109228569 Strategic Human Resource Management Mcqs PDF

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STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENTMS 220Unit 1Topic 1: Evolution of HRM; HRM and its relation with CompetitiveAdvantage and Organizational PerformanceA. Multiple Choice Questions The term competitive advantage stands for (a) the superior market position of a company in the market vis-a-vis its comp...

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STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT MS 220 Unit 1 Topic 1: Evolution of HRM; HRM and its relation with Competitive Advantage and Organizational Performance A. Multiple Choice Questions 1. The term competitive advantage stands for (a) the superior market position of a company in the market vis-a-vis its competitors (b) the organizational confidence level (c) the expansion of product lines in the market (d) None of the above 2. The reason for organizations’ efforts to gain competitive advantage out of HR is: (a) HR environment is responsible for competitive advantage as it cannot be imitated easily by the competitors. (b) Human resources are more important than physical resources. (c) It is easy to obtain competitive advantage out of HR practices. (d) None of the above 3. When a manager is moved to another country for employment, he is called (a) international manager (b) foreign manager (c) expatriate (d) None of the above 4. The treatment of employees as one of the factors of production is the basic assumption of the _______ version of HRM. (a) soft (b) hard (c) medium (d) indifferent 5. Which of the following resources is a source of competitive advantage? (a) physical resources (b) human resources (c) organizational resources (d) All of the above 6. Performance evaluation improves competitive advantage by (a) involving immediate supervisors in the evaluation process

(b) providing strong basis for demotion, transfers, and lay-offs (c) increasing the frequency of performance evaluation (d) reducing grievance and labour turnover by making employees trust that they are treated fairly 7. ________ are the resources that provide utility value to all other resources. (a) Men (b) Material (c) Money (d) Machinery 8. The term procurement stands for (a) recruitment and selection (b) training and development (c) pay and benefits (d) health and safety 9. The characteristics of human resources are ________ in nature (a) homogeneous (b) heterogeneous (c) ductility (d) None of the above 10. Identify the managerial function out of the following functions of HR managers. (a) procurement (b) development (c) organizing (d) performance appraisal 11. Which of the following is an example of operative function of HR managers? (a) planning (b) organizing (c) procurement (d) controlling 12. The scope of human resource management includes (a) procurement (b) development (c) compensation (d) All of the above 13. Human resource management is normally ________ in nature. (a) proactive (b) reactive (c) combative (d) None of the above

14. The human resource management functions aim at (a) ensuring that the human resources possess adequate capital, tool, equipment and material to perform the job successfully (b) helping the organization deal with its employees in different stages of employment (c) improving an organization’s creditworthiness among financial institutions (d) None of the above 15. Which of the following aptly describes the role of line managers and staff advisors, namely HR professionals? (a) Staff advisors focus more on developing HR programmes while line managers are more involved in the implementation of those programmes. (b) Line managers are concerned more about developing HR programmes whereas staff advisors are more involved in implementing such programmes. (c) Staff advisors are solely responsible for developing, implementing and evaluating the HR programmes while line managers are not all involved in any matters concerning HR. (d) Line managers alone are responsible for developing, implementing and evaluating the HR programmes while staff advisors are not all involved in any matters concerning HR. 16. Which one of the following is not a part of the external environment of an organization? (a) social factors (b) political factors (c) legal factors (d) organizational culture 17. Identify the odd one out of the following factors (a) organizational structure (b) HR systems (c) business strategy (d) technology 18. The first recorded human resource management initiative was made during (a) the pre-industrial revolution era (b) the First World War era (c) the Second World War era (d) None of the above 19. What is the most important contribution of the Hawthorne studies? (a) the discovery of the informal relationship and social groups among employees (b) the significance of lighting and ventilation for performance (c) the difference in the performance of male and female employees (d) the relationship between the behaviour and performance

