Deck 2: Strategy-Driven Human Resource Management

Question 1

What is the third level of culture?

A)Values and beliefs
B)Assumptions
C)Behavior
D)Opinions
E)Artifacts

Answer 1

B

Question 2

SWOT Analysis is:

A)An analysis of the company's strongest relationships,weakest relationships,overhead costs,and total market share
B)A list made by an independent auditing firm of the company's successes,weaknesses,obligations,and threats of new competition
C)A listing and evaluation of the company's strengths,weaknesses,opportunities,and threats
D)A collection of government required special requirements,working audits,other regulatory fees,and transaction fees
E)An analysis of the company's supplier relationships,worker relationships,overhead costs,and total market share

Answer 2

C

Question 3

When an organization analyzes the environment better than a competitor and is therefore able to react quicker,what is created?

A)External strategy
B)Sustainable competitive advantage
C)Mission
D)A productivity vortex
E)Differentiation from competitors

Answer 3

B

Question 4

What major external business force to a significant extent determines what acceptable business practices for the organization are?

A)Customers
B)Suppliers
C)Governments
D)Shareholders
E)Society

Question 5

Partnerships with which major external business force most affect firm performance?

A)Competition
B)Technology
C)Customers
D)Governments
E)Suppliers

Question 6

Holding award dinners for top employees is an example of which artifact?

A)Ceremonies
B)Symbols
C)Stories
D)Slogans
E)Heroes

Question 7

Firm performance is not just a function of a company's own actions but must also be understood with relation to the actions of what major external business force?

A)Labor force
B)Customers
C)The economy
D)Competition
E)Society

Question 8

Connor is making a list of all the functions his human resource management department provides.The list includes many services to the organization such as recruitment,selection,training,and performance appraisals.Connor is working on the ________ step of the HR Scorecard.

A)identifying HR deliverables
B)identifying HR system alignment
C)aligning the system with company strategy
D)identifying HR efficiency measures

Question 9

Kristin is examining a measure of the financial return the human resources department received for its investment in a new performance appraisal system.The new system cost $3,500 and saved more than $5,000 in payroll expenses.Kristin is examining the ________.

A)economic value added
B)return on investment
C)gain from investment
D)balanced scorecard

Question 10

Which of the following is the earliest step in designing a strategy?
a.Setting objectives
b.Customer surveys
c.Creating the strategy
d.HR promoting the strategy
e.Implementing,monitoring,and evaluating

Question 11

Two of the most common strategic HRM measurement tools include:

A)Economic Value Added and Return on Investment
B)Employee Turnover Rate and Recruiting Yield Ratio
C)Economic Value Added and Employee Turnover Rate
D)Return on Investment and Employee Turnover Rate
E)Employee Turnover Rate and Current Ratio

Question 12

Management of the firm recruits from what major external environmental factor?

A)Suppliers
B)Labor force
C)Shareholders
D)Competition
E)Customers

Question 13

Founders of the organization and others who have made outstanding contributions to the company are considered to be a part of which artifact?

A)Stories
B)Symbols
C)Slogans
D)Ceremonies
E)Heroes

Question 14

What major external business force has changed the way and the speed at which an organization conducts and transacts business?

A)Society
B)Economy
C)Government
D)Technology
E)Customers

Question 15

What measurement tool determines the profits that remain after the cost of capital has been deducted from operating profits?

A)Return on Investment
B)Balanced Scorecard
C)Economic Value Added
D)HRIS
E)HR Scorecard

Question 16

Which major external business force requires organizations to continually improve their products to create value?

A)Suppliers
B)Labor force
C)Customers
D)Governments
E)Competition

Question 17

What three components make up organizational structure?

A)Vertical differentiation,horizontal differentiation,and spatial differentiation
B)Centralization,formalization,and complexity
C)Managers,supervisors,and employees
D)Complexity,differentiation,and the mission statement
E)Differentiation,HRM,and centralization

Question 18

What four components are required when writing an objective?

A)Singular,specific,trackable performance,realistic
B)Scientific,singular,target date,short
C)Singular,specific,measurable,target date
D)Specific,trackable performance,measurable,achievable
E)Specific,singular,measurable,achievable

Question 19

What major external business force creates both opportunities and threats for organizations through the rules and regulations that it sets?

