Introduction to Employee Training and Development

Introduction to Employee Training and Development Chapter 1 Multiple Choice 1. Which of the following statements is true of human capital? a. Human capital is an organization’s tangible asset. b. Motivation to deliver high-quality products and services is a part of human capital. c. It is easy to imitate or purchase an organization’s human capital. d. Human capital is standardized throughout all companies. Answer: B 2. Informal learning: a. is developed and organized by a company. b. is not required for the development of human capital. c. cannot be controlled by the employees. d. leads to the effective development of tacit knowledge. Answer: D 3. Which of the following is true of tacit knowledge? a. It is easily codified and transferred from person-to-person. b. Formulas and definitions are examples of tacit knowledge. c. Formal training and development programs limit the extent to which tacit knowledge can be acquired. d. It cannot be shared through employee personal interactions with peers, colleagues, and experts. Answer: C 4. A(n) _____ is an example of tacit knowledge. a. employee’s experience b. business process c. flowchart d. formula Answer: A 5. _____ refers to a systematic approach for developing training programs. a. Total quality management b. Continuous learning c. Training design process d. Orientation training program Answer: C 6. The fifth step in the training design process is to develop an evaluation plan that involves identifying: a. an appropriate training method. b. the requirements for training. c. employees with motivation and basic skills. d. the types of outcomes training is expected to influence. Answer: D 7. Which of the following steps of the training design process involves person and task analysis? a. Ensuring transfer of training b. Developing an evaluation plan c. Conducting needs assessment d. Monitoring and evaluating the program Answer: C 8. Which of the following statements is true of the Instructional System Design (ISD) model? a. There is a single universally accepted instructional systems development model. b. The model rarely follows a neat, orderly, step-by-step approach of activities. c. The model eliminates the need for trainers to provide detailed documents of each activity found in the model. d. The model has no underlying assumptions. Answer: B 9. The ADDIE model is most closely associated with: a. employee recruitment and selection. b. employee training and development. c. diversity management. d. quality management. Answer: B 10. Which of the following training programs is mandated by law? a. Orientation training program b. Leadership development program c. Safety training program d. Cross-culture training program Answer: C 11. _____ refers to the process of moving jobs from the United States to other locations in the world. a. Inpatriation b. Job rotation c. Offshoring d. Insourcing Answer: C 12. Which of the following is an example of human capital? a. Corporate culture b. Patent c. Customer loyalty d. Work-related competence Answer: D 13. _____ capital refers to the sum of the attributes, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, energy, and enthusiasm that the company’s employees invest in their work. a. Intellectual b. Human c. Customer d. Social Answer: B 14. Which of the following statements is true of Millennials? a. They are also known as Generation X or Baby Boomers. b. They grew up during a time when the divorce rate doubled, the number of women working outside the home increased, and the personal computer was invented. c. They are often considered to be workaholics and rigid in conforming to rules. d. They are believed to have high levels of self-esteem, to the point of narcissism sometimes. Answer: D 15. _____ is a companywide effort to continuously improve the ways people, machines, and systems accomplish work. a. Stakeholder management b. Diversity management c. Total quality management d. Talent management Answer: C 16. The core value of _____ is the prevention of the occurrence of errors in a product or service rather than detection and correction. a. ISD b. ADDIE c. PERT d. TQM Answer: D 17. _____ involves highly trained employees known as Champions, Master Black Belts, Black Belts, and Green Belts. a. Six Sigma b. Lean manufacturing c. Instructional System Design d. Just-in-time Answer: A 18. _____ refer to teams that are separated by time, geographic distance, culture, and/or organizational boundaries and that rely almost exclusively on technology to interact and complete their projects. a. Quality circles b. Virtual teams c. Six Sigma teams d. Ad hoc teams Answer: B 19.The ASTD competency model: a. is designed to help sales associates make more personal connections with shoppers. b. describes companywide effort to continuously improve the ways people, machines, and systems accomplish work. c. describes what it takes for an individual to be successful in the training and development field. d. is a framework to analyze competition in an industry and formulate a business strategy. Answer: C 20. According to the ASTD competency model, a business partner: a. determines how workplace learning can be best used to help meet the company’s business strategy. b. plans and monitors the effective delivery of learning and performance solutions to support the business. c. designs, delivers, and evaluates learning and performance solutions. d. uses industry knowledge to create training that improves performance. Answer: D 21. In the ASTD competency model, the _____ plans, obtains, and monitors the effective delivery of learning and performance solutions to support the business. a. project manager b. learning strategist c. business partner d. knowledge worker Answer: A 22. Training and development activities in a company are said to be outsourced when they are provided by _____. a. in-house consultants b. company managers c. company trainers d. government organizations Answer: D 23. Team building, conflict avoidance, and change management are typically specialized by_____ professionals. a. talent management b. organizational development c. quality management d. informal learning Answer: B 24. Which of the following statements is true of training? a. The reporting relationship between human resource management and the training function is standard across companies. b. Including training as part of the human resource function allows the training function to be decentralized to better respond to unique needs in different business units. c. Organizational development professionals are seldom responsible for training. d. For training and development to succeed, employees, managers, training professionals, and top managers all have to take ownership. Answer: D 25. _____ refers to the integrated use of training and development, organizational development, and career development to improve individual, group, and organizational effectiveness. a. Six Sigma b. Knowledge management c. Business process reengineering d. Human resource development Answer: D True/ False 1. Companies cannot gain a competitive advantage solely through their human resource management practices. a. True b. False Answer: A 2. Training differs from development in that training tends to be more future-focused than development. a. True b. False Answer: B 3. Tacit knowledge tends to be the primary focus of formal training and employee development. a. True b. False Answer: B 4. Informal learning cannot replace formal training and employee development. a. True b. False Answer: A 5. There is not one universally accepted instructional systems development model. a. True b. False Answer: A 6. Training design processes should be rigid and not flexible. a. True b. False Answer: B 7. Due to globalization, the supply for talented employees exceeds the demand. a. True b. False Answer: B 8. In a learning organization, improvements