Deck 14: Organizational Culture

Question 1

Which of the following is not one of the four major aspects of organizational culture as put forward by Trice and Beyer?

A)Language
B)Rites and ceremonies
C)Symbols
D)Organizational history

Answer 1

Organizational history

Question 2

When there is little agreement among members about the organization's core values, we speak of:

A)A dominant culture
B)A subculture
C)A weak culture
D)Organizational climate

Answer 2

A weak culture

Question 3

Harrison described four types of organizational culture. Which of the following is not one of them?

A)Innovative culture
B)Role culture
C)Support culture
D)Achievement culture

Answer 3

Innovative culture

Question 4

Unwelcome mergers or hostile takeover bids for companies can give rise to:

A)Cultural incompatibility between the companies involved in the marriage, as was the case initially of the AOL and Time Warner merger
B)Cultural compatibility between the companies involved in the merger
C)More a financial matter than a cultural one
D)None of these

Question 5

Which of the following factors was not identified by Peters and Waterman as one of the cultural attributes of excellence?

A)Simple form, lean staff
B)Autonomy and entrepreneurship
C)Bias for cognition
D)Closeness to the customer

Question 6

Which of the following is not one of Deal and Kennedy's cultural profiles?

A)Process
B)Tough-guy macho
C)Work hard, play hard
D)Save your company

Question 7

Which four approaches were recognized by O'Reilly regarding the development of organizational culture?

A)Participation, information from others, symbolic action, and comprehensive reward systems
B)Information from others, symbolic action, anticipation, and strict reward systems
C)Anticipation, dissemination, exploration, and action
D)Dissemination, open communication, vision formulation, and comprehensive reward systems

Question 8

Hodgetts wrote on the benefits of developing an appropriate organizational culture. One of the benefits put forward by this author is:

A)Promotion of innovation
B)Spirituality
C)Customer responsiveness
D)Organizational ethics

Question 9

Which of the following is not one of Hofstede's national culture dimensions?

A)Individualism-collectivism
B)Uncertainty avoidance
C)Neutral-affective
D)Masculinity-femininity

Question 10

When the private face is much more prominent than the public face, this is referred to in Trompenaars' model as:

A)Specific relationship
B)Diffuse relationship
C)Individualism
D)Collectivism

Question 11

Which of the following countries do not fall into the ascription category of Trompe-naars' model?

A)United States
B)Indonesia
C)Venezuela
D)Chile

Question 12

eBay's labour force of relatively young employees were impressed by the company's culture because

A)Work took place in a fun environment and the dress code was casual
B)Work schedules made provision for a healthy work-life balance
C)Managers were keen to give their subordinates greater responsibility early in their careers and opportunities were given to them to go on learning and to advance in their careers
D)All of these

Question 13

Authoritarian leadership is probably most effective in:

A)Cultures with low uncertainty avoidance
B)Feminine cultures
C)Individualistic cultures
D)Masculine cultures

Question 14

Considering distinctive national circumstances when examining the application of concepts from organizational behaviour is described as:

A)The contingency approach
B)The convergence approach
C)The divergence approach
D)None of these

Question 15

Rites that are reflected in various training and development activities are:

A)Rites of enhancement
B)Rites of integration
C)Rites of passage
D)Rites of renewal

Question 16

In his research, Ouchi analysed the cultures of three groups of companies: typical American, typical Japanese, and type Z American. According to Ouchi, commitment to employees is:

A)Higher in American organizations than in Japanese organizations
B)Higher in Japanese organizations than in American organizations
C)Equally high in Japanese and American organizations
D)Ouchi did not speak of commitment to employees

Question 17

In his research, Ouchi analysed the cultures of three groups of companies: typical Ameri-can, typical Japanese, and type Z American. According to Ouchi, decision making is:

A)A group activity in Japanese organizations and an individual activity in American organizations
B)A group activity in both Japanese and American organizations
C)A group activity in American organizations and an individual activity in Japanese organizations
D)Ouchi did not speak of decision making in organizations

Question 18

Which of the following is not a value in the learning organization?

A)Security
B)Trust
C)Maintaining the status quo
D)Strong commitment to dominant culture

Question 19

Which of the following is true, according to House, in North American culture?

A)Emphasis on collectivistic rather than individualistic approaches
B)Rationality takes pride of place over ascetics, spiritual values, or superstition
C)People are more altruistic than self-centred in their motivation
D)There is more emphasis on follower rights than on follower responsibilities

Question 20

One of the factors considered by Hofstede when looking at the impact of national cultures on organizations concerns:

A)Bases of power
B)Specific relationship versus diffuse relationship
C)Achievement versus ascription
D)High versus low power distance

Question 21

Which one of the following is not attributed to organizational culture in Japan?

A)Employee autonomy and entrepreneurial spirit
B)Harmony stemming from collectivism
C)Non-specialized career paths
D)Respect for managerial judgement

Question 22

Handy considered organizational culture in relation to:

A)National cultures
B)Cultural diversity
C)Mechanisms of change
D)Organizational design

Question 23

Tapping the memories of corporate veterans and others through storytelling applies to:

A)Graduates and apprentices being presented with an opportunity to learn skills in networking and career management
B)The development of brands
C)Knowledge and skills passed from one generation of employees to the next
D)All of these

Question 24

Most innovative companies, according to Kotter, use:

A)Attractive visions
B)Collaborative systems of working
C)Accelerate cultural change by the application of artificial intelligence (AI)
D)All of these

Question 25

Climate, unlike culture, takes a short-term snapshot of the organization and can be viewed as:

A)Akin to morale
B)Deals with issues, such as communication, leadership, and health and safety
C)Has potential to influence the work habits and performance of employees
D)All of these