Quiz

Test you understanding of key chapter concepts by working through this quiz. You can check your answer by clicking on the arrow to the right or on what you think the correct answer is.  The correct answer will then be revealed to you for that question. 

1. Which of the following statements is not true about strategic human resource management?

  1. The core HR functions should be consistent with business strategy and objectives
  2. The core HR functions canbe transposed onto the formulation stage of business strategy to help the organization meet its strategic objectives
  3. The core HR function shouldformulate and drive the business strategy
  4. The core HR function can be transposed onto the implementation stageof business strategy

Answer: C

2. Accordingto your textbook, a limitation with the “strategic” aspect of HRM is                           .

  1. Strategy is based on unknowable, uncertain, and ambiguous future events
  2. Strategy cannot becompartmentalized into actionable, plannable, and measurable events
  3. Over time strategic objectives no longer represent what they were originally meant to and can become meaningless
  4. All of the above

Answer: D

3.                     create value by solving clients’ problems through the direct application of expert knowledge.

  1. HR managers
  2. Strategic human resources
  3. Knowledge-intensive firms
  4. Virtual organizations

Answer: C

4. Which of the following is an example of diversity?

  1. A gymnasium that operates exclusively for women
  2. A religious cult
  3. A secular society
  4. All of the above

Answer: C

5. Which one of the following is an example of discrimination?

  1. A supervisor complains to his pregnant staff member that she always gets pregnant so as to get time off work
  2. A man is overlooked for a position in a music store because he looks too mature
  3. A male employer makes uninvited sexual comments to his young assistant
  4. All of the above

Answer: D

6. Which of the following is not true of affirmative action (positive discrimination)?

  1. Ensuring a person gets the job before anyone else because they are from a minority group
  2. Seeking to reverse the consequences of years of discrimination based on aperson’s sex, race, religion, etc.
  3. Ensuring that when a person from a minority group applies for a position, and possesses similar knowledge, skills, and education as an applicant from a non-minority group, the minority member gets the job
  4. Helping promote equity and diversity within organizations and society at large

Answer: A

7. Biofeedback, lie detection, the Big-Five personality factor, IQ, and tests of cognitive ability are all                    .

  1. Examples of invasions of privacy
  2. Examples of self-discovery
  3. Examples of tests and measurement used by HR
  4. All of the above

Answer: C

8. An association of wage-earning employees, organized and mobilized in order to represent its constituents, is commonly referred to as                          .

  1. An employer association
  2. A job club
  3. A union
  4. An industrial relationscommission

Answer: C

9. Fill in the blank:                        represent the belief in the market mechanism, neo-liberalism, and self-interest in the employer/employee contract.

  1. Collective agreements
  2. Individual agreements
  3. A union
  4. An industrial relationscommission

Answer: B

10. Which one of the following is NOT a core practice and process of human resource management?

  1. The recruitment of new staff
  2. The retention of existing staff
  3. The development of staff
  4. The management of staff performance

Answer: D

11. The idea that staff simply want to be told what is required of them, given the resources and training to achieve these requirements, and be remunerated if they go beyond those requirements is central to what ‘school’ of human resource management

  1. The Old School
  2. The New School
  3. The Soft School
  4. The Hard School

Answer: D

12. An organization that relies mainly on the experience, knowledge and expertise of its professional staff is know as a _________?

  1. Coaching intensive firm
  2. Law intensive firm
  3. Knowledge intensive firm
  4. All of the above

Answer: C

13. According to Alvesson (2004) the employment of talent and the advantage that the organization derives from that talent is know as __________.

  1. Human Process Advantage (HPA)
  2. Human Capital Advantage (HCA)
  3. Talent Management (TM)
  4. Human Capital Potential (HCP)

Answer: B

14. According to Alvesson (2004) _______ refers to highly evolved processes that are difficult to imitate, such as systems of cross-departmental cooperation, executive development, and so on.

  1. Human Process Advantage (HPA)
  2. Human Capital Advantage (HCA)
  3. Talent Management (TM)
  4. Human Capital Potential (HCP)

Answer: A