A identifying the firm's business strategy B articulating the firm's strategic staffing decisions C developing and implementing action plans D conducting a workforce analysis Answer: A D
Trang 1Strategic Staffing, 2e (Phillips/Gully)
Chapter 5 Forecasting and Planning
1) Forecasting is not an exact science, and it is rare for a forecast to be exactly right Given this uncertainty, it is usually best to use the previous period's data and add/reduce some percentage value based on managerial intuition
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 116-117
Skill: Concept
Objective: 1
2) A retail store that forecasts a greater need for salespeople during Thanksgiving This is an example of a seasonal forecast
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 118
Skill: Concept
Objective: 1
3) If new competitors enter an industry, customers will have greater product choices, which will tend to dilute the demand for any one company's products or services
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 118
Skill: Concept
Objective: 2
4) A ratio analysis assumes that the ratio between the number of employees needed and certain business metrics is highly variable
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 120
Skill: Concept
Objective: 3
5) Forecasting labor demand in small- and medium-size organizations is significantly easier compared to large organizations because there is a stronger correlation between employee count and productivity
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 120
Skill: Concept
Objective: 3
6) Scatter plots show graphically how two different variables are related
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 120
Skill: Concept
Objective: 3
Trang 27) Bottom-up judgmental forecasting uses the input of lower-level managers to estimate the firm's total staffing requirements
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 122
Skill: Concept
Objective: 3
8) Transition analysis is a qualitative technique
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 124
Skill: Concept
Objective: 4
9) A transition analysis can account for multiple moves
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 126
Skill: Concept
Objective: 4
10) Talent inventories are detailed records or databases that summarize each employee's skills, competencies, education, training, previous performance reviews, and chances of being
promoted
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 126
Skill: Concept
Objective: 4
11) For a specific organization, the turnover rate is a constant
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 127
Skill: Concept
Objective: 4
12) The most comprehensive source of free data on conditions in the U.S labor market is the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 128
Skill: Concept
Objective: 4
13) Business process outsourcing is the relocation of an entire business function, such as production, manufacturing, or customer service, to an independent service provider in the same
or a different country
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 130
Skill: Concept
Objective: 5
Trang 314) Early retirement programs are a common way of dealing with temporary employee surpluses Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 131
Skill: Concept
Objective: 5
15) If 4 out of 5 job offers are typically accepted, a company will have to make 120 offers so as
to hire 80 employees
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 132
Skill: Application
Objective: 6
AACSB: Analytic skills
16) If the proportion of high-potential applicants increases, the total number of applicants needed
to generate the right number of the right quality of new hires decreases
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 133
Skill: Concept
Objective: 6
17) Higher staffing efficiency percentages reflect greater staffing efficiency
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 134
Skill: Concept
Objective: 6
18) Which of the following is the first step in the typical workforce planning process?
A) identifying the firm's business strategy
B) articulating the firm's strategic staffing decisions
C) developing and implementing action plans
D) conducting a workforce analysis
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 116
Skill: Concept
Objective: 1
Trang 419) Anna is the manager of human resources at Alcatec Inc She is comparing the number of employees required over the next six months versus the capabilities of her existing workforce adjusted for attrition She is trying to identify any gaps between the two Which step of the workforce planning process is discussed here?
A) monitor and revise the forecasts and action plans
B) articulate the firm's strategic staffing decisions
C) develop and implement action plans
D) conduct a workforce analysis
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 116
Skill: Application
Objective: 1
AACSB: Analytic skills
20) Typically, when interest rates rise,
A) businesses are willing to borrow more money
B) consumers are willing to borrow more
C) businesses are less likely to expand
D) businesses make bigger capital investments
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 118
Skill: Application
Objective: 2
AACSB: Analytic skills
21) A Japanese company that makes electronic watches exports 90 percent of its products to the United States Which of the following will happen if the dollar strengthens against the Japanese Yen?
A) The company's watches will become less expensive in the US
B) The purchasing power of US consumers will decline
C) The company will have to reduce its number of employees
D) The company will export lesser number of watches to the US
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 118
Skill: Application
Objective: 2
AACSB: Analytic skills
Trang 522) Which of the following events suggests that a home improvement store such as Home Depot
or Lowe's will need fewer workers in the next 1-3 years?
