APHR Certification Exam: Comprehensive Questions and Answers for 2024/2025, Exams of Human Resource Management

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What does thriving mean? - ✔✔The ability to adapt and maintain a positive and innovative mindset that leads to sustained personal and professional growth What are the signs of thriving? - ✔✔1. Engaged, energized, and deeply connected

2. Focused on achieving goals
3. Able to quickly adapt and bounce back
4. Maintains a sense of accomplishment What does surviving mean? - ✔✔Continuing to exist with no call to action to improve ones position What is the record keeping requirements for the age discrimination in employment act(ADEA)? - ✔✔Must keep employment records for 3 years What are the signs of surviving? - ✔✔-Choosing the path of least resistance

• reacting than responding
• feeling stuck or simply existing
• lacking resiliency
• Failing to take ownership for your circumstances
• lacking interest, energy, or enthusiasm
• Fearful of change or failure Your personal brand is not...? - ✔✔1.solely based on your social media presence

2. Something to consider occasionally
3. Acting the part

Your personal brand should include what? - ✔✔-social interactions

• verbal and non verbal communications
• attire
• hygiene, etc. What are the key elements of an effective personal brand? - ✔✔-Visibility
• Expertise
• Consistency
• Value Proposition
• Connections
• Authenticity
• your story How to build network? - ✔✔1. Make your presence noticeable

2. Be a good listener
3. Attend online and in person networking events
4. Follow up
5. Never be afraid to ask
6. Give and take Which options are functions of an effective communication strategy that ensures organizational objectives are met? - ✔✔-maintaining good employee relations

• ensuring decisions comply with objectives
• reducing miscommunication
• creating trusting relationships Which statements demonstrate the guiding principles of change management? - ✔✔-leaders at every level are responsible
• taking account of the culture helps to identify personal conflicts

• a sense of ownership prepares leaders for responsibility
• arrangements are developed early and adjusted as necessary
• Regular and timely communication helps everyone to understand the change What are the advantages of using a divisional structure type? - ✔✔-encourages teamwork
• supports hands on problem solving Which actions help hr leaders engage strategically? - ✔✔-Communicating the connections between business issues and HR
• managing your own and others emotions
• understanding how the organization and its environment interact Which options describe transformational roles that help HR leaders implement strategy? - ✔✔- communicating strategic change to help employees understand it
• identifying business opportunities to leverage human capabilities
• creating the capacity to address issues that arise between the business and human capabilities
• enduring working alliances are productive Which scenarios demonstrate issues that should be covered in a code of conduct? - ✔✔-a senior executive uses the company's email to advertise the sale of personal property
• an employee wants to be a member of the organizations board of directors
• A manager is asked to share an employees personal information Which statements demonstrate the guiding principles of change management? - ✔✔-Arrangements are developed early and adjusted as necessary
• a sense of ownership prepares leaders for the responsibility
• taking account of the culture helps to identify potential conflicts
• regular and timely communication helps everyone to understand the change
• leaders at every level are responsible

Which components should be included in a job description? - ✔✔-a list of required qualifications and skills

• An overview of the primary reason for the job
• an explanation of how the position fits within the company
• a prioritized list of relevant responsibilities Which options describe effective management in the key areas for successful vendor relationships? - ✔✔-a team leader practices proper phone etiquette when placing orders with a supplier
• an employee reviews the testing procedures with an outsourced programmer
• a manager helps to resolve a conflict between an employee and a supplier Which examples demonstrate the use of technology to help support HR activities? - ✔✔-facilitating collaboration between workers using social media
• storing records electronically
• unifying technology systems to incorporate all business functions and processes What is a communication strategy? - ✔✔Outlines the manner in which various types of messages move through the organizations ranks How much time should you allow for interruptions during presentations? - ✔✔5 minutes What is the main objective of a communication strategy? - ✔✔Ensure the continuous smooth flow of productivity What are specific functions of an effective communication strategy? - ✔✔-employees know how to receive and extract information based on fact
• employee motivation increases
• employees and management work together to make decisions What are the steps to create a presentation? - ✔✔1. Determine the allotted time

