Deck 2: Strategy and Human Resources Planning

Question 1

Susie has been tasked with examining attitudes and expectations of employees. She can accomplish this by conducting a cultural audit.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Internal analysis focuses on culture and conflicts within an organization.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Strategic planning involves a set of procedures for making decisions about an organization's long-term goals and strategies.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

An HR manager will use strategic planning to anticipate and provide for the movement of people into, within, and out of an organization.

Question 5

When developing a statement that provides a perspective on where her company is headed and what the organization can become in the future, Elana is working on the organization's mission.

Question 6

An organization's core values are the strong, enduring beliefs and principles that serve as a foundation for its corporate culture.

Question 7

Changes in labor supply can place limits on the strategies available to firms.

Question 8

In order to be prepared to quickly fill potential job openings with internal candidates, Mary should use skill and management inventories to create an employee replacement chart.

Question 9

Trend analysis is a qualitative approach to labor demand forecasting.

Question 10

Neil is in the process of recruiting and selecting new employees in a way that caters to the welfare of his organization's existing employees. He is working on human resource planning (HRP).

Question 11

Strategic human resources management (SHRM) is a combination of strategic planning and HR planning.

Question 12

Organizational core values form the foundation of a firm's decisions.

Question 13

The first step in strategic planning of a firm involves establishing a mission, vision, and values for the firm.

Question 14

Brad needs data on external labor supply sources. The best tool for him to use for this would be a staffing table.

Question 15

Stacy's company has made a long-term commitment to her, investing in her continuous training and development, and even giving her an equity stake in the organization. Stacy is most likely a strategic knowledge employee.

Question 16

An internal analysis enables strategic decision makers to assess an organization's workforce-its skills, cultural beliefs, and values.
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Question 17

Forecasting is frequently more of an art than a science, providing inexact approximations rather than absolute results.

Question 18

A manager who relies on a single factor to predict employment needs is likely using a trend analysis.

Question 19

A vision statement clarifies the long-term direction of a company and its strategic intent.

Question 20

Qualitative HR forecasting techniques generally employ sophisticated analytical models.

Question 21

The target company for benchmarking does not need to be a competitor.

Question 22

If a firm gives as much or more weight to seniority as to ability and productivity when considering layoffs, it is likely that the organization is unionized.

Question 23

Sally is looking at her company's practices and performance in a specific area and comparing them with other companies. Sally is engaged in the process of benchmarking.

Question 24

​A SWOT analysis helps executives summarize the major facts and forecasts derived from external and internal analyses.

Question 25

A manager can use a Markov analysis to track the pattern of employee movements through various jobs within the firm.

Question 26

Among Paula's responsibilities are identifying, developing, and tracking talented individuals so that they may eventually assume top-level positions within the firm. Paula is responsible for succession planning.

Question 27

A company that utilizes a differentiation strategy is competing on the basis of providing something unique to its customers.

Question 28

One reason that large companies are able to succeed when competing based on a low-cost strategy is that they are able to take advantage of economies of scale.

Question 29

In international joint ventures, the issue of culture is one of the top concerns.

Question 30

Corporate strategy focuses on domain selection.

Question 31

Core values are the essence of corporate cultures and an expression of their personality.

Question 32

A disadvantage of overemphasizing seniority is that less competent employees receive the same rewards and security as more competent employees.

Question 33

Managers might hold a meeting, or several meetings, called talent reviews to ascertain whether or not the company has the human resources that it needs to be competitive going forward.

Question 34

In unionized firms, layoffs are only based on performance.

Question 35

Tim needs to map his firm's strategy in order to ensure strategic alignment. One tool that he could use for this task is a balanced scorecard.

Question 36

A Markov analysis can show the percentage of employees who remain in each of a firm's jobs from one year to the next.

Question 37

In the long run, firms must approach outsourcing decisions based on cost alone to strengthen their core capabilities.

Question 38

Critical success factors for a low-cost strategy include efficiency, productivity, and minimizing waste.

Question 39

While unemployment rates vary by sector, the lack of talent in low-skill jobs continues to create a real challenge for firms.

