1 - HR Competencies

Question 1

Accounts Payable

Answer 1

Money an organization owes its vendors and suppliers.

Question 2

Accounts Receivable

Answer 2

Money an organization’s customers owe the organization.

Question 3

Active Listening

Answer 3

Communication technique to increase the engagement between communicators and their audiences. It involves two-way communication and attention to nonverbal signs that indicate interest and reactions to the message and speaker.

Question 4

Affinity diagramming/mind mapping

Answer 4

Data-sorting technique in which a group starts with ideas, then categorizes and subcategorizes data until relationships are clearly drawn.

Question 5

Assets

Answer 5

Financial, physical, and sometimes intangible properties an organization owns.

Question 6

Balance Sheet

Answer 6

Statement of an organization’s financial position at a specific point in time, showing assets, liabilities, and shareholder equity.

Equity = Assets - Liabilities

Question 7

Bribery

Answer 7

Exchange of anything of value to gain greater influence or preference.

Question 8

Business Case

Answer 8

Presentation to management that establishes that a specific problem exists and argues for a proposed solution.

Question 9

Business Intelligence

Answer 9

Ability to use information to gain a deeper understanding of an organization and make sound business decisions.

Question 10

Cash Flow Statement

Answer 10

Statement of an organization’s ability to meet its current and short-term obligations, showing incoming and outgoing cash and cash reserves in operations, investments, and financing.

Question 11

Civil Law

Answer 11

Legal system based on written codes (laws, rules, or regulations).

Question 12

Code of Conduct

Answer 12

Principles that guide decision making and behavior in an organization.

Question 13

Common Law

Answer 13

Legal system in which each case is considered in terms of how it relates to legal decisions that have already been made; evolves through judicial decisions over time.

Question 14

Confidentiality

Answer 14

Treatment of personal information that has been disclosed to another person or organization

Question 15

Conflict of Interest

Answer 15

Situation in which a person or organization may benefit from undue influence due to involvement in outside activities, relationships, or investments that conflict with or have an impact on the employment relationship or its outcomes.

Question 16

Cultural Intelligence

Answer 16

Capacity to recognize, interpret, and behaviorally adapt to multicultural situations and contexts.

Question 17

Culture

Answer 17

Basic beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviors, and customs shared and followed by members of a group, which give rise to the group’s sense of identity.

Question 18

Delphi Technique

Answer 18

Technique that progressively collects information from a group of anonymous respondents.

Question 19

Due Process

Answer 19

Concept that laws are enforced only through accepted, codified procedures.

Question 20

Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Answer 20

Ability to be sensitive to and understand one’s own and others’ emotions and impulses.

Question 21

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Answer 21

Business management software, usually a suite of integrated applications, that a company can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from many business activities.

Question 22

Equity

Answer 22

Amount of owner’s or shareholder’ portion of a business.

Question 23

Extraterritoriality

Answer 23

Extension of the power of a country’s laws over its citizens outside that country’s sovereign national boundaries.

Question 24

Feedback Loop

Answer 24

In communication, structuring a message to include opportunities for correction or clarification. This requires two-way communication.

Question 25

Focus Group

Answer 25

Small group of invited persons (typically 6 to 12) who actively participate in a structured discussion, let by a facilitator, for the purpose of eliciting their input.

Question 26

Force Field Analysis

Answer 26

Group decision-making tool designed to analyze the forces favoring and opposing a particular change. A factor is weighted and the factors on each side are summed and compared.

Question 27

Framing

Answer 27

Process of constructing a message so that an audience sees communicated facts in a certain way and is persuaded to take a certain action.

Question 28

Global Mindset

Answer 28

Ability to take an international perspective, inclusive of other cultures' views.

Question 29

Gross Profit Margin

Answer 29

Ratio of gross profit to net sales.

Question 30

High-Context Cultures

Answer 30

Societies or groups characterized by complex, usually long-standing networks of relationships. Members share a rich history of common experiences, so the way they interact and interpret events is often not apparent to outsiders.

Question 31

Income Statement

Answer 31

Statement that reports revenues, expenses, and profits for a specific period of time, for example, quarterly or annually. | Net income = revenues - expenses

Question 32

J Curve | Change Management

Answer 32

Visualization of the impact of change on productivity. When change is introduced, there is typically a decrease in productivity and then a gradual return to - or ideally, a surpassing of -previous levels of productivity.

Question 33

Jurisdiction

Answer 33

Right of a legal body to exert authority over a given geographical territory, subject matter, or persons or institutions.

Question 34

Liabilities

Answer 34

Organization's debts and other financial obligations.

Question 35

Low-Context Cultures

Answer 35

Societies in which relationships have less history. Individuals know each other less well and don't share a common database of experience, so communication must be very explicit.

Question 36

Macroenvironment

Answer 36

All the factors that exist outside the organization. * Industry and market conditions * Events and trends

Question 37

Mean

Answer 37

Average score or value.

Question 38

Median

Answer 38

Middle value in a range of values.

