Deck 7: Organizational Culture

Question 1

Organizational culture is the system of shared beliefs and values that guides behaviour.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Organizational culture can be expected to interact with national culture.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Observable culture comprises behavioural patterns that a group displays and teaches to new members.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

A statement such as "Quality in this organization is our cornerstone to success" is an example of observable culture.

Question 5

Subcultures are groups of individuals with a unique pattern of values that are not inconsistent with those of the larger culture.

Question 6

External adaptation includes the notion of who gets rewards and punishment.

Question 7

External adaptation concerns issues such as the real mission of the organization, its goals and how goals are reached.

Question 8

Countercultures are the patterns of truths and diversity that reject those of the larger organization or social system.

Question 9

The founding story of an organization is always accurate.

Question 10

Stories, rites, rituals and symbols are observable aspects of organizational culture.

Question 11

Handy's role culture depicts an organization in which set rules, procedures and job descriptions dominate.

Question 12

A corporate culture is one that has grown organically along with an organization's history, employees and strategy.

Question 13

Strong corporate cultures possess a broadly and deeply shared value system.

Question 14

George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four has been referred to by critics who claim that organizational culture places the collective above the individual.

Question 15

The differentiation perspective views organizational culture as lacking any form of pattern as a result of differing meanings between individuals and within individuals over time.

Question 16

The fragmentation perspective views organizational culture as lacking any form of pattern as a result of differing meanings between individuals and within individuals over time.

Question 17

The three levels of cultural analysis highlighted in the text concern:

A) observable culture, shared values and common assumptions
B) stories, rites and rituals
C) symbols, myths and stories
D) cultural symbols, myths and sagas

Question 18

The methods that organizational groups develop and teach to new members are called:

A) shared values
B) common assumptions
C) observable culture
D) founding stories

Question 19

The taken-for-granted truths refers to which level of cultural analysis?

A) Shared values
B) Common assumptions
C) Belief systems
D) Observable culture

Question 20

Which level of analysis deals with a description of an awards banquet?

A) Shared values
B) Belief systems
C) Philosophy
D) Observable culture

Question 21

Patterns of values and philosophies that outwardly reject those of the larger organization or social system are called:

A) countercultures
B) common assumptions
C) corporate cultures
D) subcultures

Question 22

Corporate culture refers to:

A) an extreme form of counterculture
B) a culture that has grown organically along with an organization's history
C) an attempt by managers to deliberately create and mould organizational culture
D) an attempt by managers to implement payment by results

Question 23

The notion of culture as root metaphor views it as:

A) a counterculture aiming to undermine core values
B) a culture that has grown organically along with an organization's history
C) an attempt by managers to deliberately create and mould organizational culture
D) a totalitarian model similar to that described in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

Question 24

The creation of a collective identity and the means of matching methods of working and living together is internal:

A) culture
B) bonding
C) differentiation
D) integration

Question 25

Organizational culture is said to help deal with which two fundamental problems?

A) external adaptation and internal integration
B) external adaptation and goal setting
C) internal integration and external legitimacy
D) establishing common goals and common language

Question 26

Lessons learned from the heroic effort of an embattled entrepreneur are called:

A) founding stories
B) sagas
C) organizational myths
D) cultural symbols

Question 27

Heroic accounts of accomplishments are called:

A) sagas
B) myths
C) rituals
D) symbols

Question 28

An object, act or event that serves to transmit cultural meaning is called a __________.

A) foundation saga
B) rite
C) ritual
D) symbol

Question 29

In Handy's power culture type, an organization's culture is dominated by:

A) set rules, procedures and job descriptions
B) a powerful central figure
C) members' interests, particularly 'star performers'
D) teams formed for specific task performance

Question 30

n Deal and Kennedy's typology of culture, a process culture is characterised by:

A) a need for precision and uniformity
B) a need for 'fun' at work
C) a need to take quick decisions
D) significant investment with many years before results are apparent

Question 31

Corporations with a 'strong culture' are:

A) more successful and easier to change than other firms
B) more successful than other firms because they prize diversity
C) more difficult to change than other firms
D) more suited to international operations

Question 32

In corporations with a 'strong culture' one would expect:

A) a broadly held and deeply shared common value system
B) many countercultures
C) few myths
D) a flexible and dynamic social system

Question 33

__________________ help turn routine activities into valuable, important actions:

A) Shared values
B) Ambiguous descriptions
C) Sagas
D) Culturally shared symbols

Question 34

The novel used as an illustration of the totalitarian aspects of organizational culture is:

A) Emma by Jane Austen
B) A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
C) Mad Cows by Kathy Lette
D) Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Question 35

Most management writing on organizational culture adopts the following perspective:

A) fragmentation
B) ambiguity
C) integration
D) critical

Question 36

Which of the following is NOT an example of a cultural form?

