Deck 14: Organisational Culture

Question 1

The number of organisation culture models that exist is far short of the number possible when the number of individual values and combinations is considered.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Shared mental models are part of an organisation's culture.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Office space and paintings hung on walls can be artifacts that symbolise the organisation's culture.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Organisational culture is define by what we do not what we say we do.

Question 5

Organisational stories are most effective at communicating corporate culture when they describe real people and seem to represent true past events.

Question 6

Researchers have found that an organisation's culture may be identified very easily and quickly by looking at one or two observable artefacts.

Question 7

Sensemaking is a form of social control that influences employee decisions and behaviours.

Question 8

Ceremonies have no impact on organisational culture and only influence external stakeholders and observers.

Question 9

There are two options in merging two companies.One is assimilation and one is integration.

Question 10

Subcultures are groups of employees whose values are opposed to the organisation's dominant values.

Question 11

Researchers have estimated that most corporate cultures emphasise one of three universal values.

Question 12

Artefacts of organisational culture may include the building's design,the way people are greeted and the food served in the company's cafeteria.

Question 13

Failure of mergers and acquisition has nothing to do with culture but more to do with understanding the financial systems in both organisations.

Question 14

Organisation culture is quite independent of ethical decisions which are an individual decision.

Question 15

Language reflects an organisation's dominant values but not the values of its subcultures.

Question 16

Bi-cultural audits are one way to assess which aspects of two companies may be compatible or incompatible.

Question 17

It can be argued that organisation culture is overused,that employees usually do not think of their values except when there are conflicting or questionable decisions.

Question 18

Employees who hold counterculture values are often important gatekeepers of ethical standards.

Question 19

Organisational culture is the basic pattern of shared assumptions,values and artifacts considered to be the correct way of thinking about and acting on problems and opportunities facing the organisation.

Question 20

A ritual would include how visitors are greeted as they enter the company's offices.

Question 21

A strong corporate culture bonds employees together and makes them feel part of the organisation.

Question 22

Companies strengthen corporate culture by selecting applicants whose values are compatible with the company's dominant values.

Question 23

Most studies have found that reward systems have little or no effect on strengthening corporate culture.

Question 24

Companies with strong corporate cultures invariably have much higher performance than companies with weak cultures.

Question 25

Adaptive cultures focus employees on the changing needs of customers and other stakeholders and support initiative and leadership to keep pace with these changes.

Question 26

Organisational socialisation is the process of meeting other employees and spending more time with them throughout the work day.

Question 27

The separation strategy is most appropriate when the merging companies are unrelated industries.

Question 28

One problem with a strong corporate culture is that it focuses employees so much on one mental model that they may fail to see issues from different perspectives.

Question 29

Reality shock occurs on or before the first day of work.

Question 30

Co-workers are important organisational socialisation agents.

Question 31

An organisation's culture can either support or undermine ethical conduct among employees.

Question 32

The assimilation strategy of merging corporate cultures should be applied when the acquired firm has a weak culture and is willing to embrace the acquiring company's culture.

Question 33

Reality shock improves the organisational socialisation process by forcing newcomers to pay more attention to work activities.

Question 34

During the role management stage of organisational socialisation,employees are newcomers who test their pre-employment expectations with the perceived realities.

Question 35

Nearly all of the socialisation adjustment process occurs during and after the first day of work.

Question 36

The integration strategy for combining corporate cultures usually creates conflict as employees from the acquired firm resist the cultural intrusions.

Question 37

Compared to other strategies for merging two organisations,assimilation is most likely to result in a culture clash.

Question 38

Some distortion in the psychological contract occurs during pre-employment socialisation because job applicants are reluctant to ask questions that may convey a negative impression of them to employers.

Question 39

Organisational culture is a deeply embedded form of social control that influences the thoughts and actions of organisational members.

Question 40

Most organisational behaviour writers suggest that organisations are more effective when they become corporate cults.

Question 41

Influence of external environment is a predominant perspective in:

A) Control systems
B) Bicultural audit
C) Business ethics
D) Adaptive culture

Question 42

Which of these statements about organisational subcultures is FALSE?

