Human Resource Management Functions Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Graphology is the analysis of handwriting to infer the writer's basic personality traits. Kinesics is the study of body movements, gestures and facial expressions. Polygraphy is lie-detection by recording physiological responses such as pulse and breathing, so it does not read handwriting. Because (C) is not a method of handwriting analysis, the combined option (D), both (B) and (C), is also wrong. Only graphology fits the description.

Answer: B

The five basic features of the Scanlon plan are cooperation, identity, competence, involvement and sharing of benefits. The plan is a group incentive scheme that rewards labour-cost savings shared between workers and the company. The wrong options replace words in this list: control and individuality are not features of the plan, commitment is not one, and the plan shares benefits, not profits, since the bonus comes from savings in labour cost against a norm and not from company profit.

Answer: D

Both Assertion and Reason are true, and the Reason explains the Assertion. Appraisal methods depend on human judgement, and judgement can be coloured by interpersonal likes, dislikes and discriminatory impulses, so an appraisal cannot be wholly error free or unbiased. Hence the Assertion that it cannot be error free and unbiased follows from the Reason. The options that call either statement wrong, or say the Reason does not support the Assertion, ignore this causal link.

Answer: D

None of the statements is false, so the answer is 'None of the above'. A multinational corporation is registered in more than one country or has operations in more than one country, it produces and sells goods or services in various countries, and it can also be called an international corporation.

Since each of the three statements is true, none of them is the false one. The other choices are names or terms from the same field of labour studies and management, which is why they look plausible, but each refers to a different idea and does not fit the wording of the question.

Answer: B

The glass ceiling refers to artificial barriers, based on attitudinal and organisational bias, that prevent the career growth of women and other groups to the top levels of an organisation.

It is not about difficulties in training, personality weaknesses of women, or transparency at the higher levels, so those options are wrong. The other choices are names or terms from the same field of labour studies and management, which is why they look plausible, but each refers to a different idea and does not fit the wording of the question.

Answer: D

A person who is a citizen of the country where the multinational company is headquartered but works in another country with the same company is a parent country national.

A host country national is a citizen of the country where the subsidiary is located, and a third country national is a citizen of neither. 'Trans country national' is not the standard term. The other choices are names or terms from the same field of labour studies and management, which is why they look plausible, but each refers to a different idea and does not fit the wording of the question.

Answer: B

Product quality consciousness is not a reason for increasing workforce diversity. The reasons usually given are changing demographics, political and legal systems that forbid discrimination, and the globalisation of business.

Hence the three other options are reasons and the answer is the one that is not. The other choices are names or terms from the same field of labour studies and management, which is why they look plausible, but each refers to a different idea and does not fit the wording of the question.

Answer: D

A career in human resource management means the progression of a person in his or her occupation over the years, that is, the series of positions and roles held over a working life.

A status job, a consistent occupation or a job to earn a livelihood describes work, but not the progression that makes a career. The other choices are names or terms from the same field of labour studies and management, which is why they look plausible, but each refers to a different idea and does not fit the wording of the question.

Answer: B

Voluntary retirement is an example of the golden handshake scheme, in which employees are offered attractive financial benefits to leave the organisation earlier than their normal retirement.

Superannuation, compulsory retirement and retirement on account of disablement are not voluntary and are not offered with such a package. The other choices are names or terms from the same field of labour studies and management, which is why they look plausible, but each refers to a different idea and does not fit the wording of the question.

Answer: D

All four are root causes of downsizing as accepted by the key: mechanisation and modernisation, cost cutting methods, technological advancement, and the impact of globalisation.

The options that include only some of them are incomplete. In a multiple-statement question like this, test each statement on its own against the Act or textbook and then pick the option that lists exactly the true ones.