Chapter 02 - Organizational Culture, Organizations
Chapter 02
Organizational Culture, Organizations
True / False Questions
1.(p.29)Adaptation to new environments is a common occurrence.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
2.(p.30)The culture of a firm can be inferred by looking at those aspects that are perceptible.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
3.(p.30)Culture is not defined the same way by any two theorists or researchers.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
4.(p.31)According to Schein's three-layer organizational model, visible and audible behavior patterns are considered visible but often undecipherable.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
5.(p.32)Organizations can operate efficiently only when shared values exist among the employees.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
6.(p.32)An individual's personal values guide his or her behavior off the job, but have little effect in the work environment.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: An individual's personal values guide behavior both on and off the job.
7.(p.32)Values are passed from one generation to the next.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
8.(p.32)American culture has historically given work a peripheral place in the constellation of values.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: American culture has historically given work a central place in the constellation of values.
9.(p.32-33)Work in the United States remains a source of self-respect and material reward.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
10.(p.33)The more employees share and accept a culture's core values, the stronger the culture is.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
11.(p.33)At Southwest Airlines, employees are expected to learn one job and to focus solely on the related tasks.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: At Southwest Airlines, employees are expected to learn more than one job and to help one another when needed.
12.(p.34)Researchers have been able to show that a specific culture can contribute to positive effectiveness.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Researchers have been unable to show that a specific culture contributes to positive effectiveness.
13.(p.36)Some organizations have multiple cultures that exist simultaneously.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
14.(p.37)Teams, divisions and units always have their own subculture.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Teams, divisions and unit may or may not have their own subcultures.
15.(p.37)Subcultures always detract from the dominant culture.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: In some instances, the subcultures enhance the dominant culture.
16.(p.37)Subcultures that are opposed to the dominant culture can create conflict, dissension and frustration among employees.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
17.(p.37)Working together to achieve market share and financial performance gains will help employees develop deeply anchored relationships.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Working together to achieve these goals will result in cooperation when necessary, but not deeply anchored relationships.
18.(p.37)Culture is a "soft" factor that shouldn't be considered when contemplating a merger.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Paying closer attention to the compatibility of cultures is worth both the time and effort.
19.(p.37)Research indicates that only 50 percent of mergers and acquisitions are financially successful in terms of return on investment.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Research indicates that less than one-quarter of mergers and acquisitions are financially successful.
20.(p.38)Having dissimilar cultures may be sufficient reason not to close a merger deal.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
21.(p.38)Deliberate attempts at culture change are the most effective.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Deliberate attempts at culture change are not really practical.
22.(p.38)The integration of cultures is a challenging action that only managers who understand the significance of culture would address.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
23.(p.38)Behavioral compliance almost universally means cultural commitment.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Behavioral compliance does not mean cultural commitment.
24.(p.38)Cultural communication can include memos, rituals, stories and dress.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
25.(p.39)Myths are tales about the organization that are passed down over time and communicate a story of the organization's underlying values.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
26.(p.41)The socialization process goes on only at the beginning of an individual's career.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: The socialization process goes on throughout an individual's career.
27.(p.42)Over utilizing or underutilizing an employee results in incongruence and, consequently, poor performance.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
28.(p.42)Individuals who experience realism and congruence during the anticipatory stage have a less stressful accommodation stage.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
29.(p.43)Acceptance by the group may be a less valued outcome for someone whose social needs are satisfied off the job.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
30.(p.43)Neither the organization nor the individual are well served by unresolved conflict between work and family.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
31.(p.43)The tolerance level for stress is fairly consistent among individuals.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: The tolerance level for stress varies among individuals.
32.(p.43)Unmanaged stress works to the disadvantage of the individual but to the advantage of the organization.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: The existence of unmanaged stress works to the disadvantage of both the individual and the organization.
33.(p.43)Socialization processes are very similar in form and content from organization to organization.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Socialization processes vary in form and content from organization to organization.
34.(p.43)Individuals experience different socialization processes, even within the same organization.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
35.(p.44)During anticipatory socialization, job-related information is usually general and subjective, whereas organization-related information is usually specific and objective.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Job-related information is usually specific and objective, whereas organization-related information is usually general and subjective.
