Deck 1: Strategic Human Resource Management

Question 1

Using the focus strategy, a firm concentrates on a segment of the market, competing on the basis of either differentiation or cost leadership.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Strategies for businesses are formulated at three levels: corporate, a major business activity, and employee.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Many organizations are now including specific strategies that directly consider their employees, such as a strategy to become one of Canada's "Top 50 Best Managed Companies."

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Canada's international trade advantage is due to its geographical location and multicultural population.

Question 5

Primary and extractive industries currently account for most of the national wealth in Canada.

Question 6

Organizational goals are an organization's short- and long-term outcomes that human resource management aims to support and enable.

Question 7

People are the common element in all social organizations.

Question 8

The field of human resource management is unrelated to key organizational goals, product-market plans, technology, and innovation.

Question 9

Economic forces are defined as economic factors facing Canadian business, including historical trends, global trade forces, and the force to increase one's own competitiveness and productivity levels.

Question 10

The recent shift in employment from extractive industries to service industries has increased the need for innovative thinking within organizations.

Question 11

Moving from a factor-based to a knowledge-based economy is a trend witnessed only in North America.

Question 12

Companies can gain accreditation in productivity optimization processes through organizations like the International Association for Six Sigma Certification.

Question 13

Firms with nonroutine production processes (such as advertising firms), benefit more from flexible human resource practices that nurture creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship than those that focus on predicting employee performance.

Question 14

Since human resource management is central to all organizations, all organizations have a dedicated human resource department.

Question 15

With an increased reliance on knowledge workers, organizations also start to face challenges associated with employees hiding and withholding knowledge.

Question 16

Economic boom and bust business cycles are experienced the way same across the country.

Question 17

Integrating digital information systems has allowed for more effective knowledge management.

Question 18

Employee salaries may account for more than 65% of the operating expenses in many organizations.

Question 19

Recruiting or developing innovative staff to create a culture of innovation within the organization is an example of a progressive human resource strategy.

Question 20

A new venture or micro-business might initially have the entrepreneur perform HR related tasks.

Question 21

Without a future orientation, human resources departments become proactive, allowing minor problems to become major ones.

Question 22

Canada continues to be a two-language nation, where the majority of Canadians have either English or French as their mother tongue.

Question 23

The aging population impacts human resource management the same way across all geographical locations.

Question 24

When objectives can be achieved in several acceptable ways, the key to success is choosing the path that best aligns with individual stakeholder needs.

Question 25

The growing population of youth workers entering the Canadian workforce has implications for Canada on a global scale.

Question 26

Human Resource audits can be performed for one division or an entire company.

Question 27

Performance assessments indicate how well human resource activities have been carried out, since poor performance might mean that selection or training activities need to be redesigned.

Question 28

Human resource managers do not have the authority to order other managers in other departments to accept their ideas.

Question 29

When a human resources department first emerges, it is typically small and reports to a senior-level manager.

Question 30

Educational attainment is the average academic level required to work at a particular job.

Question 31

In highly technical or extremely routine situations, the human resources department may be given functional authority, allowing them to make decisions usually made by line managers or top management.

Question 32

Human resource managers must constantly scan their professional and social environment for clues about the future.

Question 33

Educational attainment is keeping pace with the growing knowledge-based economy.

Question 34

Cultural forces are challenges facing a firm's decision makers because of cultural differences among employees or changes in core cultural or social values occurring at the societal level.

Question 35

In the discussion of ethics, there are 3 approaches to determine "Right" behaviour in ambiguous situations. The 3 approaches are: universalistic, conformist, and subjectivist.

Question 36

The set of employability skills identified by the Corporate Council on Education consist of basic academic skills, personal management skills, and teamwork skills

Question 37

Ethical issues confronting Canadian firms today include issues such as sexual harassment, cyber espionage, and avoiding conflicts of interest.

Question 38

In today's workplace, leaders may be faced with up to five generations of workers-Generation Z, Generation Y, Generation X, Baby boomers, and Traditionalists.

Question 39

HR practices such as seniority- and rank-based pay and top-down communication channels are likely to work best when organizations consciously make an effort to create an egalitarian, participative, and entrepreneurial work climate.

Question 40

As an organization becomes more complex and departments expand, departments also become less specialized.

