Chapter 6 Managing Learning Programs Flashcards
Strategic business drivers are defined as______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Internal and external forces that affect the organization’s culture and values and the need to facilitate change within an organization
Internal and external forces that affect the knowledge, skills, and information in the organization and determine learning needs of individuals
Internal and external forces that affect an organization’s revenue, expenses, and expected profitability
Internal and external forces that affect an organization’s strategy, goals, business needs, and performance needs
Internal and external forces that affect an organization’s strategy, goals, business needs, and performance needs
Response D is correct because strategic business drivers are factors that affect how the organization does business. An example of an external business driver is government regulations, while an example of an internal business driver is technology.
Which of the following environmental factors includes technology, new products, and changes in systems processes or policies? (Choose the best response.)
Contractual
External
Employees
Internal
Internal
Response D is correct because internal factors encompass forces within the organization that can affect its strategy and goals. Examples include changes in systems, processes, or policies that may require changes in employee skills and behavior.
Which of the following environmental factors includes economic changes and human resource and skill shortages? (Choose the best response.)
Contractual
External
Employees
Internal
External
Response B is correct because external factors encompass forces outside the organization that affect its strategy and goals and include economic changes, human resource and skill shortages, governmental decisions, public perception, and market or customer requirements.
You have just started your job as a TD director in a new company. You spend most of your first few weeks learning about the company’s history, mission, goals, strategy, tactics, vision, and plans. This information will help you understand which of the following? (Choose the best response.)
Company’s culture
Department’s budget
TD group’s strengths and weaknesses
Who the organization’s informal leaders are
Company’s culture
Response A is correct because the company’s culture encompasses all the ways that things are done in an organization. Therefore, the company’s history, mission, goals, strategy, tactics, vision, and plans are good places to learn about how things get done in the organization.
You are a director of a Talent Development department. Your manager is meeting with you to express her disapproval that you signed off on poor training supplier agreements. Which of the following environmental factors does your manager think you managed inadequately? (Choose the best response.)
Contractual
External
Employees
Internal
Contractual
Response A is correct because contractual factors include stipulations laid out in supplier agreements for services and raw materials.
You own a small consulting firm. You are very busy. Although you have tried to hire additional consultants, qualified candidates do not seem to be available. Which of the following environmental factors is negatively affecting your company? (Choose the best response.)
Contractual
External
Employees
Internal
Employees
Response C is correct because employee factors include shortages in the number of employees or in the number of employees with a certain skill set.
An organization’s dynamic capabilities include things such as ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Number of computers
An organization’s ability to efficiently distribute and apply organizational learning
Availability of tablets
An organization’s mobile devices
An organization’s ability to efficiently distribute and apply organizational learning
Response B is the correct response because dynamic capabilities concern the organization’s technological capabilities versus hard technology capabilities, such as number of computers, mobile devices, and availability of tablets.
Which of the following delivery methods is best for learners with a low level of motivation? (Choose the best response.)
Expand All
VR
EPSS
Online asynchronous
Classroom instruction
Classroom instruction
Response D is the correct response because classroom learning requires that learners be present. In addition, it is the job of the training facilitator to ensure that all attendees engage with the material being presented.
Which delivery method has the primary advantages of being excellent for teaching rote skills and prerequisite materials, offering flexibility in scheduling, and being capable of quick delivery? (Choose the best response.)
Job aids
EPSS
Asynchronous online learning
Classroom instruction
Asynchronous online learning
Response C is correct because asynchronous online learning can be repeated as many times as it takes to learn rote skills without the learner having to feel embarrassed if he or she does not succeed at first. Similarly, the learner can prepare for classroom training sessions by using online learning on his or her own time to brush up on prerequisite materials.
Which of the following is NOT an advantage of a job aid? (Choose the best response.)
Excellent for infrequent tasks
Excellent for tasks with short reaction time
Excellent for tasks with high consequence of error
Excellent for tasks that may change in the future
Excellent for tasks with short reaction time
Response B is correct because tasks with short reaction time require that the performer be able to do what he or she needs to do without taking the time to find a job aid and look up what to do. In other words, the performer needs to know what to do at a moment’s notice; this is true in the case of, for example, a pilot reacting to an emergency on a plane.
One of the biggest barriers to implementing technology-based learning is _____________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Organizational culture
Learner skills
Mission and vision of the organization
Cost
Organizational culture
Response A is correct because no matter how great and streamlined the technologies, if the organizational culture and perceptions of the learners do not accept technology-based learning or perceive that it is inferior to traditional classroom instruction, then nothing will make the learning program a success.
Which of the following was created to minimize or remove technical roadblocks and fosters creation of reusable learning content as “instructional objects”? (Choose the best response.)
SCORM
Section 508
Blended learning
Wikis
SCORM
Response A is correct because SCORM stands for Sharable Content Object Reference Model. SCORM was designed by the Department of Defense to foster creation of reusable learning content as “instructional objects” within a common technical framework consisting of guidelines, specifications, and standards.
The most important consideration in the process of selecting a learning technology is ______________. (Choose the best response.)
Identifying the learning objectives and desired outcomes and selecting the technology to support those goals
Identifying the target learners and geographical location(s)
Determining which activities and interactivity are needed
Constructing a rationale for the technology choice
Constructing a rationale for the technology choice
Response D is correct because the organizational culture plays the most significant role if online learning is supported and if technology-based learning will be sustained for future efforts. If sponsors and learners do not believe that technology-based learning solutions are beneficial and preferable to traditional instructional approaches, then the learning programs will likely fail.
