Question 1

Identify the three levels of strategic planning and describe the function of each level. What is the relationship between human resource strategy and a firm's strategic plans?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Identify the three levels of strategic planning...

Question 2

In a brief essay, describe the three types of competitive strategies that firms use to achieve competitive advantage. Support your answer with examples of organizations that currently use each of the strategies.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In a brief essay, describe the three...

Question 3

In order to generate the desired workforce skill, competencies, and behaviors that a firm needs to achieve its strategic goals, human resource management must first develop ________.
A)strategic plans
B)HR policies
C)employee skills
D)company norms

Accepted Answer

A)Developing strategic plans and goals is the first step of strategic human resource management.

Question 4

What is the primary reason that mergers and acquisitions fail?
A)technology
B)financing
C)personnel
D)stock prices

Accepted Answer

C)The most cited reason for failed mergers and acquisitions is personnel problems rather than financial or technical issues. Failure to prepare and train employees of both companies for a merger or acquisition may lead to employee resistance and declining morale and productivity.

Question 5

Lauren is identifying what each department in her company must do to help the business accomplish its strategic goals. These are known as ________ strategies.
A)competitive advantage
B)competitive
C)functional
D)vertical integration

Accepted Answer

C)Functional strategies identify what each department must do to help the business accomplish its strategic goals.

Question 6

All of the following are services that human resource consulting companies provide during mergers and acquisitions EXCEPT ________.
A)aligning compensation programs
B)overseeing database recovery systems
C)helping to determine which employee is best for which role in the new organization
D)identifying key talent and suitable retention strategies

Accepted Answer

B)Human resource consulting companies such as Towers Watson assist firms with merger-related human resource management services. For example, they identify potential pension shortfalls, identify key talent and suitable retention strategies, help clients combine payroll systems, and help determine which employee is best for which role in the new organization.

Question 7

Managers engage in three levels of strategic planning.

Accepted Answer

Managers use three types of strategic planning. There is corporate-level strategic planning, business unit (or competitive)strategic planning, and functional (or departmental)strategic planning.

Question 8

Critical human resource tasks during mergers and acquisitions include all the following EXCEPT:
A)retaining key talent
B)merging the firms' cultures
C)choosing top management
D)enforcing current rules

Accepted Answer

D)Critical human resource merger or acquisition tasks include choosing top management, communicating changes to employees, merging the firms' cultures, and retaining key talent. Rules can often change during such a process.

Question 9

Consolidation keeps the company's strategy up to date by assessing progress toward strategic goals and taking corrective action as needed.

Accepted Answer

The corporate strategy of consolidation involves reducing the size of a company. Concentration, diversification, vertical integration, and geographic expansion are other commonly used corporate strategies.

Question 10

John is a manager is looking at HR scorecard data through a ________, which presents the manager with desktop graphs and charts, showing a computerized picture of how the company is doing on all the metrics from the HR scorecard process.
A)digital dashboard
B)strategy map
C)HR audit
D)mission plan

Accepted Answer

A)A digital dashboard presents the manager with desktop graphs and charts, showing a computerized picture of how the company is doing on all the metrics from the HR scorecard process.

Question 11

Human resource strategies are the ________ used to support a firm's strategic goals.
A)visions and objectives
B)policies and practices
C)missions and goals
D)theories and tools

Accepted Answer

B)Human resource strategies are the policies and practices developed to support the employee competencies and behaviors that a firm needs to accomplish its strategic aims.

Question 12

A vertical integration strategy means that a firm will expand by adding new product lines.

Accepted Answer

A vertical integration strategy means the firm expands by producing its own raw materials or selling its products directly.

Question 13

A business-level strategy is implemented by Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John's and Little Caesar's in their competition with each other for pizza customers.

Accepted Answer

Business-level or competitive strategies address how a firm will build or strengthen its long-term competitive position in the marketplace. Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John's and Little Caesar's are competitors in the pizza market, and each firm has a business-level strategy to indicate how to compete.

Question 14

John wants his shoe store to adopt the strategy of having the lowest prices on shoes in town. John is adopting which competitive strategy?
A)focusers
B)differentiation
C)cost leadership
D)providing input to top management about industry trends

Accepted Answer

C)Cost leadership means becoming the low-cost leader in an industry. Walmart is an example.

Question 15

Cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategies are types of corporate-level strategies.

