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SPHR Questions - Part 29
1. Henry is the HR Professional for his organization and he's discussing the status of Amy's employment. Amy earns $87,500 per year and receives a paycheck via direct deposit every two weeks. Amy was hired under the offer of a salary position, but she feels that she is working far more than the agreed 40 hours per week.Based on these scenarios, do you believe Amy is exempt or non-exempt?
A) Amy is not exempt because she is working more than ten percent of her total agreed hours per week.
B) Amy is not exempt because she is offered bonuses as part of her pay.
C) Amy is exempt because she is paid on a salary basis.
D) Amy is exempt because she earns more than $1,000 per week.
2. An organization is considering a new office in another country. This foreign country is considered to be a high-context culture. What does this mean?
A) People rely more on the words of the conversation to discern what is meant.
B) People rely more on para-lingual aspects of the conversation to discern what is meant.
C) People rely more on nonverbal clues and relationships to discern what is meant.
D) People rely on the hierarchy of conversation to discern what is meant.
3. Your organization is comprised of various functional units, such as sales, marketing, IT, and manufacturing. When projects are created in this structure, the project team members often come from all functional areas of the organization and may work on several projects at a time. What type of organization structure are you likely operating within?
A) Blended
B) Projectized
C) Functional
D) Matrix
4. Project managers must balance and control five factors in every project: time, cost, quality, scope, and what other factor?
A) Communication
B) Budget
C) Human resources
D) Risk
5. Which of the following is a form of principled bargaining in which the parties look at all the issues and are able to make mutually agreeable trade-offs between those issues?
A) Interest-based bargaining
B) Integrative bargaining
C) Parallel bargaining
D) Single-unit bargaining
A) Amy is not exempt because she is working more than ten percent of her total agreed hours per week.
B) Amy is not exempt because she is offered bonuses as part of her pay.
C) Amy is exempt because she is paid on a salary basis.
D) Amy is exempt because she earns more than $1,000 per week.
2. An organization is considering a new office in another country. This foreign country is considered to be a high-context culture. What does this mean?
A) People rely more on the words of the conversation to discern what is meant.
B) People rely more on para-lingual aspects of the conversation to discern what is meant.
C) People rely more on nonverbal clues and relationships to discern what is meant.
D) People rely on the hierarchy of conversation to discern what is meant.
3. Your organization is comprised of various functional units, such as sales, marketing, IT, and manufacturing. When projects are created in this structure, the project team members often come from all functional areas of the organization and may work on several projects at a time. What type of organization structure are you likely operating within?
A) Blended
B) Projectized
C) Functional
D) Matrix
4. Project managers must balance and control five factors in every project: time, cost, quality, scope, and what other factor?
A) Communication
B) Budget
C) Human resources
D) Risk
5. Which of the following is a form of principled bargaining in which the parties look at all the issues and are able to make mutually agreeable trade-offs between those issues?
A) Interest-based bargaining
B) Integrative bargaining
C) Parallel bargaining
D) Single-unit bargaining
1. Right Answer: C
Explanation: Answer option C is correct.An exempt employee is someone who is paid on a salary basis and earns more than $455 per week. As the question states, Amy was hired under the offer of a salary.Answer option D is incorrect. While Amy does earn more than $1,000 per week, this doesn't automatically qualify her as exempt.Answer option B is incorrect. Bonuses do not automatically qualify someone as non-exempt.Answer option A is incorrect. The question doesn't tell how much additional hours Amy is actually working so this isn't a good choice. The amount of hours a person works doesn't directly affect their exempt or non-exempt status.Certification Institute, ISBN: 978-1-586-44149-4, Section III, The US HR Body of Knowledge.Chapter: Core Knowledge Requirements for HR ProfessionalsObjective: Employee Records Management
2. Right Answer: C
Explanation: Answer option C is correct.A high-context culture examines the nonverbal clues and relationships to understand the meaning of communications.Answer option B is incorrect. Para lingual describes the pitch, tone, and inflection of a conversation - not the nonverbal clues.Answer option A is incorrect. The message of the communication is important, but not as important as nonverbal clues in a high-context culture.Answer option D is incorrect. This isn't a valid description of an influence of the communication model.Reference: Professional in Human Resources Certification Study Guide, Sybex, ISBN: 978-0-470-43096-5. Chapter Four: Workforce Planning and Employment.Chapter: Business Management and StrategyObjective: Global Considerations
3. Right Answer: D
Explanation: Answer option D is correct.A matrix structure allows resources to be used across the organization from different functional units within the company. There are three types of matrix structures: weak, strong, and balanced matrixes. The adjectives describe the amount of authority the project manager has, in relation to the amount of project authority the functional managers have.Answer option C is incorrect. A functional structure keeps each functional unit isolated from using resources in other functional units. All Project team members exist within one functional unit.Answer option A is incorrect. Blended is not a valid organizational term to describe the structure of an organization.Answer option B is incorrect. A projectized organization keeps all project team members on one project for the duration of the project. Project team members don't necessarily have day-to-day functional duties and instead, focus all efforts on the completion of a given project.HR Certification Institute, ISBN: 978-1-586-44149-4, Section III, The US HR Body of Knowledge.Chapter: Business Management and StrategyObjective: Strategic Management
