Deck 3: The Environment and Corporate Culture

Question 1

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 1

True

Question 2

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

Answer 2

False

Question 3

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

Answer 3

True

Question 4

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

Question 5

In China, business tends to be more personal.

Question 6

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

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

Organizations must manage environmental uncertainty to be effective.

Question 9

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

Question 10

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

Question 11

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 12

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

Question 13

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

Question 14

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

Question 18

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

Question 19

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

Question 20

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

Question 21

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

Question 22

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

Question 23

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

Question 24

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 25

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

Question 26

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

Question 27

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

Question 28

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

Question 29

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

Question 30

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

Question 31

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 32

Cultural values in organizations are rarely observed.

Question 33

A political lobbyist for General Motors fills an essential boundary-spanning role.

Question 34

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

Question 35

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

Question 36

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

Question 37

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 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

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

Question 40

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

Question 41

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

Question 42

_____ 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 43

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 44

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 45

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 46

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 47

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 48

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

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

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

Question 51

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

Question 52

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

Question 53

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 54

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 55

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

A) customer relationships dimension
B) legal-political dimension
C) international dimension
D) sociocultural dimension
E) technological dimension

Question 56

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 57

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 58

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 59

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

Question 60

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

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

Question 61

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 62

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 63

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 64

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 65

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 66

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

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

Question 67

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 68

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 69

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 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

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 72

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 73

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 74

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 75

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 76

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

A) Boundary-spanning roles
B) Harvesting/divesting
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 79

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) supply chain
E) geographic

Question 80

_____ 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