HRM PAST MCQS
Chapter 1 MCQs
The Harvard Business School Model (1984) recognises that different stakeholders’
interests
impact on employee behaviour and organisational cost-effectiveness.
True or false?
2. In Contingency Theory in HRM, sustainable competitive advantage demands a fit
between
organisational structure, a firm’s vision and mission, and internal human resource
management
strategy, policies and practices.
True or false?
3. Which of the following is NOT a part of a firm's immediate external environment?
a. Technological developments
b. Unemployment levels
c. Organizational size
d. Government intervention policies
4. Variations in organisational approaches to HRM are solely determined by the
strategic choice
of the organisation. : True or false?
5. Which of the following are responsible for HRM in an organization?
a. Senior management
b. Line management
c. HR specialist/generalist
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
6. Personnel Management, when compared with Human Resource Management, is
often seen as a
proactive, strategic function in which HRM is integrated into the development of
business unit
strategic planning.
True or false?
Chapter 2 MCQs
1. The term ‘recruitment’ involves:
a. staffing an organisation
b. sourcing candidates to apply for a particular job vacancy
c. the same activities as selection
d. hiring someone for a job
2. A job analysis is:
a. used for performance appraisal purposes
b. a system of controlling the work an employee does for the organisation
c. a detailed break-down of the specific tasks in a particular job and of the skills and
competencies a person needs to have to do that job
d. a competency framework
3. The three types of labour flexibility include:
a. economic flexibility
b. developmental flexibility
c. training flexibility
d. temporal flexibility
4. The flexible firm model:
a. was devised by the human resource planning process
b was devised by Atkinson
c. was devised by the CIPD
Chapter 3 MCQs
1. Employment interviews remain a mainstay of selection for a variety of reasons.
Which of
the following is NOT one of the reasons supporting the continued use of interviews as a
selection method?
a) Interviews can be especially practical when dealing with only a small number of job
applicants
b) Interviews are effective in accomplishing public relations objectives
c) Interviews are the most valid method of selection
d) Interviewers continue to have a great deal of faith and confidence in their selection
judgments
2. Under the terms of the age discrimination legislation, all job advertisements should
be:
a) written in an objective fashion, focusing solely on skills, relevant experience and capacity
to do a job
b) written in a subjective fashion, focusing on skills, minimum years of experience required
and
capacity to do a job
c) written in an objective fashion, focusing on minimum years of experience required and
personality fit for the organisation
d) written in a subjective fashion focusing solely on skills, relevant experience and capacity
to do a job
3. Which of the following selection methods has the highest predictive validity?
a) Astrology
b) Work sample tests
c) Structured interviews
d) References
e) Unstructured interviews
4. An interviewer is very unimpressed by the dishevelled appearance of a candidate,
searches for negative information from this candidate and overlooks any positive
information. This is known as:
a) stereotyping
b) the Contrast effect
c) the Halo effect
d) the Horns effect
5. The short-listing matrix allows an organisation to:
a) generate an applicant pool
b) screen applicants for a job vacancy
c) use psychometric tests
d) None of the above
6. Which of the following methods could NOT be conducted by one person?
a) Assessment centre
b) Psychometric test
c) Unstructured interview
d) Personality test
7. If you were asked to give a presentation as part of a selection process, which of the
following types of selection methods would you be taking part in?
a) Psychometric test
b) Work sample test
c) Intelligence test
d) Structured interview
8. Graphology is widely used as a selection method in the UK. Is this true or false?
a) True
b) False
9. Which of the following selection interview types are commonly used in the selection
process?
a) Situational interviews
b) Behavioural-based interviews
c) Panel interviews
d) All of the above
10. Which of the following statements is true?
a) Graphology is widely used as a selection tool in many European countries and has a high
level
of predictive validity
b) Graphology is widely used as a selection tool in many European countries and has a low
level of predictive validity
c) Graphology is not widely used as a selection tool in many European countries
d) None of the above
11. Which of the following statements best describes an assessment centre?
a) It is a method of collecting information where large groups of candidates are assessed by
a number of assessors
b) It is a method used for assessing all types of employees as it is an inexpensive method
c) It is a location where groups of candidates can be assessed by a number of assessors using
a
range of tests and exercises
d) None of the above
12. Which of the following is NOT a competency-based question?
a) How did you get here today?
b) If you had two deadlines that clashed, how would you choose which 1 to give priority to?
c) Did you use SPSS in your previous role?
d) Can you tell me about a time when you had to resolve a conflict situation at work?