Question 39

Mind Mapping/Affinity Diagramming

Answer 39

Data-sorting tecnique in which group members add related ideas and indicate logical connections, eventually grouping similar ideas.

Question 40

Mode

Answer 40

Value that occurs most frequently in a set of data.

Question 41

Motivation

Answer 41

Factors that initiate, direct, and sustain human behavior over time.

Question 42

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA)

Answer 42

Group decision-making tool in which the group defines the characteristics of a successful decision and then scores each alternative against those criteria.

Question 43

Negotiation

Answer 43

Process by which two or more parties work together to reach agreement on a matter.

Question 44

Net Profit Margin

Answer 44

Ration of net income (gross sales minus expenses and taxes) to net sales.

Question 45

Networking

Answer 45

Process of developing mutually beneficial contacts through the exchange of information.

Question 46

Noise

Answer 46

In communication, any factor that can disrupt the sending and receipt of a message. - Physical factors such as a loud environment. - Cultural factors such as a distinctive accent. - Cognitive factors such as the use of unfamiliar jargon.

Question 47

Nominal Group Technique (NGT)

Answer 47

Technique in which participants each suggest ideas through a series of rounds and then discuss the items, eliminate redundancies and irrelevancies, and agree on the importance of the remaining items.

Question 48

Nonverbals

Answer 48

Components of a message apart from its words. This could include physical gestures and posture and vocal tones, volume, and speed.

Question 49

Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)

Answer 49

Processing applications that store data in a multidimensional "cube" which enables users to analyze data quickly in a variety of different ways.

Question 50

Principled Negotiation

Answer 50

Process in which negotiators aim for mutual gain, emphasizing the need to focus on the problem instead of personal differences and on mutually beneficial outcomes.

Question 51

Ratio Analysis

Answer 51

Comparing the sizes of two variables to produce an index or percentage. Commonly used to analyze financial statements.

Question 52

Reliability

Answer 52

Extent to which a measurement instrument provides consistent results.

Question 53

Root-Cause Analysis

Answer 53

Type of analysis that starts with a result and then works backwards to identify the fundamental cause.

Question 54

Rule of Law

Answer 54

Concept that stipulates that no individual is beyond the reach of the law and that authority is exercised only in accordance with written and publicly disclosed laws.

Question 55

Scenario / What-If Analysis

Answer 55

Statistical method used to test the possible effects of altering the details of a strategy to see if the likely outcome can be improved.

Question 56

Social Intelligence

Answer 56

Ability to create connections or rapport with others.

Question 57

Stakeholder Concept

Answer 57

Concept that proposes that any organization operates within a complex environment in which it affects and is affected by a variety of forces or stakeholders who all share in the value of the organization and its activities.

Question 58

Standard Deviation

Answer 58

Distance of any data point from the center of a distribution when data is distributed in a “normal” or expected pattern.

Question 59

Transparency

Answer 59

Extent to which an organization’s agreements, dealings, information, practices, and transactions are open to disclosure and review by relevant persons.

Question 60

Trend Analysis

Answer 60

Statistical method that examines data from different points in time to determine if a variance is an isolated event or if it is part of a longer trend.

Question 61

Unweighted Mean

Answer 61

Raw average of data that gives equal weight to all values, with no regard for other factors.

Question 62

Validity

Answer 62

Extent to which a measurement instrument measures what it is intended to measure.

Question 63

Value

Answer 63

The benefit created when an organization meets its strategic goals; measure of usefulness, worth, or importance.

Question 64

Value Chain

Answer 64

The process by which an organization creates the product or service it offers to the customer.

Question 65

Variance Analysis

Answer 65

Statistical method for identifying the degree of difference between planned and actual performance or outcomes.

Question 66

Weighted Mean

Answer 66

Average of data that adds factors to reflect the importance of different values.

Question 67

Multigenerational | Dynamic and Inclusive Workplace Characteristics ## Footnote On the exam

Answer 67

Different generations bring different skill sets and perspectives, which can provide value

Question 68

Multicultural | Dynamic and Inclusive Workplace Characteristics ## Footnote On the exam

Answer 68

Multicultural organizations have access to greater diversity of thought and experiences, leading to more innovation and creativity in decision-making

Question 69

Allyship ## Footnote On the exam

Answer 69

Allies advocate for underrepresented people and work to correct uneven opportunities

Question 70

Psychological Safety ## Footnote On the exam

Answer 70

The feeling that you are able to speak up, question, ask for help, and admit mistakes

Question 71

Profit Margin ## Footnote on the exam

Answer 71

* (Total sales - total costs) / total sales * profitability after all expenses have been deducated, expressed as a percentage of revenue (sales)

Question 72

EBITDA ## Footnote on the exam

Answer 72

* Earnings before interest, tax, and depreciation / total sales * profitability ratio used as a measure of management performance

Question 73

Return on Investment (ROI) ## Footnote on the exam

Answer 73

* gain from investment - cost of investment / cost of investment *a good investment has an ROI above 1