Deck 3: The Environment and Corporate Culture

Question 1

Australian federal government reports on the increase in multicultural diversity in the past 20 years are part of the sociocultural dimension of the general environment.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Organisations in all sectors of the task and the environment that provide the resources and information transactions,flows and linkages necessary for an organisation to thrive are known as an organisational ecosystem.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The unemployment market represents people in the environment who can be hired to work for the organisation.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

An example of a technological force would be when a public agency enacts a regulation requiring organisations to decrease their carbon emissions.

Question 5

The task environment encompasses all the external environmental forces that impact directly on an organisation's operations and performance.

Question 6

Customer complaints and a new advertising campaign by competitors would be two important sectors emanating from the economic dimension of an organisation's general environment.

Question 7

If managers do not have sufficient information about environmental factors to understand and predict environmental needs and changes,then they are working under conditions of uncertainty.

Question 8

The labour market represents people in the environment who can be hired to work for the organisation.

Question 9

The general environment refers to factors in the organisation's external environment,while the task environment refers to factors in the organisation's internal environment.

Question 10

The international dimension includes the general economic health of the country or region in which the organisation operates.

Question 11

The labour market refers to the supply of available workers in a given location.

Question 12

The introduction of the Carbon Tax by the Australia's Federal Government is an example of the natural environment dimension of the general environment.

Question 13

A sales merchandiser that visits local supermarkets and builds stock displays fills an essential boundary-spanning role for their organisation.

Question 14

Employee complaints,and management responses to them,would be considered emanating from an organisation's internal environment.

Question 15

Coca Cola,Schweppes and Berri Juice Co.are considered to be competitors since all three sell soft drink products to individuals and businesses.

Question 16

The organisational environment concept refers to all elements existing inside and outside the organisation's boundaries.

Question 17

An effort to spot trends that enable managers to predict future events is a boundary-spanning role.

Question 18

An example of an economic trend would be an increase in the population's concern for the natural environment.

Question 19

A change to the Australian Federal government's foreign policy would represent an element belonging to the 'international' dimension of the general environment.

Question 20

The change in the frequency of mergers and acquisitions would represent a trend in the economic dimension.

Question 21

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

Question 22

Planned activities that make up a special event and that are conducted for the benefit of an audience are known as a ceremony.

Question 23

A cultural leader articulates a vision for the organisational culture that employees can believe in.

Question 24

Political activity refers to any organisational attempts to influence government legislation and regulation.

Question 25

In adaptive corporate cultures,managers are concerned about themselves,and their values tend to discourage risk taking and change.

Question 26

A joint venture is a form of direct investment in which an organisation shares costs and risks with another organisation to build a manufacturing facility,develop new products or set up a sales and distribution network.

Question 27

Forecasting is an effort to spot trends that enable managers to predict future events.

Question 28

Mergers are a major factor in an organisation's external environment.

Question 29

Management orientation based on trust in the ability of a partner to work out an equitable solution to conflicts so that everyone profits from the relationship is known as a 'partnership orientation'.

Question 30

A trade association is one made up of organisations with similar interests of the purpose of influencing their environment.

Question 31

The shared knowledge,beliefs,values,behaviours and ways of thinking among members of an organisation is known as its culture.

Question 32

The involvement culture emphasises an internal focus on the involvement and participation of employees to rapidly adapt to changing needs from the environment.

Question 33

A symbol is a figure who exemplifies the deeds,character and attributes of a corporate culture.

Question 34

Advertising's main goal is to influence public opinion about the organisation.

Question 35

Which of these is a part of an organisation's internal environment?

A) Its customers
B) Its casual staff members that work only on weekends
C) Its full time staff
D) Both B and C
E) Its competitors

Question 36

The symbols of an organisation's culture may include the tables,chairs and decorations of an office space.

Question 37

The set of key values,beliefs and norms that are shared by members of an organisation are combined to create the symbols of an organisation.

Question 38

Managers must over-communicate to ensure that employees understand the new culture values,and they signal these values in actions as well as words.

Question 39

The 'achievement culture' emerges in an environment that requires fast response and high-risk decision making.