Question 40

Reva needs to get a better idea of all the jobs in the organization along with the numbers of employees currently occupying those jobs and future employment requirements. Her best option would be to create a graphical representation such as a skills inventory.

Question 41

Part of Eric's job is __________, which requires him to perform systematic, regular monitoring of major external forces that influence the organization.

A)demand forecasting
B)environmental scanning
C)exception reporting
D)influence analysis

Question 42

The core values of a company

A)involve the systematic monitoring of its external opportunities.
B)make up the basic purpose of the company.
C)are the strong enduring beliefs used by the company to make decisions.
D)are determined by conducting a trend analysis on its employees.

Question 43

Because Kara realizes that the firm's employees are critical to its success, she wants to examine their values, attitudes, beliefs, and expectations. She can do this by conducting a(n)

A)environmental scan.
B)trend analysis.
C)cultural audit.
D)behavioral forecast.

Question 44

Which of the following is NOT an element of organizational growth?

A)Increased employee productivity
B)Large number of employees
C)Employees developing or acquiring new skills
D)High employee turnover rate

Question 45

Human resource planning is

A)the technique that identifies the critical aspects of a job.
B)the process of anticipating and providing for the movement of people into, within, and out of an organization.
C)the process of setting major organizational objectives and developing comprehensive plans to achieve these objectives.
D)the process of determining the primary direction of a firm.

Question 46

At the fundamental level, a firm's strategy should focus on creating value for

A)resellers.
B)suppliers.
C)customers.
D)subordinates.

Question 47

Strategic knowledge workers have

A)unique skills not directly related to company strategy.
B)unique skills directly related to company strategy.
C)skills that are valuable but not unique.
D)skills that are generally available in the labor market.

Question 48

In order to do an effective job at strategic planning, managers do all of the following EXCEPT

A)make forecasts of labor demand.
B)neglect supply considerations.
C)perform supply analyses.
D)balance supply and demand considerations.

Question 49

When the knowledge, skills, and abilities of a firm's human resources are not equally available to its competitors, these resources are considered to be

A)impossible to imitate.
B)devalued.
C)common.
D)rare.

Question 50

Which of the following is NOT a component of SWOT analysis?

A)Weakness
B)Threat
C)Strategy
D)Opportunity

Question 51

The process of setting procedures for making decisions about an organization's long-term goals is called

A)strategic planning.
B)HR planning.
C)job analysis.
D)environmental scanning.

Question 52

The strategic vision of a company

A)is used for the systematic monitoring of its external opportunities.
B)is the basic purpose of the company.
C)is the strong enduring belief used by the company to make decisions.
D)provides a perspective on where the company is headed.

Question 53

Bobbie has skills that are quite valuable to her company, but her skills are not particularly unique, and she would not be difficult to replace. Bobbie would be considered a

A)core employee.
B)strategic knowledge worker.
C)supporting worker.
D)partner.

Question 54

Abe wants to use a qualitative approach to forecast demand. He should consider any of the following methods EXCEPT

A)trend analysis.
B)the Delphi technique.
C)soliciting expert opinion.
D)management forecasts.

Question 55

Customers, suppliers, and substitutes are part of a __________ environment.

A)political
B)technological
C)demographic
D)competitive

Question 56

A competitive environment includes all the following EXCEPT

A)new entrants.
B)suppliers.
C)rivals.
D)subordinates.

Question 57

The mission of a company

A)is used for the systematic monitoring of its external opportunities.
B)is the basic purpose of the company.
C)is the strong enduring belief used by the company to make decisions.
D)provides a perspective on where the company is headed.

Question 58

Integrated knowledge sets within an organization that distinguish it from its competitors and deliver value to customers are known as

A)individual competencies.
B)core capabilities.
C)human capital.
D)organizational competencies.

Question 59

Renee needs to measure how well the new hires in her organization are performing so that the organization will have enough top performers to propel it towards its strategic objectives. She can use a quality-of-fill metric to accomplish this task.

