Absolute Free SHRM-SCP Exam Practice for Comprehensive Preparation 

A pharmaceutical company has been struggling over the past year. The CEO announced his planned retirement at the beginning of the year, and the board of directors recently hired a replacement who is from the hospitality industry. Sales have been flat, and the board and stakeholders are looking for growth. They believe that the experience the new CEO brings will be successful in creating growth.

In his second week with the company, the new CEO visits the chief human resources officer (CHRO) and advises her that he wants a particular training company to train all the sales staff. He has used this training company in the past and believes this will improve sales. He advises the CHRO to call them and tell them he referred her and to get on this quickly. He then leaves.

The CHRO knows that this violates the company's procurement policy of requiring three bids. She is also concerned that the training company may not be familiar with the legal regulations of pharmaceutical companies. In addition, the CHRO is not certain that a lack of training is really the solution to the problems the company has been experiencing.

The CHRO learns that the competition has changed significantly over the past year, with much lower-priced options on the market. The sales team has also shared with the CHRO that the vice president of sales refuses to compete on price. Which is the best course of action that the CHRO should take with the information received?

A global organization headquartered in the U.S., known for its fair and equitable culture, has grown organically over time, and the configuration of the South American business has been established country by country. Each country has been viewed as a discrete business entity. A strategic decision has been made to grow the South American business through acquisition, with a goal of increasing the size of the organizational footprint across the region.

To prepare for the acquisition, the organization reviews all the country-specific HR policies, practices, and programs. In the course of the review, HR identifies a significant disparity in the compensation structure for the CEO of the Brazilian business, who is the only female. The portfolio and bottom-line business responsibilities are similar country to country. The education and background of the five CEOs from the region are also very similar. There have been compensation adjustments along the way in acknowledgment of the growth of the business and to align with the markets in Brazil as well as in recognition of the female CEO's performance. However, looking across the South American countries involved, HR clearly sees a disparity. Right now this CEO is part of the team looking at possible organizations to acquire and has high visibility across the region.

HR recognizes that Brazil is one of the global economic focus areas and that this CEO is perceived by the global heads of the business as not only key to the acquisition strategy but to the ongoing success of the entire business.

How should HR implement the organizational changes needed and reduce resistance from South American business heads?

An HR director is hired at an airline. On the first day, the HR director calls to get directions to the location and the receptionist answers the phone in an unprofessional manner. When the HR director arrives, everyone is in a panic because the last flight team had a "hard landing." No one is physically injured in the incident, but the airplane is beyond repair. When arriving at the landing site, the HR director overhears the crew saying something about the junior pilot's substance abuse problems. The pilot in charge tells the HR director to report the incident as a "hard landing" and not a crash and to report that the junior pilot is not at fault. The HR director looks at the junior pilot's employee file to discover three other recent similar events, all noting substance abuse as a possible cause. The HR director also learns that the junior pilot had a pre-existing relationship with the pilot in charge, outside of work. Protocol requires all pilots to submit to drug tests immediately following an incident. The junior pilot does not do so until the next day.

Which piece of information should the HR director collect first to investigate the incident?

A 50-year-old family-owned restaurant has a good business model. Repeat customers are greeted by name, and their preferences are remembered. The owner visits each table to engage in conversation. Food quality is high, merging home cooking with new cuisine. The environment is elegant, welcoming, and unrushed, and the restaurant is known for its celebrity customers. Visitors to town make advance reservations.

Business decisions are typically made in family meetings. In the next six months, the owners plan to open a new location, but they worry about maintaining the same quality of personal service and name brand at the restaurant locations. The owners have relied on immediate family, relatives, and close friends to primarily staff the restaurant, since outsiders without a family connection tend to quickly leave the business. Long-time employees take advantage of time off, yet the owners are reluctant to use discipline for fear it will anger the family. The owners' children have expressed concern about continuing in the business, receiving educational degrees in marketing and management with anticipation of launching their new careers.

Realizing that they must bring on additional staff for the new location, the owners hire an HR representative with large restaurant chain recruiting experience. In addition to identifying a renowned chef to hire who currently lives in another country, the owners want to establish a bonus program. They also want to implement policies and procedures to avoid attendance issues in the future.

Which action should the HR representative do to quickly establish credibility as a trusted advisor and partner?

A 40-year-old company is acquired by a 100-year-old company. Both companies have strong cultures.

The acquiring company's chief people officer establishes a team of business and HR professionals from both companies to assess their respective cultures and develop and enact an integration strategy. The HR director from the acquired company is asked to serve as that company's lead representative on the integration team.

A few weeks into the integration team's work, the HR director notices significant differences between the companies' cultures. While some aspects of the companies' cultures seem to be merging, many of the acquiring company's cultural norms are taking precedence as the united culture is being solidified. This situation is being fueled by the fact that a majority of the newly selected executive team members are leaders from the acquiring company.

How should the HR director go about preparing employees of the acquired company for the forthcoming cultural changes?