Deck 18: Organization Culture

Question 1

Organizational sociologists' study of organization culture involves all of the following except

A)seeing the culture from the native's point of view.
B)systematic interviews.
C)quantitative research methods.
D)typologies of cultural attributes.
E)questionnaires.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The manufacturer 3M is recognized for its innovation.The company has a slogan "The Eleventh Commandment: ."

A)Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
B)Innovation is by its very nature a disorderly process.
C)Thou shall not kill an idea.
D)Innovation is a numbers game.
E)What's remarkable is how fast a culture can be torn apart.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

All of the following are elements of a Type Z firm except it

A)is committed to retaining employees.
B)exercises control through informal, implicit mechanisms.
C)emphasizes concern for people.
D)encourages intrapreneurship.
E)emphasizes broad career paths.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Organizational culture includes all of the following except

A)a basis on individual perceptions.
B)feelings that characterize life in the organization.
C)values needed to act on the strategic values.
D)reference to current situations in an organization.
E)frequent definition as the recurring patterns of behavior.

Question 5

Strategic values are

A)the means through which people learn the organization's norms and values.
B)the underlying assumptions about how to get ahead in an organization.
C)formulated after the organization's vision is determined.
D)the basic beliefs about an organization's environment that shape its strategy.
E)the values that employees need to have and act on for the organization to meet its strategic goals.

Question 6

T.E.Deal and A.A.Kennedy define a firm's culture "_ ."

A)by the newest members of the organization.
B)in the company's annual report.
C)through stories and symbols.
D)as the way we do things around here.
E)in rumors started by competitors.

Question 7

The third step in creating organizational culture is to

A)reinforce cultural behaviors.
B)formulate strategic values.
C)create a vision of its direction.
D)initiate implementation strategies.
E)develop cultural values.

Question 8

Culture and climate are similar in all of the following ways except

A)they both affect the way people behave in organizations.
B)they both focus on an organization's norms and values.
C)they both deal with the social context.
D)they are both concerned with the work atmosphere.
E)they are both of interest to managers.

Question 9

All of the following are ways to reinforce cultural behaviors except to

A)tell stories about employees who behaved in desirable ways.
B)reward desired behaviors.
C)make a big deal out of employees doing the right things.
D)hold ceremonies that emphasize those employees exhibiting the desired behavior.
E)imitate the cultural behaviors of the company's most successful competitor.

Question 10

Which of the following statements accurately describes a difference between culture and climate?

A)Culture is more easily manipulated than climate.
B)Culture has more to do with traditions and less to do with values than climate does.
C)Culture teaches employees what is acceptable in the organization; climate teaches employees what is unacceptable.
D)Culture is based on the history of the organization; climate is concerned with the current atmosphere.
E)Research has shown that culture and climate are really the same thing.

Question 11

A surprising aspect of the recent rise in interest in organization culture is that the concept, unlike virtually every other concept in the field,

A)is based on assumptions that are fairly easy to articulate.
B)has no widely accepted definition.
C)reflects organizational symbols.
D)is easily changed.
E)is mandatory for organizations.

Question 12

An organization's vision is

A)the plan to accomplish its profit margins.
B)the values that employees need to have and act on for the organization to carry out its strategic values.
C)a picture of what the organization will be like at some point in the future.
D)the means through which people learn the organization's norms and values.
E)formulated after the organization's size is determined.

Question 13

Sociologists have had a long-term interest in studying

A)the replication of culture.
B)the causes and consequences of culture.
C)the transferability of culture.
D)the halo effect in culture.
E)the learning curve effect on culture.

Question 14

Whole Foods Market has a unique organizational culture.The attributes of its unique culture include all of the following except

A)its culture is democratic.
B)its culture is egalitarian.
C)its culture links its strategic values and its cultural values.
D)its culture is innovative.
E)its culture is transparent.

Question 15

Organizational culture helps people in an organization understand

A)which actions are considered acceptable and which are considered unacceptable.
B)why their firm is outperforming the competition.
C)how to improve their relations with customers.
D)when to best socialize new employees.
E)which types of problems are likely to arise in their company.

Question 16

The current CEO of 3M is .

A)William McKnight.
B)Jim McNerney.
C)Charles O'Reilly.
D)George Buckley.
E)Brian Hindo.

Question 17

With respect to anthropological contributions to organization culture, which of the following is not true?

