SHRM-CP PEOPLE SITUATIONAL
QUESTIONS & VERIFIED CORRECT
ANSWERS ALL PASSED
One of HR's strategic abilities is an awareness of external factors that can affect the
organization and HR's job. Which task reflects this ability?
a. Creating job alignment between the HR and organizational strategies.
b. Conducting annual employee surveys
c. Gathering information about technologies that could increase HR productivity
d. Networking with leaders of other functions to build consultative relationships - Correct
Answer ✔✔ C
An HR director has assembled senior staff to discuss ways to develop the talent pool
necessary to support the organization's new strategic direction. Several of the
managers support providing a summary of the strategy to the major search firms under
contract. How should the HR director respond?
a. Acknowledge the suggestion in the meeting but ignore it
b. Delegate the task of communicating with the search firms to this group
c. Explain to the group in detail why this would be a deficient response
d. Encourage the group to analyze the issue and identify novel responses - Correct
Answer ✔✔ D
How is organizational culture connected with the topic of strategy?
a. A strong culture can eliminate the need for strategic planning
b. Culture should be seen as a lever to enhance strategy
c. Culture should not affect a choice of strategy
d. Strategy should be planned first, and then steps should be taken to create a
supportive culture. - Correct Answer ✔✔ B
What should be considered a HR strategic task?
a. Securing off-site backup and storage of employee transactions and records
b. Developing a system to track the number of people leaving the organization
c. Creating a training program for conducting safe and legal terminations
d. Working with senior and line managers to forecast workforce needs for the strategic
planning period - Correct Answer ✔✔ D
What activity illustrates the use of systems thinking?
a. Creating a hierarchical organizational chart of decision makers
b. Mapping a business process to identify the functional areas involved
c. Creating detailed work rules for one's functional area
,d. Developing rules for the use of technology by employees - Correct Answer ✔✔ B
A labor bureau notes that disposable income levels are falling in certain categories.
Which PESTLE category includes information like this?
a. Legal
b. Political
c. Ethical
d. Economic - Correct Answer ✔✔ D
Which HR strategic activity might be triggered by social changes identified in an
environmental scan?
a. Project focusing on learning more about local legislation and rule-making process
b. Survey of employees' commuting experiences
c. Establishment of employee self-service centers
d. Evaluating ethical liabilities posed by supply chain partners - Correct Answer ✔✔ B
An organization hires only experienced, top-performing people who tend to stay with the
company for ten years or more. What is this considered in a SWOT analysis?
a. Strength
b. Weakness
c. Opportunity
d. Threat - Correct Answer ✔✔ A
An HR manager meets regularly with a local education director to discuss what the
educator is seeing in the system and its students. What does this activity illustrate?
a. Business intelligence
b. Building organizational allies
c. Providing consultative services
d. Conducting information gathering - Correct Answer ✔✔ D
What is the most important information contained in an organization's mission
statement?
a. What the company does
b. The time frame for reaching its goals
c. The specific strengths it brights to its strategy
d. Its major competitors - Correct Answer ✔✔ A
One of the goals for a nonprofit is to be able to direct its limited resources more quickly
to needy areas as international crises develop. Which HR objective would be well
aligned with this goal?
a. Improve the quality of HR services to EEs
b. Develop talent through rotations in geographical areas
c. Increase staff resilience
d. Identify high-potential leaders among EEs with 3-5 years of experience - Correct
Answer ✔✔ B
, What is the best definition of a value driver?
a. Value that an organization adds for competitive advantage
b. Performance targets the organization has pledged to meet
c. What must be done to deliver a desired value
d. Constraints that limit strategic options - Correct Answer ✔✔ C
What should a balanced scorecard be used to measure strategic progress?
a. It provides a more rounded assessment of the results of strategic activity
b. It can be accomplished quickly
c. It extends protection against legal risks to organizations
d. It can be repeated periodically - Correct Answer ✔✔ A
Which is a leading indicator of an organization's performance?
a. Average time to market
b. Number of engineers with advanced degrees on staff
c. Market share
d. Number of product designs in the pipeline - Correct Answer ✔✔ D
Which is a lagging indicator of an organization's performance
a. Sales volume for last quarter
b. Revision of incentive programs
c. Percentage of sales candidates meeting profile characteristics
d. Average size of sale - Correct Answer ✔✔ A
What is the importance of the first R in the SMARTER acronmym?
a. Relates the objective to the EE's performance plan
b. Makes ure an objective aligns with strategic goals
c. Examines whether the objective is attainable
d. Makes sure the result of the evaluation conforms to objective rating systems - Correct
Answer ✔✔ B
An organization has failed to innovate and has lost a considerable portion of its market
share to competitors. It does not have the talent or financial resources to create new
products. What strategy is it most likely to pursue?
a. Blue ocean
b. Cost leadership
c. Focus
d. Differentiation - Correct Answer ✔✔ B
A financial services firm has chosen to expand into a new region by purchasing a small
chain of offices. The name will change, the parent firm's policies will extend to the new
offices, and the parent firm will provide investment and analysis tools to advisors. What
type of growth strategy is this?
