INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT CALCUTTA

EPBM-VI,VII
END TERM EXAMINATION.2007
HRM
Please try to remember the topics discussed in the class, before you attempt to answer these questions. It is an easy test, and
has been designed to reiterate certain ground level understanding of the subject.
Closed book examination
60 minutes
50 objective questions
Each question carries 2 marks
1.

The three interlinked dimensions of a strategic HRM, as depicted in the triangular diagram, is:
a. HR strategy Internal context External context
b. HR strategy Internal context/External context Business strategy
c. HR strategy vision and mission Business strategy
d. HR strategy vision and mission philosophy and values

2.

Measurable/observable results of the behaviour of the job holder exhibited is ____ (how well are resources being used);
whereas the ultimate impact of the job holders on the results of their teams/dept and their overall contribution to
achieving the objectives of the organisation is ---------------- (how well are goals being achieved)

3.

In the case Microsoft: Competing on the talent, in the initial stages, there is a observation that the model followed of
having smaller and smaller teams, coupled with exceedingly individualistic and macho culture, lead to limited cross unit
coordination. Thus, most did not share anything, or use any of each others code. The model was _ __________ but not
_____________. (Answer clue: Refer the last question)
From the case Microsoft: Competing on the talent, we come to the conclusion that vision of a company is:
a. An eternal truth
b. Can change according to changing context
Employment: nature of relationship between individual and firm has components that make it different from other
contractual relationship. The four dimensions are:
a. ___________
b. Legal
c. Social
d. Psychological
Increasingly, employment contract is defined as a psychological contract that is shaped by the social and economic
context, leadership, communication and HR practices. Certain things are liable to create dissonance in this delicate
balance between employee and employers. Which one/s?
a. Managing expectations
b. Communication through different voices
c. Anticipated exchange of value not happening
d. All four

4.
5.

6.

7.

The following are accountable to higher level for work unit results, and dependent on the efforts of subordinates and
other team members to make this happen:
a. Line managers
b. Middle managers
c. Senior managers

8.

Management could be defined as:

a. Science
b. Practice
c. Control
d. __________

9.

At any given moment, a consummate manager will be practicing all above dimensions of management (refer Q 8);
though given the situation, any one dimension will overshadow others.
True or False

10. In the class, it was discussed that each HR strategy represents a distinctive HR paradigm, or a set of beliefs,
assumptions and values that guide the managers. The following are the four:
a. Commitment
b. Collaboration
c. Paternalistic
d. Traditional
True or False

11. Peter Drucker, in his article (refer the given reading material) finds three defining characteristics of knowledge
technologists; there is one extra observation here. Which one?
a. Their work is based on substantial amount of theoretical knowledge which can be acquired only through formal
education, not through apprenticeship.
b. Their job requires putting formal knowledge to work.
c. Continual updation of knowledge throughout their working lives to keep it current for their work.
d. Application of thinking power during production process/service delivery.
12. In the same article, certain statements were made about knowledge technologists. Which one is not true, as per the
article.
a. They are, collectively, the new capitalists
b. They own the means of production
c. They need access to an organization a collective that brings together an array of them and applies their
specialisms to a common end product
d. They therefore see themselves as employees, and not as professionals.
13. In this type of organization, there are core group of workers with critical jobs, outside consultants performing key jobs,
and part-time workers. What is the correct name that defines this type of organization? This idea is also described in the
article Learning Excellence: Southwest Airlines Approach.
a. Shamrock (three petal)
b. Virtual
c. Up-side down
d. Confederation
14. Strategy for the acquisition, utilisation, improvement and preservation of human resources is known as:
a. Human Resources Planning
b. Manpower Planning
15. Selection is a process of gathering and assessing information about candidates, and ultimately, making decisions about
their being taken into the organization. Any selection process looks for two things: individual differences and __
__________
16. One is bothered about four types of matches while taking a person on board. Which one is correct?
i.
Matching competencies: Person - job role fit
ii.
Matching value system: Person culture fit
iii.
Matching need: Person his need
iv.
Matching image: Person his image of the organisation
a.
b.
c.
d.

