Deck 3: The Environment and Corporate Culture

Question 1

The international dimension includes scientific and technological advancements in a specific industry as well as in society at large.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Current employees, management, and especially corporate culture are part of an organization's internal environment.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Economic problems in other parts of the world have a tremendous impact on U.S. companies.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The international dimension of the external environment represents events originating in foreign countries as well as opportunities for U.S. companies in other countries.

Question 5

The outer layer, the general environment, is widely dispersed and affects organizations directly.

Question 6

The technological dimension of the external environment includes scientific and technological advancements in a specific industry as well as in society at large.

Question 7

According to Manager's Shoptalk in chapter 3, one of the rules of doing business in China is remembering that relationships are short-term.

Question 8

The economic dimension of the general environment includes consumer purchasing power.

Question 9

In recent years, the most dramatic change in the international environment is the shift of economic power to Germany and France.

Question 10

The sociocultural dimension of the general environment includes societal norms and values.

Question 11

Factors external to the organizations have been primarily the focus of management as a discipline.

Question 12

An example of part of the legal-political dimension of the general environment is a government's report on the decline of unemployment rate.

Question 13

Customers and competitors are two important sectors of the economic dimension of a firm's general environment.

Question 14

The general environment and the task environment are the two layers of an organization's external environment.

Question 15

According to Manager's Shoptalk in Chapter 3, the Chinese concept of guanxi is a supportive, mutually beneficial connection between two people.

Question 16

To be effective, managers must monitor and respond to the environment -- a closed-systems view.

Question 17

President Clinton's signing of the telecommunications bill in 1996 deregulating the industry is an example of the legal-political dimension of the general environment.

Question 18

The economic dimension of the general environment represents the demographic characteristics.

Question 19

The task environmental dimension includes all elements that occur naturally on earth, including plants, animals, rocks, and natural resources such as air, water, and climate.

Question 20

Mattel managers moved swiftly to reassure parents and customers after having to recall nearly 850,000 of its most popular toys because of lead paint.

Question 21

A joint venture involves a strategic alliance or program by two or more organizations.

Question 22

Physical symbols are associated with the surface level of organizational culture.

Question 23

Culture can be defined as the ability to speak different languages.

Question 24

Organizations must manage environmental uncertainty to be effective.

Question 25

An organization experiences high uncertainty when internal factors gradually change over time.

Question 26

Recently, there has been strong concern about climate change such as global warming caused by greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide.

Question 27

If Johnson Lumber provides trees for Westvaco Paper Manufacturing, then Johnson Lumber is considered a supplier for Westvaco.

Question 28

McDonalds, Burger King, and Checkers are competitors since all three sell fast food to individuals.

Question 29

Competitive intelligence is an approach to boundary spanning which results from using sophisticated software to search through large amounts of internal and external data to spot patterns, trends, and relationships that might be significant.

Question 30

Customers are the people and organizations in the environment who acquire goods or services from the organization.

Question 31

Competitive intelligence professionals are really just in-house snoops who obtain information about other companies.

Question 32

The labor market is made up by people in the environment who can be hired to work for an organization.

Question 33

Due to the stable environment and lack of technological change, mergers and joint ventures rarely occur in the U.S.

Question 34

Given the increasing environmental uncertainty, managers in partnering organizations are shifting from a partnership orientation to an adversarial orientation.

Question 35

More organizations are requiring all employees to perform boundary-spanning because of environmental turbulence and uncertainty.

Question 36

Other organizations in the same industry or type of business that provide goods or services to the same set of customers are referred to as suppliers.

Question 37

A boundary-spanning role is an effort to spot trends that enable managers to predict future events.

Question 38

The internal environment within which managers work includes corporate culture, sociocultural aspects, and customers.

Question 39

A sales executive for General Motors fills an essential boundary-spanning role.

Question 40

The raw materials that organizations use to produce its outputs are provided by customers.

Question 41

In adaptive cultures, managers are concerned with customers and processes that bring about useful change.

Question 42

Corporate culture plays a key role in creating an organizational climate that enables learning and innovative responses to threats from the external environment, challenging new opportunities, or organizational crises.

Question 43

A ceremony is a planned activity at a special event that is conducted for the benefit of an audience.

Question 44

According to Unlocking Innovative Solutions Through People in Chapter 3, the Brazil-based Semco Corp. was revived when the president turned control over to the employees.

Question 45

A phrase or sentence that succinctly expresses a key corporate value is called a story.

Question 46

A results-oriented culture that values competitiveness, aggressiveness, personal initiative, and willingness to work long and hard to achieve results is called the achievement culture.

Question 47

The mythical sales representative at Robinson Jewelers who delivered a wedding ring directly to the church because the ring had been ordered late is an example of a hero.

Question 48

An achievement culture is found in an environment that is dynamic and requires high-risk decision-making.

Question 49

The achievement culture emerges in an environment that requires fast response and high-risk decision-making.

Question 50

In a high performance culture, organizations put high emphasis on both culture and solid business performance as drivers of organizational success.