Question 41

Which of the following is a category of organizational goals?

A) not-for-profit
B) leadership
C) environmental
D) technological
E) ergonomic

Question 42

Which of the following is a reason for organization's increased expectations of human resource departments?

A) the decreasing retirement age
B) the high cost of actively disengaged employees
C) Canada's low ranking among exporting nations
D) the lower quality in production due to automation
E) the lack of multiculturalism in Canada

Question 43

Which of the following is a technological force that allows for more flexibility in operations?

A) automation
B) connectivity
C) flexible work design
D) knowledge management
E) global trade

Question 44

When the HR department is formulating strategies, which of the following describes an activity involved in attracting human resources?

A) finding capable individuals to apply for employment
B) reviewing of the current state of human resources practices
C) assessing employee performance
D) modifying internal work procedures
E) monitoring organizational policies

Question 45

What strategic step might an organization take to protect their sensitive data?

A) move all their storage to the cloud
B) hire a cyber-security expert
C) continuously back-up data
D) only permit employees to use corporate-issued hardware
E) teach its employees hacking skills

Question 46

Which of the following is an example of a service industry?

A) education
B) mining
C) fishing
D) forestry
E) agriculture

Question 47

The Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) accreditation is granted by each provincial HR association.

Question 48

Which of the following credentialing bodies is responsible for accrediting HR professionals in Ontario?

A) Chartered Professional inhuman Resources
B) International Association for Six Sigma Certification
C) Human Resource Professional Association
D) International Personnel Management Association
E) Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Question 49

Human resource professionals need to be well versed in data-driven decision making and financial operations.

Question 50

Which of the following is a cultural challenge facing Canadian organizations today?

A) gender balance in the workforce
B) global trade
C) shift towards knowledge workers
D) ethics
E) generational shift

Question 51

Which of the following is a possible outcome of employers installing workout facilities within the organization's physical space?

A) an decrease in employee morale
B) an increase in health benefits claims
C) A decrease in expenses associated with sick days
D) an increase in marriage rates between employees
E) an increase in the number of employees leaving the office early

Question 52

Which of the following is a major group of human resource activities that the human resource department must continually focus on?

A) sourcing a new building to move into
B) adjusting organizational mission
C) conducting an environmental scan
D) analyzing organizational culture
E) motivating employees

Question 53

A _____ is an examination of the human resource policies, practices, and systems of a firm (or division) to eliminate deficiencies and improve ways to achieve goals.

A) human resource audit
B) differentiation strategy
C) cost leadership strategy
D) mission statement
E) demographic change

Question 54

Gains in productivity give managers the ability to do which of the following?

A) focus more on predicting employee performance
B) save scarce resources
C) improve working conditions
D) increase employee benefits
E) provide better pay to employees

Question 55

Which of the following is the product of all of an organization's features and how they are arranged?

A) organizational structure
B) organizational culture
C) organizational hierarchy
D) organizational strategy
E) organizational objectives

Question 56

Which of the following strategies aims to gain a competitive advantage through lower costs of operations and lower prices for products?

A) focus
B) differentiation
C) cost leadership
D) organizational
E) progressive

Question 57

Which of the following tasks might a human resources manager have to carry out during a recessionary period?

A) retraining staff
B) implementing employee layoffs
C) creating a culture of innovation within the organization
D) recruiting employees with new skill sets
E) focus only on economic forces at the local level

Question 58

The ratio of an organization's outputs (goods and services) to its inputs (people, capital, materials, energy) is the definition of:

A) cultural forces
B) six sigma certification
C) flexible work design
D) automation and mechanization
E) productivity

Question 59

Recent changes to old age security forces workers to wait until what age to claim old age security?

A) 60
B) 63
C) 65
D) 67
E) 69

Question 60

Which of the following is described as the use of rules, competition, and teamwork to encourage engagement by mimicking games?

A) cultural mosaic
B) gamification
C) cost leadership strategy
D) demographic management
E) situational approach

Question 61

Which of the following is a benefit of conducting a human resource audit?

A) it ensures timely compliance with legal requirements
B) It aligns the HR department's goals with other department's goals
C) it reveals corrupt activities in other departments
D) It stimulates variety in the application of human resource policies and practices
E) it increases human resource costs through more effective procedures

Question 62

Which of the following is TRUE about proactive human resource management?

