Business Acumen
Gross Profit Margin
Ratio of gross profit to net sales.
Net profit margin
Ratio of net income (gross sales minus expenses and taxes) to net sales.
Value
The benefit created when an organization meets its strategic goals; measure of usefulness, worth, or importance.
Value Chain
The process by which an organization creates the product or service it offers to the customer.
How is Porter's "Five Forces" framework used in developing strategies? To identify internal strengths and weaknesses To understand competitive factors that influence the strategy To assess the strength of various competitors To determine the cost-effectiveness of strategic initiatives
To understand competitive factors that influence the strategy
What form of budgeting uses the prior year's budget as the basis for the next budget? Activity-based budgeting Zero-based budgeting Formula budgeting Incremental budgeting
Incremental budgeting
A small company is in the start-up phase of the organizational life cycle. The owner has been hiring talent and compensating employees at high levels but not offering a benefits package. As the organization grows and more employees are hired, the owner is being pressured to implement a benefits package in addition to direct compensation. The owner is not knowledgeable about benefits and has made the decision to hire an HR generalist to handle benefits and other HR functions. The HR generalist's first priority is to make recommendations about a benefits package that will attract and retain top talent while being fiscally responsible. The growth plan for the organization is to grow globally and engage in a global recruitment, selection, and hiring strategy. The HR generalist needs to create a total compensation package that will be relevant in all locations globally. A new employee is hired who is not married but who has a domestic partner. Currently, the organization's health insurance covers spouses but not domestic partners. The new employee has requested that the partner be covered through the organization's health insurance. How should the HR generalist handle the request? A. Audit the current policy for fairness and present a business case to the owner to change the rule. B. Allow the employee to add the domestic partner to the health insurance; enroll the partner as a spouse. C. Contact the insurance company and change the policy to allow domestic partners to be covered. D. Tell the employee to contact the insurance company since HR can't do anything about it.
A. Audit the current policy for fairness and present a business case to the owner to change the rule.
A nonprofit social services organization has experienced rapid growth and is expanding services into new markets. The number of social service professionals in the organization has doubled in two years. At the same time, performance and service quality assessments are showing quality regression as the organization expands. The CEO and the executive committee are worried about the decline in performance and service quality levels. They suspect the issue is due to the quality of new hires and/or a lack of incentive among employees. Until recently, the organization has been managing HR functions with a small team of two employees. However, leadership has approved the hire of an experienced HR manager to improve HR processes in hopes to reverse the downward trend of performance and service quality. The new HR manager begins to tackle the issue by conducting an internal analysis to diagnose the root causes of the service quality decline. The analysis uncovers several critical problem areas to be addressed, including vague job descriptions, a lack of formal orientation, low base pay, an ineffective performance review program, and the lack of a recognition and awards program. The required changes identified by the HR manager will require additional resources and significant financial investment. One of the members of the executive committee proposes that it is best to terminate all current employees and start over with new ones who are better qualified, with the belief that starting from scratch would be cheaper than fixing the problems as they stand now. How should the HR manager respond to the executive who proposes to terminate current employees and start over by hiring new employees? A. Demonstrate the projected costs for the proposed solution, including costs related to building a new workforce vs. training the existing workforce. B. Agree with the executive committee member and immediately begin to prepare severance agreements to terminate the impacted employees. C. Explain that the organization will not be able to afford the best-qualified candidates in the marketplace because they are not affordable. D. Respectfully disagree with the executive committee member and ask that a supportive executive have a talk with the member.
A. Demonstrate the projected costs for the proposed solution, including costs related to building a new workforce vs. training the existing workforce.