Question 51

When an organization pays little attention to either cultural values or business results, it is unlikely to survive for long.

Question 52

A narrative based on rumors within the organization that can lead to destructive results if not carefully controlled by management is called an organizational story.

Question 53

A symbol is a figure that exemplifies the deeds, character, and attributes of a corporate culture.

Question 54

When an organization pays little attention to cultural values and instead focuses on business results, success will be difficult to sustain in the long run.

Question 55

The clan culture is suited to organizations that are concerned with serving specific customers in the external environment but without the intense need for flexibility and rapid change.

Question 56

The set of key values, beliefs, and norms, that are shared by members of an organization are combined to create the symbols of an organization.

Question 57

Success will be difficult to sustain in the long run when an organization puts emphasis on both cultural values and business results.

Question 58

The bureaucratic culture has an external focus and a consistency orientation for a dynamic environment.

Question 59

A slogan is a phrase or sentence that succinctly expresses a key corporate value.

Question 60

Symbols, stories, heroes, slogans, and ceremonies combine to create an organization's culture.

Question 61

Lying at the heart of Chinese culture, ____ is a supportive, mutually beneficial connection between two people.

A) kaizen
B) ganqing
C) renqing
D) kansei
E) guanxi

Question 62

Anyone considering doing business in China, according to Manager's Shoptalk in Chapter 3, should keep in mind all of the following rules except:

A) Business is always personal
B) Don't skip the small talk
C) Remember that relationships are not short-term
D) Be efficient with use of time
E) Make contact frequently

Question 63

Which of these is NOT a part of an organization's general environment?

A) Technological
B) Economic
C) Competitors
D) Legal-political
E) Sociocultural

Question 64

Which dimension of the general environment represents the demographic characteristics, norms, customs, and values of the population within which the organization operates?

A) Legal-political dimension
B) Economic dimension
C) Technological dimension
D) Corporate culture dimension
E) Sociocultural dimension

Question 65

____ is a part of an organization's internal environment.

A) Its customers
B) Its salespeople
C) The consumer price index
D) Its suppliers
E) Its competitors

Question 66

A cultural leader defines and uses signals and symbols to influence corporate culture.

Question 67

The environments in which businesses operate are increasingly ____, requiring managers to be ready to react and respond to even subtle environmental shifts.

A) static
B) universal
C) constant
D) dynamic
E) traditional

Question 68

Which of the following rules, according to Manager's Shoptalk in Chapter 3, is about forging an emotional bond?

A) Don't skip the small talk
B) Business is always personal
C) Remember that relationships are not short-term
D) Make contact frequently
E) Be efficient with use of time

Question 69

The cultural leader articulates a vision for the organizational culture that employees can believe in and that generates excitement.

Question 70

The ____ environment represents the outer layer of the environment and affects organizations ____.

A) task; indirectly
B) general; directly
C) internal; directly
D) internal; indirectly
E) general; indirectly

Question 71

Scientific and technological advancements in a specific industry as well as in society at large are included in which general environment dimension?

A) Sociocultural dimension
B) Legal-political dimension
C) Economic dimension
D) Technological dimension
E) Corporate culture dimension

Question 72

____ environment consists of demographic factors, such as population density.

A) Technological
B) Sociocultural
C) Legal-political
D) Internal
E) Economic

Question 73

The general environment dimension that includes consumer purchasing power, the unemployment rate, and interest rates is called the

A) legal-political dimension.
B) sociocultural dimension.
C) technological dimension.
D) economic dimension.
E) task dimension.

Question 74

Molly Madison received "The Employee of the Month" Award at Internal Workings Remodeling Service in April. Molly would be considered a part of which of these for Internal Workings?

A) General environment
B) Task environment
C) Economic environment
D) Internal environment
E) Political activity

Question 75

When Miami Herald launches a Spanish-language newspaper, El Nuevo Herald, with articles emphasizing Hispanic, Cuban, and Latin American news and sports, it is responding to changes in ____ environment.

A) sociocultural
B) technological
C) economic
D) competitors
E) suppliers

Question 76

The ____ of the external environment represents events originating in foreign countries as well as opportunities for American companies in other countries.

A) National dimension
B) Global dimension
C) International dimension
D) Japan's dimension
E) U.S. dimension

Question 77

____ system draws resources from the external environment and releases goods and services back to it.

A) Production
B) Closed
C) Open
D) Information
E) Management

Question 78

____ is a part of Ford's, a U.S. auto manufacturer, task environment.

A) Inflation rate
B) Chrysler
C) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a government regulating agency
D) Amazon.com, an online bookseller
E) Ford's corporate culture

Question 79

All of these are a part of an organization's task environment EXCEPT

A) Customers
B) Labor markets
C) Competitors
D) Employers
E) Suppliers

Question 80

____ includes all elements existing outside the boundary of the organization that have the potential to affect the organization.

A) Organizational environment
B) Internal environment
C) Task environment
D) General environment
E) Technological environment