Which of the following is best defined as a wide set of applications and processes, such as virtual classrooms, digital collaboration, and so on? Delivery of content may be via the Internet or intranet, satellite broadcast, mobile devices, and more. (Choose the best response.)
Podcasts
Online learning
Vodcasts
Teleconferencing
Online learning
Response B is correct because online learning is an umbrella term that refers to anything delivered, enabled, or mediated by electronic technology for the purpose of learning, and it can be delivered through a wide variety of methods.
Which of the following is best described as an exercise with a simplified form of a real-life situation so that participants can practice making decisions and analyzing results of those decisions? (Choose the best response.)
Simulation
EPSS
VR
Social network
Simulation
Response A is correct because a simulation is a representation of a piece of equipment or a system that enables users to provide inputs and see the system’s typical responses. This enables learners to practice doing certain tasks and see the results of what they have done in a safe environment.
Which of the following gives learners a realistic, three-dimensional, interactive experience? (Choose the best response.)
Simulation
Online learning
VR
Psychomotor skills
VR
Response C is correct because VR allows learners to perform skills in a realistic, engaging simulation of a real-life environment.
What is the most challenging aspect of evaluating the impact of new technology? (Choose the best response.)
Beta testing
Usability testing
Integration into program design
Transfer of learning to the workplace
Transfer of learning to the workplace
Response D is correct because while beta testing, usability testing and integration into program design are all essential elements to consider, transfer of learning to the workplace is the most challenging.
You need to select a training delivery method. Your goals include (a) cost-effectiveness, (b) low amount of trainer travel, and (c) low amount of learner time away from work. Immediate learner feedback in real time is not required. Which delivery method would best address this situation? (Choose the best response.)
Blended online learning event
Synchronous online learning event
Facilitator-led classroom event
Asynchronous online event
Asynchronous online event
Response D is correct because reducing trainer and learner time away indicates a technologically-driven solution. An asynchronous solution further reduces the need for schedule management.
A manager of a small company has asked for your advice. He is trying to decide if high-end simulations are an appropriate training option to deliver new product training to salespeople. Which of the following factors makes simulations inappropriate for this company? (Choose the best response.)
The company has five regional offices
The company needs to monitor post-assessment scores
The training will be updated quarterly
The training must include product demonstration videos
The training will be updated quarterly
Response C is correct because simulations or other high-end online learning content typically require lengthy development times and have high development costs. Quarterly updates would be expensive and could probably not be achieved quickly enough.
You are a manager who needs to provide a rationale to senior leadership to invest in EPSS as a job aid. Considering the following scenarios, which one is the best reason for using an EPSS? (Choose the best response.)
Access to computers is limited
Employees require just-in-time performance assistance
Information and processes are changing constantly
The tasks are highly technical and fairly complicated
Employees require just-in-time performance assistance
Response B is correct because for employees who need just-in-time performance assistance, EPSS provides on-demand information, guidance, examples, and step-by-step dialog boxes without the need for training or coaching.
You are a TD professional working in a federal agency. Your manager tells you to search for vendors who provide online learning content that is accessible by federal employees with disabilities. The standard that your manager is referencing is______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
SCORM
Section 508
Mobile learning standards
Collaboration tool standards
Section 508
Response B is correct because Section 508 refers to a standard in the Americans with Disabilities Act that requires that when federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use EIT, federal employees with disabilities must have comparable access to and use of information and data as federal employees who have no disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency.
You are a TD professional who is creating a blended learning program for a large restaurant chain. Your client wants to leverage collaboration tools to facilitate the learning process and provide informal learning experiences outside of formal classroom instruction. You offer all of the following to your client as examples of collaboration software except ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Wikis
Blogs
CoPs
LMSs
LMSs
Response D is correct because LMSs are not collaboration software. An LMS is a software application that automates administering, tracking, and reporting learning events.
Which of the following systems manages content, such as components that make up a course? (Choose the best response.)
LMS
LCMS
LSS
Collaboration tools
LCMS
Response B is correct because a LCMS is a system that stores, assembles, and delivers learning content in the form of learning objects, which are self-contained chunks of self-instructional material.
Which of the following systems manages learners, including who’s taking which course(s), completion ratios, course progress status, and scheduling? (Choose the best response.)
LMS
LCMS
LSS
Collaboration tools
LMS
Response A is correct because an LMS provides access to learning resources and manages the administrative side of learning.
Which of the following is NOT a benefit of an LCMS? (Choose the best response.)
Faster development with a WYSIWYG authoring environment
Collaboration and storage of learning content with check-in and check-out capabilities
The ability to create once and use many times
Administration of courses
Administration of courses
Response D is correct because a LCMS is not involved with the administrative side of learning (unlike an LMS); a LCMS is used to manage learning content.
Which of the following includes email, computer networks, bulletin board systems, chat rooms, and online presentation tools, which can play an important role in the expansion of online learning and in collaborating on projects, sharing information, and communicating? (Choose the best response.)
LMS
LCMS
LSS
Collaboration tools
Collaboration tools
Response D is correct because collaboration tools provide an environment that enables learners to work together electronically, thereby enabling them to collaborate on projects and assist one another’s learning.
Which of the following is NOT one of the assessments that should be conducted prior to implementing an LMS? (Choose the best response.)