A) increased housing purchases
B) a decrease in consumer disposable income
C) an increase in consumer spending
D) falling interest rates
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 119
Skill: Application
Objective: 2
AACSB: Analytic skills
23) ROM Corporation had kept all its hiring plans on hold during the last four quarters because the economy was in a state of recession ROM manufactures data cards, memory chips, and LCD monitors The company is analyzing market trends in order to reassess its hiring strategy for the coming year Which of the following, if true, would most support the argument for restarting hiring?
A) The previous recessionary had only lasted a year
B) Though there was a decline in profits compared to the previous year, the company recently reported the best numbers in its industry
C) Computer manufacturers have aggressively started hiring more staff
D) One of ROM's fiercest rivals has started laying off its employees
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 119
Skill: Critical thinking
Objective: 2
AACSB: Reflective thinking skills
24) If a company employs two office assistants for every nine architects (a staffing ratio of 2:9) and it plans to expand and hire eighteen new architects, how many new office assistants will it need to hire?
A) 2
B) 4
C) 6
D) 8
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 120
Skill: Application
Objective: 3
AACSB: Analytic skills
Trang 625) Which of the following, if true, would require a company to make adjustments to its
historical employee-productivity ratios?
A) The company is able to recruit more easily because of higher unemployment in the market B) The company's cost of borrowing is going down
C) The company is expecting higher volumes of work in the next two years
D) The company is adopting a more efficient manufacturing system
Answer: D
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 120
Skill: Critical thinking
Objective: 3
AACSB: Reflective thinking skills
26) involves looking at past employment patterns and using those patterns to predict a firm's future labor needs
A) Trend analysis
B) Judgmental forecasting
C) ROI analysis
D) Transition analysis
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 121
Skill: Concept
Objective: 3
27) Which of the following forecasting methods relies on the experience and insights of people
in the organization to predict a firm's future employment needs?
A) trend analysis
B) ROI analysis
C) judgmental forecasting
D) transition analysis
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 122
Skill: Concept
Objective: 3
28) If managers are asked to estimate their optimal headcount for the following year for staffing planning purposes, which of the following has been used?
A) ratio analysis
B) trend analysis
C) scatter plots
D) judgmental forecasting
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 122
Skill: Application
Objective: 3
AACSB: Analytic skills
Trang 729) Why is it usually best to supplement the ratio, scatter plot, and trend forecasting methods with managerial judgment?
A) because judgment forecasting is the most accurate method
B) because historical trends and relationships can change
C) because top-down approaches need analytical validation
D) because firms need to keep their fingers on the pulse of their labor markets
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 122
Skill: Concept
Objective: 3
30) New salespeople at a retail store generate an average of $50,000 in profit their first year In addition, the reduced workload on the rest of the sales staff improves their efficiency and ability
to provide high-quality customer service by 10 percent This is worth an additional $20,000 to the company The cost of hiring and training a new salesperson are expected to be $3,000 and
$8,000 respectively The salary for this position is $35,000 What is the return on investment of hiring an additional salesperson?
A) 152%
B) 163%
C) 200%
D) 143%
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 123
Skill: Application
Objective: 3
AACSB: Analytic skills
31) is a quantitative technique that can be used to analyze a firm's internal labor markets and forecast its internal labor supply
A) Trend analysis
B) Judgmental forecasting
C) ROI analysis
D) Transition analysis
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 124
Skill: Concept
Objective: 4
32) Which of the following is true of transition analysis?
A) It can account for multiple moves
B) It assumes that all employees in a job have an equal probability of movement
C) It is a qualitative technique
D) It does not rely on historical patterns and activity levels
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 126
Skill: Concept
Objective: 4
Trang 833) Identify the primary limitation of all forecasting techniques
A) They are qualitative in nature
B) They tend to give biased estimates
C) They rely on managerial intuition and judgment
D) They rely on historical patterns and activity levels
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 126
Skill: Concept
Objective: 4
34) Which of the following is more likely to warrant changes in an organization's compensation policy to offer above-market wages?
A) decreasing unemployment rates
B) decrease in the number of employees quitting jobs
C) reduction in the number of companies in its industry
D) restructuring of jobs to make them more process oriented
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 126
Skill: Critical thinking
Objective: 4
AACSB: Reflective thinking skills
35) Which of the following are detailed records or databases that summarize each employee's skills, competencies, education, training, languages spoken, and chances of being promoted? A) performance reviews
B) transition databases
C) talent inventories
D) replacement charts
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 126
Skill: Concept
Objective: 4
36) Which of the following would be most useful for a firm needing to quickly reassign
employees to an important new project?