A) it allows staff to ensure their family or friends are hired by the organization
B) it focuses on how to best deploy HR activities to solve problems as they arise
C) it allows minor problems to become major ones
D) it only allows HR managers to anticipate challenges outside of the organization
E) it anticipates problems or challenges before they impact the organization

Question 63

Which of the following is a challenge associated with automation?

A) lower predictability in operations
B) lower standards of quality in production
C) decreased reliability in operations
D) negative union attitudes
E) less flexibility in operations

Question 64

Giving a department the right to make decisions usually made by line managers or top management is an example of:

A) functional authority
B) a regulation
C) line authority
D) human resource management
E) staff authority

Question 65

What progressive human resource management strategy can be used to create a creative and pioneering culture within an organization?

A) cultural mosaic
B) educational attainment
C) recruit innovative staff
D) automation
E) human resource audit

Question 66

Human resource audits cover which of the following areas related to staffing and development?

A) human rights legislation
B) job analysis information
C) human resource plans
D) compensation administration
E) employee selection

Question 67

The higher status given to _____ experts in job ads and organizational charts indicates that the importance of human resource management activity is being recognized.

A) infrastructure
B) human resource
C) investment strategy
D) environment
E) rules and policies

Question 68

Which of the following is a benefit of telecommuting?

A) there is a lower risk of data breaches
B) less training is needed
C) work requiring special equipment can be performed away from the workplace
D) greenhouse gases are reduced
E) it is easier to ensure employees' workstation is safe

Question 69

The decline in Canada's competitiveness in the international marketplace is an example of which economic force?

A) economic cycles
B) global trade
C) productivity improvement
D) connectivity
E) innovation improvement

Question 70

Which of the following is TRUE about a department which has staff authority?

A) it has power over the organization's entire staff
B) it directs managers how to best handle staffing issues
C) it has authority to make decisions about production
D) it has the power to advise but not direct managers in other departments
E) it has the authority to order managers to accept their ideas

Question 71

Which of the following continuously changing internal factors impacts the need for human resources strategies to be examined regularly?

A) technology
B) environments
C) government policies
D) role definitions
E) demographics

Question 72

Which of the following is an example of unethical business practices?

A) avoiding conflict of interest
B) high executive salaries
C) security of information
D) insider trading
E) environmental protection

Question 73

Which of the following describes an outcome associated with moving to a mechanized process?

A) decreased standards of quality in production
B) increased cost
C) increased effort to change setups for small production batches
D) decreased operational flexibility
E) increased reliability in operations

Question 74

On a per capita basis Canada exports more than the United States or Japan due to the combination of a relatively small population and a large natural resource base. Which economic force is this an example of?

A) productivity improvement
B) economic cycles
C) innovation improvement
D) global trade
E) connectivity

Question 75

Which of the following is TRUE about a human resource department?

A) it is critical to the success and survival of the organization
B) it represents the leadership and management of people within an organization
C) its contribution should be kept at a level appropriate to an organization' needs and resources
D) it is required that all organizations have a dedicated human resource department
E) it eliminates the need for individual managers to take responsibility for the day-to-day management of human resources

Question 76

The participation rate of women continues to grow in which of the following industries:

A) wholesale trade
B) oil and gas
C) transportation
D) manufacturing
E) management

Question 77

How often should human resource strategies be evaluated?

A) once a year
B) once every 5 years
C) once they have been evaluated they do not need to be re-evaluated
D) continuously
E) when a new human resource manager is hired

Question 78

An organization's mission statement does which of the following?

A) it specifies what activities the organization has pursued in the past
B) it is the product of all organizational features and how they are arranged
C) it systematically reviews the current state of human resource practices in an organization
D) it identifies which not-for-profits will benefit from the organization's success
E) it gives the organization its own special identity, character, and path of development

Question 79

Which of the following is an example of a demographic challenge facing Canadian?

A) automation
B) diversity
C) millennial workers
D) global trade
E) aging population

Question 80

Which of the following is TRUE of the differentiation strategy used by organizations for their products?

A) it lowers costs of operations
B) it focuses on creating a distinctive product or offering a unique service
C) it aggressively seeks efficiencies in production
D) it concentrates on a segment of the market
E) it targets a market that is set apart by either geography or specialized needs