Question 40

A hero is someone that exemplifies the deeds,character and attributes that represent the culture that a corporation wishes to maintain.

Question 41

A partnership orientation includes all of the following,except:

A) Short-term contracts
B) Equity and fair dealing
C) Long-term contracts
D) Close coordination
E) Involvement in a partner organisations' product design.

Question 42

An organisation's task environment includes all of the following,except:

A) Competitors
B) Customers
C) Labour markets
D) Employers
E) Suppliers

Question 43

Each of the following represents a forecasting technique,except:

A)Quantitative economic modelling
B)Analysing trends in newspaper clippings
C)Collecting and analysing competitor sales catalogues
D)Only A and B
E)A,B and C.

Question 44

Which of the following consists of demographic factors (for example,population density)?

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

Question 45

Luke receives the 'Employee of the Month' award.Luke's award would be considered a part of the:

A) general environment
B) task environment
C) economic environment
D) internal environment
E) political environment.

Question 46

Organisations that are embedded in complex networks of relationships that result in them competing in some markets,whilst collaborating in others,is known as:

A) A cluster relationship
B) co-optation
C) a joint venture
D) an interorganisational partnership
E) None of these choices.

Question 47

The Doctors for Forests group works within the legal-political framework to influence the company to behave in socially and environmentally responsible ways.This group may be called a:

A) pressure group
B) legal group
C) group of retirees
D) social group
E) corporate governance group.

Question 48

The __________ environment represents the outer layer of the environment and affects organisations __________.

A) task; indirectly
B) general; directly
C) internal; directly
D) internal; indirectly
E) general; indirectly

Question 49

For Qantas,all of the following could be suppliers,except:

A) BP (providing jet fuel)
B) National Australia Bank (providing finances)
C) Virgin Blue (providing competition in the domestic market)
D) Boeing (providing planes)
E) All of these are suppliers for Qantas.

Question 50

___________ is an effort to identify trends that enable managers to predict future events.

A) Flexible structure
B) Boundary-spanning role
C) Mechanistic structure
D) Forecasting
E) Joint venture

Question 51

The _____________ represents people who can be hired to work for the organisation.

A) competition
B) labour market
C) supplier
D) customer
E) government

Question 52

Which of these is included in an organisation's task environment?

A) Suppliers
B) Accounting procedures
C) Customers
D) Government
E) Both A and C

Question 53

Which of these is not a part of an organisation's general environment?

A) Technological advances
B) Economic slowdowns
C) New competitors entering the local market
D) A change of federal government
E) Changes in people's attitudes

Question 54

The __________ dimension of the general environment includes all elements that occur naturally on earth,including plants,animals,rocks,and natural resources such as air,water,and climate.

A) technological
B) natural environment
C) economic
D) sociocultural
E) international

Question 55

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

A) Boundary-spanning roles
B) Advertising/public relations
C) Mergers/joint ventures
D) Flexible structures
E) All of these choices are a part of organisational response in adapting the organisation to changes in the environment.

Question 56

Which statement below is correct?

A) When the environment is dynamic, uncertainty is low.
B) When the environment is unstable, uncertainty is low.
C) A dynamic environment has greater uncertainty than a stable environment.
D) The stability of the environment does not determine the structure of the organisation.
E) None of these choices.

Question 57

A state government inspection has required your company to upgrade its pollution abatement equipment in the production of bleached pulp.What dimension of the external environment has influenced these upgrades?

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

Question 58

Mile-high Marketers wants to compile a profile of the customer it will target in its next promotional mailing.What environment would this be included within?

A) The internal environment
B) The task environment
C) The work environment
D) The general environment
E) Two of these choices

Question 59

The dimension of the general environment representing the demographic characteristics,norms,customs and values of the population within which the organisation operates is referred to as the:

A) legal-political dimension
B) economic dimension
C) technological dimension
D) corporate culture dimension
E) sociocultural dimension.

Question 60

The __________ environment represents the outer layer of the environment and affects organisations __________.

A) task; indirectly
B) general; directly
C) task; directly
D) internal; indirectly
E) general; indirectly

Question 61

__________ are associated with the surface-level of organisational culture.

A) Values
B) Norms
C) Tables and chairs
D) Beliefs
E) Three of these choices.

