Deck 11: Strategic Leadership: Creating a Learning Organization and an Ethical Organization

Question 1

Coercive power is the power exercised by use of fear of punishment for errors of either omission or commission by employees.

Answer 1

True
Explanation: Coercive power is the power a manager exercises over employees using fear of punishment for errors of omission or commission.

Question 2

Emotional intelligence (EI)is one of the components of a high intelligence quotient (IQ).

Answer 2

False
Explanation: The five components of EI are: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill. Findings indicate that EI is a better predictor of life success (economic well-being, satisfaction with life, friendship, family life), including occupational attainments, than IQ.

Question 3

People with strong self-awareness are overly critical and unrealistically optimistic and are well suited to run organizations,because they will make good judgment calls.

Answer 3

False
Explanation: Self-awareness involves a person having a deep understanding of his or her emotions, strengths, weaknesses, and drives. People with strong self-awareness are neither overly critical nor unrealistically optimistic. Instead, they are honest with themselves and others. People who assess themselves honestly (i.e., self-aware people) are well suited to do the same for the organizations they run.

Question 4

Three key interdependent strategic leadership activities are: designing the organization; determining its direction; and nurturing a culture dedicated to excellence and ethical behavior.

Question 5

Setting a direction is the leadership activity that involves developing a strategic vision of what the organization could become.

Question 6

Designing the organization is the leadership activity that involves building structures,teams,systems,and processes that facilitate the implementation of leader vision.

Question 7

Behavioral barriers to change occur because of conflicts between departments,conflicts arising from power relationships,and refusal to share information.

Question 8

Visionary leadership is only the domain of the CEO,as suggested by the example of Joe Ling at 3M who developed the Pollution Prevention Pays (3P)program.

Question 9

The two broad bases of leader power are organizational and hierarchical.

Question 10

Emotional intelligence (EI)is generally a better predictor of life success than intelligence quotient (IQ).

Question 11

When Peter Loscher took over as CEO at Siemens in 2007,he lacked internal connections.He used formal bases of power to bring about organizational change and increase a customer orientation.

Question 12

The tendency of many individuals to throw good money at bad decisions despite negative performance feedback is referred to as escalation.

Question 13

Empathy,one of the components of emotional intelligence (EI),refers to personal proficiency in managing relationships and building networks.

Question 14

Leaders must draw on a range of personal skills as well as organizational mechanisms to move their organizations forward in the face of barriers to change.

Question 15

Leaders are not expected to accept personal responsibility for ethical behavior in an organization,because ethics is a matter of individual choice.

Question 16

Leaders play an important role in sustaining organization culture,but they are powerless to change it.

Question 17

Referent power refers to manager identification with his or her employees.

Question 18

Systemic barriers to change refer to elements of organization design,structure,and reporting relationships that impede the flow of information.

Question 19

Political barriers to change can be overcome by promoting collaboration throughout the organization,as seen in the case study on Natura Cosmeticos of Brazil in which CEO Carlucci implemented a comprehensive engagement process across the organization.

Question 20

According to the Gresham law of planning,operational decisions do not drive out the time necessary for strategic thinking and reflection.

Question 21

Establishing a culture of dissent can be an effective means of questioning the status quo.

Question 22

Although many organizations encourage creativity and risk taking,few successful companies tolerate failure.

Question 23

In order to gather information from informal sources,successful executives must be good listeners.

Question 24

In an integrity-based approach to ethics management,ethos is concerned with conformity with externally imposed standards.

Question 25

Ethics is a question of personal scruples,a confidential matter between employees and their consciences and therefore for a leader it is acceptable to assume the company should not bear any responsibility for individual misdeeds.

Question 26

There are many advantages of an ethical organization,but it generally has little to do with employee commitment and motivation to excel.

Question 27

There can be a high-integrity organization,without high-integrity individuals.

Question 28

Ethical crises are bad for organization reputation,but they rarely have any financial consequences.

Question 29

Competitive benchmarking is a method of seeking the best examples of practices or processes that have essentially the same function regardless of industry.

Question 30

In integrity-based ethics programs,organizational ethics is seen as the responsibility of the employees.

Question 31

Socially skilled people tend to have a wide circle of acquaintances as well as a knack for finding common ground and building support.This means that they are less likely to be effective in leading change or in having expertise in building and leading teams.

Question 32

Successful learning organizations have a proactive,creative approach to the unknown.