20. The term environmental scanning stands for (a) gathering data about the organization and its surroundings (b) collecting information about the shareholders (c) gathering information relating to the employees (d) none of the above 21. McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y was introduced during (a) the First World War (b) the Industrial revolution (c) the Second World War (d) the human relations movement 22. One of the important assumptions of the ----------perspective is that uncertainty in environment is more of an internal problem and less of an external problem (a) objective environment perspective (b) perceived environment perspective (c) enacted environment perspective (d) none of the above 23. When an organization creates its own environment out of its knowledge of the environment, it has created a/an (a) enacted environment (b) perceived environment (c) objective environment (d) none of the above 24. Transformational change in an organization refers to (a) complete change in almost all aspects of the organization (b) incremental change in which necessary improvements are made in the existing organization (c) no change in any aspect of the organization (d) None of the above 25. Which of the following is normally the cause of organizational change? (a) technological development (b) change in labour characteristics (c) mergers, acquisitions, etc. (d) All of the above 26. When employee resistance provokes a well-grounded debate and constructive criticism leading to improvements in the change process, it is called (a) positive resistance (b) negative resistance (c) passive resistance (d) None of the above

27. Which type of employee resistance aims at ensuring the complete failure of change initiatives of the organization? (a) positive resistance (b) negative resistance (c) passive resistance (d) active resistance 28. Which of the following is not a symptom of employee resistance to change? (a) increase in employee absenteeism (b) non-participative and indifferent behaviour (c) increase in performance and productivity (d) unprofessional conduct 29. A written statement of policies and principles that guides the behaviour of all employees is called (a) code of ethics (b) word of ethics (c) ethical dilemma (d) None of the above 30. An empirical inquiry into the actual rules or standards of a particular group is (a) normative justice (b) descriptive justice (c) interpersonal justice (d) None of the above 31. The HR policy which is based on the philosophy of the utmost good for the greatest number of people is covered under the (a) utilitarian approach (b) approach based on rights (c) approach based on justice (d) None of the above 32. Which of the following is not usually the objective of a code of ethics? (a) to create an ethical workplace (b) to evaluate the ethical components of the proposed actions of the employees (c) to improve the public image of the company (d) to enhance the profits of the business continuously 33. Which of the following is not a core principle of the Society for Human Resource Management’s Code of Ethics? (a) professional responsibility (b) fairness and justice (c) professional development (d) None of the above

34. Which of the following factors shapes the ethical behavior of the members of the organization? (a) The superiors behavior (b) Organizational culture (c) Code of ethics (d) All of the above 35. Which of the following best describes the line manager? (a) A line manager is a person who has direct responsibility for employees and their work. (b) A line manager is person who manages specific lines for special promotions. (c) A line manager is a person who manages a particular production line. (d) A line manager is a person who manages a production line. 36. Which of the following was the earliest name for the people management specialist? (a) HR manager (b) Industrial welfare officer (c) Employment law specialist (d) Personnel manager 37. Which of the following is NOT a typical feature of the HRM approach to the management of people? (a) The importance of adopting a strategic approach is emphasised. (b) A pluralist approach is used (c) A unitarist approach is used. (d) Line managers play an important role. 38. Which of the following is NOT something which is normally included in Kaplan and Norton’s (1992, 1996) balanced scorecard? (a) Financial results. (b) Behavioural observation scales. (c) Customer relations. (d) Learning and development. 39. Which of the following is the best description of soft HRM? (a) The primacy of business needs means that human resources will be acquired, deployed and dispensed with as the HR department demands. (b) In order to gain competitive advantage through the workforce, regardless of whether they are full- or part-time, temporary or contract staff, all potential must be nurtured. (c) The primacy of business needs means that human resources will be acquired, deployed and dispensed with as the corporate plan demands. (d) In order to gain competitive advantage through the workforce full time staff must be nurtured and developed. 40. According to Arkin (2007) which of the following is the title which a growing number of CIPD members are using to describe themselves? (a) Administrative expert

