Deck 14: Organizational Culture

Question 1

Artifacts refer mainly to the paintings and other tangible objects that appear throughout the organization.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Most organizational culture models oversimplify the diversity of cultural values in organizations.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

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

Answer 3

False

Question 4

An organizations' culture is usually quite fuzzy and difficult to define using simple models and surveys.

Question 5

Espoused values are values proclamations.

Question 6

Values represent the deepest part of an organization's culture.

Question 7

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

Question 8

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

Question 9

Organizational countercultures can potentially help the organization maintain its ethical conduct.

Question 10

Organizational culture consists of shared enacted values, but not espoused values.

Question 11

The most accurate way to determine an organization's culture is by interviewing senior executives about their perceptions of that culture.

Question 12

Popular organizational culture models falsely presume that organizations can be identified within discrete categories.

Question 13

An organizational counterculture is a type of subculture.

Question 14

Organizational countercultures further strengthen the organization's dominant culture.

Question 15

Organizational culture consists of the values and assumptions shared within an organization which also dictates the correct way of thinking about and acting on problems and opportunities facing the organization.

Question 16

The organizational cultures of most companies can be identified as mercenaries, fortresses or communes.

Question 17

Organizational culture defines what is important and unimportant in the company and, consequently, directs everyone in the organization toward the "right way" of doing things.

Question 18

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

Question 19

Values represent an important invisible part of an organization's culture.

Question 20

Organizational countercultures can potentially create conflict and dissension among employees.

Question 21

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

Question 22

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

Question 23

Ceremonies are more formal artifacts than rituals.

Question 24

The stronger the corporate culture, the more difficult it is for employees to bond together.

Question 25

Organizational stories support organizational culture by providing social prescriptions of the ways things should or should not be done around the organization.

Question 26

A strong organizational culture exists when most employees understand and accept the dominant values.

Question 27

One problem with a strong organizational culture is that it increases conflict among employees within the company and makes it more difficult for them to understand each other.

Question 28

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

Question 29

A strong organizational culture improves the firm's effectiveness only if the cultural values are aligned with its external environment.

Question 30

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

Question 31

In order to be effective, organizational stories must describe real people and recount true past events.

Question 32

Organizational culture is not directly observable, but it may be loosely interpreted through visible artifacts.

Question 33

A strong corporate culture exists when employees are forced to abide by a particular set of organizational values whether or not they believe in those values.

Question 34

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

Question 35

In corporate cults, the culture is so strong that it focuses employees on one mental model so much that they may fail to see issues from different perspectives.

Question 36

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

Question 37

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

Question 38

The organization's physical structure and use of space often communicate its dominant cultural values.

Question 39

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

Question 40

Rituals represent the organization's deliberate and usually dramatic displays of its dominant culture.

Question 41

An adaptive organizational culture is one where employees pay attention to organizational goals, not the processes to achieve those goals.

Question 42

According to the attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) theory, alignment with the company's culture is often a factor when deciding which applicant to hire.

Question 43

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

Question 44

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 45

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 46

One of the first steps in a bicultural audit is to identify the other organization's corporate culture through artifacts.

Question 47

Corporate cults are preferred, because they help suppress subcultures within organizations.

Question 48

Organizations with adaptive cultures are unable to maintain a stable value system and, consequently, tend to perform poorly in the long run.

Question 49

Organizations with very strong cultures may become dysfunctional because they suppress dissenting subcultural values.

Question 50

Two companies should not merge if a bicultural audit determines that they have substantially different cultures.

Question 51

Organizational culture can sometimes be reshaped by applying transformational leadership and organizational change practices.

Question 52

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

Question 53

Employees are more likely to quit if values incongruence is sufficiently low.

Question 54

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

Question 55

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

Question 56

The attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) theory explains why companies are able to attract and select people who fit the culture, but later on have difficulty forcing them out.

Question 57

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

Question 58

The attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) theory may explain why people who don't fit the culture are often weeded out.

Question 59

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

Question 60

Most organizational behavior writers suggest that organizations are more effective when they become corporate cults.

Question 61

Organizational socialization begins on the first day of employment and continues throughout one's career within the company.

Question 62

New employees learn corporate culture through the process of organizational socialization.

Question 63

The best way to determine an organization's shared assumptions is to:

A)interview executives.
B)look for evidence of its corporate value statements.
C)determine what the organization's enacted values are.
D)read public relations statements produced by the organization.
E)ask customers to evaluate the company's effectiveness.

Question 64

Realistic job previews improve organizational socialization by ensuring that applicants develop more accurate pre-employment expectations.

Question 65

Organizational socialization is a process of both learning and adjustment.

Question 66

Which of the following are the observable indicators of organizational culture?

A)Assumptions
B)Artifacts
C)Values
D)Beliefs
E)Mental models

Question 67

The deepest element of organizational culture is:

A)values.
B)artifacts.
C)language.
D)beliefs.
E)assumptions.

Question 68

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

Question 69

Organizational culture is best described as the basic pattern of shared:

A)assumptions, beliefs and belongings that subconsciously guide employee thoughts and actions.
B)behaviors that employees enact to demonstrate their support for corporate goals.
C)decisions routinely occurring throughout the organization that support corporate strategies.
D)assumptions, beliefs and values that subconsciously guide employee thoughts and actions.
E)rituals and ceremonies that employees enact to consummate their relationship with the organization.

Question 70

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

Question 71

Organizational socialization does not occur until a person becomes a member of the organization.

Question 72

Co-workers are important organizational socialization agents.

Question 73

Which of these statements about shared assumptions is FALSE?

A)Shared assumptions are unconscious taken-for granted perceptions or beliefs.
B)Shared assumptions are so deeply embedded they probably cannot be discovered by surveying employees.
C)Shared assumptions include shared enacted values.
D)Shared assumptions are revealed through corporate value statements.
E)All of the above are correct.

Question 74

The hidden elements of an organization's culture include:

A)Physical structures
B)Language used in the organization
C)Employee beliefs and values
D)All of the above
E)Only 'B' and 'C'

Question 75

Reality shock occurs when you perceive a discrepancy between your pre-employment expectations and on-the-job reality.

Question 76

How do mental models relate to the concept of organizational culture?

A)Mental models represent the assumptions within an organization's culture.
B)Mental models represent the artifacts of organizational culture.
C)Mental models are mainly used to decipher an organization's culture.
D)Mental models represent the values within an organization's culture.
E)Mental models do not have anything to do with organizational culture.

Question 77

The assumptions, beliefs and values that subconsciously guide employee thoughts and actions are called:

A)organizational culture.
B)organizational structure.
C)organizational socialization.
D)organizational politics.
E)transformational leadership.

Question 78

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

Question 79

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

Question 80

Organizational culture includes:

A)three universal values.
B)artifacts, values, and beliefs.
C)values, assumptions, and audits.
D)behaviors, beliefs, and budgets.
E)None of these statements is accurate.