Chapter 02 – Strategic Training
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Chapter 2
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following is true about a learning organization?
a. A learning organization discourages learning at the group and organizational levels.
b. A learning organization restricts employees from experimenting with products and
services.
c. In a learning organization, employees learn from failure and from successes.
d. In a learning organization, employees are discouraged from asking questions and
admitting mistakes.
2. The strategic training and development process begins with:
a. choosing strategic training and development initiatives.
b. identifying the business strategy.
c. developing websites for knowledge sharing.
d. identifying measures or metrics.
3. The final step of the strategic training and development process involves:
a. choosing strategic training and development initiatives.
b. identifying the business strategy.
c. identifying measures or metrics.
d. creating concrete training and development activities.
4. _____ typically includes information on the customers served, why the company exists,
what the company does, the value received by the customers, and the technology used.
a. Balanced scorecard
b. Vision
c. Mission
d. Code of conduct
5. A SWOT analysis is typically conducted in the _____ step of the strategic training and
development process.
a. business strategy formulation and identification
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b. strategic training and development initiatives
c. training and development activities
d. measures or metrics identification
6. _____ involves examining a company’s operating environment to identify opportunities
and threats.
a. Internal analysis
b. Gap analysis
c. External analysis
d. Pareto analysis
7. Which of the following is true with regard to SWOT analysis?
a. In a SWOT analysis, external analysis attempts to identify the company’s strengths and
weaknesses.
b. A SWOT analysis represents the strategy believed to be the best alternative to achieve
the company goals.
c. A SWOT analysis is typically conducted in the strategic training and development
initiatives identification step of the strategic training and development process.
d. A SWOT analysis provides a company the information needed to generate several
alternative business strategies and make a strategic choice.
8. Business-level outcomes chosen to measure the overall value of training or learning
initiatives are referred to as _____.
a. values
b. goals
c. business strategies
d. metrics
9. The _____ considers four different perspectives: customer, internal, innovation and
learning, and financial.
a. SWOT analysis
b. value chain analysis
c. BCG matrix
d. balanced scorecard
Chapter 02 – Strategic Training
10. Which of the following is true of roles of managers?
a. Line managers spend lesser time managing individual performance and developing
employees than midlevel managers or executives do.
b. Midlevel managers or executives are not involved in planning and allocating resources,
coordinating interdependent groups, and managing change.
c. The roles that managers have in a company do not influence the focus of training
development, and learning activity.
d. Regardless of their level in a company, all managers are expected to serve as
spokespersons to other work units, managers, and vendors.
11. As a marketing agent, the CEO of a company is responsible for:
a. promoting the company’s commitment to learning by advocating it in speeches, annual
reports, interviews, and other public relations tools.
b. serving as a role model for learning for the entire company and demonstrating a
willingness to learn constantly.
c. taking an active role in governing learning, including reviewing goals and objectives
and providing insight on how to measure training effectiveness.
d. developing new learning programs for the company and providing resources online.
12. _____ refers to the company’s decisions regarding where to find employees, how to select
them, and the desired mix of employee skills and statuses.
a. Concentration strategy
b. Staffing strategy
c. External growth strategy
d. Disinvestment strategy
13. Companies that emphasize innovation and creativity are labeled as _____.
a. clubs
b. academies
c. fortresses
d. baseball teams
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14. In _____, financial and other resources are not available for development so companies
tend to rely on hiring talent from the external labor market.
a. clubs
b. fortresses
c. baseball teams
d. academies
15. Uniqueness refers to:
a. the employee potential to improve company effectiveness and efficiency.
b. the extent to which training and learning is centralized in an organization.
c. the extent to which employees are rare and specialized and not highly available in the
labor market.
d. the picture of the future an organization wants to achieve.
16. Job-based employees are characterized by:
a. high value and high uniqueness.
b. high value and low uniqueness.
c. low value and low uniqueness.
d. low value and high uniqueness.
17. Which of the following positions is characterized by high value and low uniqueness?
a. Lab technician
b. Scientist
c. Secretarial staff
d. Legal adviser
18. Companies adopting the _____ strategy need to train employees in job-search skills and to
focus on cross-training remaining employees.
a. concentration
b. disinvestment
c. external growth
d. internal growth
Chapter 02 – Strategic Training
19. A(n) _____ strategy focuses on new market and product development, innovation, and joint
ventures.
a. disinvestment
b. privatization
c. external growth
d. internal growth
20. Development of organizational culture that values creative thinking and analysis is
typically the training implication of the _____ strategy.
a. concentration
b. disinvestment
c. internal growth
d. external growth
21. Which of the following is true of centralized training?
a. Centralized training function helps drive stronger alignment with business strategy.
b. In centralized training, training and development programs, resources, and
professionals are housed in a number of different locations and decisions about training
investment, programs, and delivery methods are made from those departments.
c. A centralized training function hinders the development of a common set of metrics or
scorecards to measure and report rates of quality and delivery.
d. A centralized training function is largely ineffective in assisting companies manage
talent with training and learning during times of change.