The annual loss ratio for a company's health plan is a staggering 158%. The head of HR has been asked by the CEO to propose changes to the plan that will lower costs while retaining as many of the current benefits as possible. An actuarial review reveals that the riders for dental and prescription drug coverage account for 84% of the plan's claims and that three employees in a workforce of 91 account for 73% of the claims. After reviewing a series of benefit options, the head of HR decides that the best option is a plan that doubles the deductibles on the dental and prescription benefits while also lowering the maximum reimbursement coverage by 25%. She makes a presentation outlining this suggestion to the company's executive committee. After a brief discussion of the rationale and the merits, the chief operating officer mentions that the company should announce the plan's changes to employees immediately. The head of HR responds that doing so would risk defeating the purpose of the changes. Without further discussion, the executive committee proceeds to vote and accepts the changes to become effective upon plan renewal the following month. Two months after the introduction of the new plan, it is discovered that two employees made bulk prescription purchases (a six-month supply) one week prior to the changes in the benefit plan going into effect. This seems a peculiar coincidence, and the head of HR suspects a leak of confidential information. Why should the company remain with the benefit provider? A. If benefit entitlements remain similar, finding and using a new benefit provider would not address the root cause as measured by the loss ratio. B. A request for proposal to find a new benefit provider can take several months to finalize and may not provide a comparable plan at a cheaper rate. C. It is unlikely that another benefit provider would accept the company's business without a thorough analysis of the previous year's use rates. D. To ensure a minimum break-even, any new insurance provider will quote and charge at a rate that is equal to or more than that of the previous provider.
A. If benefit entitlements remain similar, finding and using a new benefit provider would not address the root cause as measured by the loss ratio.
The annual loss ratio for a company's health plan is a staggering 158%. The head of HR has been asked by the CEO to propose changes to the plan that will lower costs while retaining as many of the current benefits as possible. An actuarial review reveals that the riders for dental and prescription drug coverage account for 84% of the plan's claims and that three employees in a workforce of 91 account for 73% of the claims. After reviewing a series of benefit options, the head of HR decides that the best option is a plan that doubles the deductibles on the dental and prescription benefits while also lowering the maximum reimbursement coverage by 25%. She makes a presentation outlining this suggestion to the company's executive committee. After a brief discussion of the rationale and the merits, the chief operating officer mentions that the company should announce the plan's changes to employees immediately. The head of HR responds that doing so would risk defeating the purpose of the changes. Without further discussion, the executive committee proceeds to vote and accepts the changes to become effective upon plan renewal the following month. Two months after the introduction of the new plan, it is discovered that two employees made bulk prescription purchases (a six-month supply) one week prior to the changes in the benefit plan going into effect. This seems a peculiar coincidence, and the head of HR suspects a leak of confidential information. Why would announcing any plan changes to employees in this way be problematic? A. Incentivizing use just prior to a change could increase the loss ratio even further, requiring even more funding adjustments to make the plan sustainable. B. The plan's normal renewal date must be allowed to transpire in order to verify, without bias, that yearly use rates are in fact occurring naturally. C. The terms and conditions of a benefit provider require a blackout period to avoid insider information about the change being leaked. D. It would be inappropriate to announce any pending policy changes until they become official and are implemented.
A. Incentivizing use just prior to a change could increase the loss ratio even further, requiring even more funding adjustments to make the plan sustainable.
A nonprofit social services organization has experienced rapid growth and is expanding services into new markets. The number of social service professionals in the organization has doubled in two years. At the same time, performance and service quality assessments are showing quality regression as the organization expands. The CEO and the executive committee are worried about the decline in performance and service quality levels. They suspect the issue is due to the quality of new hires and/or a lack of incentive among employees. Until recently, the organization has been managing HR functions with a small team of two employees. However, leadership has approved the hire of an experienced HR manager to improve HR processes in hopes to reverse the downward trend of performance and service quality. The new HR manager begins to tackle the issue by conducting an internal analysis to diagnose the root causes of the service quality decline. The analysis uncovers several critical problem areas to be addressed, including vague job descriptions, a lack of formal orientation, low base pay, an ineffective performance review program, and the lack of a recognition and awards program. The required changes identified by the HR manager will require additional resources and significant financial investment. One of the members of the executive committee proposes that it is best to terminate all current employees and start over with new ones who are better qualified, with the belief that starting from scratch would be cheaper than fixing the problems as they stand now. The HR manager needs to define key metrics to show the return on investment for the proposed HR solutions. Which of the following would be the most critical indicator? A. Quality of service B. Turnover rate C. Ratio of HR to employee D. Training completion rates
A. Quality of service
An HR specialist prepares a business case to support an initiative. The case includes descriptions of the project's goals, benefits, method, budget, and time line. Which information is required to complete the business case? Endorsements from organization stakeholders Detailed description of the methodology that will be used Analysis of the initiative's possible risks Communication plan the project team will use
Analysis of the initiative's possible risks
A small company is in the start-up phase of the organizational life cycle. The owner has been hiring talent and compensating employees at high levels but not offering a benefits package. As the organization grows and more employees are hired, the owner is being pressured to implement a benefits package in addition to direct compensation. The owner is not knowledgeable about benefits and has made the decision to hire an HR generalist to handle benefits and other HR functions. The HR generalist's first priority is to make recommendations about a benefits package that will attract and retain top talent while being fiscally responsible. The growth plan for the organization is to grow globally and engage in a global recruitment, selection, and hiring strategy. The HR generalist needs to create a total compensation package that will be relevant in all locations globally. The benefits package was implemented 12 months ago, and the HR generalist has been asked by the owner to provide feedback regarding the success of the package. What is the first step in providing this feedback? A. Compare the rate of turnover this year to prior years. B. Conduct a gap analysis and a utilization review. C. Tell the owner that it is too soon to provide feedback. D. Conduct a survey of the employees to obtain feedback on the benefits package.
