Compensation Barry Gerhart 13e - Test Bank

Compensation Barry Gerhart 13e – Test Bank

 

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Compensation, 13e (Gerhart)

Chapter 6   Person-Based Structures

 

1) The roots of job-based pay structures are traced to

1. A) Frederick Taylor.
2. B) Karl Marx.
3. C) Adam Smith.
4. D) Ronald McFreyer.

 

Answer:  A

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Skill Plans

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

2) Routine work is also termed

1. A) transactional work.
2. B) hygiene work.
3. C) tacit work.
4. D) system work.

 

Answer:  A

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Skill Plans

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

3) ________ are often linked to mission statements that express an organization’s philosophy, values, business strategies, and plans.

1. A) Job-based systems
2. B) Bureaucratic systems
3. C) Skill-based systems
4. D) Core competencies

 

Answer:  D

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  “How To”: Skill Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

 

 

4) According to Frito-Lay’s list of competencies for managerial work, the behavior of modeling, teaching, and coaching company values is linked to the ________ competency dimension.

1. A) leading for results
2. B) doing it the right way
3. C) leveraging technical and business systems
4. D) building workforce effectiveness

 

Answer:  B

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Competencies

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

5) Which of the following is an advantage of skill-based pay plans?

1. A) They guarantee a low rate of employee turnover.
2. B) They aid in deploying workers in a way that better matches the work flow.
3. C) They are less expensive than job-based plans.
4. D) They are viewed more favorably by courts than any other type of pay plans.

 

Answer:  B

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Skill Plans

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

6) The majority of applications of skill-based pay have been in:

1. A) education industries.
2. B) manufacturing industries.
3. C) health-care industries.
4. D) service industries.

 

Answer:  B

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Skill Plans

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

7) An employee’s focus in a job-based approach is to

1. A) seek promotions to earn more pay.
2. B) acquire skills.
3. C) acquire competencies.
4. D) utilize skills efficiently.

 

Answer:  A

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  The Perfect Structure

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

 

 

8) Compensable factors, skill blocks, and competency sets are used for:

1. A) assessing relative value.
2. B) collecting work content information.
3. C) determining what to value.
4. D) completely different purposes.

 

Answer:  C

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  The Perfect Structure

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

9) Employees in a multiskill system earn pay increases:

1. A) by increasing their productivity.
2. B) based on job content.
3. C) based on job assignments.
4. D) by acquiring new knowledge.

 

Answer:  D

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Skill Plans

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

10) Which of the following is least likely to be used in establishing skill-based certification methods?

1. A) Tests
2. B) College degree
3. C) Peer review
4. D) On-the-job demonstration

 

Answer:  B

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  “How To”: Skill Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

11) ________ is a crucial factor that affects the perception of fairness of a skill-based plan.

1. A) The design of the certification process
2. B) The number of compensable factors
3. C) The extent of alignment with an organization’s strategy
4. D) The number of weights and factor degrees

 

Answer:  A

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  “How To”: Skill Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

 

 

12) A camper is an employee who ________ in a skill-based pay system.

1. A) tops out
2. B) is a jack-of-all-trades
3. C) does not want to rotate jobs
4. D) moves too quickly from job to job

 

Answer:  C

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  “How To”: Skill Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

13) Skill-based plans tend to work best in organizations using a(n) ________ strategy.

1. A) innovator
2. B) defender
3. C) laissez-faire
4. D) cost-cutter

 

Answer:  D

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  “How To”: Skill Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

14) ________ are the observable behaviors that indicate the level of competency within each competency set.

1. A) Competency generators
2. B) Core competencies
3. C) Competency indicators
4. D) Behavior scale points

 

Answer:  C

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Competencies

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

15) ________ translate each core competency into action.

1. A) Competency indicators
2. B) Multifunctional skills
3. C) Skill-based structures
4. D) Competency sets

 

Answer:  D

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Competencies

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

 

 

16) The process of identifying competencies in person-based structures resembles identifying ________ as part of job evaluation in job-based structures.

1. A) compensable factors
2. B) job descriptions
3. C) employee requirements
4. D) work flow outlays

 

Answer:  A

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Competencies

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

17) Which of the following reasons makes competencies a risky foundation for a pay system?