2. Define the purpose of the presentation
3. Identify supporting facts
4. Choose an approach to use What activities describe key transformational roles that help hr leaders implement strategy? - ✔✔- identifying connections between business and human issues

• minimizing the stress of change
• sharing knowledge of the company's human capital
• helping teams function efficiently and productively What actions are examples of leadership capabilities that help them to engage strategically? - ✔✔- communicating connections
• understanding the emotions of others
• recognizing how people impact an entire system What are some characteristics of the human relations theory? - ✔✔-relationship between organizational requirements and individuals
• recognition, security, team
• personal involvement
• inspire and motivate What should be included in a code of conduct? - ✔✔-confidentiality
• conflicts of interest
• organizational assets
• integrity What is the scientific management theory? - ✔✔Productivity could be increased by using performance standards developed through the use of systematic observation and experimentation Who pioneered scientific management? - ✔✔Frederick Winslow taylor

What is the human relations theory? - ✔✔Looked at work from a humanist perspective focusing on what motivates workers both as individuals and as a social system Under which code of conduct would a supplier offering free concert tickets to an employee fall under? - ✔✔Conflict of interest What does SWOT stand for? - ✔✔Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats What does SLEPT stand for? - ✔✔Social, legal, economic, political, technological What do functional organizational structures group employees by? - ✔✔Task What is the simplest and most common type of organizational structure? - ✔✔Functional structure Functional organizational structures work best for? - ✔✔Small organizations or larger organizations with fairly simple requirements operate from 1 location What are some advantages of a functional organizational structure? - ✔✔-encourage communication within individuals and departments

• improve teamwork
• support quick decision making What are some disadvantages of a functional organizational structure? - ✔✔-poor interdepartmental communication
• focus on departmental goals rather than high organization goals What are divisional organizational structures grouped by? - ✔✔Various employees into strictly fine locations such as by location, product, or service

Divisional organizational structures are often used by who? - ✔✔Large organizations What are some advantages to a divisional organizational structure? - ✔✔-provide clear employee accountability

• encourages hands-on problem solving
• focused expertise
• support delegation of responsibility
• encourage teamwork What are some disadvantages of divisional organizational structures? - ✔✔-duplication of effort across divisions
• focus of divisional goals at the expense of overall organizational goals
• potential conflict between divisions over resources What is a matrix organizational structure? - ✔✔Combination of functional and divisional structure; single employee may have 2 supervisors What are some advantages to matrix organizational structure? - ✔✔-potential access to better resources
• improved technology sharing
• better access to shared expertise
• allows for democratic decision making What is a disadvantage of a matrix organizational structure? - ✔✔-employees generally report to more than one manager What do you do when employees are resistant to the change? - ✔✔Address the people's issues What do you do if change leaders are unsure if employees are ready for the change? - ✔✔Take account of the culture

What do you do if employees don't understand the reasons for the change? - ✔✔Communicate the message What do you do if team leaders are stalling on the change? - ✔✔Involve every level of the organization What do you do if managers are passive about the change? - ✔✔Create ownership What are the 3 systems records are kept in? - ✔✔-Manual(filing cabinets)

• Standalone human resource information systems(HRIS)
• integrated payroll and HR systems are most efficient What are the record keeping requirements for the Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA)? - ✔✔Employers must keep HR records including requests for disability accommodations for 1 year OR the date the personnel action was taken whichever is longer What is the record keeping requirements for title VII of the civil rights act of 1964? - ✔✔Employee records must be kept for 1 year but all records related to a discrimination charge should be kept at least until the case is closed What is the record keeping requirements for the equal pay act? - ✔✔Employers must retain employment records including wage payments, job evaluations, merit or seniority systems, and descriptions of wage differentials for both genders for at least 2 years What does the fair labor standards act(FLSA) govern? - ✔✔Wages and hours What is the record keeping requirements for the fair labor standards act(FLSA)? - ✔✔Sets retention period for payroll records, employee agreements, and sales & purchase records for 3 years What are the record keeping requirements for the family and medical leave act(FMLA)? - ✔✔Requires records of leave benefits & policies, dates of leave taken, medical histories of employees or families, and