IT infrastructure assessment
Cultural readiness assessment
Training needs assessment
Administrative process analysis
Training needs assessment
Response C is correct because implementing an LMS does not require a training needs assessment. An LMS is not used to create course content.
A training department is collecting requirements for selecting a LCMS. Which of the following is a typical LCMS function? (Choose the best response.)
Manage traditional forms of training
Provide learner profile management
Create test questions
Provide skills gap analysis functions
Create test questions
Response C is correct because a LCMS combines the most essential pieces of the learning puzzle, including creating and administering tests.
As your organization’s director of talent, you must develop a learning information system to support the learning function. The system must support training delivered asynchronously to employees’ work stations. The learning results and data must be readily available to the organization’s human resources system. Which system would best satisfy these requirements? (Choose the best response.)
LMS
LCMS
Collaborative learning software
LSS
LMS
Response A is correct because an LMS is designed to manage multiple delivery venues, track results, and interface with HR and other systems.
Your organization’s TD department is deciding whether it should purchase a learning support system. Which of the following reasons would you NOT tell your manager is a benefit for implementing a learning support system? (Choose the best response.)
Better able to align learning initiatives with strategic goals
A need to provide LMS recommendations based on organizational needs
A need to adjust to a faster speed of response
Better able to deal with technology compatibility issues
Better able to deal with technology compatibility issues
Response D is correct because integrating a learning support system with existing systems may cause compatibility issues rather than solve them.
Of the following, who developed a decision-making model for comparing potential suppliers by dividing criteria into musts and wants and assigning weight to those items? (Choose the best response.)
Kepner and Tregoe
Gardner
Herrmann
Knowles
Kepner and Tregoe
Response A is correct because Charles H. Kepner and Benjamin B. Tregoe identified a practical, straightforward decision-making process that splits criteria into wants and musts and then weights those items.
Which of the following best describes a firm fixed-price contract? (Choose the best response.)
The product or service can be clearly defined (for example, a presentation, video, or generic program)
Analysis and development are involved, and a negotiated percentage of the overall cost is identified as profit. Government procurement offices often use this procedure
When time is critical, the resource gets a bonus if the contract is completed early. The reverse is also possible, in which the contract imposes a penalty for missed deadlines
A certain percentage of the fixed fee is added based on employees’ successful performance on the job. This works only when desired performance can be described and measured specifically
The product or service can be clearly defined (for example, a presentation, video, or generic program)
Response A is correct because a firm fixed-price contract is used when a product or service has a fixed cost and a clear definition; this is much like purchasing a software program directly off a store shelf.
All of the following are standard elements of an RFP except______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Development process and timeline
Deliverables
References
Financial statements
Financial statements
Response D is correct because financial statements are not typically included in RFPs.
Which of the following is NOT a main step in the outsourcing process? (Choose the best response.)
Determining needs, scope, and budget
Creating the RFP
Contract negotiation
Conducting trainer interviews
Conducting trainer interviews
Response D is correct because the steps in the outsourcing process are determining needs, defining the scope and budget, creating and sending the RFP, evaluating proposals and selecting a supplier, notifying the supplier and negotiating the contract, implementing the project, monitoring the schedule, and completing and evaluating the project. Interviewing trainers is not part of the supplier evaluation process.
Which of the following types of contracts requires analysis and development and also has a negotiated percentage of the overall cost identified as profit? (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Firm fixed price
Cost plus fixed price
Cost plus incentive fee
Performance based
Cost plus fixed price
Response B is correct because a cost plus fixed price contract is often used by government procurement offices. With this type of contract, the supplier needs to do some analysis and development, but the total percentage of the supplier’s profit is determined by the contract.
The key to efficiently selecting supplier offerings is first to define the organization’s______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately. )
Competencies
Requirements
Strategies
Contract clauses
Requirements
Response B is correct because it is important to first define the organization’s requirements before selecting a supplier.
Your organization needs to develop a learning program to support a new product launch and sales-force training. Which of the following is the best benefit of developing materials and learning programs in-house? (Choose the best response.)
The end product may have a lower cost because in-house expertise is used
Designers and developers have firsthand knowledge of the company, culture, mission, and goals
Development time is shorter
All resources are available immediately
Designers and developers have firsthand knowledge of the company, culture, mission, and goals
Response B is correct because in-house designers and developers understand the culture of the organization, which enables them to create learning that fits the culture and which appeals to the organization’s learners.
You are the TD manager for a small medical practice. After they return from the annual medical conference and retreat in Hawaii, the doctors in your firm have determined that they want you to create a high-quality, customized customer service training for the practice. They provide you with several names of vendors whom they spoke with at the conference who offer off-the-shelf customer service courseware and received high praise from other doctors. Your doctors believe that their practice is special and want a special training approach that emulates the practice. What may be wrong with this scenario? (Choose the best response.)
The credentials of the vendors may be exaggerated because they attended the medical conference
You are concerned about the degree of cohesion between the vendor’s philosophies and the medical practice
You need a budget for this project before you proceed
You are concerned about the ability to customize the customer service training to meet the “special” needs of the medical practice based on the doctors’ comments to you
You are concerned about the ability to customize the customer service training to meet the “special” needs of the medical practice based on the doctors’ comments to you
Response D is correct because it is often difficult or impossible to customize off-the-shelf products, making it difficult to meet all the training needs.
