Deck 4: HR Strategies, Organizational Characteristics, and HR Audits

Question 1

Firms that display a defender strategy generally:

A)encourage risk-taking behaviors.
B)rank very low in job security.
C)encourage reliability over innovation.
D)recruit externally.
E)do not provide much upward mobility for employees.

Answer 1

encourage reliability over innovation.

Question 2

An organization's "personality" consists of five characteristics, which include:

A)empowerment strategies.
B)its ability to outsource its work processes.
C)strategies for managing the work and family roles of its employees.
D)itsresponse to legislation.
E)the firm's market posture.

Answer 2

the firm's market posture.

Question 3

Thurmont's steel mill is considering a new HR strategy. Which of the following could be considered an important element of the basic strategy?

A)Fostering moral commitment among the employees.
B)Discouraging informal socializing.
C)Implementing job-specific training.
D)Implementing generic job training.
E)Instituting more flexible HR strategies.

Answer 3

Implementing job-specific training.

Question 4

A firm that encourages an entrepreneurial climate may do which of the following:

A)display informal hiring strategies.
B)display a strong top-down managerial preference.
C)discourage innovation and risk taking.
D)ignore HR strategies.
E)rely on employees' moral commitment to the firm.

Question 5

The role of HR is to:

A)alleviate the personnel management responsibility from managers.
B)develop technical expertise to win more management battles than it loses.
C)mind its own business and leave the understanding and running of the business to the line managers.
D)support and help managers perform their jobs.
E)all of the above

Question 6

An HR department needs to develop several competencies in order to become a full strategic partner, such as:

A)followership: the ability to do what line managers want and need.
B)a fully developed set of qualitative skills to offset the quantitative focus of line management.
C)the ability to think tactically.
D)content skills.
E)knowledge of the business.

Question 7

Carson is gathering information for an HR audit. Which of the following areas should he be concerned with?

A)HR strategies' fit with the environment.
B)potential for brain drain and discontent among employees.
C)the technology available to the employees.
D)increasing employee interdependence.
E)the risk-taking tendencies of the managers.

Question 8

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) offers which of the following to the HR field?

A)An honorary doctorate in Human Resources to HR professionals who have been in the business for over 30 years.
B)Special benefit packages to all members.
C)The opportunity for HR professionals to be certified at the Professional Human Resources (PHR) or the Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR) level.
D)Subsidized HR auditsto members' firms.
E)Specialized managerial training to Fortune 500 companies' HR professionals.