records of leave disputes to be kept for 3 years separate from other HR files and accessible only to designated company officials What is the record keeping requirements for the immigration reform and control act(IRCA)? - ✔✔Requires form I-9 to be retained through employment and following termination for longer of 3 years from the date of hire OR 1 year after termination date What is the record keeping requirements for the employee retirement income security act(ERISA)? - ✔✔Records of employee welfare and retirement plans must be kept for 6 years What is the record keeping requirements for the occupational safety and health administration(OSHA)? - ✔✔Records of all occupational injuries or illnesses kept for 5 years and records of hazardous material exposure and monitoring as well as the medical exams required by law must be kept for 30 years after termination What is the least expensive employee survey type? - ✔✔Traditional paper based What is the traditional paper based employee survey type? - ✔✔Written employee responses submitted anonymously What are the benefits of a traditional paper based employee survey? - ✔✔Least expensive and can easily distribute to large number of employees What are the benefits of an online employee survey? - ✔✔Can be stored electronically so employees have easy access to it, more cost effective, and can be analyzed more quickly What are focus group employee surveys? - ✔✔Employee surveys conducted by skilled facilitators that involve 6-10 employees where facilitator makes notes of groups overall perceptions & opinions both as groups and individuals which enable them to discover reasons behind certain opinions What are the disadvantages of focus group employee surveys? - ✔✔Time consuming and services of skilled facilitator can be costly

What are interview employee surveys? - ✔✔Surveys similar to focus groups except only involve 2 people at a time(interviewer & interviewee) What are the disadvantages of interview employee surveys? - ✔✔Costly and not suitable for gathering opinions of large number of employees What is a job analysis? - ✔✔Process of determining what types of tasks, qualifications, and working conditions are involved with job; includes important relationships assigned with role What are the 3 key aspects of a job analysis? - ✔✔Knowledge, skills, and abilities What can be created after job analysis? - ✔✔Job description Why do job descriptions normally include? - ✔✔Brief overview of position including job title, how position fits into reporting structure, list of tasks and responsibilities, qualifications and KSAs (Knowledge, Skills, Experience) required and preferred What does KSA stand for? - ✔✔Knowledge, Skills, Abilities What is a cost benefit analysis? - ✔✔Analysis where you identify benefits, translate benefits to dollars, identify costs, estimate hidden costs, calculate net gain/loss, and determine viability(ability to work successfully) What is return on investment? - ✔✔One of the most popular financial measures where different alternatives are considered based on cost and benefits What is the break even point? - ✔✔Approach used to figure out point in time where total revenue is equal to total cost How do you calculate break even point? - ✔✔Total cost divided by total savings times time period ; (total cost/total savings) x time period

What does accounting do? - ✔✔Receivables and payables What does finance do? - ✔✔Pricing and financial modeling What does the income statement show? - ✔✔Profits or losses What does the cash flow statement show? - ✔✔Cash flow over certain period of time What does the balance sheet show? - ✔✔Financial position at specific point in time What are the key areas of concern for managing vendors? - ✔✔Geographic separation, time zones, responsibilities What type of financial analysis is estimating the monetary value of customer satisfaction? - ✔✔Return on investment(ROI) analysis What type of financial analysis is dividing the net profit by total investments-costs and expenditures, and multiplying the result by 100? - ✔✔Return on investment(ROI) analysis How do you calculate the return on investment(ROI)? - ✔✔Divide net profit by total investments-costs and expenditures, and multiply result by 100 How do you calculate break even analysis? - ✔✔Divide total costs by the total savings and multiplying by time increments What type of financial analysis is where you divide total costs by total savings and multiplying by time increments? - ✔✔Break even analysis What type of financial analysis is comparing annual gross profits for a specific period of time? - ✔✔Financial statement analysis

How do you calculate financial statement analysis? - ✔✔Compare annual gross profits for a specific period of time What do you do for cost benefit analysis? - ✔✔Compare gains to expenses What is the order a cost benefit analysis is performed in? - ✔✔1. Identify project benefits

