Deck 3: Culture and Climate Considerations in High-Tech Companies

Question 1

Creative ideas :

A)are novel and meaningful
B)are most likely to occur in bureaucratic organizations.
C)are most likely to be based on the firm's core competencies.
D)rarely result in the cannibalization of sales from current products.
E)are rarely generated through interactions with customers.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The most valuable creativity is:

A)very free-wheeling.
B)technology driven.
C)often the result of the lone genius.
D)stimulated by the desire to stay ahead of competition.
E)disciplined by the organization's culture and climate.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

The people who create,define,or adopt an idea for an innovation and are willing to assume significant risk to make it happen are referred to as

A)product champions.
B)investment bankers.
C)angels.
D)entrepreneurs.
E)leaders.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Core competencies may become a hindrance to innovation when

A)they are not competitively unique.
B)they become rigidities.
C)they are easily imitated.
D)they enhance the process of creative destruction.
E)All of the above

Question 5

Unlearning is important primarily because

A)it rejuvenates the organization.
B)it facilitates expeditionary marketing.
C)it reduces risk.
D)it enhances speed to market .
E)knowledge can become obsolete.

Question 6

Skunk works are thought by some to be an important way to foster innovativeness within large corporations,yet others argue that they are a sign that the corporation lacks innovativeness.Which of the following statements best summarizes arguments in favor of using skunk works to promote innovation?

A)They protect imaginative individuals from corporate bureaucracy that might hamper innovativeness.
B)They allow individual creativity to flourish within the normal operating climate.
C)They are "orphanages" that separate creativity from the corporate hierarchy.
D)They address the underlying,systemic reasons that large corporations lack innovativeness.
E)Skunk works are the best way to allow a brick-and-mortar company to compete in an on-line world.

Question 7

People who perform complex jobs such as R&D are most creative when they are

A)highly paid.
B)given stock options.
C)given opportunity to do challenging work.
D)under pressure.
E)have large budgets.

Question 8

All of the following are characteristics or advantages of expeditionary marketing except that it

A)maximizes the odds that the product delivered to the market meets the customers' needs.
B)speeds time to market.
C)allows company to learn quickly and modify product offerings based on marketplace experience.
D)exists in an internal environment that fosters an innovative climate.
E)improves the overall "hit" rate of success with a given new product idea.

Question 9

Established skills and competencies that are so entrenched,they prevent a firm from seeing new ways of doing things are known as

A)marketing myopia.
B)competence lock-in.
C)innovation killers.
D)core rigidities.
E)knowledge obsolescence.

Question 10

What is the role of organizational culture?

A)Provide norms for individual and organizational behavior.
B)Create a sense of community.
C)Guide strategy development.
D)Enable employees to "unlearn" obsolete information and practices.
E)Focus the firm's attention externally.

Question 11

Which of the following is not an element of corporate imagination?

A)Overturn price-performance assumptions
B)Escape the tyranny of the served market
C)Use new sources of ideas for innovative product concepts
D)Get out in front of customers
E)Identify a network of "Angels"

Question 12

Organizational climate is:

A)another term for culture.
B)the environment in which the business competes.
C)the observable manifestation of culture.
D)most valuable when it is outward looking.
E)the foundation for innovation.

Question 13

A unit that senior managers isolate from normal corporate operations in order to protect creative individuals and corporate orthodoxy is known as:

A)an R&D center.
B)a skunk works.
C)a new venture division.
D)an innovation engine.
E)a heavyweight organization.

Question 14

The boom and bust nature of business cycles:

A)often leads to cyclical funding cuts and spurts in R&D.
B)encourages most businesses to conserve cash during good times so that they can continue to invest when times are tough.
C)is not as common in markets for high-tech products as it is in markets for low-tech products.
D)is not as common in markets for low-tech products as it is in markets for high-tech products.
E)has less impact on businesses with a strong climate.

Question 15

The process of developing new technologies that may make current products obsolete and may even alienate customers is known as:

A)competence killing.
B)unlearning.
C)competence exploration.
D)creative destruction.
E)technological orientation.

Question 16

Which of the following conditions does not facilitate a culture of innovativeness?

A)Top management attention.
B)Bureaucratic mindset.
C)Willingness to cannibalize.
D)Product champions.
E)Learning orientation.

Question 17

___________ is the foundation for innovation.

A)Propensity for risk
B)Experimentation
C)Creativity
D)Organizational architecture
E)Product leadership

Question 18

Which of the following is not usually an effective strategy for overcoming core rigidities?

A)Creative destruction
B)Unlearning
C)Corporate imagination
D)Deep pockets
E)Experimentation

Question 19

Top managers positively drive innovation when they:

A)have a future focus.
B)have an external focus.
C)view innovation is more than product development.
D)both a & b above.
E)all of the above

Question 20

Firms that invest resources to acquire entirely new knowledge,skills,and processes,that have the potential to influence the firm's direction practice

A)market pioneering.
B)expeditionary marketing.
C)learning orientation.
D)competence exploration.
E)value creation.

Question 21

The innovator's dilemma is concerned with:

A)which new products to introduce.
B)which new technologies to pursue.
C)which new markets to enter.
D)focusing too heavily on current customers and products.
E)overcoming core rigidities.