13. The Employment Equality Act prohibits discrimination on a number of grounds.
Which
of the following is NOT one of those grounds?
a) Number of children
b) Marital status
c) Age
d) Sexual orientation
14. The objectivity of an interview can be increased by:
a) being aware of potential interviewer errors
b) structuring interviews to obtain the same information from all candidates
c) having interviews conducted by a panel
d) All of the above
15. Keeping in mind the Employment Equality Legislation, is it permitted to ask the
following question in an employment interview, ‘Are any of your children in school
yet?’
a) Yes
b) No
Chapter 4 MCQs
The main purpose of an induction programme is:
a) to provide new starters with a copy of the employee handbook
b) to provide new starters with information regarding the organisation’s policies and
procedures
around pay, holidays, time in lieu, etc.
c) to ensure that new starters become productive members of the organisations as soon as
possible
d) to ensure new starters know the names of the individuals they will be working with
2. When are new starters most likely to leave an organisation?
a) When the new starter realises the job was over-sold to them at interview
b) When new starter realises they are unable 2 perform at the level required of them
c) When the new starter realises that the organisational culture is different to what they are
used
to and they simply don’t ‘fit’
d) All of the above
3. Which of the following is NOT a phase within The Survival Curve proposed by Hill
and
Trist (1955)?
a) Induction Crisis
b) Adjusted Phase
c) Settled Connection Phase
d) Differential Transit Phase
4. What is an appropriate level of turnover for an organisation?
a) Less than 5% b) Less than 20% c) Less than 30%
b) It depends on the nature of the business and the business model adopted
5. Which of the these factors is NOT a direct cost of calculating the cost of turnover?
a) The cost of re-advertising and recruiting a new employee
b) The cost of overtime and time in lieu for covering for the employee who has left while
awaiting a replacement
c) The cost of undertaking a training needs analysis
d) The cost of re-training a new starter to bring them up to speed to be productive members of
the
team.
6. Garger (1999) advocates a three part strategy to developing a strategic approach to
retention. Which of the following is NOT included as part of this approach?
a) Exit management
b) Recruitment and selection
c) Training and career management
d) Motivation and compensation
7. Financial rewards alone are no longer seen as effective in terms of retaining key
employees. Which of the following is NOT considered important in terms of retaining
key
staff?
a) Non-financial rewards that promote feelings of achievement, ownership and involvement
b) Access to development opportunities
c) Focused and/or tailored non-financial rewards which are valued by the individual
employee
d) Highly structured and bureaucratic work environment
Chapter 6 MCQs
1. Workplace diversity management is reported to have originated where and when?
a) USA, 1960's
b) France, 1980's
c) France, 1960's
d) USA, 1980's
2. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of diversity management?
a) Internally driven based on moral arguments and organisational objectives and aligned with
the
business case for equality
b) Externally driven, based only on legal compliance
c) Focuses on nurturing potential
d) Tends to ignore norm group of the white male
3. Which of the following is NOT a motivator of diversity management
a) Organizational values
b) Legal compliance
c) The business case
d) Downsizing
4. Which of the following is a factor in Appelbaum’s AMO theory of performance?
a) Ability b) Organisation c) Mastery
5. Which of the following are employer benefits, derived from engaging in diversity
management?
a) Improved employee relations
b) Better public image
c) Improved innovation
d) All of the above
6. Which of the following are benefits that accrue to employees when their employer
engages in diversity management?