You provide training services to a small Fixed Base Operation (FBO) pilot shop. They are operated by a dedicated but harried staff. They have asked you to gather proposals from vendors that can teach time management skills to the 25-member staff. The budget is small, but you have found a man that can offer the training under the budget you were given. He is a professor at a junior college who is just starting his consulting practice, so he doesn’t have any previous customers. He says he can put the training together within the month and would not need to waste anyone’s time with a needs assessment, objectives, scope of the effort or timeline; he is sure you will be satisfied with the deliverable. He has asked for half of the fee upfront to pay expenses. The FBO manager and one of the flight instructors have concerns. What is their greatest concern? (Choose the best response.)
Professors are rarely a good choice because they don’t have real-life experience
If the price is so low, it can’t be good training
The lack of desire to conduct a needs assessment or present a scope of work or deliverables is worrisome
Asking for half the cost upfront is unsettling
The lack of desire to conduct a needs assessment or present a scope of work or deliverables is worrisome
Response C is the best. While each of these could signal a problem, it is imperative to have a potential vendor always provide a detailed description of the plan, objectives, scope of effort, a timeline, deliverables, and references. An unwillingness to conduct at least a cursory needs assessment will most likely result in training that does not meet the needs of the FBO staff.
Which of the following activities is most important to being a successful TD manager? (Choose the best response.)
Developing learning programs
Aligning people with departmental and business goals
Double-checking to ensure everything is prepared for a training class
Acting as the lead instructor for all mission-critical learning programs
Aligning people with departmental and business goals
Response B is correct because the role of the TD manager is to enable the department to provide training that supports and furthers the organization’s business goals. To do this, the training manager needs to ensure that his or her people work toward the goals of the department and of the business.
Which leadership function is concerned with setting goals and objectives, developing strategies, and establishing priorities? (Choose the best response.)
Organizing
Planning
Coordinating
Directing
Planning
Response B is correct because planning involves establishing objectives and setting a course or direction for achieving them.
Which leadership function is best described as ensuring that everything is performed according to plan? (Choose the best response.)
Organizing
Planning
Coordinating
Controlling
Controlling
Response D is correct because controlling involves evaluating or assessing situations to ensure that everything happens according to plan.
A TD manager has received feedback that she needs to improve her planning skills. Which of the following activities should she focus on to better demonstrate her planning ability? (Choose the best response.)
Dividing work into jobs and assigning those jobs to people
Comparing actual performance with ideal or expected performance
Enabling employees to do their jobs
Establishing objectives and a direction to achieve them
Establishing objectives and a direction to achieve them
Response D is correct because planning involves being able to set goals and objectives; develop strategies; establish priorities; and create timelines, work sequences, and budgets. Establishing objectives and a direction to achieve them is one way to demonstrate good planning abilities.
Your organization recently experienced a restructuring and several rounds of downsizing. Despite budget cuts, in your role as the TD manager, you are still expected to deliver training to meet the needs of the current client base. Which of the following activities should be most important in this situation? (Choose the best response.)
Providing vision, direction, values, and purpose to employees
Motivating, inspiring, and aligning people with departmental and business goals
Supervising the operations and staffing of the training department
Controlling issues and solving problems
Motivating, inspiring, and aligning people with departmental and business goals
Response B is correct because ensuring that the TD department’s activities support the organization’s goals by motivating, inspiring, and aligning the department’s people to achieve those goals is the most productive way the training manager can meet expectations.
You are a TD manager who has just finished your performance review with your director. You are upset and cannot understand what the problem is. You are thinking about your behaviors that you believe display dedication and loyalty. You regularly work long hours six days a week doing everything from instructional design to setting up training rooms. The director indicated the poor review was a result of numerous complaints from your direct reports. Which of the following tasks are you likely not adequately focusing on? (Choose the best response.)
Assessing training needs
Budgeting and forecasting
Providing vision, direction, values, and purpose to employees
Delivering training
Providing vision, direction, values, and purpose to employees
Response C is correct because providing employees with vision, direction, values, and purpose is the part of a TD manager’s job that enables employees to understand what they are doing and why. Without this understanding, employees feel lost and feel as though their work is not appreciated.
You are excited. You are a new TD manager, and your director has just agreed to have you attend a Kouzes and Posner learning program. What do you expect to learn? (Choose the best response.)
Planning, organizing, coordinating, and directing
Challenge the process, inspire a shared vision, enable others to act, and model the way
Interpersonal skills, communication skills, employee development skills, and project leadership
Self-awareness, resiliency, working with others, and directing your team.
Challenge the process, inspire a shared vision, enable others to act, and model the way
Response B is correct because these are four of the key leadership skills identified by Kouzes and Posner .
Performance management is primarily concerned with which of the following processes? (Choose the best response.)
Developing, motivating, deploying, and aligning people to increase business performance
Continually monitoring employees and providing feedback to increase their performance
Attracting and retaining the right talent to increase business performance
Retaining the right people through pay grades and compensation systems to increase performance
Developing, motivating, deploying, and aligning people to increase business performance
Response A is correct because performance management involves enabling employees to meet business goals by helping them to learn needed skills, motivating them appropriately, and measuring their achievement against desired outcomes and metrics.
Which of the following is a computer-based system that HR professionals use to understand which employees need to develop required skills and experience? (Choose the best response.)
Performance management
Reward management
Succession management
Job management
Performance management
Response A is correct because a performance management system is used to determine what skills and knowledge employees need to work toward organizational goals.
TD can have a broad effect when integrated with talent management. In which of the following areas would TD be LEAST effective? (Choose the best response.)