B. Conduct a gap analysis and a utilization review.
Business Intelligence
Ability to use information to gain a deeper understanding of an organization and make sound business decisions.
What budgeting method is based on how much it costs to perform different enterprise activities and allocates funding according to the strategic significance of the activities? Activity-based Formula Zero-based Incremental
Activity-based
Which best demonstrates the outcome of zero-based budgeting in regard to HR's budget? The budget will have no growth. Balances for ongoing projects from previous periods will be carried over. All new projects will be postponed immediately. All expenditures will need to be justified when building the budget.
All expenditures will need to be justified when building the budget.
Equity
Amount of owners' or shareholders' portion of a business.
A nonprofit social services organization has experienced rapid growth and is expanding services into new markets. The number of social service professionals in the organization has doubled in two years. At the same time, performance and service quality assessments are showing quality regression as the organization expands. The CEO and the executive committee are worried about the decline in performance and service quality levels. They suspect the issue is due to the quality of new hires and/or a lack of incentive among employees. Until recently, the organization has been managing HR functions with a small team of two employees. However, leadership has approved the hire of an experienced HR manager to improve HR processes in hopes to reverse the downward trend of performance and service quality. The new HR manager begins to tackle the issue by conducting an internal analysis to diagnose the root causes of the service quality decline. The analysis uncovers several critical problem areas to be addressed, including vague job descriptions, a lack of formal orientation, low base pay, an ineffective performance review program, and the lack of a recognition and awards program. The required changes identified by the HR manager will require additional resources and significant financial investment. One of the members of the executive committee proposes that it is best to terminate all current employees and start over with new ones who are better qualified, with the belief that starting from scratch would be cheaper than fixing the problems as they stand now. What action should the HR manager take in order to ensure that employees understand what is expected of them and how the new performance management system will work? A. Host a meeting when the new program is ready to be implemented in order to educate all the supervisors. B. Conduct a communication campaign that includes ongoing communications for all employees and training for supervisors to reinforce with their direct reports. C. Create a web page with details about the performance management program available to employees once the new program is ready to roll out. D. E-mail all employees to inform them to chat with their supervisor about the company changes or to talk to HR about any questions.
B. Conduct a communication campaign that includes ongoing communications for all employees and training for supervisors to reinforce with their direct reports.
A clothing retail company with three locations in a popular beach resort area has been in business for over three years. There are two similar retailers in the same beach town competing for the same customers and labor pool. Recently the company has had extensive growth due to a new clothing design. Despite the growth in sales, their turnover is high. Employees do not stay longer than 90 days, as the competition is enticing sales staff away. Turnover is now affecting their customer satisfaction and increasing the workload on the remaining staff. Most of the management staff started as sales floor employees and received little to no management training. One of the key criteria used in promoting staff is their success on the sales floor, leading to complaints of internal selection unfairness. Recent exit interviews suggest low morale, poor leadership, and lack of work/life balance as the top three reasons for leaving the company. Knowing that there are plans to launch two new product lines in the near future, the CEO has asked the HR director to search and find a new supplier to provide new employee orientation for all new sales staff. Twenty companies have submitted requests for proposals, and the CEO wants a short list to be presented in the next two days. Based on the current turnover and lack of management training, what should the HR director do first as part of a needs analysis? A. Facilitate management focus groups to evaluate the company's compensation, rewards, and incentive programs. B. Conduct a job analysis for all management positions to ensure that job descriptions and specifications are appropriate. C. Analyze exit interviews from managers who have left recently to determine why they are leaving. D. Review customer satisfaction results and use these to guide the development of the training curriculum.
