Organization

Question 1

Systems management philosophy that states that every organization is hindered by constraints that come from its internal policies.

Answer 1

Theory of constraints (TOC)

Question 2

Annualized formula that tracks number of separations and total number of workforce employees per month.

Answer 2

Turnover

Question 3

Group of workers who coordinate their activities to achieve common goals (e.g., better wages, hours, and working conditions; job security; training) in their relationship with an employer or group of employers; also called trade union.

Answer 3

Trade union

Question 4

Act of deliberately accessing another computer without permission.

Answer 4

Hacking

Question 5

Measurement approach that provides an overall picture of an organization’s performance as measured against goals in finance, customers, internal business processes, and learning and growth.

Answer 5

Balanced scorecard

Question 6

Broadcast-style communications that enable authors to publish articles, opinions, product or service reviews, etc., on a web page.

Answer 6

Blogs

Question 7

High-volume, high-velocity, and high-variety information assets that require innovative forms of information processing for enhanced insight and decision making.

Answer 7

Big data

Question 8

Umbrella term used to describe a number of problem-solving and grievance resolution approaches.

Answer 8

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)

Question 9

Procedure in which disputes are submitted to one or more impartial persons for final determination.

Answer 9

Arbitration

Question 10

Error that occurs when an appraiser rates all employees within a narrow range, regardless of differences in actual performance.

Answer 10

Central tendency error

Question 11

Simple visual tools used to collect and analyze data.

Answer 11

Check sheets

Question 12

Form of corporate governance that requires a typical management board and a supervisory board and that allows management and employees to participate in strategic decision making.

Answer 12

Codetermination

Question 13

Presentation to management that establishes that a specific problem exists and argues that the proposed solution is the best way to solve the problem in terms of time, cost efficiency, and probability of success.

Answer 13

Business case

Question 14

HR structural alternative established as an independent department that provides services within a focused area to internal clients.

Answer 14

Center of excellence (COE)

Question 15

Line of authority within an organization.

Answer 15

Chain of command

Question 16

Style of computing in which scalable IT-enabled capabilities are delivered as a service using Internet technologies.

Answer 16

Cloud computing

Question 17

Tools that convert metrics to be used for decision support by adding context or further sub classifying comparison groups.

Answer 17

Analytics

Question 18

Common-law principle stating that employers have the right to hire, fire, demote, and promote whomever they choose for any reason unless there is a law or contract to the contrary and employees have the right to quit a job at any time.

Answer 18

At-will employment

Question 19

Occurs when an appraiser’s values, beliefs, or prejudices distort performance ratings.

Answer 19

Bias

Question 20

Use of electronic communications and transaction processing when buying (or contracting for/tendering) supplies and services.

Answer 20

e-procurement

Question 21

Business management software, usually a suite of integrated applications, that a company can use to collect, store, manage and interpret data from many business activities.

Answer 21

Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

Question 22

Refers to the extent to which rules, policies, and procedures govern the behavior of employees in an organization.

Answer 22

Formalization

Question 23

HR structural alternative in which headquarters HR specialists craft policies and HR generalists located within divisions or other locales implement the policies, adapt them as needed, and interact with employees.

Answer 23

Functional HR

Question 24

Conversion of data into a format that protects or hides its natural presentation or intended meaning.

Answer 24

Encryption

Question 25

Process that involves a systematic survey and interpretation of relevant data to identify external opportunities and threats and to assess how these factors affect the organization currently and how they are likely to affect the organization in the future.

Answer 25

Environmental scanning

Question 26

Type of analysis in which factors that can influence an outcome in either a negative or positive manner are listed and then assigned weights to indicate their relative strengths.

Answer 26

Force-field analysis

Question 27

Provides an orderly way to resolve differences of opinion in regard to a union contract.

Answer 27

Grievance procedure

Question 28

Organizational structure in which geographic regions define the organizational chart.

Answer 28

Geographic structure

Question 29

Diagram that maps out a list of factors that are thought to affect a problem or a desired outcome.

Answer 29

Cause-and-effect diagram

Question 30

Arrangement in which an enterprise and a vendor share different tasks within a larger complex, often strategic responsibility.

Answer 30

Cosourcing

Question 31

Error that occurs when an employee's rating is based on how his or her performance compares to that of another employee rather than objective standards.

Answer 31

Contrast error

Question 32

Process for assessing an organization's strategic capabilities in comparison to threats and opportunities identified during environmental scanning.

Answer 32

SWOT analysis

Question 33

Belief that employers and employees can act together for their common good.

Answer 33

Unitarianism

Question 34

Strategic, integrated management system for achieving customer satisfaction that involves all managers and employees and utilizes quantitative methods to continuously improve an organization's processes.

Answer 34

Total quality management (TQM)

Question 35

Use of statistics to determine whether relationships exist between two variables.

Answer 35

Trend and ratio analyses

Question 36

Violation of rights under labor-relations statutes.