A) 'Employee of the month' award
B) Branding
C) The story of how the company was founded
D) The assumptions held by the Managing Director

Question 37

Societal-level culture can affect organizational culture due to:

A) culturally-derived attitudes being embodied by employees
B) institutional factors setting limits on how an organization operates
C) managers exhibiting culturally-derived preferences e.g. on responsibility
D) All of the above

Question 38

When using organizational culture to help the organization to compete:

A) allow employees to become disenchanted when facing initial technical barriers
B) take the opportunity to reassess approaches to decision making when adding new products to an existing market
C) use 'conventional wisdom' when adjusting to new markets with new products
D) when entering the market slowly, give competitors as big a lead as possible

Question 39

The ___________________ is the shared set of understandings in an organization about what is correct behaviour and how ethical issues will be handled.

A) cultural aspect
B) ethical climate
C) organizational symbolism
D) integrated ethics

Question 40

A well-developed management philosophy is important because:

A) it is unique
B) it can help the firm financially
C) it provides a consistent way of approaching novel situations
D) it is built upon diversity

Question 41

Niels from Denmark has been hired to run the Portuguese division of Miranda Engineering. A potential problem with this set-up is:

A) distinct subcultures may develop
B) no culture develops
C) the division will be unprofitable
D) local adaptation is limited

Question 42

Miranda Engineering's employees all wear blue tops and trousers. The company logo is embroidered on each top. The company logo is an example of:

A) rite
B) foundation myth
C) symbol
D) ritual

Question 43

It has been known that Japanese workers start each day by singing the company song. This is an example of a:

A) symbol
B) myth
C) ritual
D) saga

Question 44

Niels , the new Managing Director of Miranda Engineering attempts to abolish merit pay. As a result his employees have gone on strike. Niels's action has apparently led to the establishment of a(n):

A) counterculture
B) oblique culture
C) corporate culture
D) hidden culture

Question 45

Sadiq, a management trainee for Paradiso Wholesale, is on his way to the management training school. He has been given a corporate history detailing the heroic efforts of Victor Vole, CEO and founder. The description of the founding and subsequent success of Paradiso is most likely a:

A) rite
B) ritual
C) saga
D) symbol

Question 46

Sadiq wants to obtain more information about Paradiso's corporate culture. He should:

A) check the Dunn and Bradstreet description
B) systematically analyse press reports of the firm
C) ask fellow trainees why they were hired
D) talk to an 'old hand' about his or her experiences

Question 47

Lucy Codner is to be the newly appointed manager for Babsight Construction in Turkey. Her boss, Hakan Osman, tells her that her effective management style will directly transfer to Turkey since good management is good management everywhere. Lucy is most likely to have major problems with:

A) observable culture
B) hidden assumptions
C) external adaptation by the Turkish division
D) rituals in the Turkish division

Question 48

Cyril Kinnear reflects on some common themes he has identified from the stories he has been told about his firm, Miranda Engineering. One such theme is that the managers practise participative management and use financial criteria to rate their performance. The use of financial criteria for evaluating goal accomplishment is part of:

A) internal integration
B) isomorphic absorption
C) external adaptation
D) instrumental values

Question 49

Cyril identifies is that the managers believe that they are uniquely trained and qualified by the annual seminars organized by the company's founder, Karyn Miranda. The firm's annual training seminars are a:

A) myth
B) social construction of reality
C) ritual
D) saga

Question 50

Cyril's managers believe that their shared goals include increasing sales and efficiency through Management by Objectives. What is (are) the shared set of understandings about what is correct behaviour within the organization?

A) shared meanings
B) shared values
C) internal integration
D) ethical climate

Question 51

Define external adaptation and explain why it is important for understanding organizational culture.

Question 52

Why do some writers feel that organizational culture stresses the collective at the expense of the individual?

Question 53

Discuss the three levels of cultural analysis in organizations, giving examples and explaining how they might impact on organizational performance.

Question 54

'A strong culture can be a double-edged sword'. Discuss this statement, using examples to illustrate your arguments.

Question 55

Common assumptions are the hardest things to understand about culture, but the most fundamental. Discuss this statement and use examples to explain your answer.

Question 56

Visual Diagram Questions
(These diagrams can be used to test understanding of concepts rather than mere recollection. The provision of the diagrams removes the pressure to remember but does draw on the ability to explain a visual image. Instructors should take care if using a mix of other questions with visual diagram questions to ensure that the diagram does not provide answers to other questions in a test or exam.)
-Explain what the following diagram illustrates. Provide explanations for each of the levels of the diagram and give examples of each.

Question 57

Visual Diagram Questions
(These diagrams can be used to test understanding of concepts rather than mere recollection. The provision of the diagrams removes the pressure to remember but does draw on the ability to explain a visual image. Instructors should take care if using a mix of other questions with visual diagram questions to ensure that the diagram does not provide answers to other questions in a test or exam.)
-In relation to organizational culture:
a) Explain what the table below is indicating.
b) Explain each element of the table.
c) Give examples of each.