COB 300 management Test 2- Eliason

Which of the following is an example of HRM on the broader, more macro level?

A) Training a new employee

B) Hiring a new employee

C) Providing employee assessment

D) Negotiations with labor groups

D

HR planning largely focues upon planning in pursuit of ______________, be it through hiring individuals with the necessary skills or further development current employees for higher achievement.

A) Competencies

B) Efficency

C) managers

D) profits

A

Barbara works for a US based firm as an analyst. It came up in ocnversation that her colleague, John, was making more money despite having the same position within the company. Barabara should reference ___________ in approaching this issue.

A) Equal Pay Act

B) Fair Wages Act

C) Violence against women act

D) civil rights act

A

the labor law that dictates that workers have a right to unions and collective bargaining is the:

A) fair labor statistics act

b) national labor relations act

c) civil rights act

d) fair labor standards act

B

Employees that are aged 40 years or older are protected by the:

A) fair labor standards act

b) age discrimination act

c) national labor relations act

d) civil rights act

B

Which of the following is not within the functionality of a union?

a) increasing the number of employee hires

b) achieving higher pay

c) improving working conditions

d) analyzing hiring practices

d

In forming a union, what percentage of employees must sign petition cards and submit them to the National Labor Relations Board?

a) 30%

b) 40%

c) 25%

d) 50%

a

which piece of US legislation acts as the primary authority on collective agreements and collect bargaining?

a) industrial disputes act

b) national labor relations

c) workmans comp

d) employees state insurance

B

unions play a substantial role in bargaining, particularly in the US. Coming to a consensus between union and various businesses is called an(n)______

a) collective bargaining

b) collective agreement

c) arbitration

d) negotiation process

B

in some HR models, it is useful to allow employees freedom to earna ll or a portion of their pay. What type of compensation is this called?

a) equity based

b) benefits

c) guaranteed

d) variable

d

When an employee is compensated via company shares or stock options it is referred to as__________.

a) guaranteed pay

b) equity based

c) variable

d) benefits

b

which of the following is NOT discussed as one of the main three objectives of occupational safety and health?

a) identify legal costs and how to avoid them in HR

b) maintenance and promotion of workers' health and working capacity

c) development of orgs and cultures in a direction which supports health and safety at work

d) improvement of the working environment to become conducive to safety and health

a

technology has dramatically changed the way HR professionals approach the job selection process. Which of the following is largely a recent development in recruitment approaches?

a) executive search firms

b) in house

c) social media

d) outsourcing

c

of the 4 core stages to the recruitment process, which stage is best defined by assessing skills, knowledge and aptitude?

a) screening and selection

b) sourcing

c) onboarding

d) job analysis

a

Personnel selection systems often employee eveidence-based practices to determine ideal candidates. Which of the following is NOT an evidence-based practice?

a) knowledge test

b) utilizing a social network for recruitment

c) work samples

d) systematic collection of biographical data

b

the selection ratio is a useful metric that measures which of the following?

a) The minimum hiring requirements (R) divided by the calculated applicant value metric(v)

b) The calculated applicant value metric(v) divided by the minimum hiring requirements (R)

c) The number of applicants (N) divided by the number of job openings (n)

d) The number of job openings (n) divided by the number of applicants (N)

d

Which of the following characteristics are NOT discussed as useful elements of new employee characteristics?

A)Proactiveness

B) Introversion

C) Openness

D) Curiosity

B

Onboarding could best be described as which of the following?

a) extensive on the job training

b) the process of bringing on new employee into an org, incorporationg training and orientation

c) the orientation process of an employee

d) a social process of involoving new employees through mentoring and tutoring

b

during the training and development process, what is the role of the HR management staff?

a) providers

b) specialists

c) clients

d) facilitators

d

when outlining a prospective career path, it is common to set short-term, intermediate and long term goals. What time span best fits intermediate goals?

a) 2-10 years

b) 3-20 years

c) 20+

d) 1-2 years

b

Career path management, like many other forms of management, could loosely be outlined in a step by step process. Which of the following steps should come SECOND in career path mgt system?

a) systemic evaluation of progress

b) development of overall goals and objectives

c) development of a strategy

d) development of specific means

c

in evaluating performance success, one could measure sales figures, production numbers or time investment as a primary component. This method would fall under which of the following?

a) objective production

b) graphic rating scale

c) employee comparison methods

d) personnel

a

an assessment process that includes feedback from peers, superiors and oneself is defined as a(n):

a) judgemental eval

b) peer assessment

c) 360- degree feedback

d) self assessment

c

when providing feedback, management should only focus on concrete, objective material. Which of the following is NOT a reasonable item in which to provide feedback?

