Questions on HRM

1. What psychological methodology does NLP stand for?
Ans- Neuro-Linguistic Programming

2. David McLelland's motivational theory identified three principal motivational needs which he said each of us possesses to varying degrees, and which characterise our motivational behaviour; what are these three motivational needs?
Ans- Achievement (n-ach), the need to achieve things; Authority/Power (n-pow), the need to have impact, influence and authority; and Affiliation (n-affil), the need for relationships, interaction and acceptance among other people (or words to similar effect as these definitions)

3. Which organisation produces the UK's ABC1C2 (etc) Social Grade Classifications Statistics?
Ans- NRS Ltd (National Readership Survey)

4. What does the selling acronym AIDA stand for?
Ans- Attention, Interest, Desire, Action

5. Who developed the 'Equity Theory' of job motivation in the 1960's?
Ans- J Stacey Adams

6. What does the financial abbreviation P&L stand for?
Ans- Profit and Loss (Profit and Loss Account)

7. Who developed the ten stages of corporate life cycle, starting with Courtship and Infancy and ending in Bureaucracy and Death?
Ans- Dr Ichak Adizes

8. The Ansoff matrix correlates what two aspects of business development from the 'new' and 'existing' perspectives?
Ans- Products and Markets

9. In selling and communications, what do 'open questions' generally achieve?
Ans- Open questions gather information, improve understanding, and build rapport by encouraging the other person to talk and explain things, including how they feel about things.

10. Albert Mehrabian researched and published a now widely referenced set of statistics for the effectiveness of spoken communications; what three types of communication did he identify and what percentages for each did he attach to each type in terms of the percentage of meaning (or understanding) that each communication type conveyed from person to person in his study?
Ans- Mehrabian's research stated that: 7% of meaning conveyed is in the words that are spoken; 38% of meaning conveyed is in the way that the words are said (paralinguistic); and 55% of meaning conveyed is in facial expression.

11. In business accounts and financial reporting, expenses which change according to scale of performance or usage or demand are known as what?
Ans- Variable Costs

12. What is the name of Ingham and Luft's model and theory which deals with hidden and open areas of knowledge about a person?
Ans- The Johari Window

13. The '360 degree' appraisal method collects feedback from whom, about whom?
Ans- '360 Degree' feedback appraisal collects the views from people who work with the appraisee, about the appraisee, including subordinates, peers, upline managers; effectively anyone who comes into contact with the appraisee and who is happy to provide constructive feedback about the appraisee's strengths and areas for improvement.

14. What are the four levels of learning evaluation defined in Donald Kirkpatrick's model?
Ans- 1. Enjoyment; 2. Transfer of learning; 3. Application of learning; 4. Effect of application (or words to the same effect as these four definitions)

15. What is the correct ascending order of these human needs according to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Esteem, Safety, Belongingness and Love, Self-Actualisation, Biological and Physiological?
Ans- Biological and Physiological Needs (basic life needs - shelter, food, drink, sleep, etc); Safety Needs (security, protection, law, etc); Belongingness and Love Needs (family, affection, relationships, etc); Esteem Needs (achievement, status, responsibility, reputation, etc); Self-Actualisation (personal growth, self-fulfilment, etc)

16. What part of our brains typically handles process-type functions, according to brain theorists such as Katherine Benziger?
Ans- Left Basal (left rear)

17. What does the accounting acronym FIFO mean?
Ans- First In First Out (a convention for writing down the balance sheet value of assets of the same type - oldest are written-off first)

18. One of the most effective and efficient forms of marketing is abbreviated to the initials WOM; what is it?
Ans- Word Of Mouth

19. Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains divides learning development into three main aspects: Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor; what might these three aspects of personal development more commonly be called?
Ans- Knowledge, Attitude, Skills

20. Who wrote the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People?
Ans- Dr Stephen Covey

21. The 'Big Five' personality dimensions, by which modern day psychologists believe every person's personality and behaviour tendencies can be measured are commonly abbreviated to the OCEAN acronym; what does OCEAN stand for?
Ans- Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion/introversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.

22. What are the four metaphorical terms used to describe products/services in Boston Matrix model according to market share and market maturity?
Ans- Dog, Cash Cow, Problem Child and Star (or Rising Star)

23. The financial ratio which divides a company's 'liquid assets' by 'current liabilities' is known by what popular term?
Ans- Acid Test (or 'Quick Ratio')

24. What three important things should be confirmed and understood before conducting a brainstorming ideas session?
Ans- The purpose or aim of the exercise; a time limit; the fact that all ideas are welcome and to be respected (ie., sometimes the craziest-sounding ideas are the best ones).