Question 60

When a firm's resources improve the efficiency or effectiveness of the company, the resources are always considered to be

A)difficult to imitate.
B)valuable.
C)organized.
D)rare.

Question 61

Stan is a clerical worker at XLT Corp. with fairly limited and clearly defined duties. His employment relationship with XLT is transaction based. Stan would be considered a

A)core employee.
B)strategic knowledge worker.
C)supporting worker.
D)partner.

Question 62

According to the "4As" framework of execution capability, which of the following would be human capital in the area of ability?

A)Clear strategic intent
B)Leadership bench
C)External connection
D)Accountability for results

Question 63

In a unionized organization, layoff decisions are usually based on

A)union membership.
B)department ranking.
C)seniority.
D)favoritism.

Question 64

One of Ted's responsibilities is to regularly review HR initiatives to make sure they are in line with his company's strategy of being first to market. In other words, Ted needs to ensure __________ alignment.

A)horizontal
B)vertical
C)lateral
D)measurement

Question 65

Clara's firm has been unable to execute effectively. Clara feels that this can be corrected through educational learning. Clara wants to address which section of the "4As" framework?

A)Alignment
B)Agility
C)Ability
D)Architecture

Question 66

The Smith family lives in the same community where Topico has its corporate offices. The Smiths are __________ of Topico.

A)creditors
B)customers
C)primary stakeholders
D)secondary stakeholders

Question 67

__________ is the ability of an organization to rapidly reallocate resources to new or changing needs.

A)Coordination agility
B)Predicted flexibility
C)Organizational capability
D)Turnover capability

Question 68

A graphical representation of all organizational jobs along with the numbers of employees currently occupying those jobs and future employment requirements is called

A)a staffing table.
B)an organization chart.
C)a skills inventory.
D)career planning.

Question 69

Cross-training and job rotations are intended to improve the __________ of an organization.

A)coordination flexibility
B)turnover capability
C)organizational capability
D)resource flexibility

Question 70

Talent inventories can be used to develop __________, which list current jobholders.

A)core values
B)replacement charts
C)trend models
D)staffing tables

Question 71

Bill bought shares of stock in XLT Corp. As an investor, Bill is a __________ of the company.

A)customer
B)supplier
C)stakeholder
D)employee

Question 72

Clara's firm has been unable to execute effectively. Clara feels that the main source of this problem is that no one is held accountable for results. Clara has identified a flaw is which section of the "4As" framework?

A)Alignment
B)Agility
C)Ability
D)Architecture

Question 73

Clara's firm has been unable to execute effectively. Clara found that the primary reason is that the firm lacks streamlined processes. Clara has identified a flaw is which section of the "4As" framework?

A)Alignment
B)Agility
C)Ability
D)Architecture

Question 74

Trend analysis includes all of the following steps EXCEPT

A)selecting a business factor.
B)soliciting expert opinions.
C)predicting employment needs.
D)plotting historical trends.

Question 75

A __________ is a measurement framework that helps managers translate strategic goals into operational objectives.

A)benchmark
B)trend analysis
C)Balanced Scorecard
D)cultural audit

Question 76

The corporate culture at Federal Financial Services is very competitive and encourages result-oriented behaviors. What type of culture is this?

A)Clan
B)Adhocracy
C)Market
D)Hierarchical

Question 77

Which of the following is NOT a cell of the Balanced Scorecard model?

A)Financial
B)Turnover
C)Customer
D)Process

Question 78

The employees at Happy Table are a close-knit group. They show a great deal of concern for each other and for their customers. This typifies what type of corporate culture?

A)Clan
B)Adhocracy
C)Market
D)Hierarchical

Question 79

One of Ted's responsibilities is to regularly review HR practices to make sure they all focus on the same objectives. In other words, Ted needs to ensure __________ alignment.

A)measurement
B)capacity
C)horizontal
D)vertical

Question 80

XLT Corp. is pursuing a cooperative strategy as a way to drive growth. XLT might be considering a(n)

A)joint venture.
B)trend analysis.
C)merger.
D)acquisition.