Strategic HRM – Ch2 | Complete Test Bank – 10th Ed

1.

The goal of strategic management in an organization is to deploy and allocate resources in a way that it provides the company with a competitive advantage. 
 
True    False

2.

To be maximally effective, the human resource management function of a company must be isolated from the company's strategic management process. 
 
True    False

3.

Strategic planning groups decide on a strategic direction during the strategy implementation phase. 
 
True    False

4.

Strategy implementation includes structuring an organization and allocating resources. 
 
True    False

5.

In a two-way linkage, an organization is restricted from considering the human resource issues while formulating its strategic plan. 
 
True    False

6.

Untapped labor pools are an example of a strategic threat to an organization's operating environment. 
 
True    False

7.

External analysis attempts to identify an organization's strategic opportunities and threats. 
 
True    False

8.

Strategic choice describes the way an organization attempts to fulfill its mission and achieve its long-term goals. 
 
True    False

9.

Job design addresses what tasks should be grouped into a particular job. 
 
True    False

10.

The strategy a company is pursuing does not have an impact on the types of employees that it seeks to recruit and select. 
 
True    False

11.

Training is a planned effort to facilitate the learning of job-related knowledge, skills, and behavior by employees. 
 
True    False

12.

Companies that are not diversified use objective measures of performance to evaluate managers. 
 
True    False

13.

Executives who have extensive knowledge of the behaviors that lead to effective performance tend to focus on evaluating the objective performance results of their subordinate managers. 
 
True    False

14.

By tying pay to performance, a company can elicit specific activities and levels of performance from employees. 
 
True    False

15.

Concentration strategies require that an organization bring radical change to the current skills that exist in the organization. 
 
True    False

16.

An overall cost leadership strategy is achieved primarily by offering unique product features. 
 
True    False

17.

Companies engaged in a cost strategy require employees to have reduced concern for quantity and a short-term focus. 
 
True    False

18.

Companies engaged in cost strategies develop internally consistent pay systems with negligible pay differentials between superiors and subordinates. 
 
True    False

19.

Employees in companies with a differentiation strategy need to have only a moderate concern for quantity. 
 
True    False

20.

Differentiation companies will have compensation systems that are geared toward internal rather than external equity. 
 
True    False

21.

Strategies emphasizing market share or operating costs are called "external growth" strategies. 
 
True    False

22.

Companies using concentration strategies attempt to focus on what they do best within their established markets. 
 
True    False

23.

Downsizing gives an organization the opportunity to change its culture. 
 
True    False

24.

Companies going through downsizing often develop compensation programs that tie an individual's compensation to the company's success. 
 
True    False

25.

A learning organization constantly monitors its environment, assimilates information, makes decisions, and flexibly restructures itself to compete in an ever-changing environment. 
 
True    False

26.

Which of the following is a physical resource that a company uses to compete with other companies? 
 

27.

A(n) _____ typically charts how a firm will create value for customers and how it will do so profitably. 
 

28.

_____ costs are incurred regardless of the number of units produced. 
 

29.

Which of the following statements is true of variable costs incurred by firms? 
 

30.

Which of the following is an example of a fixed cost? 
 

31.

The _____ margin is calculated as the number of units sold times the contribution margin. 
 

32.

_____ is what is left after a firm pays its variable costs and fixed costs. 
 

33.

A _____ workforce consists of the former workers to whom a firm still owes financial obligations. 
 

34.

Jonathan retired from a large, multinational automobile company last year. He receives health care benefits as well as a pension from the company. At present, Jonathan falls under the category of a _____. 
 

35.

_____ is a process that primarily addresses the competitive challenges an organization faces. 
 

36.

When an organization develops integrated manufacturing systems such as advanced manufacturing technology and just-in-time inventory control, it needs to assess the employee skills required to run these systems and train them accordingly. These assessments and training programs intended to enable an organization to achieve its goals fall under 
 

37.

During _____, the strategic planning groups decide on a strategic direction by defining the company's mission and goals, its external opportunities and threats, and its internal strengths and weaknesses. 
 

38.

Pluto Inc., a large manufacturer of desktops and laptops, has decided to enhance revenues by expanding its product line. It has identified the tablet market as a possible market to expand and has identified Compco Inc. as a potential competitor. Pluto Inc. is currently in the _____ stage of the strategic management process. 
 

39.

Saturn Inc. is a large manufacturer of footwear and accessories. It has always lagged behind its closest competitor, Hexagon Inc. It plans to overtake Hexagon by leveraging its strength in women's footwear and entering markets in the Midwest that it had traditionally ignored. Saturn Inc. is in the _____ phase. 
 

40.

During the strategic implementation stage of the strategic management process, an organization 
 

41.

Which of the following statements is true of the strategic implementation stage of the strategic management process? 
 

42.

The _____ component of the strategic management process consists of structuring the organization, allocating resources, ensuring that the firm has skilled employees in place, and developing reward systems that align employee behavior with the organization's strategic goals. 
 

43.

The strategic management decision-making process usually takes place at a firm's highest levels, with a firm's strategic planning group, which includes 
 

44.

Which of the following is the lowest level of integration between the human resource management function and the strategic management function? 
 

45.

Which of the following statements is true of the administrative linkage level between the human resource management function and the strategic management function? 
 

46.

Which is the level of integration at which the human resource management primarily engages in day-to-day activities unrelated to the company's core business needs? 
 

