The Quantitative Reasoning rubric will be useful for this purpose
The math that we learned in high school and perhaps relearned in college has applications in nearly all fields including human resource management. In this case assignment we will look at something as simple as straight lines, as in linear equations.
Straight lines play an important role in a wide variety of applications, in many fields including business.
An equation with two variables is a linear equation. Many relationships are linear or almost linear, so that they can be approximated by linear equations.
Now it is your turn, solve the following three problems, completing a, b, and c for each problem. In “b” for each, explain step by step how you arrived at the answer. And in “c” for each, conduct research to arrive at a strong (informative) paragraph, being sure to cite sources.
Problem #1: According to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were about 16.3 million union workers in 2000 and 14.7 million union workers in 2018.
a. If the change in the number of union workers is considered to be linear, write an equation expressing the number y of union workers in terms of the number x of years since 2000.
b. Assuming that the equation in part “a” remains accurate, use it to predict the number of union workers in 2050.
c. Is the number that you came up with in 1b realistic? Why or why not? What can interfere with the future number of union workers that the equation does not account for?
Problem #2: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 1990, 529,000 people worked in the air transportation industry. In 2018, the number was 498,780.
a. Find a linear equation giving the number of employees in the air transportation industry in terms of x, the number of years since 1990.
b. Assuming the equation remains valid in the future, in what year will there be 400,000 employees in the air transportation industry?
c. Is the number you came up with in 2b realistic? Why or why not? What can interfere with the future number of employees working in the air transportation industry that the equation does not account for?
Problem #3: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that in 1990, 1.1 million people worked in the truck transportation industry. In 2018, the number was 1.5 million.
a. Find a linear equation giving the number of employees in the truck transportation industry in terms of x, the number of years since 1990.
b. Assuming the equation remains valid in the future, in what year will there be 2.5 million employees in the truck transportation industry?
c. Is the number you came up with in 3b realistic? Why or why not? What can interfere with the future number of employees working in the trucking industry that the equation does not account for?
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational employment statistics. Retrieved from
https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_484000.htm#00-0000.
Brockbank, W. (2017). What percentage of your people create 90 percent of the value? Inside HR. Retrieved from https://www.insidehr.com.au/what-percentage-people-create-most-value/
Lawler, E. E. (2017). Reinventing talent management: principles and practices for the new world of work. Retrieved from ProQuest, Ebook Central in the Trident Online Library.
Ward, D. (2017). Big data helps workers thrive: A Q & A with Jenny Dearborn. HR Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/1117/Pages/big-data-helps-workers-thrive-jenny-dearborn.aspx
PeopleMatttersOnline. (2016). Top trends in HR analytics. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV9GIB5JwDM
Firing Line with Bill Kutik. (2016). Top analyst Holger Mueller predicts the future of predictive analytics for HR. Retrieved from https://www.insidehr.com.au/what-percentage-people-create-most-value/