Accepted Answer

Cost leadership, differentiation, and focus are types of business-level rather than corporate-level strategies. These strategies, which are also known as competitive strategies, identify how a firm can build and strengthen its competitive position in the marketplace, such as how Pizza Hut will compete with Papa John's and how Walmart will compete with Target.

Question 16

The primary purpose of strategic human resource management is to ________.
A)develop human resource policies that align with industry standards
B)integrate a company's strategic plan with its human resource strategies
C)create stringent appraisal systems that highlight employee weaknesses
D)use offshoring to reduce human resource costs and to initiate globalization

Accepted Answer

B)Strategic human resource management is intended to link a firm's strategic plan with its human resource strategies. When creating human resource management policies and activities, a manager needs to produce the employee competencies and behaviors that the company needs to achieve its strategic aims.

Question 17

Which of the following is the final step in the strategic human resource management process?
A)The manager asks, "What employee skills and behaviors will we need to achieve these plans and goals?"
B)The manager formulates strategic plans and goals.
C)The manager asks, "Specifically what recruitment, selection, training, and other HR policies and practices should we put in place so as to produce the required employee skills and behaviors?"
D)The manager asks, "How much profit can we make on this?"

Accepted Answer

C)The final step in the strategic human resource management process is when the manager asks, "Specifically what recruitment, selection, training, and other HR policies and practices should we put in place so as to produce the required employee skills and behaviors?"

Question 18

________ is a strategic planning tool that shows how each department performance contributes to achieve the company's overall strategic goal.
A)A strategic objective
B)Visionary strategy
C)Vertical strategy
D)A strategy map

Accepted Answer

D)A strategy map is a planning tool that summarizes how each department's performance contributes to achieving the company's overall strategic goals.

Question 19

Formulating and executing human resource policies and practices that produce the employee competencies and behaviors a company needs to achieve its strategic aims is known as ________.
A)strategic human resource management
B)human resource performance systems
C)high-performance personnel management
D)personnel management by objectives

Accepted Answer

A)Strategic human resource management means formulating and executing human resource policies and practices that produce the employee competencies and behaviors the company needs to achieve its strategic aims.

Question 20

McDonald's addressed its lagging profitability by first closing stores operating below its guidelines. McDonald's used a consolidation strategy.

Accepted Answer

A strategy of consolidation involves reducing the company's size. When McDonald's closes stores that are not performing up to corporate standards, the firm is implementing a consolidation strategy.

Quiz 3: Human Resource Management Strategy and Analysis

Identify the three levels of strategic planning and describe the function of each level. What is the relationship between human resource strategy and a firm's strategic plans?

In a brief essay, describe the three types of competitive strategies that firms use to achieve competitive advantage. Support your answer with examples of organizations that currently use each of the strategies.

In order to generate the desired workforce skill, competencies, and behaviors that a firm needs to achieve its strategic goals, human resource management must first develop ________.

What is the primary reason that mergers and acquisitions fail?

Lauren is identifying what each department in her company must do to help the business accomplish its strategic goals. These are known as ________ strategies.

All of the following are services that human resource consulting companies provide during mergers and acquisitions EXCEPT ________.

Managers engage in three levels of strategic planning.

Critical human resource tasks during mergers and acquisitions include all the following EXCEPT:

Consolidation keeps the company's strategy up to date by assessing progress toward strategic goals and taking corrective action as needed.

John is a manager is looking at HR scorecard data through a ________, which presents the manager with desktop graphs and charts, showing a computerized picture of how the company is doing on all the metrics from the HR scorecard process.

Human resource strategies are the ________ used to support a firm's strategic goals.

A vertical integration strategy means that a firm will expand by adding new product lines.

A business-level strategy is implemented by Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John's and Little Caesar's in their competition with each other for pizza customers.

John wants his shoe store to adopt the strategy of having the lowest prices on shoes in town. John is adopting which competitive strategy?

Cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategies are types of corporate-level strategies.

The primary purpose of strategic human resource management is to ________.

Which of the following is the final step in the strategic human resource management process?

________ is a strategic planning tool that shows how each department performance contributes to achieve the company's overall strategic goal.

Formulating and executing human resource policies and practices that produce the employee competencies and behaviors a company needs to achieve its strategic aims is known as ________.

McDonald's addressed its lagging profitability by first closing stores operating below its guidelines. McDonald's used a consolidation strategy.