47.

In _____, a firm's strategic business planning function develops the strategic plan and then informs the human resource management function of the plan. 
 

48.

Which of the following is true of one-way linkage? 
 

49.

The one-way linkage level 
 

50.

In the two-way linkage level, 
 

51.

Which of the following statements is true of two-way linkages? 
 

52.

Which of the following linkages has its human resource management functions built right into the strategy formulation and implementation processes? 
 

53.

Mission, goals, external analysis, internal analysis, and strategic choices are the five major components of the _____ process. 
 

54.

Which of the following is a statement that contains information on the customers that will be served, the needs that will be satisfied, and the technology that will be used by the company? 
 

55.

An organization's _____ is what it hopes to achieve in the medium- to long-term future, and it reflects how an organization's reason for being is operationalized. 
 

56.

Which of the following primarily examines an organization's operating environment to identify its strategic opportunities and threats? 
 

57.

Which of the following is used by an organization to identify its strengths and weaknesses? 
 

58.

An organization uses _____ to measure the quantity and quality of its resources. 
 

59.

External analysis and internal analysis combined constitute the _____. 
 

60.

Which of the following statements is true of the SWOT analysis? 
 

61.

Which of the following describes the ways an organization will attempt to fulfill its mission and achieve its long-term goals? 
 

62.

The basic premise behind strategy implementation is that 
 

63.

_____ is the process through which an organization seeks applicants for potential employment. 
 

64.

Marisol, an HR manager at a technology firm, is entrusted with the task of hiring a member for a new team. She has already received information about what the new role will entail as well as the tasks that the new employee will be performing. She is currently using several media to seek applicants for the role. Which of the following human resource management (HRM) practices is Marisol performing? 
 

65.

Which of the following addresses which tasks should be grouped into a particular job? 
 

66.

The process by which a firm attempts to identify job applicants with the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that will help the firm achieve its goals is known as _____. 
 

67.

_____ is a planned effort to facilitate the learning of job-related knowledge, skills, and behavior by employees. 
 

68.

Pavi, an employee with Manor Electricals, has been transferred to a different division within the company. To facilitate a smooth transition, the company has initiated a program for Pavi that will provide her with the knowledge and skills required to perform the new role effectively. Which of the following human resource management practices did Manor Electricals perform? 
 

69.

Which of the following activities entails specifying those activities and outcomes that will result in the organization successfully implementing the strategy? 
 

70.

Which of the following statements is true regarding companies that are not diversified? 
 

71.

A high level of pay relative to that of competitors can ensure that _____. 
 

72.

A company that follows an overall cost leadership strategy _____. 
 

73.

A company that wants to become the lowest cost producer in an industry should _____. 
 

74.

Which of the following is true regarding the differentiation strategy? 
 

75.

CompX Inc. is an online retailer of electronic products, including laptops and tablets. The company is known for its unique approach to customer support, which is known for going above and beyond in satisfying customer complaints and issues. What kind of a strategy is CompX using? 
 

76.

Companies engaged in a cost strategy require employees to 
 

77.

Which of the following statements is true for companies that employ cost strategies? 
 

78.

A company employing a differentiation strategy requires employees who 
 

79.

Which of the following statements is true of companies that employ differentiation strategies? 
 

80.

Strategies emphasizing market share or operating costs are considered _____ strategies. 
 

81.

With a _____ strategy, a company attempts to focus on what it does best within its established markets and can be thought of as "sticking to its knitting." 
 

82.

Gemco Inc., a high-end luxury jewelry manufacturer, has training programs to ensure that its current employees always design and manufacture jewelry in keeping with its high quality standards. Which of the following directional strategies has Gemco adopted? 
 

83.

Strategies focusing on market development, product development, innovation, or joint ventures make up the _____ strategy of an organization. 
 

84.

Companies attempting to integrate vertically or horizontally or to diversify exhibit a(n) _____ strategy. 
 

85.

Which type of strategy attempts to expand a company's resources or to strengthen its market position through acquiring or creating new businesses? 
 

86.

Which of the following is a strategy made up of retrenchment and liquidation? 
 

87.

Tokyo Electronics is facing financial difficulties mainly due to losses incurred by its gaming division. As a consequence, it has decided to shut down operations of this division. Which of the following strategies has Tokyo electronics adopted? 
 

88.

Which of the following is a challenge of downsizing? 
 

89.

Which of the following statements is true of intended and emergent strategies? 
 

90.

A company where employees are in a constant state of assimilating knowledge through monitoring the environment, making decisions, and flexibly restructuring the company to compete in that environment is known as a _____ organization. 
 

91.

What can human resource managers do to ensure that the human resource management function is integrally involved in the company's strategic management process? 
 

92.

List the four levels of integration between the human resource management function and the strategic management function. 
 

93.

What are the three steps involved in two-way linkages? 
 

94.

What are the five major components of the strategic management process that are relevant to strategy formulation? 
 

95.

List the five important variables that determine success in the strategy implementation stage. 
 

96.

Discuss the six important functional areas of human resource management. 
 

97.

Compare and contrast Porter's generic strategies of cost leadership and differentiation. 
 

98.

What are the four directional strategies that firms use to meet their objectives? 
 

99.

What are the human resource challenges faced by a firm adopting an internal growth strategy? 
 

100.

Explain the challenges and opportunities that arise for human resource management during downsizing.