Question 62

When the marketing department of Despair.com emphasises that 'We're not happy until you're not happy' in their advertising,they are:

A) utilising a symbol
B) communicating the company's values to customers
C) using a slogan to present their values to customers and employees
D) utilising a hero for the purpose of conveying values
E) using customers to harass the employees.

Question 63

A _________________ involves a strategic alliance or program by two or more organisations.

A) joint venture
B) flexible structure
C) cartel
D) merger
E) vertical integration

Question 64

The 15 per cent rule at the 3M company,which allows any employee to use a maximum of 15 per cent of his/her work week on anything as long as it is product related,would be considered a:

A) ceremony
B) slogan
C) value
D) symbol
E) banner.

Question 65

If a leading Australian wood-chip producer decides to lobby the relevant state government in order to increase the area of old-growth forest it has access to for clear felling,then this would be an example of:

A) an illegal action
B) bribery
C) a trade deal
D) political activity
E) financially motivated bargaining.

Question 66

_____________________ is similar to advertising,except that its goal is to influence public opinion about the organisation itself.

A) Public relations
B) Advertising
C) Promotion
D) Lobbying
E) Political activity

Question 67

A figure who exemplifies the deeds,character and attributes of a corporate culture is referred to as a:

A) symbol
B) story
C) slogan
D) hero
E) culture.

Question 68

An association made up of organisations with similar interests for the purpose of influencing environment are known as:

A) interorganisational relationships
B) public relations
C) trade associations
D) boundary spanners
E) None of these choices.

Question 69

What do symbolic management and its actions provide?

A) Nonessential and fluff material about the company
B) Information that is relevant only to top level management
C) Information that is pertinent and relevant to the company
D) A new corporate culture
E) A stylised symbolic culture

Question 70

Which of the following would be considered a visual representation of a company's organisational culture?

A) All department heads have an executive office.
B) Each department has an award plaque for employee of the month.
C) All employees are dressed in professional business attire.
D) Top level executives drive company-owned sports cars.
E) All of these choices.

Question 71

Symbols,stories and heroes are important because they:

A) entertain executive level management
B) address the concerns of government
C) acquaint customers to the organisation
D) communicate the significant values of an organisation
E) give employees something to talk about.

Question 72

An object,act or event that conveys meaning to others is referred to as a:

A) symbol
B) slogan
C) story
D) hero
E) culture.

Question 73

A _____________________ is/are made up of organisations with similar interests for the purpose of influencing the environment.

A) boundary-spanning organisations
B) political activist group
C) trade association
D) mergers and joint ventures

Question 74

Organisational efforts to influence public opinion about the organisation itself and what it stands for is known as:

A) advertising
B) public relations
C) marketing
D) boundary spanning
E) None of these choices.

Question 75

Organisational culture can be defined as:

A) the set of key values, beliefs, understandings and norms shared by members of an organisation
B) the ability to speak different languages
C) an object, act or event that conveys meaning to others
D) a narrative based on true events that is repeated frequently and shared by organisational employees
E) none of these choices.

Question 76

A University graduation is a public celebration of the completion of several years of academic study.Such a public celebration would be considered a:

A) symbol
B) story
C) ceremony
D) hero
E) culture.

Question 77

Which of these is a narrative based on events that is repeated frequently and shared by organisational employees?

A) Symbol
B) Slogan
C) Story
D) Hero
E) Culture

Question 78

___________ are assumed by people and/or departments that link and coordinate the organisation with key elements in the external environment.

A) Flexible structures
B) Boundary-spanning roles
C) Mechanistic structures
D) Forecasting roles
E) None of these choices.

Question 79

The 'adaptability culture' emerges in:

A) focusing on loyalty, commitment and fitting into the group
B) hiring young recruits for long-term employment with steady growth in the structure, but no crossover of divisions
C) environments that require fast response and high-risk decision making
D) developing reactions to changes in the environment for survival
E) All of these choices.

Question 80

Heroes are important to an organisation due to the fact that they:

A)exemplify key values of the organisation
B)exemplify a strong corporate culture
C)serve as examples to other employees
D)none of these choices
E)A,B and C.