Answer 36

Unfair labor practice (ULP)

Question 37

Organizational structure that divides an organization into "front" functions, which focus on customers or market groups, and "back" functions, which design and develop products and services.

Answer 37

Front-back structure

Question 38

Data structure that stores organized information (numeric information as well as sound clips, pictures, and videos).

Answer 38

Database

Question 39

HR structural alternative that allows businesses with different strategies in multiple units to apply HR expertise to each unit's specific strategic needs.

Answer 39

Dedicated HR

Question 40

Way an organization groups jobs to coordinate work.

Answer 40

Departmentalization

Question 41

Necessary level of care and attention that is taken to investigate an action before it is taken.

Answer 41

Due diligence

Question 42

Reporting mechanisms that aggregate and display metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs).

Answer 42

Dashboards

Question 43

Variety of software applications that electronically manage stored data.

Answer 43

Database management system (DBMS)

Question 44

Forecasting technique that progressively collects information from a group without physically assembling the contributors.

Answer 44

Delphi technique

Question 45

Sale by a company of an asset that is not performing well, that is not core to the company's business, or that is worth more as a separate entity.

Answer 45

Divestiture

Question 46

Process by which management and union representatives negotiate the employment conditions for a particular bargaining unit for a designated period of time.

Answer 46

Collective bargaining

Question 47

Form of corrective discipline that implements increasingly severe penalties for employees; also called progressive discipline.

Answer 47

Constructive discipline

Question 48

Chart that illustrates variations from normal in a situation over time.

Answer 48

Control chart

Question 49

Ratio of value created to cost of creating that value; allows management to determine the financial impact particular activities and programs have on an organization's profitability.

Answer 49

Cost-benefit analysis

Question 50

Process by which management and union representatives negotiate the employment conditions for a particular bargaining unit for a designated period of time.

Answer 50

Collective bargaining

Question 51

Organizational structure that combines departmentalization by division and function to gain the benefits of both.

Answer 51

Matrix structure

Question 52

Organization that owns or controls production or services facilities in one or more countries other than the home country.

Answer 52

Multinational enterprise (MNE)

Question 53

Method of nonbinding dispute resolution involving a third party who helps disputing parties reach a mutually agreeable decision; also known as conciliation.

Answer 53

Mediation

Question 54

Method of nonbinding dispute resolution involving a third party who tries to help disputing parties reach a mutually agreeable decision; also known as mediation.

Answer 54

Conciliation

Question 55

Organizational structure in which departments are defined by the services they contribute to the organization's overall mission, such as marketing and sales, operations, and HR.

Answer 55

Functional structure

Question 56

Selective use of game design and game mechanics to drive employee engagement in non-gaming business scenarios.

Answer 56

Gamification

Question 57

Growing interconnectedness and interdependency of countries, people, and companies.

Answer 57

Globalization

Question 58

Umbrella term for specialized collaborative software applications.

Answer 58

Groupware

Question 59

Process to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of HR programs and positions.

Answer 59

HR audit

Question 60

Graphic representation of the distribution of a single type of measurement; data is represented by a series of rectangles of varying heights.

Answer 60

Histogram

Question 61

Systematic tool for gathering, storing, maintaining, retrieving, and revising HR data; also known as a human resource management system (HRMS).

Answer 61

Human resource information system (HRIS)

Question 62

Organizational structure that mixes elements of the functional, product, and geographic structures.

Answer 62

Hybrid structure

Question 63

Series of standards, developed/published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), that define, establish, and maintain a quality assurance system for manufacturing and service industries.

Answer 63

ISO 9000 standards

Question 64

Various forms of collective employee actions taken to protest work conditions or employer action.

Answer 64

Industrial actions

Question 65

Use of technology to collect, process, and condense information with a goal of efficient management of information as an organizational resource.

Answer 65

Information management (IM)

Question 66

Creations of the mind such as inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce; as much an asset as is physical property.

Answer 66

Intellectual property (IP)

Question 67

Use of information from past and present to predict future conditions.

Answer 67

Judgmental forecasts

Question 68

Quantifiable measures of performance used to gauge progress toward strategic objectives or agreed standards of performance.

Answer 68

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

Question 69

Knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to effectively perform a job.

Answer 69

KSAs

Question 70

Group of workers who coordinate their activities to achieve common goals (e.g., better wages, hours, and working conditions; job security; training) in their relationship with an employer or group of employers; also called trade union.

Answer 70

Labor unions

Question 71

Temporary employment separations; employees may be recalled to work, or the separation may become permanent.

Answer 71

Layoffs

Question 72

Errors that are the result of appraisers who don't want to give low scores.

Answer 72

Leniency errors

Question 73

Work groups that conduct the major business of an organization.

Answer 73

Line units

Question 74

Occurs when management shuts down operations to prevent union employees from working.

Answer 74

Lockout

Question 75

Process of collecting and tabulating data.

Answer 75

Measuring

Question 76

Combination of two separate firms either by their joining together as relative equals (merger) or by one acquiring the other (acquisition).