A)Society
B)Technology
C)Economy
D)Government
E)Society

Question 20

What strategy is being used when a company chooses to pay attention only to a specific portion of a larger market?

A)Focus or niche
B)Cost leadership
C)Cost differentiation
D)Differentiation
E)Customer selection

Question 21

Which major external business force is not involved with the day-to-day operations of the firm,but does vote for the directors of the company?

A)Customers
B)Suppliers
C)Society
D)Shareholders
E)Government

Question 22

A powerful vision combined with a well-identified mission work together to create:

A)Focus
B)Employability
C)Product analysis
D)Cultural awareness
E)An operand

Question 23

The _______________ is composed of strategy,structure,and culture.

A)internal environment
B)technological imperative
C)global environment
D)external environment
E)supply chain relationships

Question 24

The human resources director is entering employee skills and performance appraisal data into a computer.The data will be used in the strategic planning process to determine training needs.The director is using a _________.

A)human resource information system
B)organizational chart
C)balanced scorecard
D)social media

Question 25

When a company decides to follow a cost leadership strategy,HRM is mostly concerned with _______________.

A)hiring individuals based on individual knowledge and skill sets and not on what jobs need filled at that point in time
B)creating cross-functional teams
C)creating broader job descriptions and work planning processes
D)implementing performance appraisals
E)maximum efficiency and effectiveness

Question 26

Bourne's hotel services corporation is figuring out what they need to do in order to become the company they envisioned.Bourne's is engaged in creating a:

A)Culture
B)Mission
C)Operation
D)Structure

Question 27

What measurement tool would most likely be used when HRM wants to know the financial value of investments in employee training and development?

A)Balanced Scorecard
B)Economic Value Added
C)Return on Investment
D)HRIS
E)HR Scorecard

Question 28

_______________ provide employees to the organization and are therefore considered an external factor.

A)Human Resource departments
B)Job posting websites
C)Suppliers
D)Head-hunting organizations
E)Unions

Question 29

Exeter Corp.has decided on a statement that identifies what they expect their business to become within six years.They are identifying their:

A)Goals
B)Mission
C)Vision
D)Environmental awareness
E)Occupational direction

Question 30

The degree to which jobs within a company are standardized is referred to as ___________.

A)centralization of jobs
B)job complexity
C)formalization
D)spatial differentiation
E)job differentiation

Question 31

Ferrari is well-known for following this generic strategy type:

A)Cost leader
B)Price leader
C)Broad differentiation
D)Niche based on differentiation
E)Niche based on low-cost

Question 32

The number of layers there are in an organization from top to bottom is referred to as _______________.

A)spatial differentiation
B)horizontal differentiation
C)vertical differentiation
D)formalization
E)centralization

Question 33

The way in which a company groups its resources together to accomplish its mission is called _______________.

A)strategy
B)organizational objectives
C)mission objectives
D)organizational structure

Question 34

_______________ is a plan of action to achieve a particular set of objectives.

A)Vision
B)Strategic advantage
C)Strategy
D)"Managing Up"
E)"Vision + Mission = FOCUS"

Question 35

How do Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) assist HRM and operational management in making decisions?

A)Allows HR deliverables to be defined more easily
B)Allows HR to select individuals that align with the organizational culture
C)Allows the company to track the amount of time employees spend working on their computers
D)Allows the company to maintain control of HR information,and make it available and easy to access for everyday use
E)Allows executives to create a "dashboard" for production/operations milestones

Question 36

B & A Steel has endeavored to drive out all unnecessary business expenses in their steel industry operations.B&A is likely following a _________ strategy.

A)Niche
B)Cost leader
C)Focus leader
D)Differentiation
E)Price leader

Question 37

Inflation,interest rates,and foreign exchange rates all are part of which major external business force?
a.Shareholders
b.Economy
c.Society
d.Customers
e.Technology

Question 38

When hiring individuals based on individual knowledge and skills sets and not necessarily for jobs that need filled,HRM is probably supporting the company's _______________.

A)cost leadership strategy
B)differentiation strategy
C)niche or focus strategy
D)competency-based strategy
E)SWOT analysis objectives

Question 39

_______________ includes shared values and beliefs,and describes how and why employees do what they do.

A)Organizational culture
B)Organizational structure
C)Organizational design
D)Organizational behavior
E)HRM performance measures

Question 40

The height,width,and physical location of human resources within an organization is described by the term _______________.