a) Increased job satisfaction
b) Increased sense of fairness
c) Pride in working for a 'good' employer
d) All of the above
7. Which of the following are costs (financial and otherwise) that are not associated with
implementing a diversity management policy?
a) Increased training costs
b) Decreased costs associated with absenteeism and turnover
c) Decreased workforce productivity
d) Claims of reverse discrimination
8. Which of the following is NOT a phase in implementing a diversity management
plan?
a) Avoid involving a wide variety of stakeholders
b) Achieve buy-in from senior management
c) Implement the diversity vision, whilst identifying and overcoming resistance
d) Evaluate and consolidate
Chapter 7 MCQs
1. Performance management is:
a. about ensuring that the organisation recruits the right people
b. about your favourite sports team winning the competition
c. About getting rid of underperforming staff
d. an on-going activity pertaining to all scenarios where people convene for the purpose of
attaining objectives
2. Using performance review meetings 4 employee reward & development purposes is:
a. good fun
b. an ideal way of getting people to ‘open up’ about their failures
c. a good way of making sure that the employee agrees with the manager.
d. difficult for the manager, who has to be a ‘judge’& ‘counsellor’ at the same meeting
3. The primary purpose of the performance review or appraisal meeting is to:
a. reprimand employees to get improved performance
b. fill in the form and send it back to the HR department
c. give staff their objectives or targets for the period
d. motivate staff for the purpose of improved performance and development
4. During the performance review or appraisal meeting the manager should:
a. never praise or give positive feedback to the employee
b. no all of the talking
c. give appropriate positive feedback to motivate staff
d. threaten staff with dismissal
5. During the performance review or appraisal meeting the manager should:
a. start by telling the employee about their shortcomings
b. get the interviewee to self-review and prescribe for themselves
c. start by telling the employee about their strengths and shortcomings
d. finish by telling the employee about their strengths and\or shortcomings
6. A S.M.A.R.T. objective is one that is:
a. Sensitive, Motivational, Assertive, Rounded and Trackable
b. Super, Mundane, Achievable, Replaceable and Tuned In
c. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound
d. Specific, Measurable, Agreed\Acceptable, Realistic and Time-bound
7. The design of a performance management system should be done by:
a. an external consultant who knows about performance management
b. a working or consultative group that is representative of the system’s user groups
c. the HR department
d. an external consultant who knows the culture of the organisation
8. Coaching is:
a. about winning at all costs
b. the same as mentoring
c. associated with the G. (Grow) R. (Realistic) O. (Ownership) W (Win) model
d. associated with the G. (Goal(s)) R. (Reality) O. (Options) W. (Will) model
Chapter 8 MCQs
1. The key objective of a reward management system is to:
a) pay employees for their contribution to the company
b) motivate staff
c) align employees behaviours with organisational outcomes
d) All of the above
2. Which of the following is an example of non-financial workplace rewards?
a) Employee assistance programmes
b) Share options
c) Job security
d) All of the above
3. Which of the following statements about the link between pay & motivation is
FALSE?
a) Pay acts as a motivation for people in different ways and is individual to each person
b) Maslow believed that pay motivates people throughout their careers
c) Direct and indirect pay motivates employees in the workplace
d) All of the above
4. Which benefit for staff is NOT statutory?
a) Maternity leave
b) Carer’s leave
c) Health insurance
d) Parental leave
5. Ranking and paired comparisons:
a) are non-analytical forms of job evaluation
b) compare whole jobs with whole jobs
c) are easy to use
d) all of the above
6. Designing a point method of job evaluation:
a) is commonly done by organisations
b) requires identifying factors that are present in all organisational jobs
c) is quick and easy
d) all of the above
7. Which of the following sources of pay information is reliable but expensive
a) Job advertisements
b) Social and professional networks
c) Exit interviews
d) Pay club
8. Which of the following environmental factors exert downward pressure on labour
costs?
a) Globalisation
b) Labour market legislation
c) Recession
d) Both a and c
Chapter 9 MCQs
1. Which of the following is true?
a) L&D in organisations is the responsibility of L&D specialists.
b) Employees should have no input when designing L&D activities.
c) Learning is about a change in behaviour that occurs as a result of training, instruction,
experience and reflection.
d) Development activities are solely focused on managers and leaders.
