NPTEL Online Certification Courses

Indian Institute of Technology

Kharagpur

Human Resource Development

Assignment- Week 2
TYPE OF QUESTION: MCQ

Number of questions: 15 Total mark: 15 X 1 = 15

MCQ Question

QUESTION 1:

HRD is an integration of psychological, economic, and which of the following, according to

Swanson and Holton?

a. political
b. philosophical
c. system
d. All of these

Correct Answer: c. system

Detailed Solution: The theory of HRD is proposed to be the integration of psychological,

economic, and system theories within an ethical frame.

QUESTION 2:

Match the following HRD theories with their propositions:

1. Futures Theory A. HRD must help its host organization retain its purpose and
effectiveness under uncertainty
2. Chaos Theory B. HRD must help its host organization shape alternative
futures
3. General Systems Theory C. HRD must understand how it and other subsystems connect
and disconnect from the host organization

a. 1-A,2-C,3-B
b. 1-B,2-A,3-C
c. 1-B,2-C,3-A
d. 1-C,2-A,3-B

Correct Answer: b. 1-B,2-A,3-C

Detailed Solution: The system theory principles for practice require serious thinking, sound
theory-building research, and the utilization of new tools for sound practice. A full pursuit of
the following simple propositions in HRD would reshape the HRD purpose and the tools
utilized in practice:
General system theory: HRD must understand how it and other subsystems connect and
disconnect from the host organization.
Chaos theory: HRD must help its host organization retain its purpose and effectiveness given
the chaos it faces.
Futures theory: HRD must help its host organization shape alternative futures.

QUESTION 3:

Which of the following statements is not correct about HRD as an organizational system?

a. HRD as a system or process parallels the other processes in the organization.

b. The organizational system and the processes within each have their inputs, work processes,
and outputs
c. All organizational systems have a common mission and strategy, structure, technology, and
human resources.
d. The larger environment in which organizations function is characterized by its economic,
political, and cultural forces

Correct Answer: c. All organizational systems have a common mission and strategy,
structure, technology, and human resources.

Detailed Solution: Organizations are the host systems for most HRD activities. Some of
these systems are profit-making organizations that produce goods and services for consumers.
Some are nonprofit organizations that produce goods and services for consumers. Some are
public sector, some are shareholder-owned and publicly traded, and some are owned by
individuals or a group of individuals. These organizations function in an ever-present
political, cultural, and economic milieu. Each has its unique mission/strategy, structure,
technology, and human resource mix. Additionally, each has core processes to produce the
goods and services.

QUESTION 4:

Which of the following historical events contributed to the establishment of the working class
and labor relations between employers and employees?

a. The emancipation of the serfs in Russia and the abolition of slavery in the United States
b. Concepts of scientific management
c. theory of education called functionalism, which encouraged mental testing and adaptive
behavior
d. All of these

Correct Answer: a. The emancipation of the serfs in Russia and the abolition of slavery in
the United States

Detailed Solution: The emancipation of the serfs in Russia in 1861 and the abolition of
slavery in the United States in 1863 led to the rise of Marxism and the worker movement
throughout the world and the rise of trade unionism. These events impacted the establishment
of the working class and labor relations between employers and employees.
QUESTION 5:

Arrange these levels of Garavan’s SHRD model in the correct order- 1. Job value and
uniqueness, 2. The global environment, 3. Strategy, structure, culture, and leadership, 4.
Individual expectations, employability, and careers:

a. 2134
b. 3214
c. 2431
d. 2314

Correct Answer: d. 2314

Detailed Solution: According to Garavan, four levels of context shape the SHRD activities:
(a) the global context (Level 1); (b) the organizational context, including strategy, structure,
culture, and leadership (Level 2); (c) the job (Level 3), and (d) the individual (Level 4).

QUESTION 6:

According to Peterson's model of SHRD, measuring HRD performance and facilitating

strategic measurement processes would help in achieving the following objectives.

a. to align systems and processes

b. to forge strategic relationships
c. to develop a system of accountability
d. to create high-performance work systems

Correct Answer: c. to develop a system of accountability

Detailed Solution: An essential characteristic of a strategically oriented HRD function

concerns its focus on articulating strategic HRD goals and objectives. One of the objectives is
the development of accountability systems within the organization, which involves measuring
HRD performance and facilitating strategic measurement processes.