A)Anthropologists study human and animal cultures.
B)Anthropologists look at culture from a native's point of view.
C)Anthropologists immerse themselves in the cultures they study.
D)Anthropologists seek to understand how culture affects the structure of societies.
E)Anthropologists are able to produce concise, simple descriptions of the cultures they study.

Question 18

Research into organization culture can be traced back to the origins of

A)philosophy.
B)social science.
C)economics.
D)psychiatry.
E)psychology.

Question 19

Social psychological contributions to organization culture have focused on

A)values and beliefs.
B)thick description.
C)the creation and manipulation of symbols.
D)learning theory.
E)social structure.

Question 20

All of the following are true of the sociological study of culture except

A)it sometimes involves studying rituals.
B)it is the study of people in social systems.
C)it is the basis of certain popular business press depictions of culture, such as Peters and Waterman's In Search of Excellence.
D)it often results in typology of cultural attributes, which are then used to analyze the culture of a relatively large number of firms.
E)it fails to provide accurate descriptions of cultures in large corporations.

Question 21

According to Fortune magazine, the most admired organizations are those that are the most _.

A)profitable
B)successful
C)innovative
D)functional
E)improved

Question 22

All of the following are mechanisms that can affect the socialization of workers except

A)reading corporate statements about organization culture.
B)reading popular press books about corporate culture.
C)reading corporate pamphlets.
D)attending formal training.
E)observing experienced employees.

Question 23

According to Peters and Waterman, successful firms tend to

A)have few administrative layers and small corporate staff groups.
B)have lifetime employment.
C)have a holistic concern for people.
D)stay close to their employees.
E)have group consensus.

Question 24

The notion of "one best culture" for all organizations has been replaced with the idea of

A)appropriate cultures.
B)"one best climate."
C)radical innovation.
D)empowerment.
E)Type Z cultures.

Question 25

In the early 1980s, organization culture became one of the most central concerns in organizational behavior.

Question 26

All of the following statements are true about socialization except

A)it is usually something that can be accomplished in a day-long new employee orientation program.
B)it occurs in organizations in much the same way as it occurs in society.
C)it is the process through which individuals learn acceptable behavior.
D)socialization programs do not necessarily change employees' values.
E)employees who are socialized into an organization usually accept the actual cultural values rather than the formal values of the organization.

Question 27

Ouchi's research found that careers most valued by Japanese and Type Z U.S.firms

A)offer the opportunity for quick promotions.
B)span multiple functions.
C)are considerably narrower.
D)have implicit mechanisms.
E)are very specialized.

Question 28

Ouchi argued that the typical American firm used an employee evaluation process that was

A)semiannual.
B)quantitative.
C)fast.
D)qualitative.
E)annual.

Question 29

Ben wants to take advantage of the existing culture of his organization.To do this, Ben must first

A)achieve productivity through people.
B)empower his employees.
C)be fully aware of the culture's values.
D)practice hands-on management.
E)implement cultural innovations.

Question 30

Like Ouchi, Peters and Waterman believe successful firms recognize that their most important assets are their .

A)strategies
B)products
C)people
D)services
E)None of these.

Question 31

Both American Type Z firms and typical Japanese firms use the approach to the concern for people.

A)holistic
B)narrow
C)synergistic
D)sociohumanistic
E)symbiotic

Question 32

Ouchi found that in most typical U.S.firms, decision making

A)is individual.
B)is complex and irregular.
C)is simple and straightforward.
D)is explicit and formal.
E)is implicit and informal.

Question 33

Incremental innovations

A)are rarely necessary for radical and systems innovations.
B)are major breakthroughs that change or create industries.
C)occur much less frequently than radical and systems innovations.
D)force organizations to continuously improve their products.
E)create new functionality by assembling parts in new ways.

Question 34

All of the following statements are true about innovation except that

A)there are many risks associated with being an innovative company.
B)innovation is the process of creating and doing new things that are introduced into the marketplace.
C)one of the biggest challenges is using innovative technology in a cost-effective manner.
D)true organizational innovation is pervasive throughout the organization.
E)only small organizations can truly be innovative.

Question 35

There is no single widely accepted definition of organization culture.

Question 36

Which of the following is not reported to be a critical cultural value in In Search of Excellence?

A)Bias for action
B)Managing hands-on
C)Simultaneously exercising loose and tight organization
D)Maintaining implicit and informal control
E)Sticking to the knitting

Question 37

Organization culture can be managed by

A)sticking to the knitting.
B)conducting in-depth research and evaluation.
C)allowing autonomy and entrepreneurship.
D)taking advantage of the culture that is already there.
E)staying close to the customer.