B. Conduct a job analysis for all management positions to ensure that job descriptions and specifications are appropriate.
A renowned financial institution, a former leader in the financial market, is now facing decelerated growth. Its product portfolio lacks innovation compared to that of competitors. Although the institution was once a favorite place to work, recently HR has been facing issues attracting top talent, and time-to-hire metrics have deteriorated. A technology gap between the leadership and the employees is beginning to widen. The founder, who is very sales-oriented, is not an early adopter when it comes to technology. Since his client relationships all began with face-to-face contact, he is wary that technology removes the personal element. To create a more collaborative culture and social learning environment, the HR talent development lead (TDL) wants to foster a culture of learning and innovation. This will require a change in corporate culture and a significant investment in new technology. Despite a recent upgrade, the learning management system (LMS) still feels outdated, sluggish, and static. The TDL believes that a new LMS with more powerful social learning technologies will be critical for attracting and retaining top talent, capturing the attention of a broader and rapidly changing demographic, and meeting their demands. The workforce is around 40% Millennials, compared with 10% just five years ago. How can the TDL ensure that the LMS is consistently and widely used and supports the cost of investment? A. Contract with an LMS vendor to set up a hotline to answer all questions related to information seeking and sharing with the new technology. B. Create an effective communication plan so employees are aware of the benefits the new LMS offers and implement incentives for using the LMS. C. Do nothing and assume that the LMS will eventually be consistently and widely used since it has so many benefits. D. Require IT department employees to field calls and answer all questions from other employees on a rotating basis.
B. Create an effective communication plan so employees are aware of the benefits the new LMS offers and implement incentives for using the LMS.
A small company is in the start-up phase of the organizational life cycle. The owner has been hiring talent and compensating employees at high levels but not offering a benefits package. As the organization grows and more employees are hired, the owner is being pressured to implement a benefits package in addition to direct compensation. The owner is not knowledgeable about benefits and has made the decision to hire an HR generalist to handle benefits and other HR functions. The HR generalist's first priority is to make recommendations about a benefits package that will attract and retain top talent while being fiscally responsible. The growth plan for the organization is to grow globally and engage in a global recruitment, selection, and hiring strategy. The HR generalist needs to create a total compensation package that will be relevant in all locations globally. The HR generalist is charged with recommending a benefits package that will attract and retain talent. How should he begin the process? A. Contract with a third-party benefits administration company to identify and implement a benefits package. B. Gather data through a needs assessment to identify what benefits are needed and match them to the overall organizational strategy. C. Survey all employees in the company and, based on their responses, implement and secure benefits plans to meet majority needs. D. Set up employee task force groups to develop outlines of the employee benefit plans most desired by the workforce.
B. Gather data through a needs assessment to identify what benefits are needed and match them to the overall organizational strategy.
An HR data analyst uses internal and external data and translates it into meaningful information to support an operations decision to relocate a distribution center to another state. What term best describes the data analyst's activity? Business intelligence Regression analysis Delphi technique Root cause analysis
Business intelligence
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Business management software, usually a suite of integrated applications, that a company can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from many business activities.
