Deck 14: Human Resource Administrationin Public Organizations

Question 1

Under the system of patronage, employees are hired or given promotions on the basis of

A) the quality of their work, education, and previous experience.
B) partisan political affiliation.
C) membership in society's upper classes.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The merit system was designed to

A) replace patronage with neutral competence.
B) correct the ills of patronage including inefficiency, incompetence, and corruption.
C) hire and promote on the basis of quality of work rather than partisan political affiliation.
D) The merit system was designed to accomplish all of the above.
E) The merit system was designed to accomplish none of the above.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following was NOT a result of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978?

A) replaced the Civil Service Commission with the Office of Personnel Management
B) created the Senior Executive Service
C) prohibited the use of affirmative action on the basis of representation statistics alone
D) established the Federal Labor Relations Council
E) made it easier to discharge nonperforming employees

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The Hatch Act of 1939 and subsequent revisions was designed to

A) prevent the dismissal of non-civil service employees for purely political reasons.
B) uphold the fundamental tenets of the merit system.
C) establish hierarchy and job standardization in the federal government.
D) The Hatch Act was designed to accomplish all of the above.
E) The Hatch Act was designed to accomplish none of the above.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT a problem with position classification systems?

A) Rigid job descriptions can become quickly outdated.
B) They give rise to distortions to improve grade levels.
C) They are less accurate with regard to depicting the duties and responsibilities of professional and high-level administrative positions.
D) All of the above are problems with position classification systems.
E) None of the above are problems with position classification systems.

Question 6

Which of the following is TRUE regarding pay comparability?

A) The federal service pay gap has been growing since the 1980s.
B) The federal service pay gap has been decreasing since the 1980s.
C) The Federal Employee Pay Comparability Act closed loopholes that fostered inequities in pay between federal and corporate employees.
D) All of the above are true.
E) None of the above are true.

Question 7

The civil service system was designed in large measure to do which of the following?

A) make it easy to remove poorly performing employees
B) protect employees from arbitrary dismissal or removal for partisan political reasons
C) prevent the firing of public employees for good reason
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Question 8

Which of the following is TRUE about labor relations in the public sector?

A) Strikes and lockouts are used to resolve negotiation impasses.
B) Market forces temper the demands of both sides.
C) Collective bargaining is the heart of labor relations.
D) All of the above are true.
E) None of the above is true.

Question 9

The chief means to promote equity in employment are

A) equal opportunity programs.
B) affirmative action programs.
C) representative bureaucracy programs.
D) fairness in employment hiring programs.
E) Hatch Act programs.

Question 10

Which of the following is an accurate statement about the current state of equal opportunity employment?

A) Women and minorities no longer face significant barriers to their advancement within public organizations.
B) As the result of Supreme Court decisions, the Clinton administration initiated set-aside employment programs in 1996.
C) Private organizations have made more progress in promoting equal opportunity than have public organizations.
D) The state of affairs regarding comparable pay has been significantly better for African American and Hispanic women.
E) Jobs in traditionally "female" areas such as teaching and nursing typically earn less than jobs in traditionally "male" areas.

Question 11

The courts no longer support or mandate affirmative action programs as they once did.

Question 12

White managers effectively control access to career networks, while women and minorities continue to struggle to gain access.

Question 13

State and local employee unions are more powerful in the southern, southwestern, and western mountain states.

Question 14

Like the federal government, state and local governments operate under a common set of rules and institutions governing labor relations.

Question 15

The public sector, particularly the federal government, generally offers more employment opportunities to minorities and women today than does the private sector.

Question 16

Public sector workers were given the authority to strike with the passage of the Civil Service Reform Act

Question 17

Employees of the federal government have had the right to form and join unions since the Lloyd-La Follette Act of 1912.

Question 18

The ultimate objective of the disciplinary process is to remove employees, not to improve job performance.

Question 19

A major exception to the principles of merit-based selection is the preferential treatment the civil service gives to military veterans.

Question 20

The concept of merit is a relatively recent import from Europe to the United States.

Question 21

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Merit

A) The process of systematically assessing employee productivity.
B) A government workforce that reflects the people or the particular community that they government serves.
C) The idea that government employees should be politically nonpartisan and possess the technical requirements and aptitude to perform a job.
D) Paying government employees according to the quality of their work rather than seniority.
E) The system in which employees are hired or given promotions based on partisan affiliation.
F) A practice to collapse pay grades by reducing a large number of job classifications into a smaller, more manageable number.
G) The system in which employees are hired or promoted based on the quality of their work, education, and experience.
H) An attempt to equalize the difference in compensation levels between men and women who do jobs of comparable value.
I) The concept that individuals reach a certain level in an organization and are not able to rise above it.
J) The standard federal government pay scale and position classification system.

Question 22

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Patronage

A) The process of systematically assessing employee productivity.
B) A government workforce that reflects the people or the particular community that they government serves.
C) The idea that government employees should be politically nonpartisan and possess the technical requirements and aptitude to perform a job.
D) Paying government employees according to the quality of their work rather than seniority.
E) The system in which employees are hired or given promotions based on partisan affiliation.
F) A practice to collapse pay grades by reducing a large number of job classifications into a smaller, more manageable number.
G) The system in which employees are hired or promoted based on the quality of their work, education, and experience.
H) An attempt to equalize the difference in compensation levels between men and women who do jobs of comparable value.
I) The concept that individuals reach a certain level in an organization and are not able to rise above it.
J) The standard federal government pay scale and position classification system.

