WGU C202 MANAGING HUMAN
CAPITAL OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT
EXAM QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED
ANSWERS () / A+ GRADE
UNIT 1: STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Q1: What is human resource management (HRM)?
A: HRM is the organizational function responsible for attracting, hiring, developing, rewarding,
and retaining talent. It manages people-related issues and ensures employment-related legal
compliance .
Q2: What are the six functional areas of HRM?
A: 1. Staffing: Planning, acquiring, deploying, and retaining employees to meet talent needs
2. Training and Development: Developing employee capabilities through formal and informal
activities
3. Performance Management: Aligning employee goals with organizational goals and
evaluating performance
4. Rewards and Benefits: Direct financial compensation, indirect financial compensation, and
nonfinancial compensation
5. Health and Safety: Wellness, safety, ergonomics, disaster preparedness, and workplace
violence prevention
6. Employee-Management Relations: Defining the employment relationship and rights
Q3: In addition to managing risk, how do effective HRM systems influence organizational
performance?
A: Effective HRM systems influence performance by:
- Acquiring, motivating, managing, developing, and retaining talent
- Improving efficiency and contributing to revenue growth
- Complying with legal requirements and limiting organizational risk
- Influencing the interest rate a company must pay to borrow money
Q4: What is HRM's role in executing an organization's business strategy?
A: HRM aligns the behaviors, values, and goals of employees with organizational strategy. This
alignment influences all HR functions (staffing, performance management, training,
,compensation) and creates an integrated HR system that supports business strategy execution,
guided by the organization's talent philosophy .
Q5: What is a talent philosophy?
A: An organization's core beliefs about the value of talent and how it should be managed to
execute business strategy .
Q6: What is an employee handbook?
A: A document that explains policies, procedures, and benefits to ensure employers and
employees know their rights and responsibilities .
Q7: What is a psychological contract in the workplace?
A: The hidden expectations and promises between an employer and an employee that are not
formally written but are understood .
Q8: What are four types of organizational risk that HRM helps manage?
A: 1. Compliance risk (legal violations)
2. Reputational risk (negative public perception)
3. Operational risk (workforce disruptions)
4. Strategic risk (failure to execute business strategy)
Q9: What is the difference between a policy and a procedure?
A: Policy: A statement about "what we do" (e.g., each employee gets two weeks of vacation)
Procedure: Steps or processes that tell you "how we do it" (e.g., you must request time off
two weeks in advance and have it approved by your manager) .
Q10: What are two of the most important management problems businesses face today?
A: Recruitment and Training .
UNIT 2: THE ROLE OF HRM IN BUSINESS
Q11: What is organizational culture?
A: The norms, values, and assumptions that guide members' behaviors .
Q12: What are the four types of organizational culture?
A: 1. Entrepreneurial culture: Encourages creativity, innovation, and risk-taking (e.g., Google,
Tesla)
2. Bureaucratic culture: Emphasizes formal structures, rules, and consistency (e.g.,
pharmaceutical companies)
3. Consensual culture: Encourages loyalty, tradition, and long-term employment (e.g., law
firms, military)
4. Competitive culture: Focuses on market superiority but can cause high stress (e.g.,
brokerage firms) .
, Q13: What is a performance culture?
A: A culture that focuses on hiring, developing, motivating, and assigning work based on
performance data .
Q14: How can HR support an organization that chooses to shift its culture?
A: HR can support culture shifts through:
- Communicating the new cultural values to employees
- Aligning hiring criteria with desired culture
- Training managers on new behavioral expectations
- Adjusting performance management systems to reinforce new values
- Recognizing and rewarding behaviors that reflect the new culture .
Q15: What are the five ethical standards for resolving ethical dilemmas?
A: 1. Utilitarian standard: Balances good over harm
2. Rights standard: Respects and protects moral rights (privacy, truth, safety)
3. Fairness standard: Treats people equally and fairly
4. Common good standard: Shows respect and compassion for all, especially the vulnerable
5. Virtue standard: Aligns with ideal virtues (civility, compassion, benevolence) .
Q16: What is a code of ethics?
A: A decision-making guide that outlines an organization's values .
Q17: What is a code of conduct?
A: Specific expected and prohibited actions in the workplace .
Q18: What is corporate social responsibility (CSR)?
A: Concern for the common good and human dignity beyond profit maximization .
Q19: How can HR support and reinforce ethical behavior in the workplace?
A: HR can support ethical behavior by:
- Developing and communicating a code of ethics
- Providing ethics training
- Establishing reporting mechanisms for unethical behavior
- Ensuring fair treatment of all employees
- Aligning performance metrics with ethical standards
- Modeling ethical behavior from leadership .
Q20: What are the most common change initiatives that HR manages?
A: The most common HR-managed change is rolling out a new benefits program .
Q21: What is the best way to improve employee commitment to organizational change?
A: Involve employees in the change management process .
Q22: What is the most frequent reason for failed mergers and acquisitions?
