question

In the mainstream school of thought, unions are:

answer

Monopolies that restrict market competition

question

According to the human resources school of thought, the labor problem stems from:

answer

Poor Management

question

According to the human resource management school, equity will be achieved only:

answer

If employers become responsive to employee needs

question

According to the human resources school of thought, the solution to the labor problem is better management that emphasizes:

answer

Alignment of the interests of workers and their employers

question

According to the human resources school of thought, labor unions are:

answer

A sign of unhealthy HR practices and problematic because they promote adversarial management-labor relationships

question

In the critical industrial relations school, the primary aim of labor unions should be to?

answer

Do nothing; there is no useful role for unions in the critical industrial relations school

question

According to the critical industrial relations perspective, the answer to "the labor problem" is:

answer

Social unrest and agitation that will lead to worker control

question

Which of the four schools of thought views work as "unpleasant" and lacking in rewards other than making enough money to purchase the goods and services on desire?

answer

Mainstream economics

question

Which of the four schools of thought is the only one that conforms to the belief that workers and employers are equals in the labor market?

answer

Mainstream economics

question

Which of the four schools of thought believes that workers and employers have common interests that can be aligned for the benefit of all?

answer

Human Resource Management

question

Which of the four schools of thought believes that workers and employers have multiple, competing interests that center primarily around the division of profits between them?

answer

Industrial Relations

question

Which of the following methods to establish workplace is suggested by the critical industrial relations perspective?

answer

Worker control of organization

question

Which of the following is not typically considered characteristic of the "labor problem" in the early 1900s?

answer

The high cost of health care and health insurance

question

The conditions associated with the "labor problem" were made possible in part due to a prevailing management attitude that labor was

answer

An interchangeable and expendable factor of production

question

From a business perspective, the poor working conditions endured by workers in the early part of U.S. industrialization were most problematic because?

answer

Workers lacked purchasing power which kept product demand artificially low

question

In a perfectly competitive labor market...

answer

No one can be made better off without making someone else worse off

question

According to the mainstream economics school of thought, market competition results in wages equal to

answer

Workers' marginal productivity (i.e., the value of their work)

question

In the mainstream economics school of thought, labor unions are

answer

Monopolies that try to restrict the supply of labor and benefit only a few at the expense of other

question

In the mainstream economic perspective, the role of the government is to?

answer

Pass laws that promote competition

question

In the mainstream economics perspective, the role of the law is to?

answer

Protect individual freedoms that are necessary for competition (e.g., property rights)

question

Labor unions are considered the quintessential form of independent employee representation because?

answer

They are independent of managerial authority

question

Referring to management, the saying "You get the union you deserve" best fits?

answer

The human resources perspective

question

In the 1920s many employers who followed the human resources school of thought believed that nonunion representation plans were?

answer

Helpful in promotion mutual respect, cooperation and loyalty

question

According to the industrial relations school, the role of the government and legislation should be to?

answer

Ensure that labor and management's relative power is balanced

question

The industrial relations school of thought rests on the assumption that labor market outcomes are determined by?

answer

The relative bargaining strength of parties to the employment relationship

question

According to the industrial relations school, the best method to increase bargaining power of workers in their relationships with management is to?

answer

Support the formation of individual labor unions and collective bargaining

question

The saying "the union makes us strong" best describes which school of thought?

answer

Industrial Relations

question

According to the critical industrial school, wealth and capital in society are created through?

answer

Laws that govern market transactions and social norms that dictate what buyers and sellers are allowed to do in the exchange of goods and services

question

The key distinguishing feature of the critical industrial relations school of thought is that?

answer

There is an inherent conflict of interest between labor and management that extends to the very social order of society whereby some classes of individuals are better off than others

question

According to the mainstream economics school of thought, employees exercise voice in the employment relationship by?

answer

Exiting and entering into employment arrangements

question

According to the critical industrial relations school, balancing power between labor and management is?

answer

Not possible within a capitalistic system because management domination is built into the very political, legal, and economic structure of society

question

Workplace governance under the mainstream economics model should include?

answer

No government involvement

question

Workplace governance under the industrial relations model should include?

answer

Government intervention in the form of laws and rules that protect worker rights to bargain collectively and establish labor standards

question

Before the early 1900s, the prevailing opinion regarding the employment relationship was that

answer

The government should never interfere with the ability of an individual to freely enter into an economic relationship with another individual

question

Taken as a whole, U.S. labor laws is most closely aligned with which one of the four schools of thought on the labor problem?

answer

Industrial Relations

question

According to the mainstream economics view, unions are?

answer

Monopolies that interfere with economic efficiency

question

Which of the following is not true with respect to the impact of unions on terms and conditions of employment?