Question 38

Culture resists change for all of the following reasons except

A)it is typically communicated through stories and symbols.
B)it embodies the basic values in the firm.
C)it changes so frequently that employees begin to resist further change.
D)it is often taken for granted.
E)it involves changing basic assumptions.

Question 39

Intrapreneurship

A)is most effective as a rare event in the organization.
B)is most effective when it occurs in the research and development department alone.
C)occurs both inside and outside the organization.
D)gives new organizations an edge over existing organizations.
E)is entrepreneurial activity that takes place within the

Question 40

The process of enabling employees to set their own goals, make decisions, and solve problems is known as

A)organizational democracy.
B)Type Z management.
C)value-based climate.
D)organizational culture.
E)empowerment.

Question 41

Of all the social sciences, economics is most closely related to the study of culture.

Question 42

Most managers are not in a position to create an organization culture; rather, they work in organizations that already have cultural values.

Question 43

Symbolic stories may be interesting, but they cannot effectively transmit the complex concepts of an organization's culture.

Question 44

One simple definition of corporate culture is "the way we do things in our country."

Question 45

Much of the literature on organization culture has focused on describing the concept of organization
culture, linking culture to performance, and then creating an organizational culture.

Question 46

Empowerment can be viewed as liberating employees, but sometimes empowerment entails little more than delegating a task to an employee and then watching over the employee too closely.

Question 47

The social psychological contributions to the study of organization culture have emphasized the creation and manipulation of symbols.

Question 48

Social psychologists claim stories become the basis that individuals in organizations use to make judgments.

Question 49

Ouchi's research suggests Type Z American firms do not
outperform typical American firms.

Question 50

Nike uses stories to communicate its organizational values and culture.

Question 51

Sociologists seek to understand the causes and consequences of culture.

Question 52

The values that make up an organization's culture are rarely taken for granted; that is, they are written down and made part of formal training procedures.

Question 53

Sociologists frequently adopt the "native's point of view"
when studying culture.

Question 54

To take advantage of an existing cultural system, managers must first be fully aware of the culture's values and what behaviors or actions those values support.

Question 55

Researchers Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones have questioned the idea that there is one best organization culture and proposed that there are only "appropriate cultures."

Question 56

Peters and Waterman found that excellent companies do not encourage autonomy and entrepreneurship.

Question 57

Most descriptions of organization climate must first deal with values and norms.

Question 58

Most definitions of organization culture refer to some set of values held by individuals in a firm.

Question 59

Empowerment and organization culture are related.

Question 60

Organization culture is based on what some authors call
"myths" and "fairy tales."

Question 61

Emile Durkheim was an early sociologist who studied myths and
.

Question 62

The sociological study of culture has often been focused on the
social structure.

Question 63

are the basic beliefs about an organization's environment that shape its strategy.

Question 64

After developing its strategic values and cultural values, the organization must establish a of its direction, or a picture of what the organization will be like at some point in the future.

Question 65

The final step to creating organization culture is reinforcing the cultural behaviors of employees.

Question 66

No single widely accepted of organization culture exists.

Question 67

The contributions to organization culture have emphasized the creation and manipulation of symbols.

Question 68

Ouchi found that Japanese firms and U.S.firms have performance-enhancing values.

Question 69

research is based in psychology and usually refers to current situations and the linkages among work groups, employees, and work performance.

Question 70

The economics approach sees culture both as a tool used to manage and as a determinant of performance.

Question 71

The meaning of organization values is perhaps best communicated through _.

Question 72

Research suggests that organization culture is understood and communicated through the use of and other
media.

Question 73

In order to study culture, many immerse themselves in the values, symbols, and stories that people use to bring order and meaning into their lives.

Question 74

There is little agreement about how to define organization culture.

Question 75

The process of changing a firm's culture starts with a
and moves through a transition period in which efforts are made to adopt new values and beliefs.

Question 76

are the values that employees need to have and act on for the organization to act on the strategic values.

Question 77

Creating organization culture is a -_ process.

Question 78

Changing a firm's culture is a and process.

Question 79

Organization culture is the set of shared values, often taken for
, which helps employees understand which actions are considered acceptable.

Question 80

The economics approach to studying culture attempts to link the cultural aspects of firms with their _.