Question 33

Organizational learning works best when an organization leader gathers information and teaches it to employees who are like their students.

Question 34

Self-regulated people are unable to create an environment of trust and fairness,where political behavior and infighting are sharply reduced and productivity tends to be high.

Question 35

To successfully empower employees to achieve organizational goals,leaders must perform the tasks of resource allocation and power brokering.

Question 36

A key function of the leaders in a learning organization is to generate an organization-wide commitment to the status quo.

Question 37

A compliance-based approach to ethics management combines a concern for law with an emphasis on managerial responsibility for ethical behavior.

Question 38

Internal benchmarking is discouraged in most organizations,because it creates competition and internal rivalries that are counterproductive.

Question 39

Leaders who fail to institute proper systems and controls that facilitate ethical conduct share responsibility with those who conceive,execute,and knowingly benefit from corporate misdeeds.

Question 40

Inspiring and motivating people with a mission or purpose is a necessary and sufficient condition for developing a learning organization.

Question 41

The example of Dennis Bakke,CEO of AES,in which he and his team took responsibility for employees who lied to the EPA about water quality at the plant,suggests that for an ethical organization,it is not necessary to do more than just take strong punitive action against those who act contrary to the company-established expected behavior.

Question 42

Many of the scandals on Wall Street might have been eliminated if corporate codes of conduct had outlined more clearly the consequences of unethical behavior.

Question 43

Policies and procedures guide employee behavior,but are effective only if they are reinforced with specific corporation action such as enforcement and monitoring.

Question 44

In the integrity-based approach to ethics management,behavioral assumptions include that social beings are guided by material self-interest,values,ideals,and peers.

Question 45

Codes of conduct have no role in attracting individuals who might want to work for a business that embraces high standards.

Question 46

Corporate codes of conduct provide norms and expectations for employees to not commit unethical acts.

Question 47

Poor organizational design by leaders can result in all of the following except _____________.

A) insufficient mechanisms that integrate and coordinate activities across the firm
B) inadequate accountability among managers and employees
C) inappropriate budgeting and control systems
D) teams, systems, and organizational processes that facilitate implementation

Question 48

Methods used for ethics management in a compliance-based approach include education,reduced discretion,auditing and controls,and penalties.

Question 49

Inappropriate reward systems seldom cause individuals at all levels throughout an organization to commit unethical acts,since people are either unethical or ethical in their behavior.

Question 50

An effective way to instill ethical behavior in an organization is to distribute rewards strictly on the basis of outcomes.

Question 51

In a compliance-based approach to ethics management,the objective is to enable responsible conduct.

Question 52

If leaders do not believe in the ethical standards that they are trying to inspire,they will not be effective as good role models.

Question 53

Which of the following is an important characteristic of a leader?

A) goal-oriented
B) satisfied with the status quo
C) reactive
D) focused on past performance

Question 54

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 does not provide legal protection to employee whistleblowers of publicly traded companies.

Question 55

The CEO scraps the company commission-based reward system,because it rewards employees for inappropriate behavior.This is an example of _____________.

A) setting a direction
B) designing the organization
C) unethical behavior
D) failure to maintain the status quo

Question 56

A strategic vision provides many benefits.Which of the following is not one of those benefits:

A) a clear future direction
B) a framework for their organization mission and goals
C) enhanced employee communication and commitment
D) diminished employee participation

Question 57

Leaders play a key role in developing and sustaining organization _____________.

A) status quo
B) culture
C) reporting relationships
D) rules and regulations

Question 58

Effective leadership is like a three-legged stool.Which of the following is not represented by one of the stool legs?

A) dedication to maintaining the status quo
B) nurturing a culture dedicated to excellence and ethical behavior
C) determining a direction
D) designing the organization

Question 59

Codes of conduct help employees from diverse backgrounds to work more effectively across cultural backgrounds.

Question 60

Which of the following statements about leadership is not true?

A) Leadership is focused on the creation and implementation of a creative vision.
B) Leadership is the process of transforming organizations from what they are to what the leader would have them become.
C) Leaders support the status quo and seek control mechanisms to maintain it.
D) Effective implementation of strategy is essential for successful leadership.

Question 61

All of the following are components of emotional intelligence (EI)except _____________.

A) self-awareness
B) self-regulation
C) self-promotion
D) empathy

Question 62

The source of referent power is _____________.