answer

Unionized workers are more satisfied, on average, than non unionized workers

question

The shock effect refers to the tendency for?

answer

Managers in unionized firms to become better managers in response to unionization

question

Which of the following statements is most accurate?

answer

The effects of unionization on productivity are mixed; sometimes it results in an increase and sometimes it results in a decrease

question

Aside from their role in workplace governance, unions are important to the effective functioning of a democratic society because they

answer

Provide a counter to excessive political power of employers and employer associations

question

From a societal standpoint, the weekend position of unions in the U.S. is potentially problematic for all the following reasons except?

answer

A weakened labor moverment is less able to provide management with the flexibility is needs to succeed in today's demanding competitive environment

question

From a societal standpoint, the main purpose of a labor relations system is?

answer

To ensure public safety, promote worker voice in politics, and reduce income inequalities that create a tax burden

question

When an employer allows supervisors to arbitrarily discipline employees without cause, it is most directly violating which objective of the employment relationship?

answer

Equity

question

When an employer adopts an employee participation program, such as a workplace safety committee, it is most directly addressing which objective of the employment relationship?

answer

Voice

question

An employer creates a safety team of 6 employees who are asked to recommend changes to the workplace that will reduce accident rates. The team recommends eliminating a job rotation program that allows the employer to move employees in and out of various jobs on an as-needed basis. They argue that job rotation both increases employee stress and reduces the amount of experience that employees have with the various safety procedures associate with a particular job. This scenario describes a conflict between which two objectives of the employment relationship?

answer

Efficiency and Voice

question

According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued by the United Nations, it is considered a basic human right for

answer

Individuals to have the right to form and join trade unions for their own protection and the protection of other

question

Which of the following outcomes cannot generally be attributed to unions?

answer

Greater flexibility in work rules

question

Which of the following is not considered an argument for treating employees as "more" than simply another commodity that can be bought and sold in the labor market?

answer

When workers agree to supply their labor in exchange for pay and benefits, they are freely choosing to follow management's directives

question

Democracy is often the most efficient means by which to make decisions

answer

A country cannot truly value the concept of democracy without supporting democratic principles in the workplace

question

Which of the following appears to be true about management and worker views on employee voice?

answer

Workers express a preference for representation int eh workplace that is independent of management

question

Most countries base their industrial relations system on the perspective that

answer

There should be balance between worker and employer rights

question

Conflicts between employers and employees can best be described as conflicts between

answer

Property rights and individual rights

question

Compared to other countries, the system of labor relations in the U.S. is?

answer

Tightly regulated

question

Union contracts are?

answer

Legally enforceable for both employees and employers

question

Traditional adversarial bargaining relationships between employers and employees has made meeting employers' increasing need for _______________ more difficult

answer

Cooperation and employee involvement

question

Business pressures for competitiveness and quality have affected the collective bargaining process in all of the following ways except

answer

Increased the need for more specific, detailed contracts

question

Which of the following characterizes the current business environment as compared to that at the time the National Labor Relations Act was passed?

answer

Emphasis on the importance and need for knowledgeable workers

question

The crucial feature of collective bargaining is that management's traditional authority to unilaterally establish terms and conditions of employment is replace by _________ negotiations

answer

Bilateral

question

Which of the following best summarizes the trends in U.S. union density since the 1980s?

answer

Increases in the public sector and decreases in the private sector

question

Union density in the United States is currently estimated at?

answer

less than 15 percent

question

A union contract is?

answer

A legally binding document that describes the terms of employment (e.g., wage hours, working conditions)

question

Which of the following can at least partially explain the decline in union density rates in the United State since the 1960s?

answer

Employment in traditionally unionized industries such as manufacturing had decreased

question

Which of the following is not true about the decline in demand for unions in the U.S.?

answer

It can be largely attributed to the fact that individuals who experience union representation are unhappy with in and decide they do not want it

question

At present, the gap between those employees who say they want unions and those that have union representation in the private sector at their workplace is about?

answer

30%

question

A group of employees decide to walk off the job together to protest unsafe working conditions. Which of the following is true?

answer

The employees' actions are legal because they are acting together to influence their working conditions

question

In the United States, younger workers are?

answer

Significantly less likely to being to a union than older workers

question

The first permanent union in the U.S. is attributed to the:

answer

Shoemakers' Industry

question

The American Federation of Labor focused its organizing efforts on:

answer

Skilled Craft Workers

question

An important activity of the AFL unions was establishing and maintaining

answer

Job standards through work rules

question

In the early 1900s, the richest 1 percent of households in America controlled the greatest concentration of wealth in U.S. history at

answer

45%

question

Which of the following unions is most accurately described as a revolutionary

answer

The Industrial Workers of the World

question

Which union's philosophy is rooted in critical industrial relations school of thought:

answer

The Industrial Workers of the World

question

The significance of the Industrial Workers of the World was?