2. Express project benefits
3. Identify project cost factors
4. Estimate project cost factors
5. Calculate the net project gain or loss
6. Decide on projects viability What type of financial statement shows how much profit or loss an organization has made during a specific time period? - ✔✔Income statement What type of financial statement shows cash leaving an organization over a specific time period? - ✔✔Cash flow statement What type of financial statement shows the financial position of an organization at a specific point in time? - ✔✔Balance shet What type of financial statement shows cash coming into an organization over a specific time period? - ✔✔Cash flow statement What is business integration? - ✔✔Process of moving toward unified technology systems that incorporate all business processes and functions What does HRIS stand for? - ✔✔Human Resource Information System

What is the HRIS? - ✔✔Software program that can integrate data from different areas into one database What are the 4 things an HRIS can do? - ✔✔Automate processes, gather and evaluate employee and work information, track engagement and participation, and HR management What can a payroll module from the HRIS(human resource information system) automate? - ✔✔Payment process by gathering data on employee attendance, calculating deductions and taxes, and generating paychecks from employee tax reports What does a time and labor module in the HRIS(human resource information system) do? - ✔✔Gathers and evaluates employee time and work information What is the benefits illustration module in an HRIS(Human resource information system)? - ✔✔Permits HR to administer and track employee participation in benefit programs ranging from insurance and pension plans to profit sharing or stock option plans What type of technology converts and houses all records electronically? - ✔✔E-discovery What type of technology shares information and ideas in a personal and professional level? - ✔✔Social networking What type of technology reduces the need for travel by using teleconferencing? - ✔✔Sustainability What type of technology merges customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning systems? - ✔✔Business integration What type of technology provides customers with immediate information? - ✔✔Social networking What is the typical project management process? - ✔✔1. Clarify issues and gain support

2. Create a plan
3. Implement that plan

4. Oversee, control, and adjust
5. Assess results What is the role of a Gantt chart? - ✔✔Show the relationship between the project tasks, along with time constraints in graph form What is a Gantt chart? - ✔✔A chart with a vertical axis representing activities, a horizontal axis representing time, and a plot area that can also show milestones and other project information What is the role of a project schedule? - ✔✔Breaks down project activities into tasks, with specific timelines and resources associated with each task What is a project schedule? - ✔✔A table compromising information such as project phases, milestones, activities, tasks, and the planned start and end date for each task What is the role of a program evaluation and review technique(PERT)? - ✔✔Identifies all major project events and shows the amount of time needed to complete a project What is a program evaluation and review technique(PERT)? - ✔✔A chart displaying estimated activity times in the form of a critical path What is the role of a critical path method(CPM)? - ✔✔Determines the critical path activities and displays the time and cost required to complete a task What is a critical path method(CPM)? - ✔✔A network diagram, and a table with details of time and cost associated with critical activities Gaining support from senior management, assessing results against stated objectives, communicating and allocating resources, removing barriers to the teams progress, and comparing work progress to a planned schedule are all? - ✔✔Activities included in a typical project management process

What type of project management tool divides project activities into tasks with associated resources? - ✔✔Project schedule What project management tool shows the relationship between project tasks and time constraints? - ✔✔Gantt chart Examining gross profits statements, estimating the money value of qualitative costs, determining whether costs outweighs benefits, and figuring out at which point during a project the revenue equals the cost are all what? - ✔✔Things that demonstrate financial analysis methods used to help program analysis, interpretation, and decision making What type of financial statement shows cash coming into a company over a specific time period? - ✔✔Cash flow statement What is the sequence of steps for performing a cost benefit analysis? - ✔✔1. Find all positive factors that make the project worthwhile

2. Translate all benefits into dollar amounts
3. Consider all obvious factors that add to the project price tag
4. Measure all costs and translate them into dollar amounts l
5. Subtract all costs from all benefits
6. Decide whether project is feasible What type of financial statement shows how much profit or loss a company has made during a specific time period? - ✔✔Income statement What type of financial statement shows cash coming into a firm over a specific time period? - ✔✔Cash flow statement What is a vision statement? - ✔✔A clear image of the company's future What is a mission statement? - ✔✔A statement that identifies the activities the company will pursue and describes managements course for the future and how the vision will be accomplished

