Student: ___________________________________________________________________________
1. _____ refers to a company's ability to maintain and gain market share in its industry.
A. Outsourcing
B. Competitiveness
C. Self-service
D. Empowerment
2. _____ refers to the policies, practices, and systems that influence employees' behavior, attitudes, and
performance.
A. Total quality management
B. Financial management
C. Human resource management
D. Production and operations management
3. HRM practices include all of the following EXCEPT
A. HR Planning
B. Recruiting
C. Employee work life balance
D. Employee relations
4. Which of the following is NOT a responsibility of HR departments?
A. Recruiting
B. Benefits
C. Community relations
D. Production and operations
5. Which of the following best describes a cultural steward?
A. Shapes the organization.
B. Delivers results with integrity.
C. Facilitates change.
D. Recognizes business trends and their impact on the business.
6. A strategic architect is one who:
A. facilitates change.
B. recognizes business trends and their impact on the business.
C. implements workplace policies conducive to work environment.
D. develops talent and designs reward systems.
7. Traditionally, the HRM department was primarily a(n):
A. proactive agency.
B. finance expert.
C. employer advocate.
D. administrative expert.
,8. Which of the following statements about evidence-based HR is FALSE?
A It helps show that the money invested in HR programs is justified and that HR is contributing to the
. company's goals and objectives.
BIt emphasizes that HR is being transformed from a broad corporate competency to a specialized, stand-
. alone function in which human resources and line managers build partnerships to gain competitive
advantage.
C It requires collecting data on such metrics as productivity, turnover, accidents, employee attitudes and
. medical costs and showing their relationship with HR practices.
D It refers to demonstrating that human resources practices have a positive influence on the company's
. bottom line or key stakeholders.
9. Which one of the following statements about the HR profession is FALSE?
A. A college degree is required of HR specialists, but not of generalists.
B.Generalists usually perform the full range of HRM activities, including recruiting, training,
compensation, and employee relations.
C. Professional certification in HRM is less common than membership in professional associations.
D. The primary professional organization for HRM is the Society for Human Resource Management.
10. All of the following competitive challenges faced by companies will increase the importance of human
resource management EXCEPT:
A. the global challenge.
B. the challenge of sustainability.
C. the political challenge.
D. the technology challenge.
11. _____ refers to the ability of a company to survive and succeed in a dynamic competitive
environment.
A. Outsourcing
B. Empowerment
C. Sustainability
D. Resource management
12. Sustainability includes all of the following EXCEPT:
A. expanding into foreign markets.
B. the ability to deal with economic and social changes.
C. engaging in responsible and ethical business practices.
D. providing high-quality products and services.
13. The following are reasons that the demand for employees will exceed supply EXCEPT:
A. Creation of jobs
B. Slow population growth
C. Lack of employees with the required skills
D. Slow retirement of the aging population
14. In a Conference Board study conducted between September 2008 and January 2009, 167 employers
indicated that after considering their organization's strategic objectives, their top HR challenges over
the next three to five years included attracting, recruiting, and retaining employees; leadership capacity;
and,
A. the slow population growth
B. the aging workforce
C. the reduced number of post-secondary graduates
D. individuals being educated with the required skills
,15. You are the Senior HR Specialist for the national light bulb factory, Daylite, that is focused on providing
environmentally friendly and energy efficient alternatives to lighting. Unfortunately due to the recession,
sales are not as high as anticipated due to the higher cost of your products. Which of the follow creative
cost controls would you NOT be able to implement in order to prevent layoffs?
A. restructuring benefit plans
B. cutting training budgets
C. suspending pension plan contributions
D. paid leaves
16. As far back as 2004, a Management Issues Survey conducted by the CME revealed that 42 percent of
respondents believed limited availability of skilled and experienced personnel would be a strategic issue
changing fundamental business practices over the next five years. All survey respondents agreed that the
core competencies required of the manufacturing workforce would change substantially, and by the year
2020 would included all the following key skills except:
A A mix of creative problem-solving capabilities, technical know-how, and business skills, as well as an
. ability to interact with colleagues and customers.
BA higher degree of technical and technological expertise as production systems become more automated
. and interconnected, and as workplaces incorporate advanced technologies such as nanotechnology,
biotechnology, microelectronics, and robotics.
C A high degree of skilled workers that can be applied to all areas of business as they will have a more
. well rounded business education.
D. Multilingual and multicultural skills, as business operations expand on a more global basis.
17. Which of the following statements about intangible assets is FALSE?
A. They include human capital.
B. They are less valuable than physical assets.
C. They are equally or even more valuable than financial assets.
D. They are difficult to duplicate or imitate.
18. Tacit knowledge is an example of _____ capital.
A. social
B. customer
C. human
D. intellectual
19. A(n) _____ contract describes what an employee expects to contribute and what the company will
provide to the employee for these contributions.
A. employer
B. employee
C. psychological
D. job
20. ___________ is a systematic planned strategic effort by a company to attract, retain, develop, and
motivate highly skilled employees and managers.
A. Talent management
B. Labour management
C. Employee management
D. Recruitment management
21. All of the following are examples of alternative work arrangements EXCEPT:
A. independent contractors.
B. current labour force.
C. on-call workers.
D. temporary workers.
, 22. The balanced scorecard:
A. is similar to most measures of company performance.
B. uses indicators important to the company's strategy.
C. is a standardized instrument of company performance.
D. should not be applied to HR practices.
23. The balanced scorecard presents a view of company performance from the perspective of:
A. its customers only.
B. its employees only.
C. its employees and customers only.
D. its employees, customers, and shareholders.
24. Increasingly, companies are trying to meet shareholder and general public demands that they be more
socially, ethically, and environmentally responsible. Thus, companies are recognizing the importance
of:
A. a balanced scorecard approach to business.
B. diversity.
C. total quality management.
D. social responsibility.
25. TQM focuses on:
A. designing processes to meet the needs of external customers only.
B. reducing variability in the product or service.
C. preventing errors rather than correcting errors.
D. tying pay to employees' total output less rejects.
26. The skills and motivation of a company's _____ labour force determine the need for training and
development practices and the effectiveness of the company's compensation and reward systems.
A. projected
B. secondary
C. external
D. internal
27. Managing cultural diversity involves:
A. enforcing EEO rules.
B. creating separate career tracks for employees with families.
C. establishing a strong affirmative action policy.
D. creating a workplace that makes it comfortable for employees of all backgrounds to be creative and
innovative.
28. How diversity issues are managed in companies has implications for all the following EXCEPT:
A. knowing how to learn.
B. creativity.
C. retaining good employees.
D. problem solving.
29. What areas of the legal environment have influenced HRM practices over the past 25 years?
A. Equal employment opportunity, safety and health, pay and benefits, privacy, and job security.
B. Executive compensation, pay and benefits, workers' compensation, safety and health, and job security.
C. Product liability, workers' compensation, equal employment opportunity, safety and health, and labour
relations.
D. Equal employment opportunity, patent infringement, workers' compensation, safety and health, and job
security.