All four
First three
First two and fourth
First, third and fourth

17. What does a star performer looks like in a specific setting? This statement is used to capture a very important term in
todays HR practices. It is known as ______________. It could also be defined as an underlying characteristic of a
person that results in effective or superior performance. (Mansfield, 1999)
18. People generally confuse between two terms; one that is the correct answer for question 12, and another term that is
defined as what people have to know and be able to do (knowledge and skills) to carry out their roles effectively. This
term is known as _______________.
19. A good selection method should succeed in following three criteria:
a. Reliability
b. Validity
c. ___________
20. Microsoft, in 1994, set about identifying core skills, capabilities and values that were dear to old timers and those at the
top, but less visible to new comers or those deeper in the organization. Ultimately, in this competency model, six
success factors were freezed. These were:
a. Taking a long term approach to people and technology
b. Getting results
c. Individual excellence
d. A passion for products and technology
e. Customer feedback
f. ___________________

21. From these, 29 individual competencies were developed that became the tool kit for: (strike out the one which is not
true)
a. Performance review process
b. Recruitment interviews
c. Career development sessions
d. Learning and Development
e. Reward Management
22. Which is not the true statement:
a. Job is a collection of tasks drawn together for completion by a person.
b. Role is a part that an employee is expected to play in an organisation.
c. In a job definition, the tasks are fixed and the ways of doing it are prescribed.
d. Role profile defines the outputs that role holders are expected to deliver in terms of key result areas or
accountabilities.
23. Which is the true statement:
a. Job keeps changing in a dynamic environment but role remains.
b. Job and role both keeps changing in a dynamic environment
c. Role keeps changing in the dynamic environment
24. Microsoft started off with recruiting smart people. Eventually, it became the acronym for performance objectives of its
people. This also is the hallmark for any good performance management system:
a. S: Specific
b. _________
c. A: Attainable
d. R: Results Based
e. T: Time Bound
25.

The case Microsoft: Competing on talent calls the companys semi annual reviews, part of its performance
management system (PMS), as the disease model of management. It was called so as the opportunity was used not
to tarnish each other but to learn from mistakes. Now, according to you, which of the following statement are not likely to
be true.
a. PMS is central to a set of interrelated activities, which together can be linked to the goals and direction of an
organisation
b. PMS never has conflict inherent in its content.
c. PMS helps to clarify mutual expectations.
d. PMS can be one of the best employee development tool in a organisation.

26.

Framework for the design of any performance appraisal mechanism has to take into account two variables, while
defining performance:
a. Ability to measure outputs
b. Knowledge of the transformation process (of input to output)
True or False

27. Counselling is an integral part of a good performance management system. There are three parts of counselling. These
are:
a. Communication
b. Helping
c. ______________________
28. Microsoft followed a reward strategy in its early years that helped it in two ways: (a) it could get top end talent even
though it paid salaries that were around 50 percentile (or less in early years) compared to industry average. (b) it
conserved cash for growth. This was providing employees with ________.
29.

In the case Every Employee an owner (Really)?, which is the true statement?
a. The old guard in the management were openly critical about the scheme of employee ownership.
b. The old guard in the management were not critical about the scheme of employee ownership.

30. From the case Every Employee an owner (Really)?, one can come to the conclusion that reward strategy has to take
into account:
a. context of particular management system and philosophy
b. tailored to particular work situations and internal and external contexts
c. a system of trust operating
d. the messages sent by the reward system aligned to other management practices
e. what does people value with regard to pay and benefit
f. universal acceptance by the work force

From the information provided in the case, we can state that the following is true:
a. the reward strategy failed on all six counts
b. the company patently failed in getting all workforce to accept the new reward structure
c. the reward strategy failed due to reasons cited in (b), (c), (d)
31. In the case cited above, the following statement is not a likely reason for the failure of ESOPs:
a. In a big organization like UA, employees cannot see link between their effort and companys results.
b. Free rider problem.
c. More interest in short term benefit at the expense of investment in future growth and profitability.
d. Employees understood the meaning of ownership, and were eager to own responsibilities and downsides (risks)
of being an owner, as evinced by the rise and fall of share prices on the bourses.
32. Microsoft has a long tradition of promoting people who were in charge of failed projects. It basically means learning
through experience; as they say in Microsoft, If you fire the person who failed, you are throwing away the learning. In
the case, and otherwise, this type of learning initiative is known as ______________ learning.
33. _____________ is a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience. It aims at
internalising and not acquiring facts.
34. In 1990s, Microsoft decided to put on more effort on leadership and management development programme as one of
the constraint being faced by them was lack of sufficient capable managers and leaders. In this context, which is not the
true statement.
a. Leaders are capable of clearing obstacles, making decisions quickly and defining clear goals
b. Capable managers are needed to be able to make technology vs marketability decisions
c. Microsoft only recruited freshers or people with limited experience and got them to grow with the company
35. In the case Microsoft: Competing on the talent, we see two different type of growth opportunities:
a. Advancement through promotions vertical growth
b. Development through switching roles every 2 or 2.5 years - ____________
36. In South West Airlines, there is a University for People. Which among the following is not a true statement?
a. Every new employee undergoes a standardized training programme.
b. A space shuttle pilot also had to undertake a six week long pilots training course.
c. Training is seen as a motivational tool.
d. Training is used to help employees develop contacts with each other, that strengthen fellow feeling.
e. Employees are not sent for refamiliarisation training of companys culture, mission statement and corporate
identity, as these are imprinted in the companys philosophy, policies and practices.
37. _________________________refers broadly to an organisations acquisition of understanding, know how, techniques
and practices of any kind and by any means (Argyris, 1996) whereas _________________ refers to one where people
continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are
nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together.
(Senge, 1990)
38.