A) Some subcultures support the organisation's dominant culture
B) Subcultures spawn emerging values that the company may eventually adopt
C) Organisations should subdue subcultures that oppose the firm's dominant values
D) Subcultures potentially maintain the organisation's standards of performance and ethical behaviour

Question 43

According to Exhibit 14.1 which depicts organisational culture assumptions,values and artefacts; the 'deepest' element of organisational culture is:

A) Values
B) Artefacts
C) Beliefs
D) Assumptions

Question 44

One advantage of countercultures is that they:

A) Rarely exist in real organisations
B) Maintain surveillance and critique over the company's dominant culture
C) Prevent organisations from developing a corporate culture
D) Ensure that corporate mergers occur without any culture clashes

Question 45

Which of the following is potentially an artefact of organisational culture?

A) Artwork on office walls
B) The way visitors to the organisation are greeted
C) The names employees give to conference rooms
D) All of the options listed here are correct

Question 46

Organisations that embrace values or assumptions that directly oppose the organisation's dominant culture are called

A) Occupational groups
B) Artefacts
C) Countercultures
D) None of the options listed here is correct

Question 47

What is the significance of artefacts in organisational culture?

A) Artefacts are the same as organisational culture
B) Artefacts are the leftover parts of the organisation that cannot fit into its culture
C) Artefacts represent the directly observable symbols and signs of an organisation's culture
D) Artefacts are the observable indicators that the organisation does not have a culture

Question 48

The process by which individuals learn the values,expected behaviours and social knowledge necessary to assume their roles is known as:

A) Role management
B) Adjustment
C) Assimilation
D) Organisational socialisation

Question 49

Non-conscious,taken for granted beliefs are:

A) Artefacts of organisation culture
B) Shared values
C) Shared assumptions
D) Shared values and assumptions

Question 50

Organisational stories are most effective at communicating organisational culture:

A) Never; organisational stories always misrepresent the organisation's true culture
B) Only when they are told by senior executives to the public
C) When they describe real people and are assumed to be true
D) When they are descriptive rather than prescriptive

Question 51

Fairness and tolerance are organisational culture dimensions that imply:

A) Team orientation
B) Respect for people
C) Outcome orientation
D) Shared values

Question 52

According to Elizabeth Hunter in the NAB case study,'cultural transformation is seen by all parts of the business as integral to delivering on the organisation's strategy and mitigating' what?

A) Conflicting values
B) Business risk
C) Scandal
D) Stereotypes

Question 53

Assimilation as a merging strategy for organisational culture works best when the adaptive firm has a:

A) Strong culture
B) Composite culture
C) Minimal exchange of culture
D) Weak culture

Question 54

According to the,which part of organisational culture is closest to the 'surface' (i.e.observable indicators)?

A) Assumptions
B) Artefacts
C) Values
D) Beliefs

Question 55

To develop the most accurate estimate of an organisation's culture,we should:

A) Survey employees
B) Observe workplace behaviour
C) Investigate physical elements in the workplace
D) All of the options listed here are correct

Question 56

Organisational culture includes:

A) Artifacts,values and beliefs
B) Values,assumptions and audits
C) Behaviours,beliefs and budgets
D) None of the options listed here is correct

Question 57

When estimating the content of an organisation's culture,we should pay attention to:

A) The values employees actually apply
B) The beliefs that customers have about the company's products
C) The amount of reality shock newcomers experience when joining the company
D) The values executives say employees should apply

Question 58

Social glue is a function of:

A) Organisational outcomes
B) Strong culture
C) Merging organisation culture
D) All of the options listed here are correct

Question 59

An organisation's dominant culture is:

A) The values dictated by an organisation's new owners
B) The assumptions,values and beliefs shared most widely by the organisation's members
C) The values held by the most vocal countercultural group in the organisation
D) The assumptions,values and beliefs that the company's top executives are trying to spread throughout the organisation

Question 60

The best way to measure an organisation's culture is to:

A) Interview executives
B) Look for evidence of its publicly-stated values
C) Sample information from a range of organisational artefacts
D) Read public relations statements produced by the organisation

Question 61

If an organisation has an adaptive culture,it likely has:

A) Employees with a strong sense of ownership over the company's success
B) A culture that emphasises dozens of values at the same time
C) An external focus on the needs of customers and other stakeholders
D) Employees with a strong sense of ownership AND an external focus on stakeholder needs

Question 62

One of the first steps in a merger to minimise cultural clashes is to:

A) Significantly reduce the strength of the culture in both organisations
B) Conduct a bicultural audit
C) Significantly increase the strength of the culture in both organisations
D) Replace the chief executives in both organisations before merger negotiations begin

Question 63

Strong organisational cultures:

A) Are short-lived
B) Are held by most employees across the organisation
C) Have values that are believed only by top management
D) Are held by only a few key people but are well known to most people in the organisation

Question 64

During what stage of socialisation do people FIRST learn about the organisation and job?