A) subordinate identification with the leader
B) leader identification with the subordinates
C) derived from the fact that the manager can potentially act as a reference when the employee applies for another job
D) derived from manager ability to provide effective incentives to employees

Question 63

Expert power _____________.

A) is derived from organizationally conferred decision-making authority
B) arises from manager access, control, and distribution of information that is not freely available to everyone in an organization
C) is derived from referent power
D) is derived from leader capability and knowledge in a particular field

Question 64

Which component of emotional intelligence (EI)enables a manager to have a deep understanding of the existence and importance of cultural and ethnic differences?

A) self-awareness
B) empathy
C) social skills
D) self-regulation

Question 65

To overcome barriers to organizational change,companies work more collaboratively than in the past.In companies such as Microsoft,an important obstacle to effective collaboration is _____________.

A) higher-level political battles
B) competition
C) effective leadership
D) poor organization

Question 66

In order to create an environment where employees can achieve their potential as they move the organization towards its goals,the manager role needs to be that of _____________.

A) resource allocator
B) resource controller
C) a flexible resource
D) an advocator of the status quo

Question 67

Coercive power is _____________.

A) the power exercised by use of fear of punishment for errors of omission or commission by employees
B) the power of persuasion exercised by a charismatic leader to get compliance from reluctant subordinates
C) the type that arises from manager access, control, and distribution of information that is not freely available to everyone in an organization
D) the ability of the leader or manager to confer rewards for positive behaviors or outcomes

Question 68

Barriers associated with a managers tendency to look at issues from a biased or limited perspective are known as _____________.

A) systemic barriers
B) behavioral barriers
C) political barriers
D) barriers to exit

Question 69

Which of the following does not constitute organizational bases of leader power?

A) legitimate power
B) reward power
C) referent power
D) coercive power

Question 70

When faced with barriers to change,leaders can create a good climate for advancing the aims of the organization and making progress towards its goals by building ______________ and _____________.

A) a learning organization; an ethical organization
B) a following organization; an ethical organization
C) a learning organization; an efficient organization
D) an efficient organization; a learning organization

Question 71

Inspiring and motivating people with a mission or purpose is a ______________ for developing an organization that can learn and adapt.

A) necessary and sufficient condition
B) necessary, but not a sufficient condition
C) goal, but not a necessary condition
D) goal and a required precondition

Question 72

Which of the following is not a part of the three broad sets of capabilities that a leader should possess?

A) technical skills
B) cognitive abilities
C) physical abilities
D) emotional intelligence

Question 73

Which of the following is not a characteristic of a successful learning organization?

A) It creates a proactive, creative approach to the unknown.
B) It actively solicits the involvement of employees at all levels.
C) It regularly engages in activities to reinforce the status quo.
D) It enables everyone to use their intelligence and apply their imagination.

Question 74

The following two components of emotional intelligence (EI)deal with personal ability to manage relationships with others.

A) motivation and self-awareness
B) self-regulation and empathy
C) empathy and social skill
D) motivation and empathy

Question 75

When important decisions need to be made at WBG Construction,CEO Greg Burrill asks all employees with relevant knowledge or a stake in the outcome for their thoughts.This collaborative approach recently led to a decision that not only sold a house but also inspired a new floor plan that appealed to a whole new segment of buyers.This is an example of _____________.

A) hierarchical control
B) knowledge management
C) enabling heroes and drones
D) employee empowerment

Question 76

Barriers in which the design of organization structure,information processing,and reporting relationships,impede the proper flow and evaluation of information are known as _____________.

A) systemic barriers
B) behavioral barriers
C) political barriers
D) barriers to entry

Question 77

Refusal to share information,conflicts over resources,conflicts between departments and divisions,and petty interpersonal differences are symptoms of which type of barrier to change?

A) systemic barriers
B) political barriers
C) behavioral barriers
D) entry barriers

Question 78

Which of the following does not explain why organizations are prone to inertia and slow to change?

A) personal time constraints
B) political barriers
C) vested interests in the status quo
D) entry barriers

Question 79

Functional benchmarking _____________.

A) is not very useful for organizations with a divisional organizational structure
B) endeavors to determine best practices regardless of industry
C) restricts the search for best practices to competitors
D) is useful when researching industry-specific standards

Question 80

Which of the following is not a guideline an organization can use to promote the challenging of the status quo?

A) establishing a culture of dissent
B) forcefully creating a sense of urgency
C) fostering a culture that encourages risk taking
D) creating a results-based reward system