A)differentiation
B)complexity
C)capacity
D)formalization
E)centralization

Question 41

Sara and Dan are working on a statement for a start-up organic farm.One statement reads: "To become the southeast region's number one choice for supplying organically-grown fruits and vegetables." Sara and Dan are writing:

A)mission statement.
B)a vision statement.
C)a speech.
D)a business plan.

Question 42

_____________ is an example of society pressuring businesses to make changes in the way it conducts its business.

A)Limiting water and air pollution
B)Developing more commercial products.
C)Building additional commercial properties.
D)Setting higher wages

Question 43

Computer companies such as Dell may actually fight over the opportunity to purchase limited volumes of Intel CPU chips.This is an example of power from which of Porter's forces?

A)Buyer
B)Substitutes
C)New entrants
D)Competitive rival
E)Supplier

Question 44

__________ have more power to affect today's businesses today,partly due to purchasing power.

A)Competitors
B)Customers
C)Managers
D)Investors

Question 45

HRM is an important strategic business function that influences the performance of _______.

A)small firms
B)large firms
C)large and small firms
D)large and small firms during times of economic uncertainty

Question 46

Businesses sometimes compete with other businesses for:

A)customers.
B)customers,employees,and suppliers.
C)natural resources in their region.
D)tax incentives

Question 47

In the early days of Apple,managers would constantly relate to employees how the company was formed in a garage in Cupertino,California to instill a sense of being different from large competitor corporations.This is an example of how culture is transferred through:

A)Stories
B)Symbols
C)Slogans
D)Ceremonies
E Heroes

Question 48

An environmental "opportunity" for Newman Corporation,a small manufacturing firm,might be which of the following?

A)Available technological advances that can help the firm work with larger customers.
B)New large competitors in markets they currently serve.
C)Highly trained shop-floor employees.
D)Current competitors entering new markets that Newman cannot compete in.
E)Providing their sales force with detailed training on Newman's product lines.

Question 49

Two critical components of successful corporate strategy include:

A)vision and mission.
B)profit and loss.
C)customers and suppliers.
D)government regulation and tax obligation.

Question 50

__________ are needed for businesses to adjust to changes caused by the external environment.

A)Strategic responses
B)Delegations
C)Analysts
D)Competitors

Question 51

Jane took a job at the local factory as an assembler.Jane is a real go-getter by nature,but the company culture was to work at a slow steady pace.Soon Jane started to get subtle hints from her co-workers that she needed to slow down her work.Jane is getting _______ to modify her performance.

A)Compliance boundaries
B)Group obstinacy
C)Peer pressure
D)Organizational inference
E)Forced mediation

Question 52

Employees in companies with a differentiation strategy would need to have all of the following qualities except:

A)Comfortable with change and adaptable
B)Customer-focused
C)Innovative and able to create new processes
D)Comfortable with incentives based on creativity
E)Strongly concerned with maximizing efficiency

Question 53

__________ are the resource that gives us a powerful competitive advantage over our rival firms.

A)Finances
B)Specialty
C)Reputation
D)People

Question 54

_______ is a plan of action used to achieve a particular set of objectives.

A)Strategy
B)SWOT analysis
C)A contract
D)An adaptation

Question 55

Dotmar Engineering and many other firms have the ability to replace original metal parts in many manufacturing operations with high strength and/or high thermal capacity plastic parts at a much lower cost.This would illustrate the power of _______ in Porter's Five-Forces model.

A)Buyer
B)Substitutes
C)New entrants
D)Competitive rival
E)Supplier

Question 56

ARC Consulting is a highly decentralized organization,so if the president of the company (an operations expert) received a request for a Compensation Review from a client,her most likely course of action would be to:

A)tell her "least-busy" employee to handle it
B)decide to work on it herself
C)form a task team of both HR and non-HR consultants
D)ask her leading compensation expert to determine what needed to be done
E)tell the client that she couldn't help them with their request

Question 57

The "implementing,monitoring and evaluating" step in strategic management uses the process of _______,which creates mechanisms to ensure that objectives are achieved.