What are value statements? - ✔✔Statements that clearly describe what is important to the company and they set the tone for the company's culture & provide guidelines for the employees behavior What does corporate level strategy include? - ✔✔High level and includes the vision, mission, values, and business goals What is functional level strategy? - ✔✔Tactical level; the divisions and departments should all have separate and very distinct strategies in place to support and further corporate strategy What is the formulation strategy for developing organizational strategy? - ✔✔Mission and vision statements are developed and values are identified What must HR understand when it comes to formulation strategy for developing organizational strategy? - ✔✔How the company creates value, how and when to communicate the mission, and how the values drive the policies & processes that were putting in place What is the development phase for developing organizational strategy? - ✔✔Focuses on conducting a SWOT analysis, establish long term goals, and develop corporate and functional strategies What is a SWOT analysis - ✔✔An analysis of internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as the external opportunities & threats that the organization faces How long are long term goals? - ✔✔ 3 - 5 years How long are short term goals? - ✔✔ 6 - 12 months What is the implementation phase for developing organizational strategy? - ✔✔Setting short term goals, developing action plans, assigning resources, and then motivating the employees What is the evaluation phase for developing organizational strategy? - ✔✔Reviewing strategies, measuring performances, and taking any necessary corrective actions

What are the 4 phases for developing organizational strategy? - ✔✔Formulation, development, implementation, and evaluation What is corporate governance? - ✔✔Rules, processes, or laws by which corporations are managed, regulated, and controlled Who are the stakeholders in a corporation? - ✔✔Company's owners of shareholders, board of directors, company management, and other shareholders such as employees Why was the Sarbanes-Oxley Act passed? - ✔✔Because of financial scandals involving senior corporate executives not working in the best interest of corporation and its various stakeholders What did the Sarbanes-Oxley act create? - ✔✔Public Company Accounting Oversight Board(PCAOB) Who is the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board(PCAOB) monitored by? - ✔✔U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) What does the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board(PCAOB) do? - ✔✔Protect investors and general public by setting auditing, ethics, and reporting standards Which organizational functions are common to most organizations? - ✔✔Human Resources, marketing and sales, finance and accounting, and production/operations What are some statements that describe key activities of HR's functional strategy that support the organization's strategic plan? - ✔✔Managing change in the organization; gathering data on skill requirements, retention rates, and personnel productivity to maximize resources and reduce production waste; dealing with compliance issues related to government regulations What are key elements of corporate governance? - ✔✔Compliance with existing corporate laws, prohibited insider training, protection of whistleblowers, and independence of auditors

What are some of the sources of cost advantage? - ✔✔Economies of scale, proprietary processes, technologies, and well negotiated supplier agreements What does cost leadership focus on? - ✔✔Increasing efficiencies and productivity, sharing information across the organization, centralized decision-making, and emphasis on cross-training & job rotation, and continuous process improvements What is differentiation advantage? - ✔✔Advantage by setting the company's product or service apart from other competitors What are some sources of differentiation? - ✔✔Product features, superior quality, refined delivery channel, and/or specific marketing approach What are some focus differentiation strategies? - ✔✔Reducing costs in areas not related to differentiation, supporting strong research and development, excellent marketing and customer service, ongoing product knowledge and quality training for employees, and decentralized decision making What is a business case? - ✔✔A case that establishes and describes a specific organizational problem or challenge and argues that the proposed solution is the best solution What does a business case provide? - ✔✔Evidence to support the proposed solution, as well as its details on the solutions design, implementation, and financial data to allow company leaders to make an informed decision What will a business case include? - ✔✔A statement of the problem that should be concise enough and explain the direct, indirect, and/or potential negative impact on the fulfillment of the company's strategic objectives, and description of potential solutions What should the objectives in a business case address? - ✔✔Concerns of management What is the scope of a business case determined by? - ✔✔Factors like business case drivers, boundaries, deliverables, project teams, and the schedule

What is the benefit of defining the scope of a business case before its developed? - ✔✔Allows for the needed resources to be identified and helps in setting managements expectations What are the 4 phases to corporate citizenship program? - ✔✔1. Reactive philanthropy

