PHR / SPHR Professional Exam: Business Management and Strategy | Practice Test / Quiz / MCQs

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PHR / SPHR Professional Exam: Business Management and Strategy

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While the HR role traditionally was one of a transactional administrative nature, it has now grown and shifted into an area of responsibility and focus as a strategic element to an organization’s competitive advantage. The role of HR now encompasses: strategic business planning, change facilitation, and employee advocacy. The greatest way of showing that the HR function is strategic is through the partnering with organizational management as an internal business consultant. A true business consultant presents all the factual data and necessary information, along with recommendations from... Show more

The greatest way of showing that the HR function is strategic is through the partnering with organizational management as an internal business consultant. A true business consultant presents all the factual data and necessary information, along with recommendations from their broader perspective in an effort to help their client reach a decision. For the HR professional, that includes presenting credible data, understanding all functions of the organization, aligning HR initiatives with the organization’s strategy, and knowing how to monitor and measure the results.

The Business Management and Strategy area of the HRCI exam is heavily emphasized on the SPHR exam with 29 percent of the test questions focused in this functional competency area.

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PHR / SPHR Professional Exam: Business Management and Strategy

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1. The AB Trucking Co. is considering outsourcing its HR, accounting, and safety functions to vendors. What considerations should be given to issues impacting that decision.

How the decision will fit into the organization’s strategic plan and whether it will be cost effectiveHow all the compliance work can be done by someone elseHow the employees will reactHow much money can be saved and what workload can be eliminated from the company executives

2. Elton has hired a consultancy firm to perform an environmental scanning on his organization. The report comes back indicating that a global competitor is moving into a state where Elton’s company has existed for decades. Elton should present this information to executive management as a(n):

OpportunityStrengthWeaknessThreat

3. Antonio has been assigned as the HR project manager for the implementation of the new HRIS. The IT staff, Training and Development group, Risk Management department, and the Compensation and Benefits group will be involved in the implementation. What project management tool will be best for Antonio to use for scheduling and managing the tasks with all groups?

Implementation scheduleGantt chartPERT chartBalanced scorecard

4. A strategy that focuses on launching a new line of business would most likely occur at which stage in the organization’s life cycle?

StartupRebirthGrowthMaturity

5. A strategy that focuses on launching a new line of business would most likely occur at which stage in the organization’s life cycle?

GrowthStartupMaturityRebirth

6. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) provide HR managers with special problems of cultural differences. In order to make sure that the cultures don’t clash after the merger, the HR manager should

Provide written complaint forms to all employees and express a willingness to listen to any comments the employees have to make about the merger.Conduct meetings with key players from each organization to outline the cultural values of each organization and determine how best to protect them in the blended employer unit.Send memos to department heads that specify the new cultural characteristics and express the expectation that the department heads will “make it happen.”Assign a subordinate to monitor the complaint levels and report on problems that are being addressed.

7. A statement that describes what the organization does and its customer base is a:

Mission statementStatement of positionLofty statementVision statement

8. Financial contributions from the HR department are important because

Training and staffing are the easiest areas to cut and gain back budget.There is little impact from reducing the HR department’s budget.Executives expect the HR department to be the most flexible in budget terms.Every strategic decision must contribute to the financial performance of the organization.

9. Which is the most important foundational issue of organizational effectiveness?

GovernancePoliciesEthicsRewards

10. A statement that describes what the organization does and its customer base is a:

Statement of positionMission statementVision statementLofty statement

11. Complex project management is made easier through the use of

PERT/CPM planning chartsGaunt PERK planning chartsPACK/CWA planning chartsPARK/ITEM planning charts

12. Colin is the HR manager at a tax preparation firm. During the tax season, Colin contracts with a temporary agency for seasonal help. The seasonal workers receive payroll checks from the temporary agency and not Colin’s organization. What type of contract will Colin sign with the temporary agency for the seasonal workers?

Temporary contractDirect contractSeasonal contractThird-party contract

13. Mikayel is the shipping and receiving manager at your Russian parts plant. He has experienced problems with getting shipments through Customs for timely delivery to the United States. His contact at Customs informs him that he can expedite the shipments if Mikayel would pay him a gratuity for his service in cash. Your organization’s ethics clearly state that bribes are considered unethical behavior; however, this “gratuity” seems to be in the best interest of the organization. What is your best course of action?