The case of Microsoft provides a powerful example of learning programmes, by which the employees learn from
guidance, pragmatic advice and continuing support of other employees, most likely seniors. This process is known as
_________________.

39. In the case of Ulaganath Madan, it was discussed that the company tried out Ulga on a job profile with wider canvass by
appointing him Sales and Commercial Manager at Mumbai. The company was hoping that Ulga will learn on the job.
This type of learning theory is known as _ __________ learning.
40. Organisations can be conceptualised as entities that are keen on bettering themselves. How they do it is driven by their
management philosophies, practices, response to customers, people policies etc. McDonalds was seen as an example
of following type of organisation:
a. Knowing b. Understanding c. Thinking d . Learning
41. The knowledge and understanding embedded in an organisation's people, processes and products or services, along
with its traditions and values is known as _____________________.
42.

Succinctly put, a knowledge management process tries to capture what has been described in last question. Now, a
good knowledge management has four sub processes:
a.
creating, finding and collecting knowledge;
b.
connecting and sharing it;
c.
applying and using it; and
d.
memorising and _________ from it.

43. There are two approaches to knowledge management, that was discussed in the class, with examples of management
consultancy firms. These are:
a. The _______________ strategy
b. The personalization strategy
44. In the case Blackman-Dodds, Dr Richard Dodds, physics research worker was looking into a new opportunity. On his
part, it was a deliberate process for (1) becoming aware of self, opportunities, constraints, choices and consequences;
(2) identifying career related goals; (3) programming of work, education, and related developmental experiences to
provide the direction, timing, and sequence of steps to attain specific career goal. We may call this as
________________ on his part. Most of you are also on this course, because of similar reasons.
45. In the above case, we discussed about three different career development interventions for people like Dodd:
a. To build career resilience
b. To build career insight
c. To build career _ __________
46.

We have discussed that today, most professional lives outlive the companies in which they work. Hence, there is a
breakdown in traditional psychological contract that harped on employment and progression through the working life of
an individual. In the changed scenario of today, the psychological contract provides importance to employment and ___
_______________.

47. The effectiveness of Human Resources Management initiatives in an organization is a matter of debate. Many donot
see that the function as providing value. However, the example of Microsoft and South West Airlines is contrary to this.
What is missing is a way of measuring the effectiveness. We have discussed one model of capturing the effectiveness in
quantifiable terms (HCCS). The model needs loads of data. How is it best collected?
a. Company annual report
b. Company annual report and other financial and market related data available
c. Employee surveys
d. Employee surveys and variety of information available about the functions of the HR.
e. All of these.
48. Which of the reading materials/case talk about management-employee relations?
a. Microsoft: Competing on talent
b. Blackman-Dodds
c. Learning excellence: Southwest Airlines approach
d. Every Employee an owner (Really?)
e. Ulaganath Madan
49. In the article, The Next Society, Peter Drucker argues that the coming society will be a knowledge society, and lists its
three characteristics. These are:
a. _____________, because knowledge travels even more effortlessly than money
b. Upward mobility, available to everyone through easily acquired formal education
c. The potential for failure as well as success.
50. In the same article, Peter Drucker talks about the shape of business and ways of managing it. Specifically, he talks
about:
a. The future corporation: its new forms
b. People policies: as the nature and type of people who are working has undergone a drastic change
c. Outside information: information about the business ecosystem
d. _ ________: organised abandonment of things that have been shown to be unsuccessful, and the organised and
continuous improvement of every product, service and process within the enterprise.