Deck 3: The Environment and Corporate Culture

Question 1

More organizations are requiring all employees to perform boundary-spanning because environmental shifts can happen quickly.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

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

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Labor market forces affecting organizations right now include the growing need for computer-literate knowledge workers and the necessity for continuous investment in human resources through recruitment, education, and training.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

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 5

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

Question 6

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

Question 7

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

Question 8

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

Question 9

Organizations must manage environmental uncertainty to be effective.

Question 10

Toyota's response to recent events like the global economic downturn and the deadly tusnami in Japan was to create a more efficiency driven culture with their focus turned to improve their internal environment instead of outward.

Question 11

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

Question 12

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

Question 13

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

Question 14

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

Question 15

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

Question 16

It is expected that the Hispanic population in the United States will shrink slightly over the next 30 years.

Question 17

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 18

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

Question 19

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

Question 20

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

Question 21

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

Question 22

Cultural values in organizations are rarely observed, but are rather deeply embedded to the extent that members are not consciously aware of them.

Question 23

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

Question 24

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 25

In today's business environment, most companies operate in a stable and rigid environment.

Question 26

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

Question 27

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

Question 28

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

Question 29

A narrative based on events within the organization that is frequently repeated is called an organizational story.

Question 30

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

Question 31

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

Question 32

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

Question 33

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 34

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 35

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

Question 36

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 37

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

Question 38

In determining what cultural values are important for the organization, managers should consider the external environment as well as the company's strategy and goals.

Question 39

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

Question 40

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

Question 41

_____ is(are) included in an organization's task environment.

A) Suppliers
B) Accounting procedures
C) Technology
D) Government
E) Demographic characteristics

Question 42

Quadrant A represents organizations that are focused primarily on bottom-line results and pay little attention to organizational values.

Question 43

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 44

The internal environment within which managers work includes all of the following except _____.

A) corporate culture
B) production technology
C) organization structure
D) physical facilities
E) labor market

Question 45

Stan is the owner of a small marketing firm. He designs ad campaigns that specifically target demographic groups within U.S. markets. Which demographic category currently has the largest market size?

A) Baby boomers
B) Generation X
C) Generation Y
D) Tweeners
E) In-betweeners

Question 46

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

Question 47

_____ 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

Question 48

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 49

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 50

SweetTooth Candies is a U.S.-based company that manufactures and distributes candy bars and snack foods globally. The company sources most of its cocoa and sugar from South American companies. This business relationship highlights which dimension of the task environment?

A) Customers
B) Competitors
C) Labor market
D) Culture
E) Suppliers

Question 51

Companies in Quadrant D put high emphasis on both culture and solid business performance as drivers of organizational success.

Question 52

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 53

The _____ represents people in the environment who can be hired to work for the organization.

A) competitors
B) labor market
C) suppliers
D) customers
E) government

Question 54

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 55

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

Question 56

Ally's Applesauce is in the process of hiring sixty new workers. The personnel department has a large pool of unskilled labor to draw from due to the high unemployment rate in the local area. Which dimension of the external environment is involved here?

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

Question 57

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 58

_____ 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 59

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 60

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 61

The people and organizations in the environment who acquire goods or services from the organization are:

A) competitors.
B) suppliers.
C) customers.
D) employees.
E) potential employees.

Question 62

Three large electronics companies have recently collaborated to develop an innovative new cell phone. This is an example of which managerial trend?

A) Outsourcing
B) Interorganizational partnership
C) Adversarial orientation
D) Merger
E) Boundary spanning

Question 63

Which of the following is NOT a part of adapting the organization to changes in the environment for coping with high environmental uncertainty?

A) Boundary-spanning roles
B) Advertising/public relations
C) Mergers/joint ventures
D) Interorganizational partnerships
E) All of these are a part of organizational response in adapting the organization to changes in the environment.

Question 64

Which of the following roles are assumed by people and/or departments that link and coordinate the organization with key elements in the external environment?

A) Figurehead
B) Liaison
C) Boundary-spanning
D) Disturbance handler
E) Leader

Question 65

An interest group that works within the legal-political framework to influence companies to behave in socially responsible ways is called a(n):

A) pressure group.
B) legal group.
C) political influence group.
D) social group.
E) none of these.

Question 66

Jefferson and Squire is an advertising firm that is viewed as having a fast-paced and posh corporate culture. The company uses bold coloring with expensive accents in all office décor. This exemplifies which level of corporate culture?

A) Visible artifacts
B) Underlying assumptions
C) Expressed values
D) Heroes
E) Ceremonies

Question 67

Animal-One is a campaign organization that drums up public awareness about the use of animals in cosmetic testing. The group condemns traditional cosmetic companies while promoting smaller, all-natural companies that do not test on animals. Animal-One can best be described as a(n):_____.

A) whistle-blower
B) government organization
C) pressure group
D) sustainable organization
E) small business

Question 68

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 69

A government inspection has required your company to upgrade the safety equipment in the manufacturing process of ice creamery. What dimension of the external environment has influenced these upgrades?

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

Question 70

In response to pressure from environmental advocates, organizations have become increasingly sensitive to diminishing:

A) natural resources.
B) economic resources.
C) financial resources.
D) human resources.
E) technology resources.

Question 71

Roberta is a top-level executive at a banking institution. She spends a significant part of her day meeting with local government officials, every day consumers, and federal banking officials to address key issues in the banking industry. Roberta's role can best be described as _____.

A) boundary-spanning
B) adaptive
C) interorganizational
D) external
E) internal

Question 72

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

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

Question 73

Integrated Computers, Inc. wants to compile a profile of the customer it will target in its next promotional mailing. What environment would this be found in?

A) Internal environment
B) Task environment
C) Work environment
D) General environment
E) None of these

Question 74

In the current external business environment, which of the following is true?

A) Corporate culture defines success.
B) The business environment is static.
C) Companies are more adversarial than ever before.
D) Mergers are declining.
E) Joint ventures are on the rise.

Question 75

Kristen's Jewelry Shop has just hired a comparative shopper to visit other local jewelry stores to gain product pricing information. What strategy is this describing?

A) Boundary-spanning roles.
B) A flexible structure.
C) Unfair practice.
D) Increase planning and forecasting.
E) Joint venture.

Question 76

_____ means that managers do not have sufficient information about environmental factors to understand and predict environmental needs and changes.

A) Adaptation
B) Risk
C) Uncertainty
D) Knowledge
E) Education

Question 77

_____ 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.

A) Merger intelligence
B) Business intelligence
C) Competitive intelligence
D) Partnership intelligence
E) Environment intelligence

Question 78

Which of the following dimensions of the general environment includes all elements that occur naturally on earth?

A) Sociocultural dimension
B) Technological dimension
C) Economic dimension
D) Natural dimension
E) Environmental dimension

Question 79

The _____ dimension of the general environment includes federal, state, and local government regulations.

A) technological
B) legal-political
C) economic
D) sociocultural
E) international

Question 80

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.