Deck 2: Strategy and Human Resources Planning

Question 1

Smith Frozen Foods performs a yearly employee survey to assess how its employees feel about safety on the job, the comfort of the working conditions, and their general level of satisfaction with their work, managers, and co-workers. Smith Frozen Foods is most likely performing which of the following?

A) a job satisfaction survey
B) an environmental analysis
C) a cultural audit
D) an engagement measure

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Different skills groups in an organization can be classified by the degree to which they create strategic value and the degree to which they are unique, by using which of the following?

A) internal environmental scanning
B) a human capital architecture map
C) a skills inventory
D) strategic planning

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The examination of the attitudes and activities of a company's workforce refers to which of the following?

A) environmental scanning
B) trend analysis
C) a cultural audit
D) behavioural modelling

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A graphical representation of all organizational jobs along with the numbers of employees currently occupying those jobs and future employment requirements is known as which of the following?

A) a staffing table
B) an organization chart
C) a skills inventory
D) career planning

Question 5

Kramer Athletic Equipment is planning the future of the organization. In this process, the firm is making decisions such as whether to maintain its current path as industry leader in the running shoe business, or branch out to include casual footwear. In addition, the company is also discussing the various needs it will have for new staff if it does choose to go in a new direction. What is Kramer Athletic Equipment doing?

A) strategic planning
B) human resources planning
C) applying principles of strategic human resources management
D) planning both its business needs and its HR needs

Question 6

Which of the following best describes forecasting human resources needs?

A) It is scientific and relatively error-free.
B) It is difficult and should only be done on rare occasions.
C) It should rely strictly on quantitative approaches, which utilize sophisticated analytical models.
D) It estimates the number and type of people that are needed to meet organizational objectives.

Question 7

A human capital architecture map classifies employees according to which of the following?

A) exempt and non-exempt status
B) employee function and wage rate
C) employee function and skill level
D) strategic value and unique skills

Question 8

When an organization monitors demographic and labour market trends as well as technological and IT changes, it is most likely performing which of the following?

A) a competitive environment scan
B) an environment scan
C) a strategic plan
D) a labour market scan

Question 9

HR managers must be concerned with aligning HR planning and which of the following?

A) the organization's strategic plan
B) the organization's marketing position
C) the organization's return on its human assets
D) the competitive environment

Question 10

Which of the following is an important shortcoming of an organization's having to rely on part-time employees?

A) limited benefits
B) no job security
C) lack of training
D) no organizational loyalty

Question 11

What are the most important factors to consider when scanning the environment in strategic planning?

A) the competition, customers, rival firms, new entrants, substitutes, suppliers and external labour supply
B) the competition, the global landscape, rival firms, new entrants, substitutes, suppliers and external labour supply
C) the competition, the global landscape, rival firms, new entrants, the business context, suppliers and external labour supply
D) the competition, customers, rival firms, the workforce, substitutes, suppliers and external labour supply

Question 12

Which of the following best describes the skills of contract labour workers?

A) Their skills are not directly related to company strategy.
B) They have firm-specific skills directly related to company strategy.
C) They have skills that are valuable but not unique.
D) Their skills are available to all firms.

Question 13

Eldorado Electronics wants to move from the stagnant calculator industry into the smart phone industry. To do so, however, it would have to make significant changes to its approach to product development in order to gain an edge in this competitive industry. What is the smartest next step for Eldorado Electronics?

A) It should consider how its strategic plans will affect its HR needs.
B) It should engage in human resources planning.
C) It should apply principles of strategic human resources management.
D) It should consider how its strategic plans will affect HR needs and also how its current HR status will affect its strategic plans.

Question 14

Organization Z is planning its future. In the process, the firm is making decisions such as what type of market it wants to be the leader in and what path to take to achieve this goal. What is Organization Z doing?

A) strategic planning
B) human resources planning
C) performing a Markov analysis
D) applying principles of strategic human resources management

Question 15

Which of the following organizations is most likely to gain a sustained competitive advantage through its people?

A) one in which employees' talent is organized, difficult to imitate, rare, and valuable.
B) one in which employees are motivated through training initiatives, pay, and fair practices
C) one in which employees are empowered, have promotion opportunities, and have a high morale level
D) one in which employees are empowered, their talent is rare and valuable, and they are motivated through training

Question 16

What is benchmarking?

A) the practice of identifying employees with promotion potential
B) the practice of identifying performance differences with competing firms
C) the process of identifying the best practices of a firm in a given area and comparing your practices to their practices
D) the process of establishing performance standards through HRP

Question 17

What is the most important information obtained from a Markov analysis?

A) human capital readiness
B) what types of employees work in each department
C) how many individuals are in each job in each department
D) what positions are going to be coming open and will require a new hire

Question 18

What is human resources planning?

