SHRM Theme 1 Exam prepera0on
Exam
The exam consists of 15 ques3ons in total. 5 themes, 3 ques3ons per theme.
1) start with knowledge (2)
2) theore3cal with applying theory (3)
3) prac3cal oriented to link the theory to the prac3ce (4)
Exam: findings and figures understanding are important for the exam.
How to prepare for your wri?en exam?
Prepare per theme.
1. Take a look at the knowledge clip and the recorded lecture.
2. Read the literature (make use of the summaries of the two empirical ar3cles presented in your
workgroup – no methodological ques3ons in the exam).
3. Check the (recorded) lecture slides (including your notes)
4. Prac3ce with example ques3ons
- Familiarize yourself with the types of ques3ons on the exam.
- Try to answer these ques3ons.
- Compare your answers with the answers we expect.
Workgroup idea: able to try to apply the theories to specific company (prac3cal findings).
How to study ar0cles?
Main elements empirical ar3cles:
- Research ques3on
- Concepts, hypotheses and theore3cal underpinning for hypotheses
- The context (to get an idea of where the study was conducted)
- Main findings
- Answer to research ques3on, including prac3cal implica3ons.
SHRM Exam prepera-on 1 1
,Black-box debate
Black-box debate in SHRM
- How many boxes should be taken into account?
- What should be the content of each box?
Theore3cal explana3ons of the HRM-performance link. The three dominate the SHRM field:
1. Resource based view of the firm (Barney, 1991 / Boxall, 1996)
2. AMO-framework (Appelbaum et al., 2000)
3. SHRM process model (e.g., Nishii & Wright, 2008)
… Many more theories have been proposed…
Peccei & van de Voorde, 2014.
Exam: try to explain the link between how it works.
SHRM Exam prepera-on 1 2
,(1) RBV – Barney (1991)
Developed in SHRM literature.
Is a (tangible or intangible) resource…
1) Valuable
Delivers superior compe33ve results.
Resources in company deliver results, people/customers contribute to the goals of the organiza3on.
2) Rare
Difficult to get/scarcity of a resource.
3) Non-subs3tutable
Hard to replace.
4) Inimitable
Hard to copy.
Consist of three sub-categories:
a) Unique 3ming and learning
Building on upon capabili3es in the past
Organiza3on and resources based on what happened in the past.
Example:
VW government gave large fee, emission scandal viola3ng clean air act – 2015. Create dirty
air and no one want to buy the cars, leaded to stock decrease which created that many
employees were unhappy.
b) Social complexity
Pacerns of teamwork and coordina3on
Resources developed by levels of teamwork and coordina3on.
Example:
Leadership crisis, new CEO.
Resulted in leadership crisis. CEO had to design.
c) Causal ambiguity
Hard to figure out why successful.
Difficult to aces why product or research is hard to copy.
Example:
Work-life balance agreement 2011.
Specific one in which employees at VW were helped and supported with a new policy. Strict
to emails before and afer one hour of work, to create a becer work-life balance.
SHRM Exam prepera-on 1 3
, Exam: know the elements, understand different factors, how can develop.
RBV as theore0cal underpinning of hypotheses - elements
Human resource advantage:
1. Human capital advantage
a stock of excep3onal human talent.
2. Human process advantage
A func3on of difficult to imitate, historically evolved processes within the organiza3on, such as co-
opera3on.
Func3on: not about worker that processes skills but about process how workers collaborate and how
processes develop within an organiza3on.
Example:
Max Verstappen, good driver but not Max only who create but also team behind him. Everything that has to do
with F1. You’re not ul3mately the best with only the skills, it also depends on the whole team.
Example:
Jeroen Bos hospital, need to be becer than other hospitals, strategy to have good doctors, nurses with
exper3se, on the other hand they do not elaborate, also possible working in teams and processes as smoothly
as possible to act becer than other hospitals.
Exam: why you need both!