22. Which of the following is true of the corporate university model?
a. The model allows a company to gain the advantages of decentralized training.
b. The client group includes stakeholders outside the company.
c. Corporate universities do not facilitate the use of new technology.
d. The model is characterized by five competencies: strategic direction, product
design, structural versatility, product delivery, and accountability for results.
Chapter 02 – Strategic Training
23. Which of the following is true of the business-embedded (BE) model?
a. The BE function is customer-focused.
b. A BE training function views trainees as marketers.
c. A BE training function does not guarantee that training will improve performance.
d. Training functions organized by the BE model does not involve line managers.
24. Seth Mason, a product manager working in a manufacturing firm, is highly anxious about
change. When the top management of Mason’s firm made it mandatory for all product
managers to undergo a series of skills trainings, he told his superior that he would be
uncomfortable with the process. He added that he was certain of not being able to cope
with the new developments. In this instance, Seth Mason is demonstrating _____.
a. indifference to change
b. uniqueness
c. resistance to change
d. loss of control
25. _____ relates change to managers’ and employees’ ability to obtain and distribute valuable
resources such as data, information, or money.
a. Power
b. Control
c. Vision
d. Outsourcing
26. GreenTel, a telecom giant, has been using the service of Orpheus Inc. for training its
employees. According to a deal signed by the two companies, Orpheus Inc. is not only
responsible for training GreenTel’s employees but also for providing comprehensive
administrative services to the telecom giant. In this instance, GreenTel engages in _____.
a. task redefinition
b. internal analysis
c. disinvestment
d. outsourcing
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True/ False
1. Learning organizations emphasize that learning occurs not only at the individual employee
level but also at the group and organizational levels.
a. True
b. False
2. In learning organizations, there is an understanding that failure provides important
information.
a. True
b. False
3. Tacit knowledge developed through experience and shared through interactions between
employees is easy to imitate.
a. True
b. False
4. Companies need to restrict learning to classrooms in order to competently help employees
acquire knowledge and skills.
a. True
b. False
5. Internal analysis involves examining the operating environment to identify opportunities
and threats.
a. True
b. False
6. The strategic training and development initiatives vary by company depending on a
company’s industry, goals, resources, and capabilities.
a. True
b. False
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7. The process of identifying and collecting metrics is unrelated to training evaluation.
a. True
b. False
8. Emphasis on the creation of intellectual capital and the movement toward high-
performance work systems using teams has resulted in employees performing many roles
once reserved for management.
a. True
b. False
9. Skill-based pay systems base employees’ pay rates on what skills they are using for their
current jobs rather than the number of skills they are competent in.
a. True
b. False
10. The CEO of a company is responsible for setting a clear direction for learning.
a. True
b. False
11. Line managers spend lesser time managing individual performance and developing
employees than midlevel managers or executives do.
a. True
b. False
12. In highly integrated businesses, training is likely to include rotating employees between
jobs in different businesses.
a. True
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b. False
13. For companies in an unstable or recessionary business environment, training programs
focus more on correcting skill deficiencies rather than preparing staff for new assignments.
a. True
b. False
14. Companies that adopt state-of-the-art HRM practices that contribute to business strategy
tend to demonstrate no higher level of performance than firms that do not.
a. True
b. False
15. Uniqueness refers to employee potential to improve company effectiveness and efficiency.
a. True
b. False
16. Job-based employees are likely to receive less training than knowledge-based employees.
a. True
b. False
17. Companies must always avoid involving unions in retraining and productivity-
improvement efforts.
a. True
b. False
18. A centralized training function not only hampers the streamlining of processes but also
denies the company a cost advantage in purchasing training from vendors and consultants.
a. True
Chapter 02 – Strategic Training
b. False
19. Business process reengineering refers to the outsourcing of any business process, such as
HRM, production, or training.
a. True
b. False
20. Outsourcing allows a company to focus better on its business strategy by saving both cost
and time.
a. True
b. False
Short Answer/Essay
1. Describe the key features of a learning organization.
Chapter 02 – Strategic Training
2. Define balanced scorecard. What are the four perspectives it considers? Provide examples
of metrics used to measure them.
3. List the various roles and responsibilities of a CEO.
4. Briefly describe the process of creating a corporate university.
Chapter 02 – Strategic Training
5. What is internal marketing? List some successful internal marketing tactics.