2. Strategic contributions
3. Mainstream involvement
4. Corporate responsibility What is reactive philanthropy in a corporate citizenship program? - ✔✔Company makes a number of small donations to charities & often based on requests or recommendations of people on the leadership team What is strategic contributions for corporate citizenship program? - ✔✔Donations are formally managed & focused on a more limited scope where it's more relevant to the company and its values & goal is to enhance company's reputation in the community What is mainstream involvement in the corporate citizenship program? - ✔✔Community involvement is more closely linked to immediate business matters; external reputation and internal goodwill are key factors; donations are not limited to money What are the key factors in a mainstream involvement for corporate citizenship program? - ✔✔External reputation and internal goodwill What are other donations that can be involved in mainstream involvement under corporate citizenship program? - ✔✔Donations of products or services, paid volunteer time for employees, and encouraging or requiring company leaders to sit on charitable boards What is corporate accountability in the corporate citizenship program? - ✔✔Organization clearly reports on all corporate citizenship policies & practices, and employs independent verification through process called social auditing Which phase in the corporate citizenship program is the one that few companies reach? - ✔✔Corporate accountability

What does a business case development identify? - ✔✔Resources and sets management expectations How the company will be just and fair from a corporate citizens perspective is what business concept? - ✔✔Corporate social responsibility What business concept is when a company produces products at a lower cost? - ✔✔Competitive advantage What is the definition of laws? - ✔✔Actions passed by congress, state legislatures, or local government, such as those in cities and counties What are regulations? - ✔✔Rules made regulatory agencies regarding how to comply with laws that were passed by the legislature Describe legislation - ✔✔-Bill proposed in a legislative body for consideration to be enacted into a law

• broad and general in nature
• anyone can draft a bill
• can only be introduced(sponsored) by a member of Congress Describe regulation - ✔✔-rule/order issued by a government agency
• specific details regarding how legislation is enforced
• enforced by an agency
• developed by an agency, often with input from experts and the public Who can introduce a bill or resolution? - ✔✔Only a member of Congress How many steps are there for turning bill into law? - ✔✔ 13

What are the steps for turning bill into a law? - ✔✔1. Referral to committee

2. Committee actions
3. Subcommittee review
4. Mark up
5. Committee action to report a bill
6. Publication of written report
7. Scheduling of floor action
8. Debate
9. Voting
10. Referral to the other chamber
11. Conference committee action
12. Final actions
13. Veto is overridden When a bill reaches a committee, it can be referred to who? - ✔✔A subcommittee or placed on the committees calendar to be considered by the committee as a whole The notice of proposed rule is published and public reviews are conducted during what process? - ✔✔Federal rule making process An agency develops a draft of the proposed rule, which is approved at the highest level of the agency is part of what process? - ✔✔Federal rule making process The final draft of the proposed rule is developed and sent to the office management and budget(OMB) for review is part of what process? - ✔✔Federal rule making process Liaise with units to support corporate strategy for skills development, plan Human Resources needs, and deal with safety compliance issues are all what? - ✔✔Activities that demonstrate how the HR function contributes to organizational strategy

What functional areas are common to most organizations? - ✔✔Information systems, production/operations, Human Resources, marketing, and finance What are the first 4 steps for passing a bill in Congress? - ✔✔1. Bill is numbered and referred to a committee

2. Bill is carefully examined by a committee
3. A subcommittee listens to the views of experts, officials, supporters, and opponents of the bill
4. A subcommittee makes necessary amendments and recommends the bill to a full committee What are steps 7-12 in turning bill into a law? - ✔✔7. Bill is scheduled for debate by full body of house or senate
5. Bill is debated at the floor of the house or senate
6. Bill is voted on by full body of house or senate
7. Once passed by one chamber of Congress the bill goes to the other chamber
8. Differences between two chambers about a bill are reconciled by a conference committee
9. A bill passed by both house and senate is sent to the president for approval What is strategic planning? - ✔✔Organization wide long term planning that helps the organization focus on how to achieve its goals in the future Strategic planning involves what 3 basic questions? - ✔✔1. Where is the organization now?
10. Where does it want to go from here?
11. How will it get there? What are the benefits of strategic planning? - ✔✔-links the goals and activities of the organizational functions with the single purpose of organizational success

