SHRM-SCP Competence Questions - Part 3

1. According to Blake-Mouton's behavioral leadership theory, what kind of manager delegates all tasks and does not exercise any authority over the team?

A) Team leader
B) Impoverished manager
C) Task manager
D) Country club manager



2. Navigating the Organization A mentor advises an HR professional new to an organization to spend some time simply observing how people interact. Why?

A) Leaders understand the informal centers of power in an organization.
B) This is the best way to impress others with the HR manager's emotional intelligence.
C) It is the best way to avoid making social?ÿmistakes.
D) It is a good way to learn the formal rules of an organization.



3. An HR director wants resources to purchase new technology. The IT director is an obvious choice for an ally, but the finance director seems very enthusiastic and eager to help. How should the HR director approach this situation?

A) Think more about what the finance director might want from this alliance.
B) Make the argument to management based on the initiative's merit rather than on its internal support.
C) Accept finance's offer of help gratefully, since finance will be providing the necessary budget in the end.
D) Decline the finance director's offer and focus on the IT director.



4. What is the best description of the formal characteristics of an organization?

A) Aspects that have been directly and openly communicated to members
B) How its members interact across hierarchical levels
C) How it divides its work into groups for greater effectiveness and efficiency
D) Unspoken rules about decision making and meetings



5. Refer to the following scenario for the next 4 questions. The HR director of a mid-sized retailer recently has begun participating in the business strategy sessions. The senior leadership team (SLT) has completed their SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis and has identified mobile capabilities as one of the organization's weaknesses. Specifically, they lack a sophisticated web presence. Customers often complain about their experience buying online, particularly via mobile phones. While many searches are initiated on the website, few result in purchases. Currently, the sales department is responsible for mobile sales. However, the sales leader and the sales team are traditional face-to-face salespeople, and developing the website is not their priority. The website is managed by a team that includes a seasoned sales professional who is unfamiliar with technology, a recent college graduate with a computer science degree, and a summer intern who is the child of the CEO. They are doing their best but are not equipped to efficiently create and maintain a mobile-supported website. The HR director recognizes this opportunity to build organizational capability and credibility as a strategic business partner. The HR director recommends to the SLT that HR take responsibility for this issue and return to the next strategy session with recommendations. The CEO welcomes this suggestion and puts 'Building our mobile capability' on the agenda for the following month's session. The day after the meeting, the sales director calls the HR director and says that after a conversation, the CEO has decided that the sales director should take the lead with developing the recommendation on building mobile capability. Which approach should the HR director initially take to clarify accountability for the website?

A) A. Thank the sales director for taking the lead and, after informing her HR team, cross the project off HR's action list.
B) B. Disagree with the sales director and talk to the CEO to request that HR be reinstated as the project lead.
C) C. Meet with the sales director to discuss a possible strategic partnership to develop a strong set of recommendations for the SLT.
D) D. Confront the CEO and state that the decision to have the sales director take the lead is wrong and unfair.