ETHICAL ISSUES AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS $($ON CANVAS$)$

Assignment Value: $10\%(20$ points$)$

Material: Ch$\mathrm{.}1$: An Introduction to Recruitment and Selection

Learning Outcomes: Outline basic and professional issues in recruitment and selection.

Question $1$ Question $3$: Situation #$1(3$ points in total $)$:

You are a management consultant who is asked by a large employer to design and implement a system to select workers for a manufacturing plant. The plant is unionized, and there is a history of poor union$$management relations. Management informs you that it intends to break the union and, as a part of this effort, you are to come up with a selection system that will screen out all new job applicants having pro$-$union attitudes. The idea is to skew the workforce toward management so that the union can be broken in a future decertification vote. What$$s more, you are to keep the purpose of the selection system a secret and are asked by management to sign a contract in which you promise not to reveal its intentions to the union, the labour board, or any other outsiders.

$1.$ In this case, as a management consultant, your loyalties would technically lie with the employer as your client. $($T$/$F$,1$ point$)$

a$.$ TRUE

b$.$ FALSE

$2.$ As a member of the HR profession, you should $...($MC$,1$ point$)$

a$.$ act ethically but not represent any viewpoints.

b$.$ not serve any interests.

c$.$ act ethically and represent as many viewpoints as possible.

d$.$ promote your viewpoint.

$3.$ As the management consultant,..... $($MC$,1$ point$)$

a$.$ it is ok to accept the payment to comply with the management$$s request.

b$.$ the management$$s requests could be perceived by you as unethical because they were designed to deny workers their right to organized labour.

c$.$ the management$$s requests could be perceived as ethical because they were designed to accept workers their right to organized labour.

d$.$ you may act any way as this is an ethical case.

Question $4$ Question $8$: Situation #$2(5$ points in total$)$:

Imagine that you are an HR manager who is considering the use of a selection system. You know that it will do a good job of selecting the best workers, but it also screens out members of visible minorities at a rate much greater than that for the white majority.

$4.$ In this case, the use of this system to predict top performers would be considered by many as unethical. $($T$/$F$,1$ point$)$

a$.$ TRUE

b$.$ FALSE

$5.$ In this situation, as an HR professional, you should make every effort to use tests that do not discriminate based upon culture, race, gender, and other protected grounds under Canadian employment law. $($T$/$F$,1$ point$)$

a$.$ TRUE

b$.$ FALSE

$6.$ Does the selection system violate your code of ethics or legal requirements? $($MC$,1$ point$)$

a$.$ Such tests are illegal.

b$.$ The use of such tests is ethical according to Principle P$4.$

c$.$ Such tests are legal, and their use is ethical.

d$.$ Such tests are legal, but their use is unethical according to Principle P$4.$

$7.$ Decreasing the diversity of employees is often associated with high levels of organizational performance. $($T$/$F$,1$ point$)$

a$.$ TRUE

b$.$ FALSE

$8.$ Recruitment and selection decisions must be coordinated with all parts of the organization, although final decisions must remain with HRM$.($T$/$F$,1$ point$)$

a$.$ TRUE

b$.$ FALSE

Question $9$ Question $12$: Situation #$3(3$ points in total $)$:

You have been directed by your manager to find a way to reduce employee theft. You believe that this can be accomplished by screening out people who fail a commercially available $$honesty$$ test. You purchase the test and administer it to all current employees and new applicants and reject or dismiss those who fail the test, including long$-$term employees with no history of dishonesty.

$9.$ Which of the following is incorrect? $($MC$,1$ point$)$

a$.$ The use of the honesty test might be screening out honest employees.

b$.$ You should be concerned about the reliability of the test.

c$.$ You should be concerned about the validity of the test.

d$.$ The tests with the highest levels of validity and reliability should be used regardless of their appropriateness to the current situation.

$10.$ The use of the tests is illegal in Canada, although they are frequently challenged by labour groups as rights$$ invasive and as poor predictors of work behaviours. $($T$/$F$,1$ point$)$

a$.$ TRUE

b$.$ FALSE

$11.$ Which of the following is NOT a definition of ethics? $($MC$,1$ point$)$

a$.$ knowing what is good from what is bad.

b$.$ determining what is moral from what is immoral.

c$.$ identifying what may be done from what may not be done.

d$.$ distinguishing what is right from what is wrong.