Deck 2: Strategic Training

Question 1

Development of organizational culture that values creative thinking and analysis is typically the training implication of the _____ strategy.

A) concentration
B) disinvestment
C) internal growth
D) external growth

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is true of roles of managers?

A) Line managers spend lesser time managing individual performance and developing employees than midlevel managers or executives do.
B) Midlevel managers or executives are not involved in planning and allocating resources, coordinating interdependent groups, and managing change.
C) The roles that managers have in a company do not influence the focus of training development, and learning activity.
D) Regardless of their level in a company, all managers are expected to serve as spokespersons to other work units, managers, and vendors.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following is true with regard to SWOT analysis?

A) In a SWOT analysis, external analysis attempts to identify the company's strengths and weaknesses.
B) A SWOT analysis represents the strategy believed to be the best alternative to achieve the company goals.
C) A SWOT analysis is typically conducted in the strategic training and development initiatives identification step of the strategic training and development process.
D) A SWOT analysis provides a company the information needed to generate several alternative business strategies and make a strategic choice.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

_____ typically includes information on the customers served,why the company exists,what the company does,the value received by the customers,and the technology used.

A) Balanced scorecard
B) Vision
C) Mission
D) Code of conduct

Question 5

In _____,financial and other resources are not available for development so companies tend to rely on hiring talent from the external labor market.

A) clubs
B) fortresses
C) baseball teams
D) academies

Question 6

Which of the following positions is characterized by high value and low uniqueness?

A) Lab technician
B) Scientist
C) Secretarial staff
D) Legal adviser

Question 7

Uniqueness refers to:

A) the employee potential to improve company effectiveness and efficiency.
B) the extent to which training and learning is centralized in an organization.
C) the extent to which employees are rare and specialized and not highly available in the labor market.
D) the picture of the future an organization wants to achieve.

Question 8

A SWOT analysis is typically conducted in the _____ step of the strategic training and development process.

A) business strategy formulation and identification
B) strategic training and development initiatives
C) training and development activities
D) measures or metrics identification

Question 9

As a marketing agent,the CEO of a company is responsible for:

A) promoting the company's commitment to learning by advocating it in speeches, annual reports, interviews, and other public relations tools.
B) serving as a role model for learning for the entire company and demonstrating a willingness to learn constantly.
C) taking an active role in governing learning, including reviewing goals and objectives and providing insight on how to measure training effectiveness.
D) developing new learning programs for the company and providing resources online.

Question 10

The final step of the strategic training and development process involves:

A) choosing strategic training and development initiatives.
B) identifying the business strategy.
C) identifying measures or metrics.
D) creating concrete training and development activities.

Question 11

Business-level outcomes chosen to measure the overall value of training or learning initiatives are referred to as _____.

A) values
B) goals
C) business strategies
D) metrics

Question 12

The strategic training and development process begins with:

A) choosing strategic training and development initiatives.
B) identifying the business strategy.
C) developing websites for knowledge sharing.
D) identifying measures or metrics.

Question 13

_____ involves examining a company's operating environment to identify opportunities and threats.

A) Internal analysis
B) Gap analysis
C) External analysis
D) Pareto analysis

Question 14

The _____ considers four different perspectives: customer,internal,innovation and learning,and financial.

A) SWOT analysis
B) value chain analysis
C) BCG matrix
D) balanced scorecard

Question 15

Companies that emphasize innovation and creativity are labeled as _____.

A) clubs
B) academies
C) fortresses
D) baseball teams

Question 16

Companies adopting the _____ strategy need to train employees in job-search skills and to focus on cross-training remaining employees.

A) concentration
B) disinvestment
C) external growth
D) internal growth

Question 17

Job-based employees are characterized by:

A) high value and high uniqueness.
B) high value and low uniqueness.
C) low value and low uniqueness.
D) low value and high uniqueness.

Question 18

A(n)_____ strategy focuses on new market and product development,innovation,and joint ventures.

A) disinvestment
B) privatization
C) external growth
D) internal growth

Question 19

Which of the following is true about a learning organization?

A) A learning organization discourages learning at the group and organizational levels.
B) A learning organization restricts employees from experimenting with products and services.
C) In a learning organization, employees learn from failure and from successes.
D) In a learning organization, employees are discouraged from asking questions and admitting mistakes.

Question 20

_____ refers to the company's decisions regarding where to find employees,how to select them,and the desired mix of employee skills and statuses.