a. Management contract
b. Partnership
c. Acquisition
QUESTIONS & VERIFIED CORRECT
ANSWERS ALL PASSED
One of HR's strategic abilities is an awareness of external factors that can affect the
organization and HR's job. Which task reflects this ability?
a. Creating job alignment between the HR and organizational strategies.
b. Conducting annual employee surveys
c. Gathering information about technologies that could increase HR productivity
d. Networking with leaders of other functions to build consultative relationships - Correct
Answer ✔✔ C
An HR director has assembled senior staff to discuss ways to develop the talent pool
necessary to support the organization's new strategic direction. Several of the
managers support providing a summary of the strategy to the major search firms under
contract. How should the HR director respond?
a. Acknowledge the suggestion in the meeting but ignore it
b. Delegate the task of communicating with the search firms to this group
c. Explain to the group in detail why this would be a deficient response
d. Encourage the group to analyze the issue and identify novel responses - Correct
Answer ✔✔ D
How is organizational culture connected with the topic of strategy?
a. A strong culture can eliminate the need for strategic planning
b. Culture should be seen as a lever to enhance strategy
c. Culture should not affect a choice of strategy
d. Strategy should be planned first, and then steps should be taken to create a
supportive culture. - Correct Answer ✔✔ B
What should be considered a HR strategic task?
a. Securing off-site backup and storage of employee transactions and records
b. Developing a system to track the number of people leaving the organization
c. Creating a training program for conducting safe and legal terminations
d. Working with senior and line managers to forecast workforce needs for the strategic
planning period - Correct Answer ✔✔ D
What activity illustrates the use of systems thinking?
a. Creating a hierarchical organizational chart of decision makers
b. Mapping a business process to identify the functional areas involved
c. Creating detailed work rules for one's functional area
,d. Developing rules for the use of technology by employees - Correct Answer ✔✔ B
A labor bureau notes that disposable income levels are falling in certain categories.
Which PESTLE category includes information like this?
a. Legal
b. Political
c. Ethical
d. Economic - Correct Answer ✔✔ D
Which HR strategic activity might be triggered by social changes identified in an
environmental scan?
a. Project focusing on learning more about local legislation and rule-making process
b. Survey of employees' commuting experiences
c. Establishment of employee self-service centers
d. Evaluating ethical liabilities posed by supply chain partners - Correct Answer ✔✔ B
An organization hires only experienced, top-performing people who tend to stay with the
company for ten years or more. What is this considered in a SWOT analysis?
a. Strength
b. Weakness
c. Opportunity
d. Threat - Correct Answer ✔✔ A
An HR manager meets regularly with a local education director to discuss what the
educator is seeing in the system and its students. What does this activity illustrate?
a. Business intelligence
b. Building organizational allies
c. Providing consultative services
d. Conducting information gathering - Correct Answer ✔✔ D
What is the most important information contained in an organization's mission
statement?
a. What the company does
b. The time frame for reaching its goals
c. The specific strengths it brights to its strategy
d. Its major competitors - Correct Answer ✔✔ A
One of the goals for a nonprofit is to be able to direct its limited resources more quickly
to needy areas as international crises develop. Which HR objective would be well
aligned with this goal?
a. Improve the quality of HR services to EEs
b. Develop talent through rotations in geographical areas
c. Increase staff resilience
d. Identify high-potential leaders among EEs with 3-5 years of experience - Correct
Answer ✔✔ B
, What is the best definition of a value driver?
a. Value that an organization adds for competitive advantage
b. Performance targets the organization has pledged to meet
c. What must be done to deliver a desired value
d. Constraints that limit strategic options - Correct Answer ✔✔ C
What should a balanced scorecard be used to measure strategic progress?
a. It provides a more rounded assessment of the results of strategic activity
b. It can be accomplished quickly
c. It extends protection against legal risks to organizations
d. It can be repeated periodically - Correct Answer ✔✔ A
Which is a leading indicator of an organization's performance?
a. Average time to market
b. Number of engineers with advanced degrees on staff
c. Market share
d. Number of product designs in the pipeline - Correct Answer ✔✔ D
Which is a lagging indicator of an organization's performance
a. Sales volume for last quarter
b. Revision of incentive programs
c. Percentage of sales candidates meeting profile characteristics
d. Average size of sale - Correct Answer ✔✔ A
What is the importance of the first R in the SMARTER acronmym?
a. Relates the objective to the EE's performance plan
b. Makes ure an objective aligns with strategic goals
c. Examines whether the objective is attainable
d. Makes sure the result of the evaluation conforms to objective rating systems - Correct
Answer ✔✔ B
An organization has failed to innovate and has lost a considerable portion of its market
share to competitors. It does not have the talent or financial resources to create new
products. What strategy is it most likely to pursue?
a. Blue ocean
b. Cost leadership
c. Focus
d. Differentiation - Correct Answer ✔✔ B
A financial services firm has chosen to expand into a new region by purchasing a small
chain of offices. The name will change, the parent firm's policies will extend to the new
offices, and the parent firm will provide investment and analysis tools to advisors. What
type of growth strategy is this?
a. Management contract
b. Partnership
c. Acquisition