Onboarding
Talent acquisition/recruiting
Benefit planning
Career development
Benefit planning
Response C is correct because TD professionals are not typically involved in benefit planning or decision making; however, TD professionals can have significant influence in the areas of onboarding, talent acquisition/recruiting, and career development.
Integrating talent management systems requires core strategies for improving the chances of success. Which is the best strategy? (Choose the best response.)
Ensure that the HR leader is responsible and accountable for the effort
Measure talent management, and ensure these measurements are aligned with business goals
Ensure that new employees feel welcome through an integrated onboarding process
Implement technology solutions first to ensure efficiencies
Measure talent management, and ensure these measurements are aligned with business goals
Response B is correct because it is one of the core strategies to ensure success.
You are in TD and have been asked by the HR department to be a member of the team that will design several new jobs. One of the goals of the design team is to develop jobs that employees will find interesting and motivating. Altering which of the following job factors is LEAST likely to affect employee motivation? (Choose the best response.)
Skill variety
Compensation
Task identity
Autonomy
Compensation
Response B is correct because compensation is not related to job design.
You are an internal consultant working with a department head. She has a staff retention problem, and does not know why she gives raises whenever she can and gives employees monetary on-the-spot awards regularly, but people are still leaving to go to work elsewhere. What do you tell her? (Choose the best response.)
She needs to determine how to provide effective intrinsic motivation
People perform better when they feel their personal values are aligned with the organization
She needs to help them feel connected to others and the mission
All of the above
All of the above
Response D is correct because based on Daniel Pink’s research these three are more important motivators than compensation.
You just left a meeting in which the CEO was talking about “building organizational capacity.” You are not sure what he meant, but you think your role as a TD professional is involved. You ask your manager, and she explains it as ___________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
The way that the training function integrates with HR
Identifying an effective onboarding strategy
Developing a talented workforce to meet business and customer needs
Creating a sales and marketing team that maximizes profits
Developing a talented workforce to meet business and customer needs
Response C is correct because the organization must hire, train, and retain the right talent to achieve business goals.
New legislation and a partisan climate are examples of which of the following external environmental factors that may influence an organization? (Choose the best response.)
Global
Political
Sociological
Economic
Political
Response B is correct because political factors include level of privatization in government services, political trends affecting suppliers and customers, and level of partisanship in governmental bodies.
Which of the following analyses can help TD professionals scan the environment and analyze current and future trends and forces? (Choose the best response.)
SWOT
Gantt
Performance
Force field analysis
SWOT
Response A is correct because a TD professional can use an environmental scan and a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis to take an inventory of external factors and trends and to gain insight into corporate plans.
Worker skills, corporate responsibilities and ethics, population shifts, immigration, migration, age, and gender are examples of which of the following external environmental factors that may influence an organization? (Choose the best response.)
Cultural
Political
Sociological
Economic
Sociological
Response C is correct because sociological factors encompass broad forces that affect a population, including generational differences, minority groups, and nontraditional labor.
Which of the following is an example of an external relationship that affects an organization? (Choose the best response.)
Customers
Political
Sociological
Economic
Customers
Response A is correct because customers are one type of external relationship that affects how an organization does business. Others include suppliers, competitors, community, and charities.
As a result of the last United States presidential election, you anticipate the need to increase the amount of Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) compliance training. To which external environmental factor are you adjusting? (Choose the best response.)
Economic
Political
Employment
Sociological
Political
Response B is correct because, in the example, political changes have affected the level of compliance training required of the organization. This is an example of a political factor that has influenced the way the organization does business.
With the advent of automated project management software, clients are starting to expect weekly PERT and Gantt chart updates. Because of these new expectations, your consulting firm needs to change its project management process. Which external environmental factor is this company adjusting to? (Choose the best response.)
Economic
Technological
Global
Sociological
Technological
Response B is correct because the example illustrates a change in technology—in this case the more frequent use of project management software—changing clients’ expectations.
Important legal issues for HR and the TD function involving lawful selection of people to participate in TD programs include all the following EXCEPT______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Requiring training before job entry
Using measures in training as measures of job performance and retention
Selecting employees to attend internal and external programs
Assigning jobs based on performance in previous job roles
Assigning jobs based on performance in previous job roles
Response D is correct because performance in previous job roles is an appropriate and nondiscriminatory criterion that can be used to determine whether a person can participate in a TD program. Performance in previous job roles is an example of a criterion that is job-related.
Which of the following is NOT an example of a reasonable accommodation that the TD function must provide for people with disabilities? (Choose the best response.)
Magnifying glasses
Larger text in materials
Customized one-on-one training
Interpreters
Customized one-on-one training
Response C is correct because providing customized one-on-one training is an unreasonable accommodation for a disabled person.
An instructional designer needs to include in her training class information on current legislation regarding forklift safety. Which of the following is the official source charged with providing specific safety standards? (Choose the best response.)
National Safety Council
OSHA
Small Business Administration
National Labor Relations Board
OSHA
Response B is correct because OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) provides guidelines for workplace safety.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 affects which of the following types of legislation? (Choose the best response.)
EEOC
OSHA
Civil rights
Securities and financial reporting
Securities and financial reporting
Response D is correct because the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed to protect investors from fraudulent accounting activities by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate financial disclosures.
Which of the following is NOT one of the exclusive rights of copyright holders? (Choose the best response.)
To reproduce the copyrighted work
To perform the copyrighted work publicly
To copyright the initial idea that the copyrighted work was derived from
To prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work
To copyright the initial idea that the copyrighted work was derived from
Response C is correct because copyright protection does not cover ideas, concepts, or facts; copyright covers the expression of ideas, concepts, and facts. Therefore, it is not possible to copyright the idea upon which the work was based.