A) a technique that identifies the critical aspects of a job
B) the process of anticipating and making provisions for movement of people into, within, and out of an organization
C) the process of setting major organizational objectives and developing comprehensive plans to achieve these objectives
D) the process of determining the primary direction of the firm

Question 19

On the entrance to Mac Pencils' factory are the words "to provide the world with high-quality and dependable pencils." This is an example of which of the following?

A) mission
B) strategic vision
C) core values
D) strategic mission

Question 20

Manning Logistics laid off 9 employees from data-entry positions in its finance division. Two weeks later it hired 15 employees into data-entry positions in the inventory division. What mistake has the company committed?

A) faulty human resources planning
B) not forecasting
C) faulty strategic planning
D) not analyzing the internal labour force

Question 21

Which of the following best describes the core values of a company?

A) They encompass the systematic monitoring of external opportunities.
B) They are the basic purpose of the organization.
C) They are the strong enduring beliefs and principles used by the company to make decisions.
D) They provide a perspective on where the company is headed.

Question 22

Organization Y is a unionized textiles manufacturing company that is downsizing. Organization Y will most likely make decide whom to lay off first based on which of the following?

A) seniority
B) the payroll
C) what skills and abilities the company needs to thrive
D) talent

Question 23

Severance pay is usually calculated based on which of the following?

A) the employee's years of service and salary
B) complex formulas administered by the federal government
C) the employee's skills and abilities
D) the employee's education and performance

Question 24

Which of the following statements best describes strategic knowledge workers?

A) They have unique skills directly linked to the company's strategy.
B) They have firm-specific skills directly related to company strategy.
C) They have skills that are valuable but not unique.
D) They have skills available to all firms.

Question 25

What is the difference between trend analysis and management forecasts?

A) Trend analysis is used to analyze the business environment and management forecasts predict labour needs.
B) Trend analysis uses organizational indexes and management forecasts utilize statistical techniques.
C) Trend analysis is quantitative and management forecasts are qualitative.
D) Trend analysis has proven success and management forecasts have major shortcomings.

Question 26

What are the three Cs?

A) culture, capabilities, and composition
B) culture, clarity, and composure
C) culture, competition, and clarity
D) culture, creativity, and composition

Question 27

Which of the following should you take into account when forecasting demand?

A) product/service demand
B) the number of part-time employees needed
C) unemployment rate
D) labour mobility

Question 28

Kappa Technology is a firm in the high-technology sector. It needs to hire individuals with very specific knowledge and abilities, and it needs to do so quickly. Which of the following aspects of employee forecasting will be most important for this company?

A) skills inventories
B) staffing tables
C) Markov analysis
D) succession planning

Question 29

Which of the following is an important step in human resources planning?

A) assessing the organizational strategic plan
B) formulating strategy
C) developing global awareness
D) surveying employees

Question 30

What is the process of identifying, developing, and tracking key individuals so that they may eventually assume top-level?

A) target forecasting
B) predicted change
C) succession planning
D) replacement selection

Question 31

Which of the following is the best way HR can help ensure that a strategic alliance or joint venture goes smoothly in the beginning?

A) plan labour supply needs for both organizations
B) systematically monitor employee morale for both organizations
C) teach employees about the other organization
D) assess the compatibility of the two organizational cultures

Question 32

What is a major reason why many mergers do not go well?

A) strategic planning failures
B) failures in context analysis
C) cultural inconsistencies and conflicts
D) a competitive business environment

Question 33

Which of the following terms refers to reducing the workforce through the departure of employees who resign or retire?

A) a hiring freeze
B) a worker loan-out program
C) attrition
D) termination

Question 34

Which of the following terms refers to integrated knowledge sets within an organization that distinguish it from its competitors and deliver value to customers?

A) individual competencies
B) core competencies
C) human capital
D) organizational competencies

Question 35

Which of the following terms refers to the examination of the attitudes and activities of a company's workforce?

A) environmental scanning
B) trend analysis
C) a cultural audit
D) behavioural modelling

Question 36

An organization that states that teamwork and working together are important in their strategy but gives bonuses to individuals who excel independently is an example of which of the following?

A) a misalignment of functional strategy
B) a misalignment of external fit
C) a misalignment of internal fit
D) a misalignment of strategy and HR

Question 37

Which of the following terms refers to the systematic, regular monitoring of major external forces influencing the organization?

A) demand forecasting
B) environmental scanning
C) exception reporting
D) influence analysis

Question 38

One way human resource planning links to strategic planning is by providing a set of inputs into which of the following?

A) the strategy formulation process
B) the strategy implementation process
C) the strategic analysis process
D) the source of competitive advantage

Question 39

What is an important difference between small and large businesses in terms of alignment between organization and people strategies?

A) Large businesses are constrained by existing internal processes; small business have less bureaucracy and can change faster.
B) Large businesses have more strategy to align; small businesses keep it simple.
C) Large businesses have more competitors; small businesses can keep a closer eye on fewer rivals.
D) Large businesses have more overhead and constraints; small businesses are leaner and meaner.