A renowned financial institution, a former leader in the financial market, is now facing decelerated growth. Its product portfolio lacks innovation compared to that of competitors. Although the institution was once a favorite place to work, recently HR has been facing issues attracting top talent, and time-to-hire metrics have deteriorated. A technology gap between the leadership and the employees is beginning to widen. The founder, who is very sales-oriented, is not an early adopter when it comes to technology. Since his client relationships all began with face-to-face contact, he is wary that technology removes the personal element. To create a more collaborative culture and social learning environment, the HR talent development lead (TDL) wants to foster a culture of learning and innovation. This will require a change in corporate culture and a significant investment in new technology. Despite a recent upgrade, the learning management system (LMS) still feels outdated, sluggish, and static. The TDL believes that a new LMS with more powerful social learning technologies will be critical for attracting and retaining top talent, capturing the attention of a broader and rapidly changing demographic, and meeting their demands. The workforce is around 40% Millennials, compared with 10% just five years ago. The TDL understands that cross-functional collaboration will be required to sort out the features needed to support the organization's learning management system. What is the best way to organize the right cross-functional team? A. Contact analogous organizations and implement the exact features they are using. B. Ask the senior leaders who they would like to see on the cross-functional team. C. Assemble a team including senior functional leaders and younger managers with an interest in diversity and innovation. D. To save time, limit the team to tech-savvy employees who already understand LMS trends and applications.
C. Assemble a team including senior functional leaders and younger managers with an interest in diversity and innovation.
A clothing retail company with three locations in a popular beach resort area has been in business for over three years. There are two similar retailers in the same beach town competing for the same customers and labor pool. Recently the company has had extensive growth due to a new clothing design. Despite the growth in sales, their turnover is high. Employees do not stay longer than 90 days, as the competition is enticing sales staff away. Turnover is now affecting their customer satisfaction and increasing the workload on the remaining staff. Most of the management staff started as sales floor employees and received little to no management training. One of the key criteria used in promoting staff is their success on the sales floor, leading to complaints of internal selection unfairness. Recent exit interviews suggest low morale, poor leadership, and lack of work/life balance as the top three reasons for leaving the company. Knowing that there are plans to launch two new product lines in the near future, the CEO has asked the HR director to search and find a new supplier to provide new employee orientation for all new sales staff. Twenty companies have submitted requests for proposals, and the CEO wants a short list to be presented in the next two days. What steps should the HR director take to develop a short list of possible training vendors? A. Conduct an online search of the best training companies and send the resulting list to the CEO. B. Rank the companies in regard to their prices and present the five lowest bids, as cost is an issue. C. Determine, with the CEO, key criteria that should be considered, using this information to narrow the search. D. Ask for input on the short list from another employee who has done this type of training before.
C. Determine, with the CEO, key criteria that should be considered, using this information to narrow the search.
A nonprofit social services organization has experienced rapid growth and is expanding services into new markets. The number of social service professionals in the organization has doubled in two years. At the same time, performance and service quality assessments are showing quality regression as the organization expands. The CEO and the executive committee are worried about the decline in performance and service quality levels. They suspect the issue is due to the quality of new hires and/or a lack of incentive among employees. Until recently, the organization has been managing HR functions with a small team of two employees. However, leadership has approved the hire of an experienced HR manager to improve HR processes in hopes to reverse the downward trend of performance and service quality. The new HR manager begins to tackle the issue by conducting an internal analysis to diagnose the root causes of the service quality decline. The analysis uncovers several critical problem areas to be addressed, including vague job descriptions, a lack of formal orientation, low base pay, an ineffective performance review program, and the lack of a recognition and awards program. The required changes identified by the HR manager will require additional resources and significant financial investment. One of the members of the executive committee proposes that it is best to terminate all current employees and start over with new ones who are better qualified, with the belief that starting from scratch would be cheaper than fixing the problems as they stand now. The HR manager has identified several HR problems that need to be solved. What should the HR manager do first? A. Conduct a job analysis to develop revised job descriptions that outline the work and necessary qualifications. B. Procure training programs specific to social service workers and implement them immediately to ensure that all workers have the needed skills. C. Develop and propose a talent management strategy to hire and train qualified staff, establish performance expectations, and reward high-performing employees. D. In order to be transparent, share the findings with all employees to determine next steps and an immediate action plan.
C. Develop and propose a talent management strategy to hire and train qualified staff, establish performance expectations, and reward high-performing employees.