Which of the following is NOT an example of corporate policy and procedure documentation? (Choose the best response.)
HR strategy whitepapers
Status reports and compliance with completion of mandatory courses
Intellectual property laws
ROI data
Intellectual property laws
Response C is correct because intellectual property laws are not an example of corporate policy and procedure documentation. Intellectual property laws encompass a body of law related to copyright protection, patent law, and so forth.
Which is NOT relevant to the fair use rules of copyright? (Choose the best response.)
Purpose and character of the use
Nature of the copyrighted work
Amount or substantiality of the portion used
The ideas expressed in the work
The ideas expressed in the work
Response D is correct because copyright law protects the expression of the idea (but not the idea itself) in some tangible form. Some exceptions are permitted and TD professionals should be aware of them.
Plagiarism explicitly violates which of the following? (Choose the best response.)
ATD Competency Model
Federal regulations
TD code of ethics
Intellectual property laws
Intellectual property laws
Response D is correct because international copyright laws and other regulations prohibit the use of another person’s intellectual property without their express permission.
You are developing learning materials for an international not-for-profit organization. While conducting research, you find a job aid on the Internet that is exactly what is needed. The job aid is located on an individual’s website, not a corporate or a government website, and there is no copyright marking on the job aid. What should you do? (Choose the best response.)
Use the job aid as it currently exists; there are no restrictions on its use
Add the organization’s logo on the job aid and use it
Put the individual’s website on the job aid and use it; not-for-profit use is allowed under the fair use doctrine
Seek the copyright holder’s permission to use the job aid for your organization; it is most likely copyright-protected
Seek the copyright holder’s permission to use the job aid for your organization; it is most likely copyright-protected
Response D is correct because the best practice is to obtain written consent from the copyright holder to use the materials, even for an educational program.
You are a TD professional who has designed an outdoor, experiential, team building program for one of the departments in your company. This outdoor event includes rigorous activities such as whitewater rafting. One employee has told the department head that she will not attend because the program happens on a Saturday, which she observes as a religious holiday. The department head is telling you that he believes she must attend or face termination. What advice do you give the department head? (Choose the best response.)
He is correct in expecting her to attend
He needs to emphasize his statement to show his authority and control
He is violating civil rights laws
He is violating OSHA laws
He is violating civil rights laws
Response C is correct because civil rights law guarantees against discrimination in employment based on certain civil rights, including the right to privacy and the right of equal protection.
Your talent development department is responsible for training many unionized employees. You are concerned about how the unions will most likely affect the training provided to employees. Your manager tells you to expect unions to _____________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Approve the content of the training
Set the number of required training hours
Help define the skill levels associated with job titles
Select which employees will participate in the training
Help define the skill levels associated with job titles
Response C is correct because labor reforms of the 1930s reorganized many unions on an industry-wide basis, mixing skills and unskilled workers in the same union. Distinctions regarding mastery of skills were dealt with through contract language, thereby leaving unions with a leading role in defining skill levels associated with job titles or craft titles.
A TD manager’s responsibilities include all of the following EXCEPT______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Staffing programs
Planning and budgeting for learning programs
Ensuring that instructional programs support the organization’s goals and objectives
Developing multimedia content to include in the instruction
Developing multimedia content to include in the instruction
Response D is correct because it is not one of the TD manager’s responsibilities. That is part of the role of the training designer.
You are the manager of a TD function and have just been informed that budget cuts of 50 percent are being instituted across the organization. What programs will you consider cutting first? (Choose the best response.)
The programs currently conducted by an external supplier
The most expensive programs to administer and maintain
All instructor-led training because distance learning is less expensive
The programs that aren’t strategically aligned with the organization’s goals and vision
The programs that aren’t strategically aligned with the organization’s goals and vision
Response D is correct because for the learning function to both be and appear valuable to the organization and, therefore, not a function that can be cut, the TD professional needs to ensure that programs that support the organization’s goals remain in place, while those that aren’t directly tied to those goals are cut.
One of your roles as a TD director is to develop a big-picture perspective of the types of courses and content the organization offers. Which TD director role are you fulfilling? (Choose the best response.)
Developing course outline
Identifying learning objectives
Developing a program curriculum
Listing needs assessment topics
Developing a program curriculum
Response C is correct because a program curriculum encompasses all of the types of training that an organization offers.
As a TD director for a Navy Command, you are developing a job description for a program administrator. Which of these tasks best represents a program administrator’s role? (Choose the best response.)
Managing program elements to support training delivery
Identifying learning and performance needs
Designing training
Developing a strategy to meet learners’ needs
Managing program elements to support training delivery
Response A is correct because administrating the program involves ensuring that the logistics are in place to ensure that the program takes place. In other words, the program administrator secures equipment and resources; identifies and trains instructors; manages course registration, scheduling, and locations; and works with SMEs as needed.
As a TD director for a Navy Command, you are developing a job description for a program administrator. Which of these tasks best represents a program administrator’s role? (Choose the best response.)
Managing program elements to support training delivery
Response A is correct because administrating the program involves ensuring that the logistics are in place to ensure that the program takes place. In other words, the program administrator secures equipment and resources; identifies and trains instructors; manages course registration, scheduling, and locations; and works with SMEs as needed.