Question 40

Which of the following lists current jobholders and identifies possible replacements?

A) a staffing table
B) a replacement chart
C) a trend model
D) Markov analysis

Question 41

The number of hours that Canadians work per week has been trending downward and now hovers around 33 hours a week.

Question 42

Which of the following is a method for measuring a firm's strategic alignment?

A) Markov analysis
B) SWOT analysis
C) benchmarking
D) using a balanced scorecard

Question 43

Nearly one-fifth of the workforce is made up of part-time, temporary, and self-employed workers.

Question 44

Strategic plans have a strong external orientation that covers major portions of the organization, focusing mainly on how the organization will position itself globally.

Question 45

In general, contract labour possesses skills and knowledge of less strategic value to the organization than core knowledge workers.

Question 46

Environmental scanning involves the systematic monitoring of internal factors influencing the organization.

Question 47

The utilization of advanced technology is generally accompanied by more demand for low-skilled workers and less demand for high-skilled workers.

Question 48

Organizational core values are the strong enduring beliefs and principles that a company uses as a foundation for its decisions.

Question 49

Vindal Fabrics has determined that its organizational strength is being an industry leader in producing upholstery fabrics for automobiles. The company believes its weakness is its performance in Southeast Asia. It has also determined that it is missing an opportunity by not yet branching into upholstery for public transit seats. In order to complete a SWOT analysis, what piece of information does Vindal Fabrics need to figure out next?

A) It needs to see that its major threat is the economic downturn of the auto industry.
B) Its HR department needs to address the company's major weakness.
C) It needs to perform a revenue analysis in order to see what chances it can take.
D) Its HR department needs to address the company's missed opportunity.

Question 50

Internal fit (or alignment) means that HR practices are aligned with one another in a mutually reinforcing configuration.

Question 51

Which of the following statements best describes a hiring freeze?

A) It is usually only successful during times of economic crisis.
B) It is a workforce attrition strategy.
C) It discourages competent employees.
D) It leaves more talented labour for the competition.

Question 52

Core competencies are integrated skills and knowledge sets within an organization that distinguish it from its competitors and deliver value to customers.

Question 53

Which of the following terms refers to an enthusiastically adopted tool for mapping a firm's strategy in order to ensure strategic alignment?

A) target forecasting
B) predicted focus
C) balanced scorecard
D) replacement selection

Question 54

Human resources planning plays a key role in organizational strategy implementation because organizational leaders must make decisions regarding resource allocations to human capital, among other things.

Question 55

Organizations such as Canadian Tire and CIBC conduct cultural audits to examine the attitudes and activities of the external workforce.

Question 56

What is at the centre of the 7-S Model?

A) shared values
B) strategy
C) style
D) systems

Question 57

HR planning is the process of setting major organizational objectives and developing comprehensive plans to achieve those objectives.

Question 58

A cultural audit asks questions such as "How do employees spend their time?"

Question 59

Increased emphasis on HR issues becomes especially critical when organizations consider global strategies, relocation of plants, product innovation plans, and so forth.

Question 60

A cultural audit asks questions such as "What is the ethnic make-up of my workforce?"

Question 61

Markov analysis focuses on the number of employees in particular jobs and their skill levels, compensation, and job tenure.

Question 62

Staffing tables provide data on external labour supply sources.

Question 63

The Delphi technique works best in organizations where dynamic technological changes affect staffing levels.

Question 64

Decisions about employee layoffs are usually based on seniority and/or performance.

Question 65

Under the umbrella of layoff strategies are several work reduction options: reduced workweek, reduced shifts, transfers to related companies, and so on.

Question 66

Through human resources planning, organizations strive for a proper balance between demand considerations and supply considerations.

Question 67

The mission statement of an organization is a description of the organization's vision and values.

Question 68

Management forecasts are quantitative measurements of future employment needs.

Question 69

Succession planning is the process of identifying, developing, and tracking key individuals so that they may eventually assume top-level positions.

Question 70

Attrition is the fastest way to achieve workforce reduction.

Question 71

Attrition and early retirement are means for organizations to reduce excess labour.

Question 72

Trend analysis relies on a single business factor.

Question 73

Forecasting may be as informal as having one person familiar with the organization anticipate HR needs.

Question 74

National and regional unemployment rates are often considered a general barometer of labour supply.

Question 75

A disadvantage of overemphasizing seniority is that less competent employees receive the same rewards and security as more competent employees.

Question 76

Human Resources Development Canada (HRSDC) analyzes labour markets to determine the supply and demand for labour.

Question 77

The stages of HR activity associated with a merger are (1) precombination, (2) combination, and (3) solidification and assessment.

Question 78

There are two approaches to HR forecasting: quantitative and qualitative.

Question 79

Trend analysis is a qualitative approach to labour demand forecasting.

Question 80

Markov analysis is a systematic monitoring of the major external forces influencing an organization.