Exam questions SHRM 2024-2025
1. According to the text, what is the main argument against HRM being a staff function?
a) HRM is too focused on employee development
b) HRM has no direct influence on performance
c) HRM lacks the necessary resources
d) HRM is too costly to implement
2. What does the text suggest HR managers can do to influence performance?
a) Directly manage employees
b) Streamline, co-operate, and perform as needed
c) Control employees' actions
d) Monitor employees closely
3. According to the text, which of the following is NOT one of the components needed in a
company?
a) Interaction
b) Talent
c) Process
d) Innovation
4. What is the primary focus of HR managers when they streamline, cooperate, or perform as
described in the text?
a) Controlling employees
b) Improving the organization's financial performance
c) Enhancing the employees' skills
d) Providing employee benefits
5. Why is support from the organization considered important for HR managers to contribute to
the corporation's goals?
a) Without support, HR managers have no influence on performance
b) Support ensures compliance with HR policies
c) Support is needed to reduce employee turnover
d) Support is necessary for HR managers to receive promotions
6. In the VRIO framework, what is the consequence of a resource being valuable, rare, and difficult
to imitate but lacking support from the organization?
a) Temporary competitive advantage
b) Sustained competitive advantage
c) Competitive parity
d) Competitive disadvantage
,7. According to the VRIO framework, what is the key factor for a resource to result in a sustained
competitive advantage?
a. Being supported by the organization
b. Having a high market value
c. Being valuable, rare, and easy to imitate
d. Having a large number of employees
8. What is the primary focus of the critical HR goals described in Boxall and Purcell's framework?
a. Employee satisfaction
b. Employee turnover
c. Labor productivity
d. Market share
9. According to the text, what is a critical non-HR goal for organizations?
a. Employee retention
b. Sales growth
c. Employee satisfaction
d. Market share
10. In the HR and performance debate, what is the general consensus regarding the impact of HRM
practices on firm performance?
a. HR practices have no impact on performance
b. HR practices are strongly related to firm performance
c. HR practices are weakly related to firm performance
d. HR practices are negatively related to firm performance
11. What is the primary focus of proximal outcomes in the context of HRM?
a. Outcomes directly affected by HR interventions
b. Outcomes that are distant from managerial practices
c. Outcomes that result from employee satisfaction
d. Outcomes related to financial performance
12. Which of the following is NOT one of the three types of organizational outcomes that should be
balanced?
a) Financial outcomes
b) Employee outcomes
c) Organizational outcomes
d) Customer outcomes
13. In the Balanced Scorecard framework, which perspective focuses on how customers perceive the
organization?
a. Financial perspective
b. External/customer perspective
c. Internal business perspective
d. Learning and growth perspective
,14. Which type of capital is reflected in the knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees?
a. Human capital
b. Social capital
c. Organizational capital
d. Intellectual capital
15. What does HRA stand for in the context of measuring the value of human capital?
a. Human Resource Analysis
b. Human Resource Accounting
c. Human Resource Assessment
d. Human Resource Appraisal
16. Which of the following is NOT one of the three components of employee commitment in the
three-component model?
a. Affective commitment
b. Normative commitment
c. Financial commitment
d. Continuance commitment
17. What is the primary focus of measuring employee turnover?
a. Employee satisfaction
b. Employee motivation
c. Employee absence
d. Employee retention
18. What type of justice represents the fairness of procedures used to determine outcome
distributions or allocations?
a. Distributive justice
b. Procedural justice
c. Interactional justice
d. Retributive justice
19. Both Person-Job fit and Person-Organization fit are relevant for getting the right person for the
job (book Boselie). Which of the following statements is true?
a. P-J fit is likely to positively affect P-O fit and the other way around
b. P-J fit is only likely to positively affect P-O fit
c. P-O fit is only likely to positively affect P-J fit
20. Supplement the following statement: Focusing Talent Management approaches on a very
selective group of workers is negative from the perspective of … (book Boselie).
a. distributive justice
b. social legitimacy
c. procedural justice
, 21. What kind of effect is defined as the fact that one positive aspect of an employee’s functioning
becomes the reason that this employee is evaluated positively overall (book Van der Molen and
Gramsbergen-Hoogland)?
a. the horn effect
b. the halo effect
c. the leniency effect
22. The European Trade Union Confederation represents trade unions at European level.
Supplement the following statement: due to the globalization and internalization of, in
particular, multinational companies, there is
a. an increased relevance and importance for employee representation across borders
b. an increased relevance and importance for employee representation at a national level
c. an increased relevance and importance for employee representation at an
organizational level
23. … is a common mistake in delivering bas news that may take place in phase 3 (looking for
solutions)
a. coming up with many solutions
b. hanging yourself
c. sugaring the pill
24. An organization can choose between several selection techniques using criteria such as validity,
costs, sensitivity, reliability, practicality, and fairness and acceptability (book Boselie). Which of
the following selection techniques is poor in terms of fairness and acceptability?
a. integrity test
b. GMA (General Mental Ability) test
c. work sample
25. In Boselie’s book, a distinction is made between the best-fit school and the best-practice school.
Which of the statements about these schools is or are correct?