Answer 76

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A)

Question 77

Performance parameters based on the relationship between two or more measures.

Answer 77

Metrics

Question 78

Digitized instructional content delivered to wireless mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablet computers, notebooks, and digital readers).

Answer 78

Mobile learning

Question 79

Decision-making tool in which a team determines critical characteristics of a successful decision; a matrix is used to score each alternative and compare results

Answer 79

Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA)

Question 80

Statistical method that can be used to project future demand; more than one variable is utilized.

Answer 80

Multiple linear regression

Question 81

Group of individuals who meet face-to-face to forecast ideas and assumptions and prioritize issues.

Answer 81

Nominal group technique

Question 82

Process of managing the way employees leave the organization.

Answer 82

Offboarding

Question 83

Process of enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization and the well-being of its members through planned interventions.

Answer 83

Organizational development

Question 84

Process of managing the way employees leave the organization.

Answer 84

Organizational exit

Question 85

Buying services externally rather than producing them internally.

Answer 85

Outsourcing

Question 86

Vertical bar graph on which bar height reflects frequency or impact of causes.

Answer 86

Pareto chart

Question 87

Process of measuring employees' adherence to performance standards and providing feedback.

Answer 87

Performance appraisal

Question 88

Process of maintaining/improving employee job performance.

Answer 88

Performance management

Question 89

Comparison of current performance against key performance indicators (KPIs).

Answer 89

Performance measures

Question 90

Expectations of management translated into behaviors and results that employees can deliver.

Answer 90

Performance standards

Question 91

Type of labor environment in which multiple forces are at work, each with its own agenda, and conflict is overcome through negotiation.

Answer 91

Pluralism

Question 92

Occurs when an appraiser gives more weight to an employee's earlier performance and discounts recent occurrences.

Answer 92

Primacy error

Question 93

Diagram of the steps involved in a process.

Answer 93

Process-flow analysis

Question 94

Organizational structure in which functional departments are grouped under major product divisions.

Answer 94

Product structure

Question 95

Belief that management-labor conflict is an inherent characteristic of capitalism and can be resolved only with a change in the economic system.

Answer 95

Radicalism

Question 96

Error that occurs when an appraiser gives more weight to recent occurrences and discounts an employee's earlier performance during the appraisal period.

Answer 96

Recency error

Question 97

Statistical method used to predict a variable from one or more predictor variables.

Answer 97

Regression analysis

Question 98

"Snapshot" assessment of the availability of qualified backup for key positions.

Answer 98

Replacement planning

Question 99

Act of reorganizing legal, ownership, operational, or other organizational structures.

Answer 99

Restructuring

Question 100

Illustration that depicts possible relationships between two variables.

Answer 100

Scatter diagram

Question 101

Part of a service contract where the service expectations are formally defined.

Answer 101

Service-level agreement (SLA)

Question 102

HR structural alternative in which centers with specific areas of expertise develop HR policies in those areas; each unit can then select what it needs from a menu of these services.

Answer 102

Shared services HR model

Question 103

Projection of future demand based on a past relationship; involves a single variable.

Answer 103

Simple linear regression

Question 104

A set of techniques and tools for quality process improvement.

Answer 104

Six Sigma

Question 105

Type of union activity that focuses on social topics such as antidiscrimination, environmental actions, and HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.

Answer 105

Social movement unionism

Question 106

Software that is owned, delivered, and managed remotely and delivered over the Internet to contracted customers on a pay-for-use basis or as a subscription based on use metrics.

Answer 106

Software as a service (SaaS)

Question 107

Refers to the number of individuals who report to a supervisor.

Answer 107

Span of control

Question 108

Work groups that assist line units by providing specialized services, such as HR.

Answer 108

Staff units

Question 109

A plan of action for accomplishing an organization's long-range goals.

Answer 109

Strategy

Question 110

Error that occurs when an appraiser believes standards are too low and inflates the standards in an effort to make them meaningful.

Answer 110

Strictness

Question 111

A talent management strategy to help identify and foster the development of high-potential employees.

Answer 111

Succession planning

Question 112

Network that delivers products and services from raw materials to end customers through an engineered flow of information, physical distribution, and cash.

Answer 112

Supply chain

Question 113

Umbrella term used to describe a variety of benefit-related initiatives to help employees effectively manage work, family, and personal life without extreme stress or negative impact.

Answer 113

Work/life balance (WLB)

Question 114

Groups that represent employees, generally on a local or firm level; primary purpose is to receive from employers and to convey to employees information that might affect the workforce and the health of the enterprise.

Answer 114

Works councils

Question 115

Systematic approach to anticipate human capital needs and data HR professionals can use to ensure that appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities will be available when needed to accomplish organizational goals and objectives.

Answer 115

Workforce analysis

Question 116

All activities needed to ensure that the skills, knowledge, abilities, and performance of the workforce meet current and future organizational and individual needs.

Answer 116

Workforce management

Question 117

Process of analyzing the organization's workforce and determining steps required to prepare for future needs.

Answer 117

Workforce planning