A clothing retail company with three locations in a popular beach resort area has been in business for over three years. There are two similar retailers in the same beach town competing for the same customers and labor pool. Recently the company has had extensive growth due to a new clothing design. Despite the growth in sales, their turnover is high. Employees do not stay longer than 90 days, as the competition is enticing sales staff away. Turnover is now affecting their customer satisfaction and increasing the workload on the remaining staff. Most of the management staff started as sales floor employees and received little to no management training. One of the key criteria used in promoting staff is their success on the sales floor, leading to complaints of internal selection unfairness. Recent exit interviews suggest low morale, poor leadership, and lack of work/life balance as the top three reasons for leaving the company. Knowing that there are plans to launch two new product lines in the near future, the CEO has asked the HR director to search and find a new supplier to provide new employee orientation for all new sales staff. Twenty companies have submitted requests for proposals, and the CEO wants a short list to be presented in the next two days. An applicant from a local competitor has offered to give the HR director information on the previous employer's salary and benefits upon hire. What action should the HR director take in response to this offer? A. Use this information to help create a strategy to reduce turnover to other companies. B. Decline the candidate; however, offer compensation in exchange for the information. C. Do not hire the candidate, indicating that the company does not participate in unethical behavior. D. Ask for the information to create a more robust retention strategy once the person is hired.
C. Do not hire the candidate, indicating that the company does not participate in unethical behavior.
The annual loss ratio for a company's health plan is a staggering 158%. The head of HR has been asked by the CEO to propose changes to the plan that will lower costs while retaining as many of the current benefits as possible. An actuarial review reveals that the riders for dental and prescription drug coverage account for 84% of the plan's claims and that three employees in a workforce of 91 account for 73% of the claims. After reviewing a series of benefit options, the head of HR decides that the best option is a plan that doubles the deductibles on the dental and prescription benefits while also lowering the maximum reimbursement coverage by 25%. She makes a presentation outlining this suggestion to the company's executive committee. After a brief discussion of the rationale and the merits, the chief operating officer mentions that the company should announce the plan's changes to employees immediately. The head of HR responds that doing so would risk defeating the purpose of the changes. Without further discussion, the executive committee proceeds to vote and accepts the changes to become effective upon plan renewal the following month. Two months after the introduction of the new plan, it is discovered that two employees made bulk prescription purchases (a six-month supply) one week prior to the changes in the benefit plan going into effect. This seems a peculiar coincidence, and the head of HR suspects a leak of confidential information. What is the first step the head of HR should take to handle the suspected leak of confidential information? A. Suspend the chief operating officer for leaking confidential information about a pending policy change. B. Because there is no proof that a leak occurred, no action can be taken accusing employees at any level of leaking confidential information. C. HR should confidentially interview the employees who used the benefits just prior to the changes to assess their rationale. D. Ask the executive committee to hold an emergency meeting to investigate who leaked the information about the benefit plan changes.
C. HR should confidentially interview the employees who used the benefits just prior to the changes to assess their rationale.
The annual loss ratio for a company's health plan is a staggering 158%. The head of HR has been asked by the CEO to propose changes to the plan that will lower costs while retaining as many of the current benefits as possible. An actuarial review reveals that the riders for dental and prescription drug coverage account for 84% of the plan's claims and that three employees in a workforce of 91 account for 73% of the claims. After reviewing a series of benefit options, the head of HR decides that the best option is a plan that doubles the deductibles on the dental and prescription benefits while also lowering the maximum reimbursement coverage by 25%. She makes a presentation outlining this suggestion to the company's executive committee. After a brief discussion of the rationale and the merits, the chief operating officer mentions that the company should announce the plan's changes to employees immediately. The head of HR responds that doing so would risk defeating the purpose of the changes. Without further discussion, the executive committee proceeds to vote and accepts the changes to become effective upon plan renewal the following month. Two months after the introduction of the new plan, it is discovered that two employees made bulk prescription purchases (a six-month supply) one week prior to the changes in the benefit plan going into effect. This seems a peculiar coincidence, and the head of HR suspects a leak of confidential information. How should the company react to the employees who are using the benefits excessively? A. Confidentially meet with the employees responsible and advise them that their use was the main reason why the plan had to change for everyone. B. In order to avoid conflict, nothing should be done; the plan should be changed and no reason should be given to the employees. C. Wait until the plan changes are in effect and then hold a company-wide meeting using aggregated data to explain why the changes are necessary. D. Issue disciplinary action to those employees who have used the benefits in excess of normal use.