Question 23

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Neutral competence

A) The process of systematically assessing employee productivity.
B) A government workforce that reflects the people or the particular community that they government serves.
C) The idea that government employees should be politically nonpartisan and possess the technical requirements and aptitude to perform a job.
D) Paying government employees according to the quality of their work rather than seniority.
E) The system in which employees are hired or given promotions based on partisan affiliation.
F) A practice to collapse pay grades by reducing a large number of job classifications into a smaller, more manageable number.
G) The system in which employees are hired or promoted based on the quality of their work, education, and experience.
H) An attempt to equalize the difference in compensation levels between men and women who do jobs of comparable value.
I) The concept that individuals reach a certain level in an organization and are not able to rise above it.
J) The standard federal government pay scale and position classification system.

Question 24

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-General Schedule

A) The process of systematically assessing employee productivity.
B) A government workforce that reflects the people or the particular community that they government serves.
C) The idea that government employees should be politically nonpartisan and possess the technical requirements and aptitude to perform a job.
D) Paying government employees according to the quality of their work rather than seniority.
E) The system in which employees are hired or given promotions based on partisan affiliation.
F) A practice to collapse pay grades by reducing a large number of job classifications into a smaller, more manageable number.
G) The system in which employees are hired or promoted based on the quality of their work, education, and experience.
H) An attempt to equalize the difference in compensation levels between men and women who do jobs of comparable value.
I) The concept that individuals reach a certain level in an organization and are not able to rise above it.
J) The standard federal government pay scale and position classification system.

Question 25

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Performance appraisal

A) The process of systematically assessing employee productivity.
B) A government workforce that reflects the people or the particular community that they government serves.
C) The idea that government employees should be politically nonpartisan and possess the technical requirements and aptitude to perform a job.
D) Paying government employees according to the quality of their work rather than seniority.
E) The system in which employees are hired or given promotions based on partisan affiliation.
F) A practice to collapse pay grades by reducing a large number of job classifications into a smaller, more manageable number.
G) The system in which employees are hired or promoted based on the quality of their work, education, and experience.
H) An attempt to equalize the difference in compensation levels between men and women who do jobs of comparable value.
I) The concept that individuals reach a certain level in an organization and are not able to rise above it.
J) The standard federal government pay scale and position classification system.

Question 26

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Glass ceiling

A) The process of systematically assessing employee productivity.
B) A government workforce that reflects the people or the particular community that they government serves.
C) The idea that government employees should be politically nonpartisan and possess the technical requirements and aptitude to perform a job.
D) Paying government employees according to the quality of their work rather than seniority.
E) The system in which employees are hired or given promotions based on partisan affiliation.
F) A practice to collapse pay grades by reducing a large number of job classifications into a smaller, more manageable number.
G) The system in which employees are hired or promoted based on the quality of their work, education, and experience.
H) An attempt to equalize the difference in compensation levels between men and women who do jobs of comparable value.
I) The concept that individuals reach a certain level in an organization and are not able to rise above it.
J) The standard federal government pay scale and position classification system.

Question 27

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Pay for performance

A) The process of systematically assessing employee productivity.
B) A government workforce that reflects the people or the particular community that they government serves.
C) The idea that government employees should be politically nonpartisan and possess the technical requirements and aptitude to perform a job.
D) Paying government employees according to the quality of their work rather than seniority.
E) The system in which employees are hired or given promotions based on partisan affiliation.
F) A practice to collapse pay grades by reducing a large number of job classifications into a smaller, more manageable number.
G) The system in which employees are hired or promoted based on the quality of their work, education, and experience.
H) An attempt to equalize the difference in compensation levels between men and women who do jobs of comparable value.
I) The concept that individuals reach a certain level in an organization and are not able to rise above it.
J) The standard federal government pay scale and position classification system.

Question 28

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Comparable worth

A) The process of systematically assessing employee productivity.
B) A government workforce that reflects the people or the particular community that they government serves.
C) The idea that government employees should be politically nonpartisan and possess the technical requirements and aptitude to perform a job.
D) Paying government employees according to the quality of their work rather than seniority.
E) The system in which employees are hired or given promotions based on partisan affiliation.
F) A practice to collapse pay grades by reducing a large number of job classifications into a smaller, more manageable number.
G) The system in which employees are hired or promoted based on the quality of their work, education, and experience.
H) An attempt to equalize the difference in compensation levels between men and women who do jobs of comparable value.
I) The concept that individuals reach a certain level in an organization and are not able to rise above it.
J) The standard federal government pay scale and position classification system.

Question 29

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Representative bureaucracy

A) The process of systematically assessing employee productivity.
B) A government workforce that reflects the people or the particular community that they government serves.
C) The idea that government employees should be politically nonpartisan and possess the technical requirements and aptitude to perform a job.
D) Paying government employees according to the quality of their work rather than seniority.
E) The system in which employees are hired or given promotions based on partisan affiliation.
F) A practice to collapse pay grades by reducing a large number of job classifications into a smaller, more manageable number.
G) The system in which employees are hired or promoted based on the quality of their work, education, and experience.
H) An attempt to equalize the difference in compensation levels between men and women who do jobs of comparable value.
I) The concept that individuals reach a certain level in an organization and are not able to rise above it.
J) The standard federal government pay scale and position classification system.

Question 30

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Broadbanding

A) The process of systematically assessing employee productivity.
B) A government workforce that reflects the people or the particular community that they government serves.
C) The idea that government employees should be politically nonpartisan and possess the technical requirements and aptitude to perform a job.
D) Paying government employees according to the quality of their work rather than seniority.
E) The system in which employees are hired or given promotions based on partisan affiliation.
F) A practice to collapse pay grades by reducing a large number of job classifications into a smaller, more manageable number.
G) The system in which employees are hired or promoted based on the quality of their work, education, and experience.
H) An attempt to equalize the difference in compensation levels between men and women who do jobs of comparable value.
I) The concept that individuals reach a certain level in an organization and are not able to rise above it.
J) The standard federal government pay scale and position classification system.