(b) Industrial welfare officer (c) Personnel manager (d) HR business partner 41. Which of the following is NOT one of the roles Ulrich and Brockbank (2005) describe as a 21st century role? (a) Functional expert (b) Employee welfare officer (c) Human capital developer (d) Employee advocate 42. In a CIPD survey conducted in 2003 which of the following was NOT regarded as being one of the top three activities which HR managers regarded as important? (a) Developirng HR strategy and policy (b) Business strategy (c) HR administration (d) The provision of specialist HR input to wider business issues 43. Which of the following is NOT identified by John Purcell (2003) and a team of researchers as being an aspect of HRM which made a difference to performance in organizations? (a) Strong values and an inclusive culture (b) A strong management who did not need to share ideas with others (c) The way people worked together to be productive and flexible enough to meet new challenges. (d) Sufficient line managers to bring HR policies and practices to life. 44. In the ACAS 2007 model of what makes an effective organization, which of the following is NOT included? (a) Ambitions, goals and plans that employees know about, and understand (b) Managers who genuinely listen to and consider their employees’ views (c) Ambitions, goals and plans that the management keep to themselves (d) Formal procedures for dealing with disciplinary matters, grievances and disputes that managers know about and use fairly 45. According to Reilly (2007b), in a survey of organizations which percentage had fully implemented the Ulrich model of HRM? (a) 50 per cent (b) 75 per cent (c) Between 21 per cent and 30 per cent (d) Less than 20 per cent 46. According to your textbook which of the following is NOT a current issue in HRM? (a) Human capital (b) Welfare (c) Talent management (d) Information technology

47. Which of the following is NOT according to Green (1999) an aspect of added value? (a) Engagement (b) Alignment (c) Measurement (d) Detachment 48. Which of the following is NOT one of Hofstede’s cultural characteristics? (a) Long-term orientation/short-term orientation (b) Language skills (c) Individualism/collectivism (d) Power distance 49. Which of the following is not a form of flexible working environment? (a) Job share (b) Annual hours contract (c) Part time employment (d) 360 degree appraisal 50. Which of the following best describes corporate and social responsibility (CSR) in HRM? (a) It is an area of interest only in relation to possible financial irregularities within an organization. (b) It is of interest to HR managers but specifically just in relation to the environment al impact of the business. (c) It is an area of no interest to HR managers. (d) It affects everyone and not just those who are core stakeholders in the business, so there are a great many areas in which HR managers can be involved.

B. True and False 1. Division of Labour was invented in the 19th century 2. Modern business is uniquely complex 3. Tips on supervision are recorded in a 5,000-year-old document 4. Professional managers were introduced during the 19th century 5. Personnel Management dates from the 1890's in the USA 6. Management education first appeared in Britain and the Commonwealth 7. Scientific Management was invented by Schmidt 8. Mass production was first used by Henry Ford 9. The ideas of F.W Taylor and Henry Ford have no influence on management today 10. 'Therblig' was a measure of work 11. Elton Mayo was responsible for the famous Hawthorne experiments 12. Basically, HRM is just Human Relations 13. HRM is one of a number of management fashions that have developed over the last few decades 14. HRM has a unitarist tradition in the USA

15. HRM has a unitarist tradition in Europe and Australasia 16. Traditional personnel managers had high status compared to managers in other business functions 17. The Japanese role model is a mixture of racial stereotyping, myth and reality 18. 'Just-in-time' and continuous improvement were developed in the USA 19. Introduction of HRM on the Harvard MBA had a significant impact on the subject 20. HRM has been portrayed as a proactive approach to people management 21. HRM is an approach to the management of people. 22. Another term synonymous with “Human Resource” is MANPOWER. 23. “The Practice of Management” has been authored by Douglas McGregor. 24. The Behavioural Science Movement was founded by Maslow and Likert. 25. The Art of Japanese Management has been authored by Simon &Schuster. 26. HRM is reactive rather than proactive in nature. 27. Reward Management is a part of Human Resource Planning. 28. Human Resource Organization comprises of Culture Management Programme. 29. Career Management Programmes are a part of Human Resource Development. 30. Human Resource Systems also comprise of Reward and Performance Management Programmes. 31. Management by Objectives was conceptualized by Rensis Likert. 32. Integration as human resources management function involves motivating employees only through various non-financial activities. 33. Human resources management may be defined as a set of policies, practices, and programmes designed to maximize organizational goals only. 34. Human resources are rigid and homogeneous. 35. Of all the resources, manpower is the only resource which does not depreciate with the passages of time. 36. Human resource reacts to the same situation in different ways. 37. As a central subsystem, HRM interacts closely and continuously with all other subsystems if an organizations. 38. Integration function is the process of reconciling the goals of the organizational members with those of the organization. 39. Human Resources management is the central subsystem of an organization. 40. HR mangers will face no problems in the near future. 41. BPR is the same thing as restructuring. 42. Most of the employees do not prefer empowerment. 43. HR management has nothing to do with quality of working life. 44. The profile of workforce is changing continuously. 45. Managing workforce diversity is a great challenge for the HR manager. 46. Taylor had no contribution to the field of personnel management. 47. Human realtionists gave emphasis on formal relations only. 48. Personnel management is yet to achieve the status of a profession.

