Deck 12: Human Resources, Job Design, and Work Measurement

Question 1

The goal of a human resource strategy is to manage labor and design jobs so people are effectively and efficiently utilized.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The Hawthorne studies, which showed that there is a dynamic social system in the workplace, took place in the 1960s.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The physical environment in which employees work may affect the quality of work life, but it does not affect their performance and safety.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Fredrick W. Taylor is credited with introducing psychology into the workplace.

Question 5

Self-directed teams tend to be successful in work environments where there is little employee empowerment.

Question 6

Psychological factors have little relevance in the design of assembly line jobs since they involve physical products and production technology.

Question 7

Job expansion can lead to increased labor cost because of the extra workers hired in the expansion.

Question 8

The two extremes of employment stability policy are "follow demand exactly" and "keep demand constant."

Question 9

Maintaining a stable workforce generally results in the firm paying higher wages than a firm that follows demand.

Question 10

Hackman and Oldham's five desirable characteristics of job design include job significance and autonomy.

Question 11

Job rotation is an example of job enlargement.

Question 12

Flextime is a system that allows employees, within limits, to determine their own work schedules.

Question 13

Mutual trust means that both management and employee strive to meet common objectives.

Question 14

An enlarged job has more responsibility than the same job enriched.

Question 15

Labor planning determines employment stability.

Question 16

Labor specialization includes the development of specialized tools to reduce labor costs.

Question 17

Technology, location, and layout decisions are all possible constraints on the human resource strategy.

Question 18

Self-directed teams may mean having no supervision on the factory floor.

Question 19

Profit-sharing is a motivation and incentive system where executives receive stock options.

Question 20

Equitable pay alone cannot achieve a reasonable quality of work life in an organization.

Question 21

Labor standards based on historical experience are relatively inexpensive to obtain.

Question 22

Kanbans and andons are both elements of the visual workplace, because they are visual signals that replace printouts and paperwork.

Question 23

The classical stopwatch study, or time study, was originally proposed by Western Electric's Hawthorne Commission in the 1920s.

Question 24

UPS may run the "tightest ship in the shipping business," but they got that high level of efficiency without time standards, because their contract with the Teamsters Union forbids them.

Question 25

When developing the standard time for a task, the elements that make up the task must use the same performance rating factor.

Question 26

An operations chart, or right-hand/left-hand chart, points out wasted motion and idle time.

Question 27

One use of labor standards is to determine what makes a fair day's work.

Question 28

Standard time is always greater than normal time, due to the inclusion of allowances for personal time, delay, and fatigue.

Question 29

The allowances that convert normal time to standard time have three components: personal time allowances, delay allowances, and fatigue allowances.

Question 30

"Visual workplace" is a term coined by Hawthorne, and refers to the need for proper lighting at employee workstations.

Question 31

Personal and fatigue allowances can include amounts for the effects of lighting, heat and humidity, and noise.

Question 32

Normal time is always less than the average observed time.

Question 33

The purpose of labor standards is to accurately define the skills required to complete a job.

Question 34

Labor standards based on historical experience are the preferred method of choice.

Question 35

A time-study procedure involves timing a sample of worker's performance and using it to set a standard.

Question 36

Two uses of labor standards are to determine the labor content of items produced and to determine staffing needs.

Question 37

Standard time may be less than average observed time.

Question 38

If a manager conducting a time study needed an accuracy of ± 0.1 minutes, rather than ± 0.2 minutes, the adequate sample size would have to be twice as large.

Question 39

Ergonomics is a branch of economics that deals with costs of scheduling workers.

Question 40

The allowance factor that increases normal time to standard time compensates for inadequate worker training and lack of worker dexterity.

Question 41

The behavioral approach to job design that involves giving the worker a larger portion of the total task is

A) job enlargement
B) job enrichment
C) job enhancement
D) job rotation
E) job involvement

Question 42

A modern "stopwatch" study can be conducted using a special-purpose PDA, one which can digitally capture events, times, and other variables for later analysis on a spreadsheet.

