Chapter 5 – People Alignment
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. ____________ involves assuring that the skills and behaviors of employees
within the organization will enable the effective implementation of the
organization’s strategy
a. Business dynamics
b. Human development planning
c. People alignment
d. Job development
e. none of the above
2. In developing required competencies, leaders can select a “____________” or
“____________” approach.
a. make; buy
b. performance; skills
c. performance; make
d. skills; buy
e. none of the above
3. Which statement is correct in regards to developing required competencies through
a “buy” approach?
a. injects the organization with new employees who possess the desired set of
competencies
b. implies developing the needed new set of competencies and behaviors in
current employees
c. assumes that employees are both capable of and motivated to acquire and
utilize new skills and engage in new behaviors
d. Both A and B
e. Both B and C
4. To be part of a change effort, training programs need to contain two components:
a. knowledge and skill development.
b. content and methods.
c. strategic focus and reinforcement.
d. support and skills training.
e. none of the above
5. ___________ training programs focus on behaviors and typically include
role‐playing and feedback.
a. Team
b. Experiential
c. On-the-job
d. Succession
e. Just-in-time
6. Training fade-out is reduced by which of the following factors?
a. supervisory support
b. peer support
c. work conditions
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
7. ______________ is the failure of newly learned behaviors to transfer to on-the-job
experiences.
a. Transfer dysfunction
b. Training failure
c. Training fade-out
d. Performance gap
e. none of the above
8. Feedback is a key opportunity for developing new skills, but it should:
a. move employees towards new behaviors.
b. effectively reinforce existing patterns.
c. be offered in a training setting only.
d. be a part of the formal appraisal process.
e. none of the above
9. ______________ is a formal, regularly scheduled mechanism designed to provide
employees with performance feedback.
a. Informal feedback
b. Performance enhancement training
c. On-the-job development
d. Performance appraisal
e. Group enhancement
10. ______________ uses performance feedback gathered from peers, subordinates,
supervisors, and customers.
a. Formal performance appraisal
b. Informal performance appraisal
c. 360-degree performance appraisal
d. Self-appraisal
e. none of the above
11. ________________ can be described as the process of “getting the right people on
the bus” and “the wrong people off the bus.”
a. Removal and replacement
b. Person-organization
c. People alignment
d. Transport scheduling
e. none of the above
12. ________________a formal process in which top executives regularly review all
managers at or above a certain hierarchical level, looking at both performance and
potential, and devise developmental plans for their most promising individuals.
a. Performance appraisal
b. People alignment
c. Job rotation
d. Succession planning
e. none of the above
13. Person-task fit refers to:
a. when the organization has specific tasks that need to be done, it hires
individuals with the requisite skills.
b. human resource specialists’ work in a structured way to define the key
knowledge, skills and abilities required in the performance of core
organizational tasks.
c. individuals are sought, and often tested, to determine their competency
levels to perform specific tasks.
d. all of the above
e. both A and B
14. Person-organization fit looks:
a. at the current diversity of the organization.
b. beyond specific jobs to the desired future state of the organization.
c. at ways to better match organizational culture to employee desires.
d. both A and B
e. both B and C
15. A ____________ test is self-administered and quantifiable, used in selection.
a. behaviorally anchored
b. simulation
c. standardized
d. valid reflection
e. none of the above
16. Which of the following is correct about the strengths of behavioral simulation?
a. can focus on specific behaviors
b. valid supplement to other screening mechanisms
c. validity increases when multiple interviewers score results
d. focus on actual rather than recounted behaviors
e. both B and C
17. Which of the following is correct about the strengths of paper-and-pencil tests?
a. easy to administer and score
b. inexpensive to use on large scales
c. simple to compare
d. valid job success predictors when used in combination with other
mechanisms
e. all of the above
18. In order to ensure that top management supports strategic renewal:
a. it is always necessary to hire new executive leadership from the outside.
b. existing managers should remain in the job, do well, with large pay
increases.
c. a succession plan process with no required follow-up should be in place.
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
19. A selection tool that uses role plays and behavior demonstrations is called a:
a. paper and pencil test.
b. stress interview.
c. team selection.
d. behavioral simulation.
e. none of the above
20. Patagonia’s statement that “it’s easier to teach dirt bags to do business than it is to
teach businessmen to be dirt bags” reflects what approach to employee selection?
a. behavioral simulation
b. person-organization fit
c. wilderness training
d. competency assessment
21. ____________ is a process in which top executives regularly review all managers
at or above a certain hierarchical level, looking at both performance and potential,
and devise developmental plans for their most promising individuals.
a. Task planning
b. Job planning
c. Policy planning
d. Process planning
e. None of the above
22. The statement of “delayering, increased span of control, matrix, or horizontal
structures—all of these work to develop generalists far earlier in their careers and
place a greater premium on interpersonal competencies” refers to which practices
for developing executives capable of adaptation and leading change?
a. structural and design changes
b. explicit international movement
c. career mazes
d. slower velocity to allow greater learning
e. none of the above
23. The statement of “explicit lateral movements replace rapid upward functional
mobility with a far broader set of experiences” refers to which practices for
developing executives capable of adaptation and leading change?
a. structural and design changes
b. explicit international movement
c. career mazes
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 71
d. slower velocity to allow greater learning
e. none of the above
24. ____________ deals with individuals who cannot or will not develop new
competencies and behaviors.
a. Removal and replacement
b. Career change
c. Training
d. Behavioral replacement
e. none of the above
25. ____________ is a widely shared perception that decisions are being made on the
basis of valid criteria.
a. Engagement
b. Fair process
c. Managerial manipulation
d. Sequential approach
26. In order to accomplish fair process, removal and replacement decisions should be:
a. fair in process.
b. valid in content.
c. appropriate in sequence.
d. timely and accurate.
27. When using removal and replacement as implementation tools in support of
strategic renewal and change, perceived fairness will be enhanced by a sequence
of actions that has already included ___________.
a. a shared diagnosis that has surfaced the relationship between past
behavioral patterns and current performance shortcomings.
b. a redesign process that has identified new patterns of behavior required for
sustained outstanding performance.
c. training and development that have been offered to employees as a way of
gaining and demonstrating required new behaviors.
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
28. Engagement, explanation and expectation clarity are 3 factors that contribute to:
a. removal and replacement.
b. fair process.
c. effective employee selection.
d. mutual engagement.
e. succession planning
29. Questions such as, “Give me an example of a work-related problem that you had to
deal with” or “talk about a recent group experience you had at work and the role
that you played” are examples of which type of interviews?
a. behavioral simulations
b. paper-and-pencil tests
c. behaviorally anchored interviews
d. human interaction tests
e. communication skill tests
30. Dealing with recounted rather than actual behaviors is a weakness of which
technique for person-organization fit screening?
a. behavioral simulation
b. paper-and-pencil test
c. behaviorally anchored interviews
d. human interaction test
e. communication skill test
31. Self-appraisal and data from multiple sources can increase the ____________ and
____________ of performance feedback
a. validity; reliability
b. cost; timeliness
c. validity; effectiveness
d. timeliness; effectiveness
32. Evaluating employees is important because:
a. it provides an assessment of human assets in the firm.
b. it identifies the gap between current and future skill needs.
c. it identifies poor performers and potential leaders.
d. it targets required T&D efforts.
e. all of the above