49. George Elton Mayo is credited for human relations approach. 50. Personnel management can be spilt into three aspects including welfare aspects including welfare aspect, labour aspect and industrial relation aspect. 51. HRM philosophy represents humanization of management. 52. Human resources could be managed to create HR based competitive advantage. 53. BPR is nothing but restructuring, 54. Human resource based competitive is rare and inimitable. 55. Strategic human resource management is proactive in nature. 56. Right sizing of human resources is not the concern of strategic human resource management. 57. The modern HR function has HRD at its core. 58. The relationship between good HR practices and organizational effectiveness is very simple 59. Human resource management is responsible for getting the best people, training and providing mechanism. 60. The single biggest challenge of HR managers is to focus their efforts on improving the organization’s current operational performance.

Answers A. 1 (a), 2 (a), 3 (c), 4 (b), 5 (d), 6 (d), 7 (d), 8 (a), 9 (b), 10 (c), 11 (c), 12 (d), 13 (a), 14 (b), 15 (a), 16 (d), 17 (d), 18 (a), 19 (a), 20 (a), 21 (d), 22 (b), 23 (a), 24 (a), 25 (d), 26 (a), 27 (b), 28 (c), 29 (a), 30 (b), 31 (a), 32 (d), 33 (d), 34 (d), 35 (a), 36 (b), 37 (b), 38 (b), 39 (b), 40 (d), 41 (b), 42 (c), 43 (b), 44 (c), 45 (d), 46 (b), 47 (d), 48 (b), 49 (d), 50 (d) B. 1. F, 2. F, 3. T, 4. T, 5. T, 6. N, 7. N, 8. T, 9. F, 10. T, 11. F, 12. F, 13. T, 14. T, 15. F, 16. F, 17. T, 18. F, 19. T, 20. T, 21. T, 22. T, 23. T, 24. F, 25. F, 26. T, 27. F, 28. T, 29. T, 30. T, 31. F, 32. F, 33. F, 34. F, 35. T, 36. T, 37. T, 38. T, 39. T, 40. F, 41. F, 42. F, 43. F, 44. T, 45. T, 46. F, 47. F, 48. F, 49. T, 50. T, 51. T, 52. T, 53. F, 54. T, 55. T, 56. F, 57. T, 58. F, 59. T, 60. F

Topic 2: Concept of Strategic Human Resource Management A. Multiple Choice Questions 1. In strategic human resource management, HR strategies are generally aligned with (a) business strategy (b) marketing strategies (c) finance strategy (d) economic strategy 2. Which of the following is closely associated with strategic human resource management?

(a) (b) (c) (d)

efficient utilization of human resources attracting the best human resources providing the best possible training All of the above

3. Treating employees as precious human resources is the basis of the _______ approach. (a) hard HRM (b) soft HRM (c) medium HRM (d) None of the above 4. Strategic human resource management aims to achieve competitive advantage in the market through (a) price (b) product (c) people (d) process 5. Wright and Snell made important contribution to the growth of (a) Strategic fit model (b) Strategic labour allocation process model (c) Business-oriented model (d) None of the above 6. Strategic management process usually consists of _______ steps. (a) Four (b) Five (c) Six (d) Seven 7. One of the components of corporate level strategy is (a) growth strategy (b) portfolio strategy (c) parenting strategy (d) All of the above 8. Creating an environment that facilitates a continuous and two-way exchange of information between the superiors and the subordinates is the core of (a) High involvement management model (b) High commitment management model (c) High performance management model (d) None of the above 9. Human resource management is the formal part of an organization responsible for all of the following aspects of the management of human resources except: (a) systems, processes, and procedures

(b) management of the organization's finances (c) policy making, implementation, and enforcement (d) strategy development and analysis 10. The field of HRM was founded on the idea that the competitive advantage of the organization relies on the following sources of capital: (a) cultural, human and system capital (b) organization relies on the following sources of capital: (c) social, cultural and human capital (d) cultural, human and source capital 11. To address the challenges and opportunities they face organizations engage in a process of strategic management. Strategic management is: (a) long-term focused and composed of the organ...