answer

It was willing use violence and radical measures to gain rights for workers

question

Revolutionary unionism tries to create ______ solidarity rather than solidarity by occupation or industry

answer

Working class

question

A central goal of the American Federation of Labor was to ensure that workplaces were

answer

Closed to anyone who did not belong to the union

question

A workplace that is open only to workers who belong to the union is known as

answer

A closed shop

question

Welfare capitalism is characterized by

answer

Management systems that emphasize orderly hiring and firing procedures, wage incentives, protective insurance, positive work culture, and employee voice

question

A significant change in American societal beliefs regarding the role of big business in ensuring prosperity for all occurred following:

answer

The Great Depression

question

Which of the following is not a reason that attempts to unionize the steel industry in the early 1900s

answer

There was little union interest in organizing steelworkers

question

The CIO formed as a result of:

answer

Differences with the AFL over unionization by industry, rather than by craft

question

In the 1950s, the labor movement was generally portrayed as:

answer

Corrupt institutions that took advantage of the working class

question

Today private sector union density is around

answer

10%

question

Today the strongest segment of unionization is

answer

Public sector workers

question

In the earliest years of our country's formation, work was characterized as

answer

Self-employed farmers, shopkeepers and craftsman

question

Which of the following was formed first?

answer

Craft unions

question

The first U.S. labor unions were organized by

answer

Craft lines, with a focus on local employment issues

question

The Great Uprising of 1877 was primarily a conflict between

answer

Capital owners and workers in many industries and locations

question

During the mid-1880's, which national labor union was at its peak in terms of power?

answer

Knights of Labor

question

Which of the following unions is typically considered to be an uplift union?

answer

Knights of Labor

question

For the Knights of Labor, the central conflict that needed to be won was between

answer

Anyone considered a "producer" (i.e., farmers, shopkeepers, and employers) and those controlled money (i.e., bankers, stockbrokers, lawyers)

question

In the Knights of Labor's vision for the future, businesses would be owned by

answer

Cooperatives made up of the producers of the goods and services they produced. These would include both workers and their employers

question

Which labor union believed that while work was necessary to provide for both personal and psychological needs of individuals, it was also key to serving God?

answer

Knights of Labor

question

To achieve gains for its members, the Knights of Labor focused primarily on

answer

Education and reforming capitalism

question

The significance of the Haymarket Square Riot, starting with the battle between strikers and their replacements at McCormick Reaper Works was:

answer

It weakened the Knights of Labor even though the union had encourage workers not to strike

question

The American Federation of Labor arose out of frustration with

answer

The Knights of Labor's failure to address everyday working issues

question

Which of the following was not a primary function of the American Federation of Labor?

answer

Direct negotiator with employers over wages, hours and working conditions

question

The major strategy of the unions of the American Federation of Labor focused on

answer

Collective bargaining and the threat of strikes

question

A typical newspaper company in the early part of the 20th century might employ both printers and "newsies" (young men and boys who sold the papers). Which of the following best illustrates the AFL's concept of exclusive jurisdiction?

answer

One union should represent the printers and only the printers while another union should represent the newsies (and only the newsies)

question

he American Federation of Labor believed that allowing skilled craftsmen to establish and enforce their own work rules and work standards would:

answer

All of the above

question

The Homestead strike in 1892 and the Pullman strike in 1894 were representative of the clash between employers and the AFL over who had the right to establish:

answer

Work standards and production decisions

question

The Industrial Workers of the World was born in part out of frustration over the:

answer

AFL's willingness to settle for small, day to day gains, in light of the oppressive work practices of the ownership class

question

Which of the following is sometimes argued to be the beginning of today's strategic human resource management and high performance workplaces?

answer

Welfare Capitalism

question

The biggest criticism of welfare unionism was:

answer

Employers tried to provide industrial democracy through the use of company unions

question

The rise in unionization after the passage of the National Labor Relations Act was largely due to:

answer

The rise in industrial unionism

question

A key difference between the AFL and the CIO in their early years was:

answer

The CIO relied more heavily on aggressive tactics such as sit-down strikes

question

In the years immediately following WWII, labor relations in the United States were characterized by:

answer

A two-year period of industrial conflict which was manifested in a great number of strikes

question

The National War Labor Board, Created during WWI & WWII, was intended to?

answer

Resolve labor disputes that arose during the wars

MGT 379 – History – Flashcards

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