible objectives and schedules for hiring and promoting underrepresented group members to ensure compliance with equal opportunity employment and affirmative action requirements.
Grandfather clause :
A plan that allows older workers to stay enrolled in the original pension plan if the organization decides to change plans.
Graphic rating scales :
Do not yield the depth of essays or critical incidents, but they are less time-consuming to develop and administer.
Grievance :
An alleged violation of the rights of workers on the job.
Grievance arbitration :
The final stage of the grievance process, which consists of compulsory, binding arbitration; used as an alternative to a work stoppage and to ensure labor peace for the duration of a labor contract.
Grievance procedures :
Procedures by which an employee can seek a formal, impartial review of a decision that affects him or her; a formal process to help the parties involved resolve a dispute.
Group life insurance :
Life insurance benefits, usually yearly renewable term insurance, provided for all employees as part of a benefits package.
Guided team self-correction :
Providing guidance to team members in reviewing team events; identifying errors and exchanging feedback; developing plans for the future.
Halo error :
A rating error occurring when an appraiser rates an employee high (or low) on many aspects of job performance because the appraiser believes the employee performs well (or poorly) on some specific aspect.
Hard quotas :
In an organization's recruitment and selection process, a mandate to hire or promote specific numbers or proportions of women or minority-group members.
Headhunter :
An executive recruiter.
Health awareness :
Knowledge of the present and future consequences of behaviors and lifestyles and the risks they may present.
Health maintenance organization (HMO) :
An organized system of health care, with the emphasis on preventive medicine that assures the delivery of services to employees who enroll voluntarily under a prepayment plan, thereby committing themselves to using the services of only those doctors and hospitals that are members of the plan.
Health promotion :
A corporation's promotion of health awareness through four steps: educating employees about health-risk factors; identifying health-risk factors faced by employees; helping employees eliminate these risks; and helping employees maintain the new, healthier lifestyle.
Higher-of-home-or-host compensation :
Localizes expatriates in the host-country salary program but establishes a compensation floor based on home-country compensation so that expatriates never receive less than what they would be paid at home for a comparable position.
High-performance work practices :
Work practices that maximize the fit between the company's social system and technology.
H-performance work systems challenge :
Increasingly sophisticated technological systems that will impose training and retraining requirements on the existing workforce.
Home country :
An expatriate's country of residence.
Host country :
The country in which an expatriate is working.
Hostile environment harassment :
Verbal or physical conduct that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment or interferes with an employee's job performance.
HR strategy :
Parallels and facilitates implementation of the strategic business plan.
Human resource accounting :
An approach to assessing human resource systems that considers only the investments made in managers and not the returns on those investments.
Human resource forecasts :
The human resource planning activity that predicts future human resource requirements, including the number of workers needed, the number expected to be available, the skills mix required, and the internal versus external labor supply.
Human resource information system :
The method used by an organization to collect, store, analyze, report, and evaluate information and data on people, jobs, and costs.
Human resource management (HRM) system :
An overall approach to management, comprising staffing, retention, development, adjustment, and managing change.
Human resource planning (HRP) :
An effort to anticipate future business and environmental demands on an organization, and to provide qualified people to fulfill that business and satisfy those demands; HRP includes talent inventories, human resource forecasts, action plans, and control and evaluation.
Implied promises :
Oral promises and implied covenants of good faith and fair dealing as well as explicit ones.
Impulsive quitters :
Quit on the spot without any advance planning.
In-basket test :
A situational test in which an individual is presented with items that might appear in the in-basket of an administrative officer, is given appropriate background information, and is directed to deal with the material as though he or she were actually on the job.
In-house temporaries :
Temporary workers who work directly for the hiring organization, as opposed to those supplied from temporary agencies.
In-plant slowdowns :
The action of union workers of staying on the job instead of striking, but carrying out their tasks "by the book," showing no initiative and taking no shortcuts.
Incentives :
One-time supplements, tied to levels of job performance, to the base pay of employees, including nonexempt and unionized employees.
Income-maintenance laws :
Laws designed to provide employees and their families with income security in case of death, disability, unemployment, or retirement.
Indirect costs of accidents :
Costs that cannot be avoided by a corporation when an employee has an accident, such as wages paid for time lost, cost of damage to material or equipment, and any other expense created in conjunction with the accident.
Indirect labor :
Workers who provide essential services to line workers.
Indirect measures :
Measures that do not deal directly with cost; expressed in terms of time, quantity, or quality.
Indirect measures of training outcomes :
Improvements in job performance or decreases in error, scrap, and waste.
Globalization :
The interdependence of business operations internationally; commerce without borders.
"Hot cargo" agreements :
Refusals by the management or union members of a company to handle another employer's products because of that employer's relationship with a particular union.
Human capital metrics :
People-related measures that focus on outcomes that are directly relevant to the strategic objectives of a business.
Informational justice :
Justice expressed in terms of providing explanations or accounts for decisions made.
Integrative bargaining :
In negotiations, the bargaining posture that assumes that the goals of the parties are not mutually exclusive, that it is possible for both sides to achieve their objectives; also known as win–win bargaining.
Internal criteria :
Measures of reaction and learning that are concerned with outcomes of the training program per se.
Internal equity :
Determination of whether or not pay rates are fair in terms of the relative worth of individual jobs to an organization.
International alliance :
Collaboration between two or more multinational companies that allows them jointly to pursue a common goal.
Interpersonal challenge :
The need, as more firms move to employee involvement and teams in the workplace, for team members to learn behaviors such as asking for ideas, offering help without being asked, listening and feedback skills, and recognizing and considering the ideas of others.
Inter-rater reliability :
An estimate of reliability obtained from independent ratings of the same sample of behavior by two different scorers.
Inventories :
Standardized measures of behavior, such as interests, attitudes, and opinions that do not have right and wrong answers.
Job analysis :
The process of obtaining information about jobs, including the tasks to be done on the jobs as well as the personal characteristics necessary to do the tasks.
Job description :
A written summary of task requirements for a particular job.
Job evaluation :
Assessment of the relative worth of jobs to a firm.
Job families :
Job classification systems that group jobs according to their similarities.
Job posting :
The advertising of available jobs internally through the use of bulletin boards (electronic or hardcopy) or in lists available to all employees.