Deck 2: Business and Staffing Strategies

Question 1

If a company has high turnover,it should focus on filling vacancies quickly and hiring people who can hit the ground running.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

External hiring reduces organizational diversity.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Hiring people who are efficient,trainable,and willing to follow standardized procedures would support a(n)________ competitive advantage.

A) product leadership
B) operational excellence
C) customer intimacy
D) training and development

Answer 3

B

Question 4

When labor markets are tight and good recruits are hard to find,organizations must pursue talent-oriented staffing.

Question 5

A company pursuing a low-cost strategy is least likely to embrace an asset-based philosophy.

Question 6

When business slows down,flexible workers are dismissed before core workers.

Question 7

Axis Auto tries to keep its operational spending as low as possible so that it can pass its savings on to customers in the form of lower prices.This is known as a ________ strategy.

A) cost-leadership
B) differentiation
C) specialization
D) growth

Question 8

Proactive staffing is done in response to situations or issues.

Question 9

Which of the following,if true,would uphold a company's sustainable competitive advantage in front of rival firms?

A) Workforce attributes encouraged by staffing practices are commonplace.
B) It is difficult to imitate the strategic staffing practices of the firm.
C) Staffing practices have maximum substitutability.
D) The firm should take care not to exploit staffing practices.

Question 10

A company is able to successfully recruit engineers by handing out flyers during community events near a university which is highly rated for its engineering program.The company's competitor effectively reaches the same audience by hanging banners at similar event.This is an example of ________.

A) substitutability
B) value addition
C) refutability
D) inimitability

Question 11

Most companies can easily replicate a competitor's capabilities by imitating the competitor's staffing practices.

Question 12

An organization evaluating its staffing practices in response to a hiring discrimination lawsuit is an example of proactive staffing.

Question 13

Viewing employees as an asset to be managed generally leads to a low-cost approach to staffing.

Question 14

Companies that use the same recruiting techniques are likely to experience similar results.

Question 15

Valuing the ideas and contributions of people with diverse ideas and perspectives is a possible component of a company's talent philosophy.

Question 16

Innovative organizations that rely on new product development and organizational flexibility require employees with a narrower range of aptitudes and abilities,while organizations in narrow,relatively stable markets rely on a low-cost strategy.

Question 17

An internal talent focus requires a firm to invest in employee training and development.

Question 18

A staffing function is centralized when an organization that has multiple business units has one staffing unit that is responsible for meeting at least some of the needs of all of the company's business units.

Question 19

Organizations prefer to hire internally to enhance employee motivation and retention levels.

Question 20

According to the resource-based view of the firm,in order to create value,staffing practices must ________.

A) imitate the practices followed by competitors
B) enhance the differentiation of the firm's products
C) rapidly create new products or services
D) maximize the number of applicants who are hired

Question 21

When viewing applicants and employees as investors,the goal is to ________.

A) be as selective as possible in choosing whom to hire
B) ensure that the revenue generated by a new hire exceeds the new hire's total compensation level
C) give applicants and employees a return on their personal contributions in the organization
D) terminate the bottom performing 10% of employees every year

Question 22

In which of the following cases would a company opt for a short-term staffing strategy?

A) Employee turnover is high.
B) Employee skill sets need to be developed through intensive training.
C) Higher-level managers need a substantial amount of knowledge about how the company works.
D) competitive advantage

Question 23

Hiring people who are entrepreneurial,creative,and have a high tolerance for ambiguity would support a ________ competitive advantage.

A) product leadership
B) operational excellence
C) customer intimacy
D) training and development

Question 24

Taking the time to explain the hiring process and making every effort to follow up with candidates and minimize delays is an example of ________.

A) viewing applicants as assets
B) a commitment to ethical behavior
C) a commitment to diversity
D) hiring for long-term careers

Question 25

Compstar Limited establishes a mutually beneficial relationship in which employees are recognized as investing their resources,such as time or energy,in exchange for pay and benefits and an opportunity to develop their skills.This is an example of ________.

A) viewing employees as assets
B) a competitive disadvantage
C) viewing employees as investors
D) an innovation strategy

Question 26

Promotions are likely to be fastest in organizations in the ________ stage of their life cycle.

A) introduction
B) growth
C) maturity
D) decline

Question 27

Independent bookstore Signature Books has been struggling to survive as sales declined sharply in the past year.Its main competitors are the large chain stores that have a much wider range of books and can afford to sell books at a discount,but online retailers are also eating into Signature's market.Signature Books opts for a specialization strategy,focusing on foreign-language books and learning materials.Which of the following,if true,will support Signature's decision?

A) Chain stores invest heavily in developing a customer-friendly style and atmosphere.
B) Chain stores are the cost leaders in the category, as bulk buying and publisher discounts keep prices down.
C) Online retailers have negligible operational costs as well as the price advantages of large chain stores.
D) Chain stores stock mainly books of general interest, such as books by popular authors and self-help books.

Question 28

When a firm pursues a differentiation strategy,it is attempting to ________.