CAPITAL OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT
EXAM QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED
ANSWERS () / A+ GRADE
UNIT 1: STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Q1: What is human resource management (HRM)?
A: HRM is the organizational function responsible for attracting, hiring, developing, rewarding,
and retaining talent. It manages people-related issues and ensures employment-related legal
compliance .
Q2: What are the six functional areas of HRM?
A: 1. Staffing: Planning, acquiring, deploying, and retaining employees to meet talent needs
2. Training and Development: Developing employee capabilities through formal and informal
activities
3. Performance Management: Aligning employee goals with organizational goals and
evaluating performance
4. Rewards and Benefits: Direct financial compensation, indirect financial compensation, and
nonfinancial compensation
5. Health and Safety: Wellness, safety, ergonomics, disaster preparedness, and workplace
violence prevention
6. Employee-Management Relations: Defining the employment relationship and rights
Q3: In addition to managing risk, how do effective HRM systems influence organizational
performance?
A: Effective HRM systems influence performance by:
- Acquiring, motivating, managing, developing, and retaining talent
- Improving efficiency and contributing to revenue growth
- Complying with legal requirements and limiting organizational risk
- Influencing the interest rate a company must pay to borrow money
Q4: What is HRM's role in executing an organization's business strategy?
A: HRM aligns the behaviors, values, and goals of employees with organizational strategy. This
alignment influences all HR functions (staffing, performance management, training,
,compensation) and creates an integrated HR system that supports business strategy execution,
guided by the organization's talent philosophy .
Q5: What is a talent philosophy?
A: An organization's core beliefs about the value of talent and how it should be managed to
execute business strategy .
Q6: What is an employee handbook?
A: A document that explains policies, procedures, and benefits to ensure employers and
employees know their rights and responsibilities .
Q7: What is a psychological contract in the workplace?
A: The hidden expectations and promises between an employer and an employee that are not
formally written but are understood .
Q8: What are four types of organizational risk that HRM helps manage?
A: 1. Compliance risk (legal violations)
2. Reputational risk (negative public perception)
3. Operational risk (workforce disruptions)
4. Strategic risk (failure to execute business strategy)
Q9: What is the difference between a policy and a procedure?
A: Policy: A statement about "what we do" (e.g., each employee gets two weeks of vacation)
Procedure: Steps or processes that tell you "how we do it" (e.g., you must request time off
two weeks in advance and have it approved by your manager) .
Q10: What are two of the most important management problems businesses face today?
A: Recruitment and Training .
UNIT 2: THE ROLE OF HRM IN BUSINESS
Q11: What is organizational culture?
A: The norms, values, and assumptions that guide members' behaviors .
Q12: What are the four types of organizational culture?
A: 1. Entrepreneurial culture: Encourages creativity, innovation, and risk-taking (e.g., Google,
Tesla)
2. Bureaucratic culture: Emphasizes formal structures, rules, and consistency (e.g.,
pharmaceutical companies)
3. Consensual culture: Encourages loyalty, tradition, and long-term employment (e.g., law
firms, military)
4. Competitive culture: Focuses on market superiority but can cause high stress (e.g.,
brokerage firms) .
, Q13: What is a performance culture?
A: A culture that focuses on hiring, developing, motivating, and assigning work based on
performance data .
Q14: How can HR support an organization that chooses to shift its culture?
A: HR can support culture shifts through:
- Communicating the new cultural values to employees
- Aligning hiring criteria with desired culture
- Training managers on new behavioral expectations
- Adjusting performance management systems to reinforce new values
- Recognizing and rewarding behaviors that reflect the new culture .
Q15: What are the five ethical standards for resolving ethical dilemmas?
A: 1. Utilitarian standard: Balances good over harm
2. Rights standard: Respects and protects moral rights (privacy, truth, safety)
3. Fairness standard: Treats people equally and fairly
4. Common good standard: Shows respect and compassion for all, especially the vulnerable
5. Virtue standard: Aligns with ideal virtues (civility, compassion, benevolence) .
Q16: What is a code of ethics?
A: A decision-making guide that outlines an organization's values .
Q17: What is a code of conduct?
A: Specific expected and prohibited actions in the workplace .
Q18: What is corporate social responsibility (CSR)?
A: Concern for the common good and human dignity beyond profit maximization .
Q19: How can HR support and reinforce ethical behavior in the workplace?
A: HR can support ethical behavior by:
- Developing and communicating a code of ethics
- Providing ethics training
- Establishing reporting mechanisms for unethical behavior
- Ensuring fair treatment of all employees
- Aligning performance metrics with ethical standards
- Modeling ethical behavior from leadership .
Q20: What are the most common change initiatives that HR manages?
A: The most common HR-managed change is rolling out a new benefits program .
Q21: What is the best way to improve employee commitment to organizational change?
A: Involve employees in the change management process .
Q22: What is the most frequent reason for failed mergers and acquisitions?