4. Right Answer: D
Explanation: Answer option D is correct.Project managers must always balance time, cost, quality, scope, and risk in every project.Answer option C is incorrect. Human resources management is part of most projects, but often the management of HR is outside the powers of the project manager, whereas risk is evident and influenced by the project manager in every project.Answer option A is incorrect. Communication is one of the nine knowledge groups of project management, but it's not the best answer for the question.Answer option B is incorrect. Budget management is important in project management, but the budget is considered to be included in the balance of costs in the project.Reference: Professional in Human Resources Certification Study Guide, Sybex, ISBN: 978-0-470-43096-5. Chapter Four: Workforce Planning and Employment.Chapter: Core Knowledge Requirements for HR ProfessionalsObjective: Project Management Concepts
5. Right Answer: B
Explanation: Answer option B is correct.Integrative bargaining is a form of principled bargaining in which the parties look at all the issues and are able to make mutually agreeable trade-offs between those issues.Answer option A is incorrect. Interest-based bargaining (IBB) is based on the concept that both sides in the negotiation have harmonious interests.Answer option D is incorrect. Single-unit bargaining occurs when one union meets with one employer to bargain.Answer option C is incorrect. Parallel bargaining occurs when the union negotiates with one employer at a time. Once a contract has been reached with one employer, the union uses the gains made during the negotiation as a base for negotiating with the next employer.Chapter: Employee and Labor RelationsObjective: Union Organization
Explanation: Answer option C is correct.An exempt employee is someone who is paid on a salary basis and earns more than $455 per week. As the question states, Amy was hired under the offer of a salary.Answer option D is incorrect. While Amy does earn more than $1,000 per week, this doesn't automatically qualify her as exempt.Answer option B is incorrect. Bonuses do not automatically qualify someone as non-exempt.Answer option A is incorrect. The question doesn't tell how much additional hours Amy is actually working so this isn't a good choice. The amount of hours a person works doesn't directly affect their exempt or non-exempt status.Certification Institute, ISBN: 978-1-586-44149-4, Section III, The US HR Body of Knowledge.Chapter: Core Knowledge Requirements for HR ProfessionalsObjective: Employee Records Management
2. Right Answer: C
Explanation: Answer option C is correct.A high-context culture examines the nonverbal clues and relationships to understand the meaning of communications.Answer option B is incorrect. Para lingual describes the pitch, tone, and inflection of a conversation - not the nonverbal clues.Answer option A is incorrect. The message of the communication is important, but not as important as nonverbal clues in a high-context culture.Answer option D is incorrect. This isn't a valid description of an influence of the communication model.Reference: Professional in Human Resources Certification Study Guide, Sybex, ISBN: 978-0-470-43096-5. Chapter Four: Workforce Planning and Employment.Chapter: Business Management and StrategyObjective: Global Considerations
3. Right Answer: D
Explanation: Answer option D is correct.A matrix structure allows resources to be used across the organization from different functional units within the company. There are three types of matrix structures: weak, strong, and balanced matrixes. The adjectives describe the amount of authority the project manager has, in relation to the amount of project authority the functional managers have.Answer option C is incorrect. A functional structure keeps each functional unit isolated from using resources in other functional units. All Project team members exist within one functional unit.Answer option A is incorrect. Blended is not a valid organizational term to describe the structure of an organization.Answer option B is incorrect. A projectized organization keeps all project team members on one project for the duration of the project. Project team members don't necessarily have day-to-day functional duties and instead, focus all efforts on the completion of a given project.HR Certification Institute, ISBN: 978-1-586-44149-4, Section III, The US HR Body of Knowledge.Chapter: Business Management and StrategyObjective: Strategic Management
4. Right Answer: D
Explanation: Answer option D is correct.Project managers must always balance time, cost, quality, scope, and risk in every project.Answer option C is incorrect. Human resources management is part of most projects, but often the management of HR is outside the powers of the project manager, whereas risk is evident and influenced by the project manager in every project.Answer option A is incorrect. Communication is one of the nine knowledge groups of project management, but it's not the best answer for the question.Answer option B is incorrect. Budget management is important in project management, but the budget is considered to be included in the balance of costs in the project.Reference: Professional in Human Resources Certification Study Guide, Sybex, ISBN: 978-0-470-43096-5. Chapter Four: Workforce Planning and Employment.Chapter: Core Knowledge Requirements for HR ProfessionalsObjective: Project Management Concepts
5. Right Answer: B
Explanation: Answer option B is correct.Integrative bargaining is a form of principled bargaining in which the parties look at all the issues and are able to make mutually agreeable trade-offs between those issues.Answer option A is incorrect. Interest-based bargaining (IBB) is based on the concept that both sides in the negotiation have harmonious interests.Answer option D is incorrect. Single-unit bargaining occurs when one union meets with one employer to bargain.Answer option C is incorrect. Parallel bargaining occurs when the union negotiates with one employer at a time. Once a contract has been reached with one employer, the union uses the gains made during the negotiation as a base for negotiating with the next employer.Chapter: Employee and Labor RelationsObjective: Union Organization
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