Authorize Mikayel to make the payments out of petty cash.Ask executive management for “special outside-of-policy” authorization.Report the bribe incident to the local Russian Customs head officer.Adhere to the organization’s no-bribe ethics policy and seek other solutions for the shipment delay issue.

14. Colin is the HR manager at a tax preparation firm. During the tax season, Colin contracts with a temporary agency for seasonal help. The seasonal workers receive payroll checks from the temporary agency and not Colin’s organization. What type of contract will Colin sign with the temporary agency for the seasonal workers?

Temporary contractDirect contractThird-party contractSeasonal contract

15. The role of human resource management has changed over the last few decades because more focus is now placed on

Recruiting and less focus on paperworkFinding people with qualifications in high technology that can meet today’s challengesStrategic management of the organization and less focus on labor relationsSupporting the executive suite and the programs that the officers want implemented

16. The matrix type of organizational structure is uniquely suited to managing a group of activities that are:

Diverse and interrelatedNarrow and interrelatedNarrow in focus and unrelatedDiverse and unrelated

17. Which of the following is not part of a SMART goal?

MeasurableRelevantTime boundStrength

18. Mikayel is the shipping and receiving manager at your Russian parts plant. He has experienced problems with getting shipments through Customs for timely delivery to the United States. His contact at Customs informs him that he can expedite the shipments if Mikayel would pay him a gratuity for his service in cash. Your organization’s ethics clearly state that bribes are considered unethical behavior; however, this “gratuity” seems to be in the best interest of the organization. What is your best course of action?

Ask executive management for “special outside-of-policy” authorization.Adhere to the organization’s no-bribe ethics policy and seek other solutions for the shipment delay issue.Authorize Mikayel to make the payments out of petty cash.Report the bribe incident to the local Russian Customs head officer.

19. Which of the following actions taken by HR Manager Chris is the most ethical?

Working exclusively with a technical contracting agency for the IT group to qualify for a random prize drawing for customersDeleting low-paying companies from salary survey results of HR positionsReferring a qualified friend for a vacant position at the companyNot standing up and voicing displeasure about a discriminatory decision made by a superior

20. Which of the following is not part of a SMART goal?

RelevantMeasurableTime boundStrength

21. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) provide HR managers with special problems of cultural differences. In order to make sure that the cultures don’t clash after the merger, the HR manager should

Assign a subordinate to monitor the complaint levels and report on problems that are being addressed.Provide written complaint forms to all employees and express a willingness to listen to any comments the employees have to make about the merger.Send memos to department heads that specify the new cultural characteristics and express the expectation that the department heads will “make it happen.”Conduct meetings with key players from each organization to outline the cultural values of each organization and determine how best to protect them in the blended employer unit.

22. Which of the following is a legal consequence of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act?

Audit firms must alternate every two years.Shareholders are prevented from suing the company.Organizations are allowed to conduct their own stock appraisal.CEOs may be punished, including jail time, for fraudulent financial reports.

23. In an organizational structure, what is centralized?

The hierarchical division of labor that distributes formal authority and establishes how critical decisions will be made.The degree to which decision-making authority is given to lower levels in an organization’s hierarchy.The degree to which decision-making authority is restricted to senior management.The degree to which decisions are made by committees.

24. Which of the following HR functions is not appropriate for outsourcing?

Open enrollmentNew employee orientation/onboardingBenefit administrationDevelopment of HR goals aligned with the organization’s strategy plan

25. Which of the following actions taken by HR Manager Chris is the most ethical?

Deleting low-paying companies from salary survey results of HR positionsNot standing up and voicing displeasure about a discriminatory decision made by a superiorReferring a qualified friend for a vacant position at the companyWorking exclusively with a technical contracting agency for the IT group to qualify for a random prize drawing for customers

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All trademarks, logos and brand names are the property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only. Use of these names, trademarks and brands does not imply endorsement.

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Privacy | Terms |

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