A) Concentration strategy
B) Staffing strategy
C) External growth strategy
D) Disinvestment strategy

Question 21

Seth Mason,a product manager working in a manufacturing firm,is highly anxious about change.When the top management of Mason's firm made it mandatory for all product managers to undergo a series of skills trainings,he told his superior that he would be uncomfortable with the process.He added that he was certain of not being able to cope with the new developments.In this instance,Seth Mason is demonstrating _____.

A) indifference to change
B) uniqueness
C) resistance to change
D) loss of control

Question 22

The process of identifying and collecting metrics is unrelated to training evaluation.

Question 23

The CEO of a company is responsible for setting a clear direction for learning.

Question 24

Companies need to restrict learning to classrooms in order to competently help employees acquire knowledge and skills.

Question 25

GreenTel,a telecom giant,has been using the service of Orpheus Inc.for training its employees.According to a deal signed by the two companies,Orpheus Inc.is not only responsible for training GreenTel's employees but also for providing comprehensive administrative services to the telecom giant.In this instance,GreenTel engages in _____.

A) task redefinition
B) internal analysis
C) disinvestment
D) outsourcing

Question 26

Line managers spend lesser time managing individual performance and developing employees than midlevel managers or executives do.

Question 27

Which of the following is true of the corporate university model?

A) The model allows a company to gain the advantages of decentralized training.
B) The client group includes stakeholders outside the company.
C) Corporate universities do not facilitate the use of new technology.
D) The model is characterized by five competencies: strategic direction, product design, structural versatility, product delivery, and accountability for results.

Question 28

The strategic training and development initiatives vary by company depending on a company's industry,goals,resources,and capabilities.

Question 29

Which of the following is true of the business-embedded (BE)model?

A) The BE function is customer-focused.
B) A BE training function views trainees as marketers.
C) A BE training function does not guarantee that training will improve performance.
D) Training functions organized by the BE model does not involve line managers.

Question 30

In highly integrated businesses,training is likely to include rotating employees between jobs in different businesses.

Question 31

Which of the following is true of centralized training?

A) Centralized training function helps drive stronger alignment with business strategy.
B) In centralized training, training and development programs, resources, and professionals are housed in a number of different locations and decisions about training investment, programs, and delivery methods are made from those departments.
C) A centralized training function hinders the development of a common set of metrics or scorecards to measure and report rates of quality and delivery.
D) A centralized training function is largely ineffective in assisting companies manage talent with training and learning during times of change.

Question 32

Tacit knowledge developed through experience and shared through interactions between employees is easy to imitate.

Question 33

Learning organizations emphasize that learning occurs not only at the individual employee level but also at the group and organizational levels.

Question 34

Internal analysis involves examining the operating environment to identify opportunities and threats.

Question 35

Companies that adopt state-of-the-art HRM practices that contribute to business strategy tend to demonstrate no higher level of performance than firms that do not.

Question 36

Skill-based pay systems base employees' pay rates on what skills they are using for their current jobs rather than the number of skills they are competent in.

Question 37

Emphasis on the creation of intellectual capital and the movement toward high-performance work systems using teams has resulted in employees performing many roles once reserved for management.

Question 38

_____ relates change to managers' and employees' ability to obtain and distribute valuable resources such as data,information,or money.

A) Power
B) Control
C) Vision
D) Outsourcing

Question 39

For companies in an unstable or recessionary business environment,training programs focus more on correcting skill deficiencies rather than preparing staff for new assignments.

Question 40

In learning organizations,there is an understanding that failure provides important information.

Question 41

Uniqueness refers to employee potential to improve company effectiveness and efficiency.

Question 42

What is internal marketing? List some successful internal marketing tactics.

Question 43

List the various roles and responsibilities of a CEO.

Question 44

Define balanced scorecard.What are the four perspectives it considers? Provide examples of metrics used to measure them.

Question 45

Business process reengineering refers to the outsourcing of any business process,such as HRM,production,or training.

Question 46

Briefly describe the process of creating a corporate university.

Question 47

Job-based employees are likely to receive less training than knowledge-based employees.

Question 48

Describe the key features of a learning organization.

Question 49

Outsourcing allows a company to focus better on its business strategy by saving both cost and time.

Question 50

A centralized training function not only hampers the streamlining of processes but also denies the company a cost advantage in purchasing training from vendors and consultants.

Question 51

Companies must always avoid involving unions in retraining and productivity-improvement efforts.