Question 43

Mutual trust is

A) when employees have gained the trust of management
B) reflected in reasonable, documented employment policies, honestly and equitably implemented to the satisfaction of both management and the employees
C) when management has gained the trust of the employees
D) when management recognizes that the employees are competent, motivated people both able and willing to perform at the level required to produce a quality product
E) when management and the employees both agree on the objectives

Question 44

A manufacturing plant allows its engineers to come in at 7 A.M. plus or minus an hour but still requires them to work 8 hour days. Which of the following scheduling techniques is the firm employing?

A) flextime
B) constant employment
C) part-time status
D) flexible workweek
E) compressed workweek

Question 45

Work sampling estimates the percent of time that a worker spends on various tasks.

Question 46

Which of the following best describes mutual commitment in an organization?

A) an instance in which management is committed to the employees and the employees are committed to management
B) both management and the employees are committed to the same objective
C) both management and the employees are committed, but to different objectives
D) management obtains the commitment of the employees to a stated objective
E) both management and the employees can rely on each other

Question 47

Most pit crew members have background experience in what area?

A) mechanical engineering
B) athletics
C) No specific area, crew members come from all sorts of backgrounds.
D) automobile race drivers
E) car mechanics

Question 48

When a worker has a say in the work methods that he/she wishes to utilize, his/her job is characterized by

A) skill variety
B) job identity
C) job significance
D) feedback
E) autonomy

Question 49

A Therblig is a very small amount of time, one hundred-thousandth of an hour.

Question 50

Normal time equals the average observed time multiplied by the allowance factor.
False

Question 51

Work sampling and time studies are similar in that the analyst in both cases records the time taken by the worker to accomplish each step of the task.

Question 52

The objective of a human resource strategy is to

A) produce the demand forecast at lowest labor cost
B) match employment levels with demand
C) achieve a reasonable quality of work life at low cost
D) manage labor and design jobs so people are effectively and efficiently utilized
E) all of the above

Question 53

Working 4 shifts of ten hours instead of 5 shifts at 8 hours each is known as

A) flextime
B) constant employment
C) part-time status
D) flexible workweek
E) none of the above

Question 54

An advantage of predetermined time standards is that the standard can be set before a task is actually performed.

Question 55

The two most basic policies associated with employment stability are

A) job enrichment and job enlargement
B) employment for life and guaranteed minimum wage
C) follow demand exactly and hold employment constant
D) incentive plans and piece-rate plans
E) none of the above

Question 56

Most unions do not accept the use of predetermined time standards.

Question 57

Four of the components of job design are

A) employment stability, work schedules, work sampling, motivation, and incentive systems
B) job specialization, job expansion, psychological components, and self-directed teams
C) labor specialization and enrichment, motivation and incentive systems, employment stability, and work sampling
D) ergonomics and work methods, method time measurement, work schedules, and incentive systems
E) labor specialization, time studies, work sampling, and pre-determined time standards

Question 58

A NASCAR pit crew consists of how many members?

A) 7
B) 5
C) 9
D) 10
E) 4

Question 59

Job rotation is an example of

A) job enrichment
B) job scheduling
C) job training
D) job enlargement
E) job incentive

Question 60

An advantage of work sampling is that it completely breaks down work elements.

Question 61

Which of the following terms implies an increase in responsibility and control in the vertical direction?

A) job rotation
B) job enrichment
C) job re-design
D) job enlargement
E) job satisfaction

Question 62

Which of the following is used by methods analysis in analyzing body movement at the workstation level?

A) MTM chart
B) flow diagram
C) operations chart
D) process chart
E) improvement chart

Question 63

"Designed to show economy of motion by pointing out waste motion and idle time" describes

A) a flow diagram
B) an activity chart
C) an operations chart
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 64

Which of the following is not a limitation of job expansion?