2. Which of the following is NOT a stage in the systematic training model?
a) Identifying L&D needs
b) Participating in an L&D activity
c) Designing L&D activities
d) Evaluating L&D activities
3. Which of the following is NOT a learner-centred L&D method?
a) A case study
b) Role-play
c) A group discussion
d) A lecture
4. Which of the following L&D strategies is both self-directed and work-based?
a) Traditional classroom learning activities
b) Coaching and mentoring
c) e-Learning or technology-assisted learning
d) Sitting by Nellie
5. Which of the following is NOT a factor evaluated at Level 3 of the Kirkpatrick
Model?
a) The extent of application of learning on-the-job
b) The extent to which participants enjoyed the learning event
c) Increased confidence to perform a skill
d) The degree to which the learner has transferred learning to the workplace
6. Which of the following is NOT a component of an organisation’s L&D strategy?
a) A departmental L&D budget
b) A statement of an organisation’s values and philosophy in relation to learning
c) A statement of how L&D activities support business objectives
d) A statement of the expected contributions of organisational stakeholders
7. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of coaching?
a) The coach can be either internal or external to the organisation
b) The coach helps the learner to develop new skills
c) The coaching relationship can be individual or group-focused
d) Coaching takes place in a classroom setting
8. Which of the following are either true or false?
a) Mentors need to be L&D specialists FALSE
b) L&D is for everyone TRUE
c) Strategic business partnering does not focus on operational or tactical issues in
organisations
TRUE
d) Training specialists are not required to understand the politics of the organisation FALSE
Q. 1 Which of the following is a part of a firm's immediate
External environment:
a) Competitive strategy
b) Unemployment levels
c) Workforce characteristics
d) Management values
Q. 2 David Ulrich’s work on the role of HR professionals identifies
‘strategic partner’
as one of the four key roles:
a) True
b) False
Q. 3 The AMO framework can be stated as
P=f(A,M,O) where P=
performance:
a) True
b) False
Q. 4 HRM outcomes as identified in Guest’s model include:
a) Commitment
b) Quality
c) Flexibility
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
Q.5 The Harvard Business School model of HRM (1984) emphasises the
necessity of ‘tight fit’ between HR strategy and business strategy:
a) True
b) False
Q. 6 In studying Resource-Based Theory in HRM a useful framework for
analysis is readily identifiable as which of the following acronyms:
a) OIRV
b) OVIR
c) VIOR
d) VRIO
Q. 7 Which of the following can be identified as some of the key
characteristics of HRM:
a) Focus on adopting a strategic approach, Line managers have control over
HRM strategy, Soft HRM, A Unitarist approach
b) Focus on adopting a strategic approach, Line managers play a predominant
role, Hard HRM, A Unitarist approach
c) Focus on adopting a strategic approach, Line managers have control over
HRM strategy, Soft HRM, A Pluralist approach
d) None of the above
Q 8. One of the benefits of HR Planning is better development of
managerial talent:
a) True
b) False
Q. 9 In Human Resource Planning, when forecasting internal supply, which
of the following indices are used:
a) Labour turnover index
b) Labour stability index
c) Absenteeism index
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
Q. 10 Which of the following is NOT associated with job analysis:
a) Short-listing matrix
b) Person specification
c) Job specification
d) None of the above
Q 11. Peripheral workers are those who hold full-time and permanent
positions in an organisation
a) True
b) False
Q. 12 The Employment Equality Act prohibits discrimination on nine
grounds. Which of the following is
NOT
one of those grounds:
a) Family status
b) Number of children
c) Membership of the travelling community
d) Age
Q. 13 The alternatives to recruiting, to fill a vacancy include:
a) Subcontract the work
b) Mechanise the work
c) Absorb the work
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
Q.14 The disadvantages of using Internal recruitment methods include:
a) This method can act as a demotivator for candidates
b) Can lead to a lack of innovation in the organisation
c) Selecting from a limited field of candidates
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
Q18)Which of the following is not a job design method:
a) Job enrichment
b) Job enlargement
c) Job evaluation
d) Job simplification
Q. 19 Content theories emphasise the thought processes concerning how
and why people chose one action over another in the workplace:
a) True
b) False
Q. 20 In Adam’s equity theory only those with negative inequity are
motivated to change their behaviours and responses:
) True
b) False
Q. 21 Job evaluation takes account of the individual’s performance in the
role:
a) True
b) False
Q. 22 Individual based payment systems include:
a) Piecework Payment
b) Commissions
c) Bonuses
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
Q. 23 Which of the following is NOT a problem often associated with the
introduction of a performance appraisal scheme:
a) The organisation is unclear about the purpose of its appraisal scheme
b) Information is kept secret from the employee
c) The performance appraisal scheme is too objective in the judgements
made
d) The performance appraisal scheme is too subjective in the judgements
made
Q. 24 Management by Objectives involves setting specific measurable goals
with each employee and then periodically reviewing the progress made. This
statement is:
a) True
b) False
Q. 25 The choice of training approach must take account of which of the
following principles:
a) Reinforcement and feedback
b) Meaningfulness of the material
c) Involvement of the learner
Q. 26 According to Honey and Mumford, a pragmatist is someone who:
a) Seeks out new experiences and is open-minded and is enthusiastic about
new things
b) Integrates and adapts observations into logically sound theories
c) Is keen to try new ideas, theories and techniques to see if they work in
practice
d) Collects data in a very thorough way and then analyses it
Q. 27 In learning theory,
Negative Reinforcement
is used in order to
decrease frequency of undesirable behaviour. This statement is:
a) True
b) False
Q28. In Herzberg’s 2 factor theory of motivation, salary is a motivator:
a) True
b) False
Q29 The key benefits of a performance management system are:
a) Effective communication of goals
b) Definition of performance expectations and standards
c) Provision of valuable feedback to motivate and develop employees
d) All of the above
Q.30 How work is organised and designed significantly influences the extent
to which it is seen as satisfying and is therefore a source of motivational
influence on work behaviour:
a) True
b) False
Q40. Which of the following IS a part of a firm's immediate internal
environment:
a) Technological developments
b) Unemployment levels
c) Organizational size
d) Government intervention policies
e) None of the above
Q50. Who is responsible for Human Resource Management in an
organisation:
a) Supervisor
b) Individual
c) Top management team
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
Q51. Which best represents the flow of integrated HR strategy
development:
a) Company Vision and Mission - HR strategy- HR policies and proceduresBusiness strategy
b) Company Vision and Mission - Business strategy- HR strategy- HR policies
and procedures
c) Company Vision and Mission - HR strategy- Business strategy
d) None of the above
Q52. Soft HRM is best represented by which of the following statements:
a) To gain competitive advantage through the workforce, all employee
potential must be nurtured and developed
b) The primacy of business needs means that human resources will be
acquired, deployed and dispensed with as corporate plans demand
Q58. A turnover analysis is calculated as follows:
No of employees with more than 1 yr service
----------------------------------------------------------- X 100 = %
Total number employed 1 year ago
a) True
b) False
Q59. Absenteeism results in increased costs due to:
a) Paying workers for work not done
b) Paying substitute workers
c) Downtime
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
Q61. The Job Analysis process provides us with how many key documents:
a) 2
b) 3
c) 4
Q62. The alternatives to recruiting, to fill a vacancy include:
a) Subcontract the work
the above
Q.68 The Rating Technique in appraising performance at work is best
described as
a) Evaluating the degree to which specific job targets or standards have
been achieved
b) Observing incidence of good and bad performance which are then used as
a basis for judging and assessing or discussing performance
c) Ranking workers from best to worst, based on specific characteristics or
overall job performance