a) work quality

b) efficency

c) tardiness

d) attituce

d

How many days notice should managers give prior to an evaluation at bare minimum to allow employees to prepare?

a) 30

b) 60

c) 21

d) 45

a

company A is largely a company that produces products dependent upon employee inputs. As a result, employee costs constitute a substantial portion of the cost of goods sold. What bench marking strategey would be most appropriate?

a) labor market comparisons

b) product market comparisons

c) pay grade system

d) internal comparisons

b

while pay grade systems are quite common and useful in normalizing salary expectations, what is the ciritical downside to employing this method?

a) benefits are not analyzed in context with salary

b) managers are not aware of employee compensation norms

c) stagnancy and difficulty adapting to new considerations

d) mgt is not given freedom for preferential treatment

c

an incentive system designed to promote creativity would be best off employing which of the following incnetive package?

a) sales commission

b) freedom to work on indep projects, regardless of return on time investment

c) bonuses for efficency

d) variable pay

b

the HR mgt team is tasked with understanding the legally required benefits as well. Which agency in the US carries out employee benefits supervision?

a) employee unions and protection agency

b) employee benefits oversight committee

c) employee benefits security administration

d) employee rights and protection agency

c

which of the following employee compensations are not considered benefits?

A) salary

b) educational funding

c) vacation time

d) health plan

a

which of the following are NOT potential advantages of a promotion?

a) new title

b) stock options

c) increased salary

d) preferential treatment

d

on occasion, an individual may be hired by one department originally but demonstrate crucial skills in another functional department. In this scenario, which kind of transfer may be a good option?

a) strategic transfer

b) interdependent transfer

c) necessity transfer

d) talent transfer

d

the primary difference between corrective and progressive discipline could best be described as which of the following?

a) progressive discipline is defined by utilizing third parties while corrective is internal

b) corrective discipline is a set of normalized steps while progressive is more flexible

c) progressive discipline is defined by utilizing third parties while corrective is internal

d) progressive discipline is a set of normalized steps while corrective is more flexible

d

the first step in the disciplining process is defined by providing a warning to the employee in person, by the supervisor and in the presence of an HR rep. this is called

a) termination

b) verbal counseling

c) written warning

d) suspension

b

tom, a server at a restaurant, often takes 2 or 3 cigarette breaks every evening at work. His boss is considering dismissing Tom. What would his boss justify the dismissal on?

a) incompetence

b) laziness

c) absenteeism

d) time theft

d

if a manager is constantly requesting their employees to reply to emails past standard work hours, HR mgt should most likely:

a) communicate to the employees that it is important to listen to the ones boss

b) communicate policies to the manager that specify employees right to personal time

c) compensate the manager for doing an excellent job motivating employees

d) allow the manager and employees to work it out themselves

b

HR professionals should be worried about burnout, defined as:

a) substance abuse

b) an individual losing their ability to grow within the org

c) long term exhaustion and diminished interest in one's career

d) mental equil., calmness and clear headedness

c

while the advantages of technology are enormous, advancements in communication and information access have essentially:

a) increased managerial oversight enormously

b) made life to easy

c) resulted in information overload

d) blurred the separation between work and home

d

employers that hire PT employees benefit financially due to which compensation factor?

benefits

a worker that is not an offical employee, but is hired for a fixed time period in pursuit of achieving a specific objective, is called a:

a) consultant

b) full time employee

c) contractor

d) pt employee

c

while providing employees with excellent benefits can increase the quality of employee and their satisfaction with the company, it can be dangerous due to:

a) competitors can easily match these compensations

b) high overhead costs

c) employees taking more bargaining power

d) employee complacency

b

which of the following would not be considered a fringe benefit?

a) salary increase

b) company car

c) retirement planning

d) dental coverage

a

rising health care costs offer organizations higher _________ over employees, as a result of the fact that companies can attain economies of scale in the purchasing health insurance contracts.

a) strengths

b) bargaining power

c) weakness

d) opportunities

b

labor relations incorporates many fields an perspectives. Which is NOT a field related to labor relations?

a) sociology

b) law

c) political science

d) marketing

d

in 2010, labor union participation in the US was at _________

a) 19%

b) 79%

c) 11%

d) 70%

c

due to uncertainty of future performance, strategy is best described as:

a) determining and prioritizing strategic choices

b) generating agreement among stakeholders

c) improving internal practices

d) identifying opportunities

a

which of the three strategic questions best illustrates the need for competitive advantage?