SHRM Exam prepera-on 1 4
Exam
The exam consists of 15 ques3ons in total. 5 themes, 3 ques3ons per theme.
1) start with knowledge (2)
2) theore3cal with applying theory (3)
3) prac3cal oriented to link the theory to the prac3ce (4)
Exam: findings and figures understanding are important for the exam.
How to prepare for your wri?en exam?
Prepare per theme.
1. Take a look at the knowledge clip and the recorded lecture.
2. Read the literature (make use of the summaries of the two empirical ar3cles presented in your
workgroup – no methodological ques3ons in the exam).
3. Check the (recorded) lecture slides (including your notes)
4. Prac3ce with example ques3ons
- Familiarize yourself with the types of ques3ons on the exam.
- Try to answer these ques3ons.
- Compare your answers with the answers we expect.
Workgroup idea: able to try to apply the theories to specific company (prac3cal findings).
How to study ar0cles?
Main elements empirical ar3cles:
- Research ques3on
- Concepts, hypotheses and theore3cal underpinning for hypotheses
- The context (to get an idea of where the study was conducted)
- Main findings
- Answer to research ques3on, including prac3cal implica3ons.
SHRM Exam prepera-on 1 1
,Black-box debate
Black-box debate in SHRM
- How many boxes should be taken into account?
- What should be the content of each box?
Theore3cal explana3ons of the HRM-performance link. The three dominate the SHRM field:
1. Resource based view of the firm (Barney, 1991 / Boxall, 1996)
2. AMO-framework (Appelbaum et al., 2000)
3. SHRM process model (e.g., Nishii & Wright, 2008)
… Many more theories have been proposed…
Peccei & van de Voorde, 2014.
Exam: try to explain the link between how it works.
SHRM Exam prepera-on 1 2
,(1) RBV – Barney (1991)
Developed in SHRM literature.
Is a (tangible or intangible) resource…
1) Valuable
Delivers superior compe33ve results.
Resources in company deliver results, people/customers contribute to the goals of the organiza3on.
2) Rare
Difficult to get/scarcity of a resource.
3) Non-subs3tutable
Hard to replace.
4) Inimitable
Hard to copy.
Consist of three sub-categories:
a) Unique 3ming and learning
Building on upon capabili3es in the past
Organiza3on and resources based on what happened in the past.
Example:
VW government gave large fee, emission scandal viola3ng clean air act – 2015. Create dirty
air and no one want to buy the cars, leaded to stock decrease which created that many
employees were unhappy.
b) Social complexity
Pacerns of teamwork and coordina3on
Resources developed by levels of teamwork and coordina3on.
Example:
Leadership crisis, new CEO.
Resulted in leadership crisis. CEO had to design.
c) Causal ambiguity
Hard to figure out why successful.
Difficult to aces why product or research is hard to copy.
Example:
Work-life balance agreement 2011.
Specific one in which employees at VW were helped and supported with a new policy. Strict
to emails before and afer one hour of work, to create a becer work-life balance.
SHRM Exam prepera-on 1 3
, Exam: know the elements, understand different factors, how can develop.
RBV as theore0cal underpinning of hypotheses - elements
Human resource advantage:
1. Human capital advantage
a stock of excep3onal human talent.
2. Human process advantage
A func3on of difficult to imitate, historically evolved processes within the organiza3on, such as co-
opera3on.
Func3on: not about worker that processes skills but about process how workers collaborate and how
processes develop within an organiza3on.
Example:
Max Verstappen, good driver but not Max only who create but also team behind him. Everything that has to do
with F1. You’re not ul3mately the best with only the skills, it also depends on the whole team.
Example:
Jeroen Bos hospital, need to be becer than other hospitals, strategy to have good doctors, nurses with
exper3se, on the other hand they do not elaborate, also possible working in teams and processes as smoothly
as possible to act becer than other hospitals.
Exam: why you need both!
SHRM Exam prepera-on 1 4