QUESTION 7:

Arrange the following steps of the basic model to align HR strategy and actions with business
strategy in the correct order- 1. Develop detailed HR scorecard measures, 2. Identify
workforce requirements, 3. Formulate HR strategic policies and activities, 4. Formulate
business strategy:

a. 3214
b. 4231
c. 4321
d. 3421

Correct Answer: b. 4231

Detailed Solution: The steps to translate strategy into HR Policy and Practice are 1.
Formulate business strategy, 2. Identify workforce requirements, 3. Formulate HR strategic
policies and activities, 4. Develop detailed HR scorecard measures

QUESTION 8:

Which of the following is a Transformational SHRD activity?

a. Competency-based systems
b. Program design processes
c. Need analysis
d. Cultural change programs

Correct Answer: d. Cultural change programs

Detailed Solution: Cultural change program is a transformational SHRD activity. The other
options fall under traditional or transactional activities.

QUESTION 9:

Which psychological process causes the arousal, direction, and persistence of goal-directed
voluntary actions?

a. Attitude
b. Value
c. Motivation
d. Norm

Correct Answer: c. Motivation

Detailed Solution: Motivation is the internal force that impacts the direction, intensity, and
endurance of a person's voluntary choice of behavior.

QUESTION 10:

The principle of behavior modification which decreases the frequency of a behavior by

removing the consequence that is reinforcing, is known as

a. Extinction
b. Punishment
c. Positive reinforcement
d. Negative reinforcement

Correct Answer: a. Extinction

Detailed Solution: Extinction in psychology refers to the fading and disappearance of

previously learned behavior by association with another event. That means a conditioned
response is weakened, and the target behavior eventually stops and becomes extinct. It is
accomplished by withdrawing the unconditioned stimulus.
QUESTION 11:

Labor market conditions and technological changes are examples of the following factors
influencing employee behavior.

a. Internal organizational factor

b. Internal employee factor
c. External environmental factor
d. All of these

Correct Answer: c. External environmental factor

Detailed Solution: Labor market conditions and technological changes are external
environmental factors. An employee's behavior depends on internal and external factors,
some of which are more prominent than others. Internal factors are those within the
company's direct control, such as policies, workflows, and office culture. External factors,
meanwhile, are the ones that aren't directly in the company's management, like the
economic and political situation.

QUESTION 12:

Which of the following best defines the term ‘Knowledge’?

a. understanding of the factors or principles related to a specific subject

b. person’s general feelings of favor or disfavor towards something
c. general capacities related to the performance of specific tasks
d. combines abilities and capacities, generally the result of training

Correct Answer: a. understanding of the factors or principles related to a specific subject

Detailed Solution: Knowledge is d the body of information that one can apply in helping to
do the job. It is the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.

QUESTION 13:

Human resources provide the potential for sustained competitive advantage through SHRD to
develop firm-specific competencies and generate tacit organizational knowledge. This
statement reflects which approach of SHRD.

a. Human Capital Approach

b. Behavioral Perspective
c. Resource-based Approach
d. None of these

Correct Answer: c. Resource-based Approach

Detailed Solution: Resource-based approach states that human resources are durable,
difficult to imitate and substitute, and enable the organization to differentiate itself from
competitors.

QUESTION 14:

To evaluate the organization's strategic objective, a manager wants to use an HR scorecard.

Which of the following would be a suitable key performance indicator for measuring
enhanced employee productivity?

a. shareholder value growth

b. ROI of HR strategic programs
c. employee stability
d. profit per employee

Correct Answer: d. profit per employee

Detailed Solution: Profit per employee would be the best indicator of enhanced employee
productivity. Shareholder value growth will be associated with ensuring long-term
shareholder benefit. Employee stability indicates the level of employee satisfaction. ROI of
HR programs will be related to the objective enhance the ROI of strategic HR initiatives.

QUESTION 15:

According to Sung & Choi, perceived benefits of HRD fall under which dimension of the
HRD-performance link.

a. quantitative dimension focusing on management

b. quantitative dimension focusing on employees
c. qualitative dimension focusing on management
d. qualitative dimension focusing on employees

Correct Answer: d. qualitative dimension focusing on employees

Detailed Solution: Sung & Choi identify four HRD dimensions that we can consider part of
firms' HR architecture by combining the quantitative and qualitative aspects of HRD with
managerial and employee perspectives. Perceived benefits of HRD is a qualitative dimension
focusing on employees, which indicates the extent to which employees perceive HRD
activities as task-relevant and beneficial.