a) what should we do?

b) how do we do it?

c) what do we do?

d) how do we excel?

d

strategy could best be described as:

a) stakeholder opinions and suggestions regarding business goals

b) managerial perspectives on the best way to approach problems

c) the core concepts and initiatives that allow a company to achieve their mission and vision

d) the ideal way in which leadership can achieve profitability

c

which of the following is not a force identified by Mulcaster as a critical factor?

a) competitive advantage

b) opposing forces

c) incentives

d) opportunity cost

a

banks in US during the 2008 collapse clearly mistakenly assessed the risk and return ratio of their proposed prior strategies. This represents which of Johnson, Scholes and Whittington's suggested evaluations?

a) acceptability

b) suitability

c) feasability

d) profitability

a

in an SME, a(n) _________ strategy may be more common, due to an inability to generate enough volume for scale economies.

a) low cost

b) structure

c) differentiation

d) top-down

c

MMEs tend to have larger volume capacity, and thus are more like to achieve strategies based upon _________

a) specialization

b) branding

c) differentiation

d) low cost

d

as a company such as Blockbuster created a vision of the future, what external threat was overlooked relative to their internal internal operations?

a) their economy

b) supplier markets

c) labor markets

d) technology

d

current resources and capabilities are best defined as _______ and ________, while external conditions are ________ and ________.

strengths; weaknesses; opportunites; threats

the idea that some products can fill the same needs as others, providing alternatives, is defined by Porter as:

a) threat of new entrants

b) bargaining power of buyers

c) threat of substitutes

d) rivalry

c

the potential risk of new competition entering the market and competing for a company's market share is defined by Porter as:

a) bargaining power of buyers

b) threat of new entrants

c) rivalry

d) threat of subs

b

Porter's five forces is generally _____, meaning it is focusing on present day circumstances.

a) strategic

b) managerial

c) long term

d) static

d

SCP stands for:

structure conduct performance

Which element of the PESTEL framework is defined as the views and perspectives of the individuals within a given market?

a)legal

b)economic

c)social

d)technological

c

Which of the following is a key competitior of Win?

a) apple

b) google

c) walmart

d) dell

c

according to Bart, what are the 3 essential components that must be included in a commercial mission statement?

a) product, strengths and strategy

b) strategy, market and distribution

c) target market, brand and values

d) key market, contribution and distinction

d

of Porters highlighted competitive strategies for strategic strength and scope, which is the best defined by creating a highly efficient process that minimizes price

a) differentiation

b) strategic scope

c) cost leadership

d) market segmentation

c

which 2 SWOT factors are intrinsically internal in nature ?

strengths and weaknesses

which of the following scenarios is an example of forecasting?

a) stop and shop acquires trader joes

b) microsoft assesses googles current market share and strategy

c) apple compares the smartphone industry to the tablet industry

d) netflix predicts future internet streaming stats to estimate the potential opportunity

d

which of the four VRIN characteristics is best defined by a company holding a resource that is extremely scarce?

a) valuable

b) inimitable

c) rare

d) non-substitutable

c

which of the four VRIN characteristics is best defined as a resource that competitors cannot copy or recreate?

a) non-substitutable

b) rare

c) valuable

d) inimitable

d

which of the following is NOT part of the formulation phase within five step strategic mgt process?

a) feedback

b) analysis

c) strategy formulation

d) goal-setting

a

which of the following is NOT an external analysis tool?

a) PESTEL

b) forecasts

c) competitive dynamics

d) porters five forces

b

as a result of understanding the concept and context analysis, alongside internal and external input, companies can draft strategies that actively capitalize on knowledge in pursuit of ______.

a) better mgt

b) improved margins

c) competitive advantage

d) target markets

c

assigning a cross-functional team to execute on a particular component of a new strategy falls under which step in the implementation process?

a) allocate resources

b) establish a chain of command

c) devise and outline objecitves

d) assess alliances with external firms

b

to effectively pursue a given strategy, a department needs a fixed amount of inventory inputs. The phase of implementation pertaining to this is:

a) control

b) feedback

c) allocation of resources

d) process flows

c

the primary goal of managerial control is to ensure:

a) promoting strong managerial relationships with staff

b) all facets of an org are on the same page

c) creating the most value for stakeholders and customers

d) that corporate resources are being used in the most effective and efficient way

d

the direction of organizational control is directly derived from the _______

a) research and analysis

b) stakeholder opinions

c) strategic plan

d) upper mgt

c

the creation of a new product to fill a customer need that hasnt yet been pursued could be defined as:

a) new product development

b) acquistion

c) market penetration

d) market development

a

if verizon were to buy AT&T to minimize competition in the cell phone industry, this would be called:

a) vertical integration

b) market penetration

c) diversification

d) horizontal integration

d

to pursue expansion through identifying areas on the value chain where external sourcing could be converted to internal operations is called:

a) vertical integration

b) merger

c) diversification

d) horizontal integration

a

firms that pursue global strategies are often highly centralized, due to the need to coordinate _____ and _____ strategies .