A) achieve the efficient production and delivery of products
B) be the lowest-cost producer for a particular level of product quality
C) expand the company to increase the firm's sales
D) develop products that have unique characteristics

Question 29

Which of the following is compromised when retaining workers?

A) creating a more loyal and committed workforce
B) creating a workforce that has a better understanding of the company's processes
C) decreasing staffing costs
D) a regular infusion of new ideas and perspectives

Question 30

To hire technical skills a company expects to need in six months,it would engage in ________.

A) talent-oriented staffing
B) reactive staffing
C) idiosyncratic staffing
D) job-oriented staffing

Question 31

Organic growth takes place when an organization ________.

A) expands from within by opening new factories or stores
B) acquires those companies with which it used to compete
C) focuses on just one specific line of production
D) branches into producing numerous other unrelated goods

Question 32

Hiring people who are learning-oriented,and who have good networking skills would support a ________ competitive advantage.

A) product leadership
B) operational excellence
C) customer intimacy
D) training and development

Question 33

Bella Vista Inc.needs to hire a new marketing manager after the former manager retired.The company recruited James Anderson,who was employed in Webster & Co.,and offered him the job of manager.This is an example of ________.

A) internal talent focus
B) growth focus
C) external talent focus
D) competitive advantage

Question 34

Jen is the Human Resources manager for Bailey's,a large department store.A competitor,ShopWell,is scheduled to open nearby in a few months and Jen is afraid that some of her staff may quit and join ShopWell.To prevent this,Jen introduces a performance incentive program that will reward Bailey's highest-performing employees at the end of the year.This is an example of ________.

A) replacement charting
B) idiosyncratic staffing
C) proactive staffing
D) reactive staffing

Question 35

When viewing employees as assets,the staffing focus is on managing ________.

A) performance
B) costs
C) hiring strategies
D) existing employees

Question 36

For organizations relying on new product innovation and for which the commitment and efforts of employees are key drivers of organizational performance,which of the following talent philosophies would be most appropriate?

A) viewing employees as assets
B) viewing employees as investors
C) keeping salaries as low as possible to control costs
D) hiring as many people as possible

Question 37

A software company has a high turnover rate.What staffing strategy would be most appropriate?

A) hiring people with the potential to be promoted over a period of years
B) hiring people quickly even if their skills are not as high as required
C) slowing down the hiring process to try to find better recruits
D) filling vacancies quickly with people who are able to perform with minimal job training

Question 38

Idiosyncratic jobs are ________.

A) created around a current or new employee's unique skills
B) created to fill an immediate hiring need
C) jobs that have been in an organization for over 20 years
D) jobs that are at the entry-level only

Question 39

Which of the following,if true,would require a company to respectfully and honestly explain the hiring process to all applicants?

A) The company is committed to practicing ethical behavior.
B) The company views employees as investors.
C) The company is solely interested in profit-making.
D) The company views employees as assets.

Question 40

With which of the following competitive advantages is cost less of a barrier in attracting top talent for companies?

A) product innovation
B) cost leadership
C) growth
D) maturity

Question 41

Describe the resource-based view of the firm and how staffing can contribute to a company's sustainable competitive advantage.

Question 42

Explain when an organization would use talent-oriented rather than job-oriented staffing.

Question 43

What is a firm's talent philosophy and how is it important to staffing?

Question 44

Ed Waters is a former CEO who was responsible for the dramatic turnaround of a food company.When Ed retired,Phil,the CEO of a travel agency,invited him to be a business consultant for the travel company,hoping that Ed's unusual strategies could work the same magic twice.Phil created a new designation and position in the company especially for Ed.This is an example of ________.

A) talent-oriented staffing
B) reactive staffing
C) idiosyncratic staffing
D) job-oriented staffing

Question 45

Describe the organizational and product life-cycle and explain how it can influence a firm's choice of strategy.

Question 46

Which of the following is true about external hiring?

A) It sends employees the message that good performance can be rewarded with a promotion.
B) It can enhance organizational diversity.
C) Jobs can be filled faster than through internal hiring.
D) External hires reinforce the organization's culture more than do internal hires.

Question 47

How should firms identify key jobs on which to focus additional attention and resources during the staffing effort?

Question 48

A company that lets each of its business units staff in whatever way they choose and house their own staffing function,is an example of ________.

A) delegation
B) strategic staffing
C) centralized staffing
D) decentralized staffing

Question 49

Skylark Corporations produces apparel for women.The firm experienced a boom in the introduction phase of its life cycle due to the high-quality talent of its middle and top-level executives.Which of the following would help Skylark retain its competitive advantage in the present economic downturn?

A) Repeating the old strategies that enabled the company to rise.
B) Changing its process-related advantages for new strategies.
C) Opening its doors to a flood of new employees as labor is cheap.
D) Keeping existing employees satisfied and recruiting top talent.

Question 50

When a firm has a superior level of cooperation and innovation among its research team that allows it to design a new product two days faster than its competitors it has created a ________.

A) human capital advantage
B) talent maximization strategy
C) human resource strategy
D) human process advantage