1. Best-fit school focuses on HR alignment with external context, not the internal
context
2. The best-practice school is also defined as a ‘one-size fits-all’ approach to HRM
a. Statement a is correct, statement b is not correct
b. Statement b is correct, statement a is not correct
c. Both statements are correct
26. The purpose of regulating skills is to protect the order and the clarity of the conversation. Which
of the following is an example of a good regulation skill (book Van der Molen and Gramsbergen-
Hoogland)?
a. asking questions
b. paraphrasing
c. setting goals
1. According to the text, what is the main argument against HRM being a staff function?
a) HRM is too focused on employee development
b) HRM has no direct influence on performance
c) HRM lacks the necessary resources
d) HRM is too costly to implement
2. What does the text suggest HR managers can do to influence performance?
a) Directly manage employees
b) Streamline, co-operate, and perform as needed
c) Control employees' actions
d) Monitor employees closely
3. According to the text, which of the following is NOT one of the components needed in a
company?
a) Interaction
b) Talent
c) Process
d) Innovation
4. What is the primary focus of HR managers when they streamline, cooperate, or perform as
described in the text?
a) Controlling employees
b) Improving the organization's financial performance
c) Enhancing the employees' skills
d) Providing employee benefits
5. Why is support from the organization considered important for HR managers to contribute to
the corporation's goals?
a) Without support, HR managers have no influence on performance
b) Support ensures compliance with HR policies
c) Support is needed to reduce employee turnover
d) Support is necessary for HR managers to receive promotions
6. In the VRIO framework, what is the consequence of a resource being valuable, rare, and difficult
to imitate but lacking support from the organization?
a) Temporary competitive advantage
b) Sustained competitive advantage
c) Competitive parity
d) Competitive disadvantage
,7. According to the VRIO framework, what is the key factor for a resource to result in a sustained
competitive advantage?
a. Being supported by the organization
b. Having a high market value
c. Being valuable, rare, and easy to imitate
d. Having a large number of employees
8. What is the primary focus of the critical HR goals described in Boxall and Purcell's framework?
a. Employee satisfaction
b. Employee turnover
c. Labor productivity
d. Market share
9. According to the text, what is a critical non-HR goal for organizations?
a. Employee retention
b. Sales growth
c. Employee satisfaction
d. Market share
10. In the HR and performance debate, what is the general consensus regarding the impact of HRM
practices on firm performance?
a. HR practices have no impact on performance
b. HR practices are strongly related to firm performance
c. HR practices are weakly related to firm performance
d. HR practices are negatively related to firm performance
11. What is the primary focus of proximal outcomes in the context of HRM?
a. Outcomes directly affected by HR interventions
b. Outcomes that are distant from managerial practices
c. Outcomes that result from employee satisfaction
d. Outcomes related to financial performance
12. Which of the following is NOT one of the three types of organizational outcomes that should be
balanced?
a) Financial outcomes
b) Employee outcomes
c) Organizational outcomes
d) Customer outcomes
13. In the Balanced Scorecard framework, which perspective focuses on how customers perceive the
organization?
a. Financial perspective
b. External/customer perspective
c. Internal business perspective
d. Learning and growth perspective
,14. Which type of capital is reflected in the knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees?
a. Human capital
b. Social capital
c. Organizational capital
d. Intellectual capital
15. What does HRA stand for in the context of measuring the value of human capital?
a. Human Resource Analysis
b. Human Resource Accounting
c. Human Resource Assessment
d. Human Resource Appraisal
16. Which of the following is NOT one of the three components of employee commitment in the
three-component model?
a. Affective commitment
b. Normative commitment
c. Financial commitment
d. Continuance commitment
17. What is the primary focus of measuring employee turnover?
a. Employee satisfaction
b. Employee motivation
c. Employee absence
d. Employee retention
18. What type of justice represents the fairness of procedures used to determine outcome
distributions or allocations?
a. Distributive justice
b. Procedural justice
c. Interactional justice
d. Retributive justice
19. Both Person-Job fit and Person-Organization fit are relevant for getting the right person for the
job (book Boselie). Which of the following statements is true?
a. P-J fit is likely to positively affect P-O fit and the other way around
b. P-J fit is only likely to positively affect P-O fit
c. P-O fit is only likely to positively affect P-J fit
20. Supplement the following statement: Focusing Talent Management approaches on a very
selective group of workers is negative from the perspective of … (book Boselie).
a. distributive justice
b. social legitimacy
c. procedural justice
, 21. What kind of effect is defined as the fact that one positive aspect of an employee’s functioning
becomes the reason that this employee is evaluated positively overall (book Van der Molen and
Gramsbergen-Hoogland)?
a. the horn effect
b. the halo effect
c. the leniency effect
22. The European Trade Union Confederation represents trade unions at European level.
Supplement the following statement: due to the globalization and internalization of, in
particular, multinational companies, there is
a. an increased relevance and importance for employee representation across borders
b. an increased relevance and importance for employee representation at a national level
c. an increased relevance and importance for employee representation at an
organizational level
23. … is a common mistake in delivering bas news that may take place in phase 3 (looking for
solutions)
a. coming up with many solutions
b. hanging yourself
c. sugaring the pill
24. An organization can choose between several selection techniques using criteria such as validity,
costs, sensitivity, reliability, practicality, and fairness and acceptability (book Boselie). Which of
the following selection techniques is poor in terms of fairness and acceptability?
a. integrity test
b. GMA (General Mental Ability) test
c. work sample
25. In Boselie’s book, a distinction is made between the best-fit school and the best-practice school.
Which of the statements about these schools is or are correct?
1. Best-fit school focuses on HR alignment with external context, not the internal
context
2. The best-practice school is also defined as a ‘one-size fits-all’ approach to HRM
a. Statement a is correct, statement b is not correct
b. Statement b is correct, statement a is not correct
c. Both statements are correct
26. The purpose of regulating skills is to protect the order and the clarity of the conversation. Which
of the following is an example of a good regulation skill (book Van der Molen and Gramsbergen-
Hoogland)?
a. asking questions
b. paraphrasing
c. setting goals
