Assignment 2
Arrange the initial steps involved in the creation of a corporate university in the correct order of occurrence. (Place the first step at the top.)
1. A governing body is created with the responsibility of developing a vision for the university. 2. The vision statement is linked to the business strategy. 3. The company determines how to fund the university. 4. The company decides the degree to which all training will be centralized. 5. The requirements of university customers are identified.
External growth strategy
Acquiring business that can supply or buy products
Identify the examples of metrics used to measure training success. (Check all that apply.)
Customer service Employee retention
True or false: The roles that employees have in a company do not influence the focus of training, development, and learning activity.
False
True or false: There are no direct links between training and business strategy and goals.
False
External growth strategy
Focuses on acquiring vendors and suppliers or buying businesses that facilitate expansion into new markets
Concentration strategy
Focuses on enhancing market share, limiting costs, or developing and maintaining a market niche for products and services
Disinvestment strategy
Focuses on liquidation and divestiture of businesses
Vision
Image of what the company wants to achieve in the future
Identify a feature of a learning function that is business-embedded.
It decides when and how to deliver training based on customer requirements.
Which of the following is true about a learning organization?
It emphasizes that learning occurs at both the group and organizational levels.
Identify a true statement about business strategy.
It is a plan that assimilates a company's goals, policies, and actions.
TechLite IT, an IT consulting firm, outlines its business strategy and creates a new mission statement. It plans to ensure that its business strategy is supported by training. Identify a feature of the business-embedded learning function started by TechLite IT.
It provides customized training solutions based on customer needs.
Identify a true statement about companies in an unstable or recessionary business environment—one characterized by mergers, acquisitions, or disinvestment of businesses.
Training may be abandoned or restricted to the decision of the manager.
True or false: In today's world, employees are expected by companies to initiate the training process.
True
True or false: Training can contribute to achieving different business goals.
True
Before implementation of a new training or development practice, trainers should consider _____.
how they can increase the chances of its acceptance
Unlike training in large firms, most training in small firms is usually _____.
informal and on-the-job rather than formal and structured
To ensure that a company's training program is used well, it should _____.
involve managers, employees, and specialized development staff in the training process
Unions' interest in training has resulted in _____.
joint union-management programs developed to facilitate preparation of employees for new jobs
Strategic training and development initiatives are _____.
learning-related actions that a company should follow to ensure it accomplishes its business strategy
Corporate universities can provide significant advantages for a company's learning efforts by _____.
limiting costs and maximizing the benefits of learning
In today's world, employees' work include _____.
performing many roles once limited to management
As firms grow in size there is a greater need to _____.
provide current employees with more formalized training and development
The CEO, the top manager in a company, is responsible for _____.
teaching programs or providing resources online
Identify the human resource management practices that influence the type of training and the resources devoted to training. (Check all that apply.)
Staffing strategy The strategic value of jobs and employee uniqueness
Values
Statement of what the company stands for
The employee potential to improve company effectiveness and efficiency is referred to as _____.
Strategic value
Internal growth strategy
Expanding global market
Which of the following components of an organization interact in the process of change in the organization? (Check all that apply.)
Employees Task Informal organization Formal organizational arrangements
Identify the conditions necessary for changes to occur in a company. (Check all that apply.)
Employees must recognize the reasons for change and agree with those reasons. Organizational structures, such as compensation and performance management systems, must facilitate the change.
Concentration strategy
Enhancing product quality
For companies with global operations, training is utilized to prepare employees for _____.
temporary or long-term overseas assignments
When companies begin retraining and productivity-improvement efforts without involving unions, _____.
the efforts are likely to fail
The extent to which employees are rare and specialized and not highly available in the labor market is referred to as _____.
uniqueness
Which of the following are the roles of the CEO of a company? (Check all that apply.)
Establishing a clear direction for learning Participating actively in government of learning
practices include management activities dealing with investments in staffing, performance management, training, and compensation and benefits. (Enter one word in each blank.)
Human resource management
Internal growth strategy
Focuses on new market and product development, innovation, and joint ventures
_____ involves generating employees' and managers' interest about training and learning.
Internal marketing
External analysis
Involves evaluating the operating environment to identify opportunities and threats
Identify the key features of a learning organization. (Check all that apply.)
Knowledge creation, distribution, sharing, and implementation are practiced. Innovation, risk-taking, and exploration by employees are encouraged.
Which of the following is a successful internal marketing tactic for creating a brand?
Demonstrating how a training and development program can solve specific business needs
Global Vision Inc., a retail chain, plans to expand to locations in foreign countries. It plans to train its employees based in different locations. Which of the following strategies would be helpful in achieving this goal?
Developing a standard global learning approach that is locally appropriate
Identify an implication of the emphasis on learning for human capital development in an organization.
Learning has to be related to aiding the employee enhance performance.
are business-level results selected to measure the overall value of training or learning initiatives.
Metrics
Disinvestment strategy
Reshaping goals
Identify a true statement about strategic training and development initiatives.
They differ by company depending on a company's industry, objectives, resources, and capabilities.
Identify a reason why companies outsource training.
Time savings that allows a company to focus on business strategy
The outsourcing of any business process, such as human resources management, production, or training, is referred to as
business process outsourcing
A(n) _____ learning function is characterized on the basis of five competencies: strategic direction, product design, structural versatility, product delivery, and accountability for results.
business-embedded
The second component in developing or changing a business strategy is the _____, which are what a company hopes to accomplish in the medium to long term.
company goals
The first component in creating a new business strategy or changing an existing one is the _____, which is a statement of a company's purpose of existence.
company mission
A _____ comprises employees, managers, and stakeholders outside the company, including community colleges, universities, high schools, and grade schools.
corporate university
An advantage of a centralized training function is that it _____.
gives a company a cost advantage in purchasing training from vendors and consultants
The third and fourth components in developing or changing a business strategy, external and internal analysis, together form what is called a(n)
SWOT analysis
Internal analysis
Attempts to determine the strength and weaknesses of a company
How does a company determine whether training and development activities actually contribute to the business strategy and goals?
By identifying and collecting metrics
_____ means that training and development programs, resources, and professionals are primarily housed in a single location and that decisions about training investment, programs, and delivery methods are made from that department.
Centralized training
Which of the following are implications of learning for companies? (Check all that apply.)
Companies need to promote learning and help employees find ways to obtain learning on the job. Companies need to support informal learning that develops through mentoring, social networks, and job experiences.
When unemployment is low and/or businesses are growing at a high rate and require more employees, companies often find it difficult to _____.
attract new employees
Arrange the steps involved in the creation of a corporate university that follow the development of products and services in the correct order of occurrence. (Place the first step at the top.)
1. The company selects learning partners, including suppliers, consultants, and companies specializing in education. 2. The company designs a strategy for using technology to train more employees. 3. Learning that occurs as a result of the corporate university is linked to performance improvement. 4. The value of the corporate university is communicated to potential customers.