• helps to identify organizational opportunities and capitalize on internal strengths
• encourages forward thinking, decisions aligned with organizational goals, and successful change management

What are the 4 stages of the strategic planning process? - ✔✔1. Strategy formulation

2. Strategy development
3. Strategy implementation
4. Strategy evaluation What is strategy formulation in the strategic planning process? - ✔✔1st stage where the organizations vision and mission statements are developed, and the organizations values are defined What is strategy development in the strategic strategy planning process? - ✔✔Second stage that requires a thorough analysis of factors found inside and outside the organization What is strategy implementation in the strategic planning process? - ✔✔3rd stage where short term goals are set, action plans are created, resources are allocated to the various business units & activities, and jobs are defined for employees What is strategy evaluation in the strategic planning process? - ✔✔4th stage that involves the assessment and evaluation of strategies and performance, and any modifications needed to ensure the achievement of organizational goals What is environmental scanning? - ✔✔Considering the factors that will influence the direction and goals of the organization Develop performance management systems, identify and reduce the impact of risks to the organization, develop recruitment retention plans, and lead and participate in change management are all what? - ✔✔Statements that describe actions you can take as an HR professional to align the HR function with the strategic plan What is the organization life cycle? - ✔✔Model that shows how organizations move through fairly predictable sequence of evolutionary changes What are the 4 stages of the organizational life cycle? - ✔✔Startup, growth, maturity, and decline

What are the elements of organizational structure? - ✔✔Specialization of work, departmentalization, centralization, degree of formalization, chain of command, and span of control What type of organizational structure is most common and works well with small organizations or large organizations with simple operations, and single location operations? - ✔✔Functional organizational structure What is the functional organizational structure? - ✔✔Where employees grouped by task or function such as HR, IT, Marketing, finance, etc. What are divisional group structures? - ✔✔Group various employees into strictly defined divisions such as by location, product line or service; involves narrow span of control & low degree staff division What is matrix organizational structure? - ✔✔Combines both aspects of functional and divisional structure to gain benefits of both which results in dual chain of command where some employees report to 2 different managers from 2 different departments with neither manager having superior authority What is centralization decision making? - ✔✔Decision making restricted to higher levels of management Centralization decision making is recommended when? - ✔✔Conflicting goals and strategies exist, economies of scale require it, and/or organization wide policies/compliance are necessary What is decentralization decision making? - ✔✔Decision making authority is provided to lower levels of the organizations Decentralization decision making is recommended when? - ✔✔-operating units perform distinctly different activities

• operating units require little to no need for collaboration
• operating units perform competently
• operating units require quick decision making

Describe flat organizations when it comes to span of control - ✔✔-wide span of control

• many employees report to a supervisor
• employees are skilled or work and supervision is simple
• employees generally interact directly with supervisors Describe tall(hierarchical) organizations when it comes to span of control - ✔✔-narrow span of control
• fewer employees report to a supervisor
• tasks are complex or employees are poorly trained or inexperienced What is a cost benefit analysis? - ✔✔An analysis that compares costs versus benefits, used for decision making, includes all identifiable costs and benefits, and works well if relevant costs and benefits are quantifiable and have a common unit of measurement What is step 1 in the cost benefit analysis? - ✔✔List & add all costs What are some common costs categories under a cost benefit analysis? - ✔✔Direct, indirect, opportunity, and intangible costs What are direct costs? - ✔✔Obvious and easily identifiable costs such as cost of machinery, equipment, materials, and labor What are indirect costs? - ✔✔Costs not identified directly with particular activities based on estimating or prorating certain resources such as a portion of property, maintenance, or overall admin costs What are opportunity costs? - ✔✔Net benefits that are sacrificed by not choosing another competitive alternative such as opportunity to invest What are intangible costs? - ✔✔Decision to outsource one or more admin functions which may result in the loss of control or security risks What is step 2 of the cost benefit analysis? - ✔✔List & add all benefits