Identifying learning and performance needs
X Incorrect
Designing training
X Incorrect
Developing a strategy to meet learners’ needs
Managing program elements to support training delivery
Response A is correct because administrating the program involves ensuring that the logistics are in place to ensure that the program takes place. In other words, the program administrator secures equipment and resources; identifies and trains instructors; manages course registration, scheduling, and locations; and works with SMEs as needed.s
In which phase of creating a strategic plan should a TD professional conduct a SWOT analysis? (Choose the best response.)
Formulation
Development
Implementation
Evaluation
Development
Response B is correct because the first task in the development phase is to gather data, and this is done through a SWOT analysis, which gathers information about the department’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This information forms the basis upon which to develop the plan.
How often should strategic planning occur? (Choose the best response.)
Once per year
Once per quarter
Monthly
Continually and as-needed
Continually and as-needed
Response D is correct because the purpose of a strategic plan is to enable TD managers to accomplish things that are critical to the TD function and to the overall business strategy. For that reason, TD managers need to continually revisit the strategic planning process as business needs evolve.
Objectives are designed to help TD professionals identify how to accomplish which of the following? (Choose the best response.)
Mission
Vision
Strategic goals
Action plans
Strategic goals
Response C is correct because objectives are the component parts of strategic goals and specify tasks that will help to achieve the objectives.
During which of the following phases of strategic plan development does feedback and corrective action happen? (Choose the best response.)
Formulation
Development
Implementation
Evaluation
Evaluation
Response D is correct because the evaluation phase is where a feedback system is set up to provide information about the strategic plan’s results.
Which of the following best describes a chart of accounts? (Choose the best response.)
A listing of account lines in the general ledger
An organization’s economic resources expressed in monetary terms
An expense account that relates directly to business operations
One of the four primary financial statements filed annually by organizations
A listing of account lines in the general ledger
Response A is correct because a chart of accounts is a list of all accounts tracked by an accounting system; each account in the list has a unique identifier known as an account number.
Which of the following best describes an economic resource that may be expressed in monetary terms? (Choose the best response.)
Asset
Liability
Equity
Balance sheet
Asset
Response A is correct because an asset is an economic resource that gives rise to future economic benefit and can be expressed in monetary terms.
Which of the following is NOT a source of prework research when forecasting a budget? (Choose the best response.)
Historical records
Participant demographics
Baseline funds
Benchmarking data
Participant demographics
Response B is correct because participant demographics do not provide the basis for forecasting a budget. Sources of prework research for a budget include the TD plan, historical records of previous years’ budgets, baseline funds, budget accuracy, benchmark data, and postmortems.
Which of the following is a comparison that weighs the cost of a training activity against the outcomes achieved? (Choose the best response.)
Cost-benefit analysis
Chart of accounts
SWOT analysis
Income statement
Cost-benefit analysis
Response A is correct because a cost-benefit analysis compares the costs of training against the benefits gained from it to identify whether the investment in training paid off.
An example of a budget expense includes all of the following EXCEPT______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Salaries for full-time and temporary employees
Office supplies and equipment
Annual maintenance renewals or service contracts
Owner equity
Owner equity
Response D is correct because owner equity refers to the value of the owners’ or shareholders’ portion of the business after all claims against it have been subtracted and is not an expense item that would appear in a budget.
Strategic planning is the process of______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Creating a budget and allocating adequate resources
Developing a vision and mission
Systematically organizing the future of the organization
Establishing short-term objectives for the organization
Systematically organizing the future of the organization
Response C is correct because strategic planning focuses attention on the future of the organization and the desired outcomes of the training initiative.
You are the manager of a TD department with a large in-house staff and numerous supplier partners. You are developing a strategic plan. Given the size of the TD department, what is the role you will have in the strategic planning process? (Choose the best response.)
Creating the training that supports the strategic plan
Delivering the training that supports the strategic plan
Evaluating the training that supports the strategic plan
Overseeing and focusing on future strategies for training
Overseeing and focusing on future strategies for training
Response D is correct because in a large TD department, in-house staff and suppliers help meet the organization’s needs, leaving the TD manager to focus on the future vision and the strategies that will help the TD function to reach that vision.
You are the TD director of a large chemical lab. Your company has always been generous with the training budget. You have reached the end of the year and find that you have a $310,000 budget surplus. Which of the following is the best option for using this surplus? (Choose the best response.)
Your staff has worked hard all year and even though they are some of the best paid in the industry, you could give them all a bonus
You could have a great party to celebrate all that your department has accomplished; it would be well deserved
You could meet with the CFO and the VP of Talent to explore options
You could divide the money among each of the first three options
You could meet with the CFO and the VP of Talent to explore options
Response C is correct because TD is a support function. Organizational priorities should be the department’s focus. TD directors must demonstrate fiscal responsibility. This step gains credibility with business leaders in the organization and will most likely garner more respect for the department. This is the best decision in the long run.
You have just been hired by a fast-growing community bank to be the director of a 20-person TD department. The CEO has called you into his office to tell you that the last director was fired for lack of productivity. You have asked him what his goals for TD are, and he says, “That’s what I hired you for,” and dismisses you. What do you do when you return to your office? (Choose the best response.)
Locate the former director’s strategic plan and budget
Begin to write your letter of resignation; who wants to work for this jerk?
Start interviewing all of your staff to determine what led to the firing of the last director
Locate the SWOT analysis to determine what you can do to be more productive
Locate the former director’s strategic plan and budget
The best response is A. Both of these documents will give you the best clues about what was accomplished and how the budget was expended. You will want to find other documents as well, such as evaluations and ROI analysis, but starting with the strategic plan and budget will help you see the bigger picture of how well the department functioned.
