Deck 7: Organizational Factors: the Role of Ethical Culture and Relationships

Question 1

Marcus is the best-performing development director his non-profit organization has ever had. He possesses countless tricks and tips to continue to bring in donations, positive publicity, and supporters. Marcus would likely have _____ over new development department staff.

A)coercive power
B)group power
C)referent power
D)expert power
E)democratic power

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following statements about group norms is false?

A)Group norms define the limit on deviation from group expectations.
B)Group norms have the power to force a strong degree of conformity among group members.
C)Management must carefully monitor the norms of all the various groups within the organization, as well as the organization's corporate culture.
D)Sanctions may be necessary to bring in line a group whose norms deviate sharply from the overall culture.
E)Group norms never conflict with the overall organization's culture.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

An organization that delegates decision-making authority as far down the chain of command as possible and has relatively few formal rules is

A)centralized.
B)decentralized.
C)unethical.
D)tall.
E)ethical.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Management's sense of the organization's culture

A)is more accurate than employees' perceptions.
B)is usually easily adopted by employees.
C)is readily evident to employees.
D)may be quite different from employees' perceptions.
E)is always different from employees' perceptions.

Question 5

When considering centralized and decentralized structures, which one tends to be more ethical?

A)Decentralized because of the clear rules that dictate appropriate behavior in business
B)Centralized because it is easier to uproot unethical activities
C)Centralized because of the strict formalization and implementation of ethics policies and procedures
D)Decentralized because they give employees more decision making authority
E)Both types of organizational structure are equally ethical

Question 6

No formal dress codes, working late, participation in extracurricular activities, gestures, and legends represent

A)a complacent workplace.
B)codes of ethics.
C)a firm's organizational chart.
D)formal expressions of an organization's culture.
E)informal expressions of an organization's culture.

Question 7

An advantage of the decentralized organization is that

A)the focus is on formal rules, policies, and procedures backed up with elaborate control systems.
B)there is a high level of bureaucracy.
C)each worker knows his or her job and what is specifically expected as well as how to carry out designated tasks.
D)it is adaptable and can quickly respond to external change.
E)there is minimal upward communication.

Question 8

Individuals, often from the same department, who have a common interest but not an explicit organizational structure are known as

A)quality circles.
B)informal groups.
C)teams.
D)work groups.
E)committees.

Question 9

In order for whistle-blowing to be effective,

A)the individual must have indisputable proof of guilt.
B)employees must wish ill on the organization for which they work.
C)lawmakers must make an effort to force employees to discuss details about the misconduct.
D)it requires that the individual have adequate knowledge of wrongdoing that could damage society.
E)it must occur at a very large multinational corporation.

Question 10

Expert power usually stems from

A)a superior's credibility with his or her subordinates.
B)the belief that a certain person has the right to exert influence and that certain others have an obligation to accept it.
C)a person's ability to influence the behavior of others by offering them something desirable.
D)a person's ability to penalize the actions or behavior of another.
E)a person's perceptions that his or her goals or objectives are similar to another's.

Question 11

_______ includes a requirement that management assess the effectiveness of an organization's internal controls and commission audits of these controls by an external auditor in conjunction with the audit of its financial statements.

A)An ethics audit
B)The Dodd-Frank Act
C)Sarbanes-Oxley 404
D)Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
E)The Whistle-blower Protection Act

Question 12

Associating with others who are unethical and who have the opportunity to act unethically can lead to a learning process known as

A)compliance.
B)misconduct.
C)opportunity.
D)differential equations.
E)differential association.

Question 13

A cultural audit may be used to assess

A)how cultured a firm's employees are.
B)unethical employees.
C)unethical organizations.
D)an organization's values.
E)organizational structure.

Question 14

_____ bring together the functional expertise of employees from several different areas of the organization on a single project.

A)Quality circles
B)Informal groups
C)Teams
D)Work groups
E)Committees

Question 15

The apathetic organizational culture exhibits

A)high concern for people but minimal concern for performance.
B)little concern for people but a high concern for performance.
C)minimal concern for people and performance.
D)high concern for people and performance.
E)no concern for maintaining a cohesive organizational culture.

