Deck 2: Managing the Organizational Environment

Question 1

The general environment includes economic,technological,socio-cultural,demographic,political and legal,and global forces.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Differences in customer preferences result in many companies standardizing products for different national markets.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The task environment (or industry-specific environment)is a set of external forces that affect an organization's ability to obtain inputs and dispose of outputs.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Forces in the industry-specific environment have immediate and direct effects on a managers' ability to obtain resources or sell an organization's goods and services.

Question 5

The suppliers,customers,and distributors that affect the organization's ability to obtain inputs and to sell its outputs are forces in the task or industry-specific environment.

Question 6

A high level of rivalry between firms often results in price competition,and falling prices reduce access to resources and cause profits to decrease.

Question 7

Overseas suppliers are increasingly specializing in just one part of the task of producing a product.

Question 8

The task environment includes economic,technological,socio-cultural,demographic,political and legal,and global forces.

Question 9

Globalization has resulted in restricted capital flows.

Question 10

The internal organizational environment includes the culture and structure of the organization.

Question 11

The general environmental forces pose easily identifiable opportunities and threats for managers.

Question 12

Suppliers are individuals or firms that provide an organization with inputs that it needs to produce goods and services.

Question 13

For the typical manager,opportunities and threats resulting from changes in the task or industry-specific environment are more difficult to identify than events in the general environment.

Question 14

The power of a distributor may get stronger if there are too many options for manufacturers and wholesalers to sell their products directly to customers.

Question 15

All potential competitors are considered organizations that are part of the task environment.

Question 16

The wide-ranging set of forces and conditions that operate beyond an organization's boundaries and affect the organization are known as forces in the general environment.

Question 17

With globalization,nations become increasingly similar and interdependent.

Question 18

The organizational environment changes over time and therefore presents managers with opportunities and threats.

Question 19

Globalization is a set of forces that work together to integrate and connect systems across countries.

Question 20

The organization's internal environment is divided into the task environment and the general environment.

Question 21

An organization's "competitors" are those organizations which try to sell their goods to the same customers as the organization is trying to sell its goods.

Question 22

Although cultures differ enormously around the world,most social structures are very similar.

Question 23

Declining barriers to trade and investment have facilitated globalization.

Question 24

Deregulation is an example of a socio-cultural force in the general environment that affects organizations.

Question 25

The task environment is also known as the industry-specific environment.

Question 26

In the United States,collectivism is highly valued.

Question 27

On average,the tariff barriers among the governments of developed countries declined from over 40 percent in 1948 to about 3 percent today,causing a dramatic increase in world trade.

Question 28

Groups which buy goods that another organization produces are known as suppliers.

Question 29

Barriers of distance and culture have closed the global environment and kept managers focused on their domestic market.

Question 30

Economic forces in the general environment include interest rates,inflation,and unemployment.

Question 31

A shift in the age distribution of the population of Canada is an example of a demographic force.

Question 32

The manager's job is being fundamentally changed by new technology.

Question 33

The outcomes of the changes in the laws of a country are examples of the political and legal forces in the environment.

Question 34

Organizations which help other organizations to sell their goods and services to customers are known as distributors.

Question 35

The aim of import tariffs is to foster growth opportunities for foreign investors.

Question 36

Most industrialized nations are experiencing the aging of their populations as a consequence of falling birth and death rates and the aging of the baby boom generation.

Question 37

The free-trade doctrine predicts that if each country agrees to specialize in the production of the goods and services that it can produce most efficiently,this will make the best use of global capital resources and will result in lower prices.

Question 38

The social structure of a country affects the socio-cultural forces acting on organizations.

Question 39

The global financial meltdown from 2008 to 2010 was a result of too much risk-taking and not enough oversight.

Question 40

Since the end of the Second World War,a continuing stream of advances in communications and transportation technology has worked to reduce the barriers of distance and culture that affected Unilever and all global organizations.

Question 41

All of the following are considered potential customer of a computer manufacturer,except:

A)small businesses
B)government agencies
C)colleges
D)individuals
E)the environment

Question 42

One of the most important innovations in transportation technology that has opened the global environment has been the growth of commercial jet travel.

Question 43

The prominence of global organizations is putting pressure on managers of all organizations to improve their performance.

Question 44

To gain a competitive advantage in the global economy,firms can use five building blocks.

Question 45

The task of the top-management team in reducing the impact of environmental forces,is to create strategies that will take advantage of opportunities and counter threats.

Question 46

Which of the following represents a threat to managers by large distributors?

A)Controlling customer access to an organization's goods and services
B)Increasing orders
C)Changing demographics
D)Socio-cultural impact
E)Efficiently managing uncertainty and change in an evolving market

Question 47

The four building blocks of a competitive advantage are increasing efficiency,offering superior quality,creating new or better products,and being responsive to customer needs.

Question 48

Changes in technological forces are dealt with by Research and Development department managers.

Question 49

Sales and service department managers handle pressures from customers.

Question 50

The highest degree of uncertainty for a manager occurs when the rate of change and the degree of complexity in the environment is high.