A) higher capital cost
B) higher wage rates
C) smaller labor pool
D) higher training costs
E) All of the above are limitations of job expansion.

Question 65

When a worker obtains clear and timely information about his/her performance, his/her job is characterized by

A) feedback
B) skill variety
C) job identity
D) job significance
E) autonomy

Question 66

Management and labor share the labor cost reductions in which of these compensation schemes?

A) bonus system
B) quota system
C) Scantron plan
D) Scanlon plan
E) measured day work plan

Question 67

Which of the following is not an analytical target of methods analysis?

A) movement of capital
B) body movement
C) movement of individuals
D) movement of materials
E) crew activity

Question 68

Flow diagrams are used to analyze

A) movement of people and materials
B) utilization of an operator and machine
C) body movements
D) time taken by various activities
E) unnecessary micro-motions

Question 69

A job characterized by __________ allows a worker to use his/her dexterity, physical strength, and skills to do his/her work.

A) feedback
B) skill variety
C) job identity
D) job significance
E) autonomy

Question 70

Ergonomics is not concerned with

A) levels of illumination, noise, temperature, and humidity
B) adjusting and providing input to the machine
C) feedback (providing information to the operator)
D) adequate compensation schemes
E) the design of functional and comfortable office furniture

Question 71

Suppose that the allowance factor for a job is 0.10 and the normal time is 5 hours. What is the standard time?

A) 5.6 hours
B) 50.0 hours
C) 4.9 hours
D) 5.1 hours
E) 4.5 hours

Question 72

In a large aerospace company, it has been discovered that some insulators have been damaged. A methods specialist is sent out to follow the insulators through the production and storage processes and to try to find out where in the process they are damaged. The specialist should use

A) left- and right-hand charts
B) man-machine charts
C) job analysis charts
D) flow diagrams
E) activity charts

Question 73

Which of the following statements describes job rotation?

A) The job contains a larger number of similar tasks.
B) The job includes some planning and control necessary for job accomplishment.
C) The operator works on different shifts on a regular basis.
D) The operator's schedule is flexible.
E) The operator is allowed to move, for example, from one type of CNC machine to the other.

Question 74

The difference between job enrichment and job enlargement is that

A) enlarged jobs involve vertical expansion, while enriched jobs involve horizontal expansion
B) enriched jobs enable an employee to do a number of boring jobs instead of just one
C) job enlargement is more psychologically satisfying than job enrichment
D) job enrichment is suitable for all employees, whereas job enlargement is not
E) enriched jobs involve vertical expansion, while enlarged jobs involve horizontal expansion

Question 75

Activity charts help analyze

A) movement of people and materials
B) utilization of an operator and machine
C) body movements
D) activities that can cause injuries
E) unnecessary micro-motions

Question 76

Methods analysis focuses on

A) the design of the machines used to perform a task
B) establishing time standards
C) reducing the number of skills needed for the completion of a task
D) issues such as the movement of individuals or materials
E) evaluating training programs to see if they are efficient

Question 77

Managers should seek to control such work environment factors as

A) illumination
B) noise and vibration
C) temperature
D) air quality
E) all of the above

Question 78

Methods analysis employs which of the following charts in its analysis of the movement of workers and materials?

A) micro-motion chart
B) flow diagram
C) activity chart
D) man-machine chart
E) movement chart

Question 79

Which of the following statements regarding incentive systems is False?

A) Bonuses are often used at the executive levels.
B) About half of all American manufacturing firms use productivity incentives.
C) Profit-sharing systems provide some part of the profit for distribution to employees.
D) The Scanlon plan is based on team productivity.
E) Increasing use of cross-training has led to increasing use of knowledge-based pay systems.

Question 80

One of the elements of ergonomics is

A) allocating work time based on economic studies
B) the cost justification of technology
C) designing tools and machines that facilitate human work
D) the use of automation in a manufacturing organization
E) the establishment of time standards