25. What does the SWOT stand for in SWOT analysis?
Ans- Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

26. What are the 'Four Functional Types' within Carl Jung's theory?
Ans- Thinking, Feeling, Sensation, Intuition

27. With what was the Kyoto Summit concerned?
Ans- Global climate change (in other words, greenhouse gas emissions)

28. What are the four sequential stages of the 'conscious competence' learning model?
Ans- 1. Unconscious Incompetence, 2. Conscious Incompetence, 3. Conscious Competence, 4. Unconscious Competence

29. What is the '1st Law of Cybernetics' (aka the 'Law of Requisite Variety')?
Ans- "The unit within the system with the most behavioural responses available to it controls the system." (or words to that effect)

30.What are the four main 'Temperament' types called within David Keirsey's Temperaments personality theory?
Ans- Artisan, Idealist, Guardian, Rational/Rationalist

31. According to the Tannenbaum and Schmidt theory relating to delegation and team development, what must be reduced in order for the team's area of freedom (and growth) to increase?
Ans- The manager's use of authority

32. What does the financial term ROI stand for?
Ans- Return On Investment

33. Whose experiential learning theory comprises the learning styles named: Concrete Experience (feeling); Abstract Conceptualization (thinking); Active Experimentation (doing); and Reflective Observation (watching)?
Ans- David Kolb

34. Daniel Goleman was responsible for popularising and defining what management and behavioural concept in his eponymously titled (ie., the title is also the subject) 1995 book?
Ans- Emotional Intelligence

35. What is psychometrics?
Ans- The science of measuring (or testing) personality type (or mental abilities)

36. What is the management technique that is commonly abbreviated to MBWA? Ans- Management By Walking About (or Wandering Around) - the term is generally attributed to Tom Peters (In Search Of Excellence, 1982) although it was probably part of a new management ideology first pioneered by a few bright American companies as far back as the 1940's

37. Large size hand-writing generally indicates what characteristics in the personality of the writer?
Ans- Extraverted or out-going nature

38. Since October 2004, UK employers must follow a minimum process of three-stages for handling disputes with employees, including disciplinary and grievance matters; what are the basic minimum three stages required?
Ans- 1. Write a letter to the employee explaining the issue; 2. Have a meeting with the employee to discuss the issue; 3. Hold or offer an appeal meeting with the employee if required.

39. Douglas McGregor defined two main styles of management; what did he call them and how are each of the two styles typified?
Ans- X-Theory (or Theory-X) which is authoritarian, autocratic and repressive; and Y-Theory (or Theory-Y) which is participative, delegating, and developmental (or words to similar effect as these two descriptions)

40. Bruce Tuckman's theory about team development uses what four sequential rhyming words to describe the four stages of a group's progression?
Ans- Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing

41. What are Howard Gardner's seven (original) Multiple Intelligences?
Ans- Linguistic (words and language), Logical-Mathematical (logic and numbers), Musical (music, sound, rhythm), Bodily-Kinesthetic (body movement control), Spatial-Visual (images and space), Interpersonal (other people's feelings), Intrapersonal (self-awareness)

42. According to Herzberg's motivational theory, which of these are 'hygiene needs' (or 'maintenance factors') and which are true 'motivators': work conditions, salary, achievement, advancement, work itself, responsibility, company car, status, recognition, and personal growth?
Ans- Of the examples listed, hygiene needs are: work conditions, salary, company car, status. True motivators in the list are achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, advancement, and personal growth.

43. What does VAK stand for in the learning styles theory?
Ans- Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic/Kinaesthetic (three different learning styles or methods - seeing, listening, doing)

44. What does the business acronym IPO stand for?
Ans- Initial Public Offering, meaning the initial sale of privately owned equity (stock or shares) in a company via the issue of shares to the public and other investing institutions

45. What does the PEST stand for in PEST analysis?
Ans- Political, Economical, Social, Technological

46. What do 'open questions' typically begin with?
Ans- Open questions typically begin with Who, What, How, When, Where, and Why, (or for particularly capable or intelligent respondents, 'Tell me about...')

47. What visionary management thinker wrote The Age Of Unreason and The Empty Raincoat?
Ans- Charles Handy

48. What are the names of the (nine) Belbin 'team roles'?
Ans- Coordinator (was called 'Chairman'), Shaper, Plant, Monitor-Evaluator, Implementer (was called 'Company Worker'), Resource Investigator, Team Worker, Completer-Finisher, Specialist

49. In marketing, what are the The Four P's?
Ans- Product, Price, Promotion, Place.

50. A lot of the traditional 20th century sales theory and training was influenced by the 1937 book 'How to Win Friends and Influence People'; who wrote it?
Ans- Dale Carnegie.