Question 51

The establishment of free-trade areas creates an opportunity for manufacturing organizations because it lets them reduce their costs.

Question 52

Codes of ethical conduct are a useful tool for managers to train and control the behaviour of employees and partners.

Question 53

By better connecting companies' success with societal improvement,it opens up many ways to serve new needs,gain efficiency,create differentiation,and expand markets.

Question 54

Marketing department managers handle pressures from suppliers.

Question 55

The main task of middle managers is to collect relevant data on forces in the task environment.

Question 56

Shared value creation focuses on identifying and expanding the connections between societal and economic progress.

Question 57

In general,the larger an organization is,the greater is the number of environmental forces that managers must respond to.

Question 58

Financial managers and accounting departments handle the forces in the economic realm.

Question 59

Managers face the following challenges in today's global economy: creating shared value in building a competitive advantage,maintaining ethical standards,and utilizing new technologies.

Question 60

Some managers view regional free-trade agreements as a threat because they expose a company based in a one-member country to increased competition from companies based in the other member countries.

Question 61

The result of falling trade barriers is:

A)a reduction in global competition
B)managers view global markets as closed systems
C)higher prices
D)greater competition
E)reduced competition

Question 62

The combination of equipment and skills which managers use in the production and distribution of goods is known as:

A)economies of scale
B)inflation
C)competitive advantage
D)technology
E)the general environment

Question 63

Social structure and national culture are examples of which type of force in the general environment?

A)Technological forces
B)Political and legal forces
C)Economic forces
D)Demographic forces
E)socio-cultural forces

Question 64

All of the following are examples of political and legal forces,except:

A)deregulation
B)privatization
C)emphasis on environmental protection
D)emphasis on safety on the job
E)social structure

Question 65

The path of globalization is shaped by the ebb and flow of all of the following forms of capital,except:

A)human capital
B)political capital
C)financial capital
D)resource capital
E)culture capital

Question 66

Regional trade agreements like NAFTA result in all except which of the following?

A)Declining barriers to trade
B)Increased capital flows between partner nations
C)Decline in labour intensive production in Canada and the USA
D)Opportunities for managers to expand internationally
E)Decreased competition

Question 67

The outcomes of the changes in the laws of a society are known as:

A)technological forces
B)political and legal forces
C)economic forces
D)demographic forces
E)cultural forces

Question 68

Changes in the work patterns of women such as a larger percentage of mothers with children under the age of five are working would be an example of which type of force on the organization?

A)General environment
B)Task environment
C)Economic environment
D)Political environment
E)Legal environment

Question 69

If a major firm suddenly creates a new product which makes the products of its competitors obsolete,this is an example of a force in which type of environment?

A)General environment
B)Task environment
C)Economic environment
D)Legal environment
E)Political environment

Question 70

The power of a distributor may be weakened if:

A)there is only one intermediary
B)there are too many options for manufacturers and wholesalers
C)direct sales to final consumers are prohibited
D)trade barriers are removed
E)competition decreases

Question 71

The four building blocks of a competitive advantage are:

A)efficiency,effectiveness,quality,customer responsiveness
B)efficiency,quality,customer responsiveness,innovation
C)effectiveness,quality,customer responsiveness,innovation
D)effectiveness,customer responsiveness,innovation,efficiency
E)high performance,quality,efficiency,innovation

Question 72

The letter 'T' in the PESTI acronym stands for:

A)Threats
B)Technology
C)Transnational
D)Translation
E)Tariffs

Question 73

All of the following are examples of the general environment of the organization except:

A)demographic forces
B)legal and political forces
C)distributors
D)global forces
E)technological forces

Question 74

All of the following are examples of the industry-specific or task environment of the organization,except:

A)distributors
B)customers
C)competitors
D)suppliers
E)technological forces

Question 75

Organizations which produce goods that are similar to another organization's goods are known as:

A)suppliers
B)distributors
C)competitors
D)customers
E)intermediaries

Question 76

Organizations which help other organizations to sell their goods to customers are known as:

A)competitors
B)potential competitors
C)distributors
D)customers
E)consultants

Question 77

Organizations which supply another organization with the raw materials which it needs to produce goods are known as:

A)suppliers
B)competitors
C)distributors
D)customers
E)potential competitors

Question 78

Which of the following is a task of the top-management team in reducing the impact of environmental forces?

A)Create strategies that will take advantage of opportunities and counter threats.
B)Collect relevant information on the task environment.
C)Find ways to use resources more efficiently.
D)Get close to customers to learn what they want.
E)Transition older workers out of the labour force.

Question 79

__________ are outcomes of changes in international relationships,changes in nations' economic,political,and legal systems,and changes in technology.

A)Technologies
B)Legal systems
C)Economic systems
D)Political systems
E)Global forces

Question 80

Modern communications and transportation technologies have done all of the following,except:

A)decrease travel time
B)reduce cultural differences among countries
C)facilitate global communication networks
D)increase barriers to trade and investment
E)make reliable,secure,and instantaneous communication possible