Question 16

When developing an ethical culture, there has to be a(n) _____ element because every organization has employees that will try to take advantage if there is an opportunity for misconduct.

A)values-based
B)statement of mission
C)ethical
D)compliance
E)punitive

Question 17

The exacting organizational culture is interested in

A)performance but has little concern for employees.
B)investors' impressions of profitability.
C)maintaining a strong corporate culture.
D)employees and performance.
E)employees' impressions.

Question 18

The ability to influence the behavior of others by offering them something desirable is best described as

A)coercive power.
B)reward power.
C)expert power.
D)legitimate power.
E)referent power.

Question 19

Which of the following statements about corporate culture is false?

A)Corporate culture refers to the patterns and rules that govern the behavior of an organization and its employees, particularly the shared values, beliefs, and customs.
B)The values and ethical beliefs that actually guide the firm's employees tend not to be the same ones that management states as defining the firm's culture.
C)Corporate culture includes the behavioral patterns, concepts, values, ceremonies, and rituals that take place in an organization.
D)The culture of an organization may be explicitly stated or unspoken.
E)Failure to monitor or manage an organization's culture may foster unethical behavior.

Question 20

Which of the following statements about power is true?

A)The five bases of power are mutually exclusive.
B)People generally use only one base of power to effect change in others.
C)Expert power exists when one person takes actions that will lead that person and others to achieve their mutual objectives.
D)Power can be used to motivate individuals ethically or unethically.
E)The use of power is unethical.

Question 21

Why do centralized organizations tend to be more ethical than decentralized ones? Can you think of a situation or example in which a decentralized organization might be more ethical than a centralized one?

Question 22

A values-based ethics approach to ethical corporate cultures relies on a(n) _____ that defines the firm as well as how customers and employees should be treated

A)set of laws
B)explicit mission statement
C)strong CEO
D)ethical audit
E)relaxed corporate culture

Question 23

The _____ leader demands instantaneous obedience and focuses on punishing wrong behavior, achievement, initiative, and self-control.

A)democratic
B)coaching
C)affiliative
D)coercive
E)pacesetting

Question 24

Motivation is defined as

A)the reason why high achieving employees strive for high job performance.
B)a force within the individual that focuses his or her behavior on achieving a goal.
C)personal ambition without regard to the impact on others.
D)a desire to be finished with a project.
E)individual goals.

Question 25

Over the years, scholars have developed more than 100 definitions of culture. According to the text, all have the following common elements:

A)Culture is shared, relatively stable, and is formed over a long period of time.
B)Culture is unique, stable, and is formed over a long period of time.
C)Culture is shared, fluctuating, and is formed over a long period of time.
D)Culture is shared, stable, and is formed over a short period of time.
E)Culture is man-made, stable, and is formed over a short period of time.

Question 26

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act

A)only applies to firms with over 50 employees.
B)has institutionalized internal whistle-blowing.
C)was eventually replaced with the Dodd-Frank Act.
D)requires all organizations to make their financial information public.
E)involves too many complicated steps for it to be feasible for most organizations.

Question 27

A high concern for people but minimal concern for performance can best describe the _____ culture.

A)caring
B)apathetic
C)exacting
D)shareholder
E)employee

Question 28

Both individual ethics and organizational ethics have an impact on an employee's

A)productivity.
B)personal happiness.
C)compensation.
D)fitness level.
E)ethical intention.

Question 29

Because all organizations have some type of culture, _____ and _____ are often used interchangeably.

A)cultural values; corporate culture
B)cultural values; organizational culture
C)organizational culture; corporate culture
D)ethical culture; organizational culture
E)ethical culture; corporate culture

Question 30

Melinda is a very popular executive. She inspires her employees to follow a common vision, facilitates change, and creates a strongly positive climate, all while stressing performance. Melinda has helped to create a(n) _____ culture.