C. Wait until the plan changes are in effect and then hold a company-wide meeting using aggregated data to explain why the changes are necessary.
Which is the most appropriate use of online analytical processing? Calculating the employee promotion rate to determine a leadership training program's success over the past five years Calculating the employee turnover rate to determine employee satisfaction with company culture Calculating a company's use of leave to determine the effective value of its leave policy over the past five years Using predictive analytics to determine how successful new candidates will be in their first five years on the job
Calculating a company's use of leave to determine the effective value of its leave policy over the past five years
A small company is in the start-up phase of the organizational life cycle. The owner has been hiring talent and compensating employees at high levels but not offering a benefits package. As the organization grows and more employees are hired, the owner is being pressured to implement a benefits package in addition to direct compensation. The owner is not knowledgeable about benefits and has made the decision to hire an HR generalist to handle benefits and other HR functions. The HR generalist's first priority is to make recommendations about a benefits package that will attract and retain top talent while being fiscally responsible. The growth plan for the organization is to grow globally and engage in a global recruitment, selection, and hiring strategy. The HR generalist needs to create a total compensation package that will be relevant in all locations globally. The HR generalist has conducted an employee survey asking questions about the types of benefits employees want. The survey results indicate that employees are seeking ways to balance their work life with their home life. How should the HR generalist handle this feedback? A. Review external surveys to determine the types of work/life benefits other organizations offer. B. Because this is an internal survey, no one is expecting any action to be taken, but it is good for the company to solicit input. C. Recognize that these types of benefits are appreciated by employees, but a growing organization cannot afford them. D. Align offered benefits with the organizational strategy, culture, and employee desires.
D. Align offered benefits with the organizational strategy, culture, and employee desires.
A clothing retail company with three locations in a popular beach resort area has been in business for over three years. There are two similar retailers in the same beach town competing for the same customers and labor pool. Recently the company has had extensive growth due to a new clothing design. Despite the growth in sales, their turnover is high. Employees do not stay longer than 90 days, as the competition is enticing sales staff away. Turnover is now affecting their customer satisfaction and increasing the workload on the remaining staff. Most of the management staff started as sales floor employees and received little to no management training. One of the key criteria used in promoting staff is their success on the sales floor, leading to complaints of internal selection unfairness. Recent exit interviews suggest low morale, poor leadership, and lack of work/life balance as the top three reasons for leaving the company. Knowing that there are plans to launch two new product lines in the near future, the CEO has asked the HR director to search and find a new supplier to provide new employee orientation for all new sales staff. Twenty companies have submitted requests for proposals, and the CEO wants a short list to be presented in the next two days. What action should the HR director take first to create a robust workforce plan that addresses the expected organizational growth? A. Ensure that all recruiters are well trained in sourcing and selecting qualified applicants for a retail sales organization. B. Review environmental conditions in regard to expected tourists and expected sales growth, and calculate the number of employees needed. C. Review internal turnover, promotions, and transfer data to calculate the number of employees needed to meet future staffing needs. D. Analyze current labor trends along with internal staffing metrics to ensure appropriate staffing levels to meet expected organizational growth.
D. Analyze current labor trends along with internal staffing metrics to ensure appropriate staffing levels to meet expected organizational growth.