1. A) The number of stakeholders and the lack of a global standard
2. B) Openness and nonquantifiable nature
3. C) Vagueness and subjectivity
4. D) Lack of motivation and objectivity

 

Answer:  C

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  “How-To”: Competency Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

18) The organization specific group for classifying competencies generally includes

1. A) customer orientation.
2. B) personal integrity.
3. C) flexibility.
4. D) maturity of judgement.

 

Answer:  A

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  “How-To”: Competency Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

19) Leadership, customer orientation, and functional expertise are examples of which group of competencies?

1. A) Personal characteristics
2. B) Visionary
3. C) Organization specific
4. D) Team dynamics

 

Answer:  C

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  “How-To”: Competency Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

20) Competencies are derived from the ________ beliefs about the organization and its strategic intent.

1. A) executive leadership’s
2. B) stakeholders’
3. C) competitors’
4. D) customers’

 

Answer:  A

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  “How-To”: Competency Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

21) Most studies report that when different people rank-order jobs, the correlations are between:

36. A) .15 and .36.
37. B) .35 and .46.
38. C) .55 and .66.
39. D) .85 and .96.

 

Answer:  D

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  Administering and Evaluating the Plan

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

22) The reliability of job evaluation techniques is measured by:

1. A) determining if different evaluators produce the same results.
2. B) asking the question “What does the evaluation measure?”
3. C) determining hit rates.
4. D) surveying employee attitudes about the evaluation.

 

Answer:  A

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  Administering and Evaluating the Plan

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

23) Who among the following is examining the validity of a job evaluation?

1. A) Keira, who is measuring the degree to which the job evaluation plan matches an agreed-upon pay structure for benchmark jobs
2. B) Laila, who is measuring the effectiveness of a formal appeals process
3. C) Keith, who is surveying employee attitudes about the job evaluation plan
4. D) Rita, who is requesting the management for a reanalysis and a reevaluation of the required skills as she feels her job has been evaluated incorrectly

 

Answer:  A

Difficulty: 3 Hard

Topic:  Administering and Evaluating the Plan

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

24) A study of 400 compensation specialists revealed that:

1. A) job evaluation data had a larger effect on pay decisions than market data.
2. B) current pay data had a larger effect on pay decisions than market data.
3. C) job titles had a larger effect on pay decisions than job evaluation data.
4. D) market data had a substantially larger effect on pay decisions than job evaluation data.

 

Answer:  D

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  Bias in Internal Structures

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

25) Which of the following is the reason why skill-based pay plans have maximum flexibility?

1. A) They pay employees for the highest level of skill they have achieved regardless of the work they perform.
2. B) They focus on placing the right people in the right job.
3. C) They only pay as much as the work performed is worth, regardless of any greater skills the employee may possess.
4. D) They encourage employees to focus on how to get promoted rather than on how to get the required competencies.

 

Answer:  A

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  The Perfect Structure

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

26) Managers whose employers use ________ plans focus on placing the right people in the right job.

1. A) person-based
2. B) skill-based
3. C) competency-based
4. D) job-based

 

Answer:  D

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  The Perfect Structure

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

 

 

27) A ________ approach controls costs by paying only as much as the work performed is worth, regardless of any greater skills the employee may possess.

1. A) performance-based
2. B) competency-based
3. C) job-based
4. D) skill-based

 

Answer:  C

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  The Perfect Structure

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

28) Which of the following is an advantage of the skill-based structure?

1. A) Pay based on value of work performed
2. B) Continuous learning flexibility
3. C) Cost control via certification
4. D) Lateral movement

 

Answer:  B

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  The Perfect Structure

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

29) Lisa is a manager at Trell, Inc. When she hires her employees, she focuses on finding the right job for the right person. Which of the following pay plans is her employer most likely using?

1. A) A skill-based pay plan
2. B) A competency-based pay plan
3. C) An aptitude-based pay plan
4. D) A job-based pay plan

 

Answer:  D

Difficulty: 3 Hard

Topic:  The Perfect Structure

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

30) Who among the following is most likely to be working for a company that uses a competency-based pay plan?

1. A) Julia, who focuses on getting promoted to get a pay increase
2. B) Faiza, a manager who focuses on choosing the employees best suited for job roles
3. C) Juan, a manager who focuses on controlling costs through budgets and work assignments
4. D) Carlos, who focuses on obtaining certifications in her field to get a pay increase

 

Answer:  D

Difficulty: 3 Hard

Topic:  The Perfect Structure

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

31) Transactional work is typically paid more than tacit work.