A)authoritative
B)caring
C)integrative
D)apathetic
E)affiliative

Question 31

_____ are used to subdivide duties within functional areas of a company.

A)Work groups
B)Individuals
C)Experts
D)Consultants
E)Committees

Question 32

Which of the following cultures combines high levels of concern for people and performance?

A)Apathetic culture
B)Caring culture
C)Integrative culture
D)Exacting culture
E)Cooperative culture

Question 33

New employees in bureaucratic organizations usually have ___________ into the basic operating rules and procedures for getting things done.

A)limited group consensus
B)much impact
C)consistent control
D)strong feedback
E)limited input

Question 34

The ____ rule explains variation in employee conduct through generalizing on the percentage of employees in any given organization who will seek to do right versus how many will be indifferent.

A)10-30-40-20
B)20-30-30-20
C)40-10-10-40
D)10-40-40-10
E)80-20

Question 35

_____ are satisfied by social and interpersonal relationships, and _____ are satisfied by creative or productive activities.

A)Growth needs; relatedness needs
B)Personal needs; group needs
C)Coercive needs; ethical needs
D)Relatedness needs; growth needs
E)Group needs; personal needs

Question 36

The establishment of an ethics committee within an organization

A)has an informal organizational structure.
B)is usually organized around general business topics.
C)might raise ethical concerns or resolve ethical dilemmas.
D)occurs when formal work groups do not work.
E)usually increases ethical tension.

Question 37

To motivate employees, an organization offers _____ to _____ employees to work toward organizational objectives.

A)punishment; force
B)peer pressure; guilt
C)incentives; encourage
D)rewards; bribe
E)threats; frighten

Question 38

Ethical concerns in centralized structures can occur because of very little

A)mobility.
B)upward communication.
C)scapegoating.
D)downward communication.
E)communication rigidity.

Question 39

When a foreman orders an assembly-line employee to carry out a task that the employee perceives as unethical, yet the employee feels compelled to do it because of the foreman's position, the foreman is exercising

A)legitimate power.
B)expert power.
C)reward power.
D)coercive power.
E)referent power.

Question 40

The idea that people learn ethical or unethical behavior while interacting with others who are a part of their role-sets is referred to as

A)group norms.
B)cognitive memory dissonance.
C)cognitive association.
D)differential association.
E)casual interaction.

Question 41

Which of the following is an informal channel of communication? ​

A)​Team communication
B)​The grapevine
C)​Performance evaluations
D)​Reports
E)​Presentations

Question 42

Which power is likely to be effective in the short run but not in the long run?

A)Coercive power
B)Reward power
C)Referent power
D)Expert power
E)Legitimate power

Question 43

In the past 50 years, scholars developed and attempted to measure at least 164 distinct definitions of culture with recent reviews indicating that the number of definitions has been increasing. While these definitions of culture vary greatly, they share common elements. Which of these is NOT one of them?

A)Culture is shared among individuals belonging to a group or organization.
B)Culture is formed over a relatively short period of time.
C)Culture is shared among individuals belonging to a society.
D)Culture is relatively stable.
E)Culture is formed over a relatively long period of time.

Question 44

How do societal expectations affect corporations and their ethical initiatives? Give an example of a company that had to alter a product or service because of society's concerns about its health, moral, or social impacts.

Question 45

A ​cultural audit can be performed internally within the organization.

Question 46

Because company retaliation of whistle-blowers is illegal, ​incidents of retaliation taken against employees are rare today.

Question 47

Describe the different kinds of power. Are some types of power more likely to result in ethical behavior than others?

Question 48

Describe the four organizational cultures and provide a company example of each organizational culture.

Question 49

Non-profit organizations, corporations, and government agencies all have their own organizational cultures. ​

Question 50

How do group norms influence the ethical behavior of an organization? What happens when the norms of a particular group conflict with the organization's corporate culture or objectives?

Question 51

Committees, work groups, and teams are all types of formal groups.​

Question 52

_______ includes shared values, norms, and artifacts that influence employees and determine behavior.

A)Corporate compliance
B)Promotions, programs, management
C)Organizational culture
D)Ethical culture
E)Apathetic culture