in product or service quality stop when formal training is completed. a. True b. False Answer: B 9. Treating employees differently based on their age, such as only inviting younger employees to attend training or development programs, can result in adverse legal consequences. a. True b. False Answer: A 10. ISO standards are involuntary. a. True b. False Answer: B 11. Social networking facilitates decentralized decision making. a. True b. False Answer: A 12. Quality circles refer to teams that are separated by time, geographic distance, culture, and/or organizational boundaries and that rely almost exclusively on technology to interact and complete their projects. a. True b. False Answer: B 13. The least amount of learning content in companies concerns basic skills. a. True b. False Answer: A 14. Training department managers are involved to a greater extent in the project manager role than are specialists who hold other jobs. a. True b. False Answer: B 15. Companies separate training from the human resource function because it allows the training function to be decentralized. a. True b. False Answer: A 16. The reporting relationship between human resource management and the training function is standardized across companies. a. True b. False Answer: B 17. Training and development courses are found in psychology departments at colleges and universities. a. True b. False Answer: A 18. When training is provided by consulting firms and government organizations, it is said to be outsourced. a. True b. False Answer: A 19. According to the ASTD competency model, foundational competencies are used to a different extent in each role or specialization by training and development professionals. a. True b. False Answer: A 20. Organizational development professionals in a company primarily focus on identifying the top talent in the company. a. True b. False Answer: B Short Answer/Essay 1. List and explain the number of different ways that learning occurs in a company. Answer: There are a number of different ways that learning occurs in a company. Formal training and development refers to training and development programs, courses, and events that are developed and organized by the company. Typically, employees are required to attend or complete these programs, which can include face-to-face training programs (such as instructor-led courses) as well as online programs. Informal learning is also important for facilitating the development of human capital. Informal learning refers to learning that is learner initiated, involves action and doing, is motivated by an intent to develop, and does not occur in a formal learning setting. Informal learning occurs without a trainer or instructor, and its breadth, depth, and timing is controlled by the employee. It occurs on an as-needed basis and may involve an employee learning either alone or through face-to-face or technology-aided social interactions. Knowledge management refers to the process of enhancing company performance by designing and implementing tools, processes, systems, structures, and cultures to improve the creation, sharing, and use of knowledge. Knowledge management contributes to informal learning. 2. List and describe the four major forces influencing the workplace and learning. Answer: The major forces influencing the workplace and learning are: • Economic cycles Low economic growth results in companies downsizing their work force, delaying plans for new operations and growth, and revisiting training and development and human resource budgets to cut unnecessary programs and costs. However, such economic times also provide an opportunity for companies to take a closer look at training and development to identify those activities that are critical for supporting the business strategy as well as those mandated by law (such as safety training or sexual harassment training). • Globalization of business Growth of international operations, increase in foreign competition and establishment of developing countries indicate that companies must find, train, and retain talented foreign workers to work in others countries as well as in the U. S. On the contrary, U. S. workers must also be trained for overseas assignments. • Demographic changes It includes aging workforce, more cultural diversity in the workforce, more women in the workforce, and more people of color. Management of diversity contributes to a company's bottom line by its influence on creativity, problem solving, employee retention, and creation of new markets for a company's products and services. Companies that do not manage diversity will find that employees' talents are underutilized and their personal and professional needs are not being met. As a result, they will become dissatisfied and leave, resulting in a poorly performing, less competitive organization. Companies that are known for managing diversity also have an edge in attracting talented employees. • New technologies It includes computers, e-learning, e-commerce, interactive cd's, web-based learning, and so on. Employees need job-specific knowledge and basic skills to work with the equipment created by the new technology. Because technology is often used as a means to achieve product diversification and customization, employees must have the ability to listen and communicate with customers. Interpersonal skills, such as negotiation and conflict management, and problem-solving skills are more important than physical strength, coordination, and fine-motor skills. 3. What are the four intangible assets that can be most directly influenced by training and development? Answer: Human Capital • Tacit knowledge • Education • Work-related know-how • Work-related competence Customer Capital • Customer relationships • Brands • Customer loyalty • Distribution channels Social Capital • Corporate culture • Management philosophy • Management practices • Informal networking systems • Coaching/mentoring relationships Intellectual Capital • Patents • Copyrights • Trade secrets • Intellectual property Training and development have a direct influence on human and social capital because they affect education, work-related know-how and competence, and work relationships. Training and development can have an indirect influence on customer and social capital by helping employees better serve customers and by providing them with the knowledge needed to create patents and intellectual property. 4. Discuss the core values of TQM. Answer: Total Quality Management (TQM) is a companywide effort to continuously improve the ways people, machines, and systems accomplish work. Core values of TQM include the following: • Methods and processes are designed to meet the needs of internal and external customers. • Every employee in the company receives training in quality. • Quality is built into a product or service so that errors are prevented from occurring rather than being detected and corrected. • The company promotes cooperation with vendors, suppliers, and customers to improve quality and hold down costs. • Managers measure progress with feedback based on data. 5. What are the roles that training and development professionals can take according to the ASTD competency model? Answer: The roles that training and development professionals can take are: The learning strategist determines how workplace learning can be best used to help meet the company’s business strategy. The business partner uses business and industry knowledge to create training that improves performance. The project manager plans, obtains, and monitors the effective delivery of learning and performance solutions to support the business. The professional specialist designs, develops, delivers, and evaluates learning and performance solutions. These roles are included in jobs such as organizational change agent, career counselor, instructional designer, and classroom trainer.