Human Resource Management

Section A: Objective Type & Short Questions (30 marks)

Part One

Multiple Choices:

1. It is a cultural attitude marked by the tendency to regard one’s own culture as superior to others
   1. Geocentrism
   1. Polycentrism
   1. Ethnocentrism
   1. Egocentrism

• It is the systemic study of job requirements & those factors that influence the performance of those job requirements

1. Job analysis
   1. Job rotation

• Job circulation

• Job description

• This Act provides an assistance for minimum statutory wages for scheduled employment
  • Payment of Wages Act, 1936
  • Minimum Wages Act, 1948
  • Factories Act, 1948
  • Payment of Gratuity act, 1972

• __________ is the actual posting of an employee to a specific job

1. Induction
   1. Placement
   1. Attrition

• None

• Broadening an individual’s knowledge, skills & abilities for future responsibilities is known as
  • Training
  • Development
  • Education
  • Mentoring

• Change that is designed and implemented in an orderly and timely fashion in anticipation of future events

1. Planned change

• Technology change

• Structural change

• None

• It is a process for setting goals and monitoring progress towards achieving those goals

1. Performance appraisal
   1. Performance gap
   1. Performance factor
   1. Performance management system

• A method which requires the rates to provide a subjective performance evaluation along a scale from low to high

1. Assessment centre

• Checklist

• Rating scale

• Monitoring

• It is the sum of knowledge, skills, attitudes, commitment, values and the liking of the people in an organization

1. Human resources

• Personal management
  • Human resource management
  • Productivity

1. A learning exercise representing a real-life situation where trainees compete with each other to achieve specific objectives

1. Executive development

• Management game
  • Programmed learning

• Understudy

Part Two:

1. What is the importance of Career Planning in industry?

• List the various features of HRM.

• How can you explain the concept of Performance Appraisal?

• Differentiate between on- the- job and off- the- job training.

Section B: Caselets (40 marks)

Caselet 1

Uptron Electronics Limited, is a pioneering and internationally reputed firm in the electronics industry. It is one of the largest firm in the country. It attracted employees from internationally-reputed institute and industries by offering high salaries, perks, etc. It has advertized for the position of an electronic engineer recently. Nearly 150 candidates applied for the jobMr. Sashidhar, an electronics Engineering Graduate from the Indian Institute Of Technology with 5 years working experience in a medium sized electronics firm, was selected from among the 130 candidates who took tests and interview. The interview board recommended an enhancement in his salary by Rs 5,000 more than his present salary at his request. Mr Sashidhar was very happy to achieve this and he was congratulated by a number of people including his previous employer for his brilliant interview performance, and wished him good luck.

Mr Sashidhar joined Uptyron Electronics Ltd., on 21^st January, 2002, with greater enthusiasm. He also found his job to be quite comfortable and a challenging one and he felt it was prestigious to work with this company during the formative years of his career. He found his superiors as well as subordinates to be friendly and cooperative. But this climate did not live long. After one year of his service, he slowly learnt about a number of unpleasant stories about the company, management, the superior subordinate relations, rate of employee turnover, especially at higher level But he decided to stay on as he has promised several things to the management in the interview. He wanted to please and change the attitude of management through his diligent performance, firm commitment and dedication. He started maximizing his contributions and the management got the impression that Mr. Sashidhar had settled down and will remain in the company.

After some time, the superiors started riding rough- shod over Mr Sashidhar. He was overloaded with multifarious jobs. His freedom in deciding and executing was cut down. He was ill treated on a number of occasions before his subordinates. His colleagues also started assigning their responsibilities to Mr Sashidhar. Consequently there were imbalances in his family life and organizational life. But he seemed to be calm and contented. Management felt that Mr Sashidhar had the potential to bear with many more organizational responsibilities.

So the general manager was quite surprised to see the resignation letter of Mr Sashidhar along with a cheque equivalent to a month’s salary one fine morning on 18^th January, 2004. The General Manager failed to convince Mr Sashidhar to withdraw his resignation. The General Manager relieved him on 25^th January, 2004. The General Manager wanted to appoint a committee to go into the matter immediately, but dropped the idea later.

Questions:

1. What is wrong with the recruitment policy of the company?

• Why did Mr. Sashidhar’s resignation surprise the General Manager?

Caselet 2

The contexts in which human resources are managed in today’s organizations are constantly, changing. No longer do firms utilize one set of manufacturing processes, employ a homogeneous group of loyal employees for long periods of time or develop one set way of structuring how work is done and supervisory responsibility is assigned. Continuous changes in who organizations employ and what these employees do require HR practices and systems that are well conceived and effectively implemented to ensure high performance and continued success.

1. Automated technologies nowadays require more technically trained employees possessing multifarious skills to repair, adjust or improve existing processes. The firms can’t expect these employees (Gen X employees, possessing superior technical knowledge and skills, whose attitudes and perceptions toward work are significantly different from those of their predecessor organizations: like greater self control, less interest in job security; no expectations of long term employment; greater participation urge in work activities, demanding opportunities for personal growth and creativity) to stay on without attractive compensation packages and novel reward schemes.

• Technology driven companies are led by project teams, possessing diverse skills, experience and expertise. Flexible and dynamic organizational structures are needed to take care of the expectations of managers, technicians and analysts who combine their skills, expertise and experience to meet changing customer needs and competitive pressures.

• Cost cutting efforts have led to the decimation of unwanted layers in organizational hierarchy in recent times. This, in turn, has brought in the problem of managing plateau employees whose careers seem to have been hit by the delivering process. Organizations are, therefore, made to find alternative career paths for such employees’

• Both young and old workers, these days, have values and attitudes that stress less loyalty to the company and more loyalty to oneself and one’s career than those shown by employees in the past, Organizations, therefore, have to devise appropriate HR policies and strategies so as to prevent the flight of talented employees

Question:-

1. Discuss that technological breakthrough has brought radical changes in HRM.

Section C: Applied Theory (30 marks)

1. Several types of interviews are commonly used depending on the nature & importance of the position to be filled within an organization. Explain the different types of Interviews.

• How would you explain Organizational Change and Development?