 

Answer:  FALSE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Skill Plans

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

32) Fundamental skills include familiarity with company forms and procedures, basic product knowledge, safety, basic computer usage, and so on.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Skill Plans

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

33) Skill-based pay plans can focus on both the depth and breadth of work.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Skill Plans

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

34) By encouraging employees to take charge of their own development, skill-based plans may give them more control over their work lives.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Skill Plans

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

35) Person-based plans have the potential to clarify new standards and behavioral expectations.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Skill Plans

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

36) Compared to an on-demand review of certifications, scheduling fixed review points makes it easier to budget and control payroll increases.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  “How To”: Skill Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

37) Skill-based plans are generally well accepted by employees because it is easy to see the connection between the plan, the work, and the size of the paycheck.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  “How To”: Skill Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

38) There is far less uniformity in the use of terms in person-based plans than there is in job-based plans.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  “How To”: Skill Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

39) Skill-based plans become increasingly economical as the majority of employees become certified at the highest pay levels.

 

Answer:  FALSE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  “How To”: Skill Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

40) Scaled competency indicators are similar to degrees of compensable factors.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Competencies

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

41) As experience with competencies has grown, organizations are placing greater emphasis on business-related descriptions of behaviors.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Competencies

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

42) While competencies hone in on information about specific tasks, skill- and job-based systems take the opposite approach.

 

Answer:  FALSE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Competencies

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

43) Advocates of competencies say that by focusing on optimum performance rather than average performance, competencies can help employees maintain their marketability.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Competencies

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

44) Core competencies are often linked to mission statements that express an organization’s philosophy, values, business strategies, and plans.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Competencies

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

45) Basing pay on race or gender seems appalling today, but basing pay on someone’s judgment of another person’s integrity is considered the norm nowadays.

 

Answer:  FALSE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Competencies

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

46) In virtually all the studies on job evaluation, job-based evaluation is treated as a measurement device.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Administering and Evaluating the Plan

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

47) Validity refers to the degree to which an evaluation assesses the relative worth of jobs to an organization.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Administering and Evaluating the Plan

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

 

 

48) Communication and employee involvement are crucial for acceptance of resulting pay structures.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Administering and Evaluating the Plan

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

49) The reliability of a job evaluation can be improved by using evaluators who are familiar with the work and trained in the job evaluation process.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Administering and Evaluating the Plan

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

50) Defining the compensable factors and scales to include the content of jobs held predominantly by women is one of the methods to ensure that job evaluation plans are bias-free.

 

Answer:  TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

Topic:  Bias in Internal Structures

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

51) How do modern organizations analyze work processes?

 

Answer:  In today’s organizations, the work process is analyzed with an eye toward increasing competitiveness and success. Routine work (transactional work) is separated from more complex work (tacit work). The more routine work generates lower revenues and requires less knowledge. Once fragmented, work processes can be rebundled into new, different jobs. Pay structures based on each person’s skills/knowledge/experience offer flexibility to align talent with continuously redesigned workplaces.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Skill Plans

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

52) What is the relevance of certification in a multiskill system?

 

Answer:  Employees in a multiskill system earn pay increases by acquiring new knowledge, but the knowledge is specific to a range of related jobs. Pay increases come with certification of new skills, rather than with job assignments. Employees can then be assigned to any of the jobs for which they are certified, based on the flow of work.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Skill Plans

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

53) How do skill-based plans motivate employees?

 

Answer:  Skill-based plans are generally well accepted by employees because it is easy to see the connection between the plan, the work, and the size of the paycheck. Consequently, the plans provide strong motivation for individuals to increase their skills.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  “How To”: Skill Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

54) What is relevance of flexibility in skill-based plans?

 

Answer:  Research suggests that the greatest impact on results occurs immediately after just a small amount of increased flexibility. Greater increments in flexibility achieve fewer improvements. There may be an optimal number of skills for any individual to possess. Beyond that number, productivity returns are less than the pay increases. Additionally, some employees may not be interested in giving up the job they are doing.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  “How To”: Skill Analysis

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation

 

55) How are organizations redefining the original definition of competencies?

 

Answer:  As experience with competencies has grown, organizations are moving away from the vagueness of self-concepts, traits, and motives. Instead, they are placing greater emphasis on business-related descriptions of behaviors. Competencies are becoming “a collection of observable behaviors (not a single behavior) that require no inference, assumption or interpretation.”

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Topic:  Person-Based Structures: Competencies

Accessibility:  Keyboard Navigation