A)Processing
B)Investigating
C)Controlling
D)Appraising
E)Reviewing

Question 58

Centralization of decision-making in an organization tends to create:

A)greater control
B)poor decisions,in general
C)higher operating costs
D)less control
E)higher levels of job satisfaction throughout the company

Question 59

William,the HR director,has begun to review his company's HPWS alignment with the overall company strategy in order to determine what value HR is providing to the firm.William is most likely working on a(n):

A)HR Return on Investment
B HR Economic Value-added
C)HR Scorecard
D)HRIS
E)Incentive system

Question 60

Strategy involves:

A)adopting a global approach to business.
B)analyzing only the external environment.
C)analyzing only the internal environment.
D)analyzing both the internal and external environment.

Question 61

A company following the ____________ strategy approach might use performance appraisals to drive employee development.

A)differentiation
B)cost leader
C)niche
D)market

Question 62

Rivalry among competitors,such as Coke and Pepsi,is an example of scrambling/jockeying for position in which business strategy?

A)Five-Forces Analysis
B)SWOT analysis
C)Employee-driven
D)Cost Leader

Question 63

________ state what is to be accomplished in singular,specific,and measurable terms with a target date.

A)Goals
B)Targets
C)Clarifiers
D)Objectives

Question 64

Which strategy analyzes the external environment for organizations?

A)Five-Forces Analysis
B)SWOT analysis
C)Differentiator
D)Cost Leader

Question 65

Which strategy analyzes the external environment for organizations?

A)Five-Forces Analysis
B)SWOT analysis
C)Differentiator
D)Cost Leader

Question 66

An organization groups its resources to accomplish its mission by use of:

A)organizational structure.
B)a business plan.
C)budgetary limitations.
D)a board of directors.

Question 67

An analysis of external business environment should always include a review of the supply chain to determine ____________.

A)illegal trading
B)the power of buyers
C)the power of suppliers
D)unethical practices

Question 68

The SWOT analysis is a process of ________ a company's strengths and opportunities while _______ a company's weaknesses and threats.

A)balancing / minimizing
B)balancing /eliminating
C)identifying / clarifying
D)practicing / replicating

Question 69

The written objective "to reduce theft of electronic merchandise by 20 percent" is missing which recommended criteria?

A)It does not focus on a single result.
B)It is not specific.
C)It is not measurable.
D)It has no target date.

Question 70

__________ means how many layers there are in the organization from the top to the bottom.

A)Vertical differentiation
B)Horizontal differentiation
C)Spatial differentiation
D)Global differentiation

Question 71

__________ means how we break up an organization by departments or other meaningful segments.

A)Vertical differentiation
B)Horizontal differentiation
C)Spatial differentiation
D)Global differentiation

Question 72

An important part of the controlling process includes all of the following actions,except:

A)buying and selling assets.
B)measuring progress toward achievement of the objective.
C)taking corrective action when needed.
D)staying within the budget.

Question 73

A company following the ____________ strategy approach might use performance appraisals to punish employees or weed out poor performers.

A)differentiation
B)cost leader
C)niche
D)market

Question 74

__________ lower organizational costs required to produce their product or service.

A)Differentiators
B)Niche operators
C)Cost leaders
D)Competitors

Question 75

A company using the differentiation strategy relies upon the _________ to maintain an advantage over its competitors.

A)real or perceived difference
B)the real difference
C)the perceived difference
D)the naturally-occurring difference

Question 76

Quality management is part of the controlling process,whereby the company can adjust their ______________ to reach a predetermined level of quality control.

A)prices
B)internal processes
C)manager's input.
D)worker's attitude.

Question 77

An employee could look at a(n) __________ to identify a company's chain of command.

A)organization chart
B)employee directory
C)Stockholder's report
D)structure schedule

Question 78

A company following the ____________ strategy approach might focus on hiring flexible and adaptable employees.

A)differentiation
B)cost leader
C)niche
D)customer-driven

Question 79

__________ has three sub-parts: vertical differentiation,horizontal differentiation,and spatial differentiation.

A)Diversity
B)Complexity
C)Culture
D)Strategy

Question 80

Analisa and Charlie are writing a statement for a furniture company.It reads: "To provide quality,handmade Amish furniture,using sustainable natural resources,while honoring cultural woodworking traditions." Analisa and Charlie are writing:

A)a mission statement.
B)a vision statement.
C)a Board of Director's speech.
D)a letter to the Division of Natural Resources.