What type of analytical task would be best served by online analytical processing (OLAP)? Identifying how many employees have quit in each functional area Exploring the types of variables that may be affecting attendance rates Trying to establish a declining trend in the use of a wellness program Proving the cost-effectiveness of purchasing an HR application
Exploring the types of variables that may be affecting attendance rates
A renowned financial institution, a former leader in the financial market, is now facing decelerated growth. Its product portfolio lacks innovation compared to that of competitors. Although the institution was once a favorite place to work, recently HR has been facing issues attracting top talent, and time-to-hire metrics have deteriorated. A technology gap between the leadership and the employees is beginning to widen. The founder, who is very sales-oriented, is not an early adopter when it comes to technology. Since his client relationships all began with face-to-face contact, he is wary that technology removes the personal element. To create a more collaborative culture and social learning environment, the HR talent development lead (TDL) wants to foster a culture of learning and innovation. This will require a change in corporate culture and a significant investment in new technology. Despite a recent upgrade, the learning management system (LMS) still feels outdated, sluggish, and static. The TDL believes that a new LMS with more powerful social learning technologies will be critical for attracting and retaining top talent, capturing the attention of a broader and rapidly changing demographic, and meeting their demands. The workforce is around 40% Millennials, compared with 10% just five years ago. The TDL knows that championing creativity and innovation in a risk-averse industry is a challenge because this behavior is usually not promoted or rewarded. How should the talent development lead position the proposed LMS to gain leadership commitment for investing in this new technology? A. Survey the founder and senior leaders to gather their thoughts and feelings about how the LMS should support operations. B. Task the Millennial leaders with researching LMS capabilities and trends and preparing a presentation for the founder, leaders, and stakeholders. C. Implement the new LMS and, after usage data is gathered, then demonstrate its benefits. D. Show how the LMS can effectively use technology, trends, and innovations to support the organizational strategy.
D. Show how the LMS can effectively use technology, trends, and innovations to support the organizational strategy.
Marketing and IT are collaborating on a new system that will allow customer service representatives to access and change customer accounts directly (for example, to create sales credits). Which action should HR take to create value for this effort? Performing quality control testing before release Facilitating process training for all users Creating of project charter for the team Identifying at what points users need account access
Facilitating process training for all users
Assets
Financial, physical, and sometimes intangible properties an organization owns.
In a value chain, which business function is likely to be closest to the customer? Research and development Fulfillment Operations Marketing and sales
Fulfillment
A company has reached a point of stability in its internal processes and ways of doing business. What stage of the life cycle characterizes this company? Decline Maturity Growth Introduction
Maturity
Accounts payable
Money an organization owes its vendors and suppliers.
Accounts Receivable
Money an organization's customers owe the organization.
HR and talent management ask a talent acquisition specialist to provide an analysis that explores hiring and turnover trends across demographics, performance levels, and promotion histories. Which is the best tool to obtain this information? Online analytical processing (OLAP) Employee personnel file Knowledge management system HRIS
Online analytical processing (OLAP)
Liabilities
Organization's debts and other financial obligations.
Business Case
Presentation to management that establishes that a specific problem exists and argues for a proposed solution.
Online analytical processing (OLAP)
Processing applications that store data in a multidimensional "cube," which enables users to analyze data quickly in a variety of different ways.
Which approach to offsetting a downturn is often used by companies in the decline phase of their life cycle? Building teams Reducing costs Emphasizing training Introducing product extensions
Reducing costs
What is the key benefit of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system over function-based stand-alone systems? User-customized data interfaces for greater security Greater analytical power and capabilities Shared, current database for all departments Forecasting capabilities to run planning scenarios
Shared, current database for all departments
Cash flow statement
Statement of an organization's ability to meet its current and short-term obligations, showing incoming and outgoing cash and cash reserves in operations, investments, and financing.
Balance Sheet
Statement of an organization's financial position at a specific point in time, showing assets, liabilities, and shareholder equity.
Income Statement
Statement that reports revenues, expenses, and profits for a specified period of time, for example, quarterly or annually.
What is the best description of an information system portal? User-customized search engine Screen area in which data can be entered into the system User's point of access to system data and applications Organization's access to the Internet
User's point of access to system data and applications
How are the concepts of value and the value chain related to strategy? Value chain analysis identifies areas critical to strategic success. The value chain defines what is important for the organization's stakeholders. Value points to economic metrics that can be used to measure strategic success. These concepts relate primarily to for-profit enterprises.
Value chain analysis identifies areas critical to strategic success.
What is the most accurate characterization of business value? Value may be different in different organizations. It is determined by external stakeholders and experts. It is a concern for leaders more than employees. It is measured by financial performance.
Value may be different in different organizations.
Which budgeting method is being used by a manager who begins with no allocated budget and must justify allocations based on how the function will contribute to the organization's strategic goals? Incremental budgeting Capital budgeting Zero-based budgeting Formula-based budgeting
Zero-based budgeting