A fundamental technique of project management is planning projects in phases. All of the phases that represent the project from beginning to end are collectively called______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Project scope
Critical path
Life cycle
Conception
Life cycle
Response C is correct because the project life cycle includes everything that happens in a project from beginning to end.
Which of the following is NOT a standard phase name in the project life cycle? (Choose the best response.)
Communicating
Planning
Execution
Evaluation
Communicating
Response A is correct because communicating is not a standard phase name, although it is an important element in a successful project.
Which project phase is concerned with assigning resources to specific tasks and initiating the work? (Choose the best response.)
Communicating
Planning
Executing
Evaluating
Planning
Response B is correct because the planning phase is where the project manager and the team develop the project plan, the project manager plans the work and assigns resources to tasks, and the work is begun.
Which of the following involves ensuring that all of the project work—and only the approved project work—is completed? (Choose the best response.)
Scope
Time
Resource use
Quality
Scope
Response A is correct because the project scope encompasses the work that was approved while defining the goals and objectives of the project. Controlling the project scope so that additional work that wasn’t part of the approved plan doesn’t creep in—also known as scope creep—is an important part of the project manager’s role.
Which of the following project team stakeholders is the person who controls the money and whose signature is needed to authorize purchases over a certain amount? (Choose the best response.)
Expand All
Sponsor
Champion
Budget client
Business client
Budget client
Response C is correct because the budget client is the person who is accountable for the project’s costs and how it will provide a return for the business. As such, he or she pays for the project and has the power to cancel the project at any time.
Project time management includes processes required to ensure timely completion of the project. Which of the following is NOT a typical process used to support project time management? (Choose the best response.)
Activity validation
Activity definition
Activity sequencing
Activity duration estimating
Activity validation
Response A is correct because there is no process regarding validating the project’s activities related to project time management.
Which project management tool is used in planning and integrating the project and represents a graphical hierarchy of the project, deliverables, tasks, and subtasks? (Choose the best response.)
WBS (work breakdown structure)
Gantt chart
PERT chart
Milestone chart
WBS (work breakdown structure)
Response A is correct because the WBS is the primary tool to begin planning and documenting project deliverables. Project managers use it to identify tasks, subtasks, and units of work to be performed and create a hierarchy of those elements.
Which of the following represents the shortest schedule for completing all tasks in a project and drives the project’s end date? (Choose the best response.)
Deliverables
Milestone
Critical path
Gantt chart
Critical path
Response C is correct because the critical path represents the shortest period of time that it takes to complete all of the tasks in the project given task interdependencies.
Which of the following is best defined as work or deliverables that are added to a project but were not part of the initial approved plan nor added through a formal change? (Choose the best response.)
Scope
Milestones
Deliverables
Scope creep
Scope creep
Response D is correct because scope creep occurs when in the course of the project more work is added that wasn’t part of the original project scope.
You work for a not-for-profit organization and have been assigned as the project manager to a new project. You have finished collecting information and are now developing several planning worksheets. Which of the following are you most likely creating? (Choose the best response.)
Process map
SWOT analysis
Strategic plan
Gantt chart
Gantt chart
Response D is correct because Gantt charts are one of several planning worksheets that project managers use to plan the work of a project. Creating a Gantt chart involves creating a sequence of the tasks and subtasks of the work to create a milestone chart and mapping timeframe data onto it.
You continue as the manager of the project in question number 1. You know that you need to make a presentation to the sponsor within the first two weeks. Which of the following will be most helpful in your meeting? (Choose the best response.)
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WBS chart to show everyone’s responsibilities
PERT chart to demonstrate the sequence of events
Gantt chart to define the timeline, a charter, and informal data gathering
CPM chart and a point paper that cautions against scope creep
Gantt chart to define the timeline, a charter, and informal data gathering
Response C is correct because all of these will be critical for a meeting with the sponsor. The sponsor is often a member of senior management and will not want all the details, but needs to feel comfortable that you have a good understanding of the project (charter); have figured out the timeframe and key milestones (Gantt Chart); and are prepared with responses that demonstrate a reasonable amount of research before getting too far into the project.
You work for a government agency that is slow in creating contracts. It has gotten so bad that some of the best vendors will no longer submit proposals. You know that you need to establish an agency-wide acquisition strategy. You present your idea in a point paper to the senior civilian who agrees with you. He suggests that you begin to plan for how you would approach the project. What do you do next? (Choose the best response.)
Define the goals and objectives, and then recommend a project team and project manager
Plan the work, and monitor the project schedule
Develop a project plan, and assign resources to specific tasks
Create the evaluation plan because you need to plan, focusing on the end
Define the goals and objectives, and then recommend a project team and project manager
Response A is correct. Once the idea is formulated, the next steps address the conception and selection activities.
You are a project manager who is addressing new IT requirements for your organization. You are feeling pretty cocky about your successes thus far when you receive a call from one of the field offices that states that you are not representing the needs of the field. How will you address this problem? (Choose the best response.)
Contact all the field offices to identify their issues and concerns
Invite employees in the field to be members of the project team
Revise the communication plan with a renewed focus on the field
All of the above
Response D is correct. These setbacks can occur when you do not think through the entire process and the many roles in an organization that may influence a project. Project stakeholders include anyone with a vested interest in the project.
All of the above