A) Role management
B) Encounter
C) Pre-employment
D) Reality shock

Question 65

Organisational culture serves what purpose in organisations?

A) It is a form of social control
B) It bonds employees together and makes them feel part of the organisational experience
C) It helps employees to understand organisational events
D) All of the options listed here are correct

Question 66

The building in which employees work:

A) Often reflects the organisation's culture
B) Can potentially influence the organisation's culture
C) Is a possible artefact of organisational culture
D) Reflects,potentially influences,and is a possible artefact of organisational culture

Question 67

Which strategy for merging two distinct cultures is recommended when the two companies have relatively weak cultures with overlapping values?

A) Deculturation
B) Assimilation
C) Separation
D) Integration

Question 68

When merging two organisations,a separation strategy is most commonly applied when:

A) Both companies have relatively weak cultures that are generally ineffective
B) One company has an effective culture and employees at the other company would embrace that culture if applied to them
C) The two organisations operate in distinct industries
D) The acquired firm's culture doesn't work,whereas the culture of the acquiring firm does work

Question 69

How do founders and corporate leaders affect corporate culture?

A) Founders and corporate leaders develop the systems and structures that support their personal values
B) Founders and corporate leaders are often visionaries whose energetic style provides a powerful role model for others to follow
C) Founders and corporate leaders strengthen or change corporate culture by communicating and enacting their vision of the future
D) All of the options listed here are correct

Question 70

Most employees at United FiberTech support the idea that the company's success depends on their willingness to continually change and improve customer service.United FiberTech probably has:

A) An adaptive culture
B) Many countercultures
C) More subcultures than employees
D) An unethical culture

Question 71

Whenever an advertising firm lands a new contract,the successful team rings a loud bell and breaks out a bottle of champagne.In organisational culture,this practice would be considered:

A) Unethical
B) A ceremony
C) A mental model
D) A symptom of a culture that is out of touch with its external environment

Question 72

Which of the following is a characteristic of an adaptive corporate culture?

A) Employees hold a common mental model that the organisation's success depends on their personal wellbeing
B) Employees believe that it is both necessary and inevitable to keep pace with a changing external environment
C) Employees wait for opportunities to arrive
D) Employees tend to take the view that any activity beyond their job description is not their job

Question 73

Employees learn about the organisation's culture:

A) Beginning with the role management stage of organisational socialisation
B) Long before the first day of work
C) Beginning with the company's orientation program on the first day of work
D) Only when they enter management positions

Question 74

As an organisation's culture becomes very strong,it:

A) Becomes more misaligned with its external environment
B) Makes it more difficult for decision makers to identify problems or opportunities outside the mental model of that culture
C) Makes employees less committed to the organisation
D) Causes various subcultures in the organisation to also become stronger

Question 75

Which of the following happens during the pre-employment stage of organisational socialisation?

A) Conflicts are resolved between work and non-work activities
B) Employees form expectations (psychological contract)about working at that organisation
C) Reality shock is experienced
D) All of the options listed here are correct

Question 76

Organisational culture does which of the following?

A) It is a powerful form of social control that influences employee decisions and behaviour
B) It is the social glue that bonds employees together and makes them feel part of the organisation
C) It provides a mental model so employees have a common understanding about organisational events
D) All of the options listed here are correct

Question 77

At meetings of a major consumer products firm,employees habitually stand up when the most senior executive at the meeting enters the room.This practice represents:

A) Evidence that the meeting has employees who hold countercultural values
B) Evidence that the company has an adaptive culture
C) A ritual that probably symbolises the organisation's dominant culture
D) A form of deculturation that eventually undermines the organisation's dominant culture

Question 78

Which strategy for merging two distinct cultures tends to create high levels of confusion,conflict,resentment and stress?

A) Deculturation
B) Assimilation
C) Separation
D) Integration

Question 79

The main purpose of a bicultural audit is to:

A) Determine whether your company's organisational culture is sufficiently strong
B) Estimate the number of dominant and subcultural values that exist in an organisation
C) Find out whether people from different countries have the same corporate cultures
D) Identify and diagnose differences in the corporate cultures of merging organisations

Question 80

Employees usually learn which of the following topics through the process of organisational socialisation?

A) Company's history
B) Forming relationships with people in the organisation
C) Knowing who holds power in the work unit and organisation
D) All of the options listed here are correct