A) job analysis
B) transition analysis
C) a talent inventory
D) trend analysis
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 126-127
Skill: Application
Objective: 4
AACSB: Analytic skills
Trang 937) Which of the following visually shows each of the possible successors for a job and
summarizes their strengths, present performance, promotion readiness, and development needs? A) scatter diagrams
B) perceptual maps
C) talent inventories
D) replacement charts
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 127
Skill: Concept
Objective: 4
38) After the gaps between the firm's labor supply and labor demand are identified, a firm should:
A) develop and implement action plans
B) conduct a workforce analysis
C) identify its business strategy
D) articulate its talent philosophy and strategic staffing decisions
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 116
Skill: Concept
Objective: 5
39) Which of the following is a way in which many organizations try to reduce their need for skills that will be in short supply for a number of years?
A) exiting certain lines of business
B) redesigning jobs
C) focusing on other areas where there is adequate labor supply
D) focus on unskilled labor
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 130
Skill: Concept
Objective: 5
40) Which of the following is a way in which companies usually deal with temporary employee surpluses?
A) offering early retirement options
B) stopping filling of vacated positions
C) announcing massive layoffs
D) removing contingent workers
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 131
Skill: Concept
Objective: 5
Trang 1041) Which term refers to the proportion of applicants moving from one stage of the hiring process to the next?
A) staffing yields
B) hiring yields
C) attrition
D) retention
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 132
Skill: Concept
Objective: 6
42) Hiring yield refers to:
A) the proportion of hires coming through a particular recruiter
B) the return on investment from one additional hire
C) the percent of applicants ultimately hired
D) the proportion of applicants moving from one stage of the hiring process to the next
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 132
Skill: Concept
Objective: 6
43) forecasting uses historical data on the average number of hires typically made per recruiter or the average number of recruits processed per recruiter over a given period of time, say, a week, month, or year
A) Staffing efficiency-drive
B) Hiring-yield driven
C) Staffing-yield driven
D) Workload-driven
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 134
Skill: Concept
Objective: 6
44) A firm's internal and external staffing costs were $50,000, and 5 people were hired, each with a starting base salary of $40,000 What would be the firm's staffing efficiency?
A) 12.5%
B) 25%
C) 16.7%
D) 125%
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 134
Skill: Application
Objective: 6
AACSB: Analytic skills
Trang 1145) Which of the following observations is true?
A) Continuous recruiting involves recruiting an entirely new applicant pool every time the organization has one or more positions to fill
B) Batch recruiting is particularly useful for positions that turn over relatively quickly
C) Jobs recruited using batch recruiting typically take a longer time to fill than jobs recruited using continuous recruiting
D) Continuous recruiting does not work well for jobs that take a long time to fill, or for jobs that cost the organization a lot of money while they are vacant
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 135
Skill: Concept
Objective: 6
46) Describe the five steps in the workforce planning process
Answer: The five steps in the typical workforce planning process are described below
1 Identify the business strategy A firm's strategic vision, mission, and strategy affect current and future staffing requirements by influencing the types and numbers of employees needed
2 Articulate the firm's talent philosophy and strategic staffing decisions Firms differ in their commitment to things like promoting workers, retaining workers, and their preference for hiring people with certain skills or training them after they are hired Because these factors influence the nature of the firm's future labor supply and the type of workers it will need, they are
important to understand when forecasting and planning
3 Conduct a workforce analysis Forecast both labor demand and labor supply, and identify any gaps between the two
4 Develop and implement action plans Develop action plans to address any gaps between labor demand and labor supply forecasts The action plans should be consistent with the firm's talent philosophy, and can include recruiting, retention, compensation, succession planning, and training and development Action plans can be short-term or long-term, depending on the firm's needs and the predictability of the environment Action plans to address aging workforce issues
or workforces that have a disproportionate number of similarly aged employees may need a longer timeframe
5 Monitor, evaluate and revise the forecasts and action plans As the environment changes, forecasts and action plans may need to change as well
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 116
Skill: Concept
Objective: 1
47) How can competitor forecasts influence a firm's forecast of its own future business activity? Answer: If new competitors enter an industry, customers will have greater product choices, which will tend to dilute the demand for any one company's products or services For example,
in the face of increased competition from foreign carmakers, many U.S carmakers, including
GM and DaimlerChrysler, experienced declining demand for their products and downsized their workforces Alternately, if a firm leaves a market, then its surviving competitors might
experience greater demand for their products or services
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 118
Skill: Concept
Objective: 2