a) service; branding

b) oversight; shipping

c) mgt; logistics

d) product; pricing

d

what 2 forms of strategy does a strategic allieance lie between?

a) M&A and organic growth

b) licensing & organic growth

c) joint venture * licensing

d) joint venture & M&A

a

which of the following steps in forming a strategic alliance occurs after strategy development?

a) partner assessment

b) alliance termination

c) alliance operation

d) contract negotiation

a

which of the following processes is NOT identified as a critical advantage of utilizing e-commerce?

a) internal mgt process

b) customer focus processes

c) accounting processes

d) production processes

c

which segment of the value chain is impacted by employing e-business?

the entire value chain

which of the planning processes below is described as evaluation the current environment, identifying goals and objectives and mapping out an ideal route?

a) situatiion-target-proposal

b) situation-proposal-target

c) draw-see-think-plan

d) see-draw-think-plan

a

which of the following are NOT identified and discussed as critical benefits derived through the planning process?

a) controlled effects

b) coordination of activiites

c) improved time mgt

d) brand building

d

the mgt of time in order to make the most of it.

time mgt

if burger king was considering entering the grocery store industry and wanted to look at their operations internally to determine if they had the efficency required they should call objective _____

a)consultants

B) customers

c) industry experts

d) shareholders

a

a corporate strategy is differnet than business or functinoal strategies as its is:

a) primarily used in the generation of mktg strategies

b) a strategic initiative for a strategic business unit

c) primarily used in governing operational segments

d) an overarching strategy of a diversified firm

d

the primary concern in responding to uncertainty could best be described as:

a) understanding managerial responsibilities despite difficult circumstances

b) creating certainty in complex environments

c) finding solutions for uncertain questions

d) coping with issues too complex to be understood, yet require a strategic plan

d

some operations must be completed on a continuous and repeating basis indefinitely for an org to function. These are considered through:

a) operational plans

b) standing plans

c) short range plans

d) single use plans

b

the _____ provides the overall direction and long term objective of an organization, and is at the core of any strategic planning.

a) leadership

b) vision

c) stakeholders

d) operations

b

forecasting is best defined as:

a) assessing the various potential scenarios available to a strategic mgt team

b) predicting the weather

c) utilizing the historic success of a project to eliminate it from the options list

d) projecting the future of a project through leveraging all available knowledge

d

of the tools discussed, which is best defined as creating specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely objectives?

SMART goals

the option to harvest or divest a project would fall under which step in the strategic plan model?

a) executing

b) monitoring and controlling

c) initiation

d) closing

d

bringinthe project under the microscope and prediciting costs, required resources and other necessary inputs to achieve the desired output is defined as which step within the planning cycle?

a) initiation

b) planning and designing

c) monitoring and controlling

d) executing

b

there are various ways to divide culture in differing components. Which theorist uses the idea of artifacts, values, and tacit assumptions?

a) hofstede

b) schein

c) maslow

d) johnson

b

what would be an effective method to create a more competitive corporate culture?

a) provide financial rewards for top performers

b) ensure a fixed pay level for all employees

c) promote teamwork and shared responsibility for outcomes

d) focus on developing high degrees of authority

a

in what situation is an org MOST likely going to need to influence the culture for positive change?

a) creating a new product

b) start up company

c) joint venture

d) hiring a new CEO

c

which of the following is NOT an influence on organizational culture, according to Johnson's theory?

a) power structure

b) technology

c) stories

d) mission stmt

b

int he uS it is often a cultural norm to assume a great deal of personal liability, both for success and for failures. This pertains to which component of Hofstede's theory?

a) individualism v collectivism

b) long vs short term orientation

c) uncertainty avoidance

d) power distance

a

in china, it is quite common for mgt staff to limit their interactions with subordinates. This is a high level of which of Hofstede's dimensions?

a) power distance

b) indiv. vs collectivism

c) masculinity v femininity

d) uncertainty avoidance

a

which of Scheins three cultural components in his model of organizational culture best pertains to core culture?

a) assumptions

b) values

c) artifacts

d) mission statement

a