36.(p.44)Assigning autocratic bosses is a practice that increases the retention rate of new employees.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Assigning demanding bosses increases the retention rate of new employees. Demanding should not be interpreted as autocratic.
37.(p.44)Orientation programs are often given more attention than they deserve.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Orientation programs are seldom given the attention they deserve.
38.(p.44)Assigning challenging work to new employees is a principal feature of effective socialization programs.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
39.(p.45)Most managers have never had a mentoring relationship.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: A majority of managers reported having had at least one mentoring relationship during their careers.
40.(p.46)Most mentor-mentee relationships develop rather quickly.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Most mentor-mentee relationships develop over time and go through multiple phases.
41.(p.47)Generally, people are attracted to mentors who are their opposites.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: People are attracted to mentors who talk, look, act and communicate like them.
Multiple Choice Questions
42.(p.30)Edgar Schein suggests an organization's culture has three layers. These layers include all of the following except:
A.Visible artifacts and creations
B.Political or religious affiliations
C.Assumptions to guide behavior choices
D.Conscious values and desires
Difficulty: Medium
43.(p.30)The McDonald's culture emphasizes paying particular attention to all of the following except:
A.Quality
B.Costs
C.Service
D.Cleanliness
Difficulty: Medium
44.(p.32)______are a society's ideas about what is right or wrong.
A.Values
B.Beliefs
C.Morals
D.All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Medium
45.(p.33)Researchers who have studied the impact of culture on employees indicate that it provides and encourages a form of ______.
A.Conditioning
B.Stability
C.Conformity
D.Emulation
Difficulty: Medium
46.(p.33)The atmosphere at Southwest Airlines shows that ______pervades every part of the organization.
A.Having fun
B.Competition
C.Commitment to quality
D.Cooperation
Difficulty: Medium
47.(p.35)Artificially imposing a culture is often met with ______.
A.Resignation
B.Acceptance
C.Resistance
D.Confusion
Difficulty: Easy
48.(p.35)At which of the following companies are employees paid 50 to 100 percent above industry average and allow to work a "family friendly" shift (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.)?
A.Google
B.Whole Food Market
C.Container Store
D.Genentech
Difficulty: Medium
49.(p.35)At which of the following companies does a salary cap limit the pay of top executives to no more than 19 times that of the average full-time worker?
A.Google
B.Whole Food Market
C.Container Store
D.Genentech
Difficulty: Medium
50.(p.35)When a disparity exists between reality and a stated set of values, employees are likely to become all of the following except:
A.Complacent
B.Confused
C.Skeptical
D.Irritated
Difficulty: Easy
51.(p.36)The military, government agencies and firms managed by autocratic managers are examples of a(n) ______culture.
A.Bureaucratic
B.Clan
C.Entrepreneurial
D.Market
Difficulty: Easy
52.(p.36)Being a part of a working family, following tradition and rituals, teamwork, spirit, self-management and social influence are characteristics of the ______culture.
A.Market
B.Entrepreneurial
C.Bureaucratic
D.Clan
Difficulty: Easy
53.(p.36)Innovation, creativity, risk taking and aggressively seeking opportunities illustrate ______culture.
A.A market
B.An entrepreneurial
C.A bureaucratic
D.A clan
Difficulty: Medium
54.(p.36)The internal philosophy at 3M is captured by their motto, ______.
A.Leave no stone unturned
B.Respect the customer
C.Never kill a product idea
D.Work should be fun
Difficulty: Medium
55.(p.36)In a(n) ______culture, employees are socialized by other members of the group.
A.Bureaucratic
B.Clan
C.Entrepreneurial
D.Market
Difficulty: Easy
56.(p.36)According to the text, culture can be divided into all of the following types except:
A.Bureaucratic
B.Entrepreneurial
C.Market
D.Open
Difficulty: Easy
57.(p.37)Employees have a contractual relationship with the firm and little feeling of teamwork or cohesiveness, in a(n) ______culture.
A.Bureaucratic
B.Clan
C.Entrepreneurial
D.Market
Difficulty: Medium
58.(p.38)SmithKline decided against a merger with Glaxo Welcome PLC for all of the following reasons except:
A.Stockholder opposition
B.Major differences in culture
C.Differing management styles
D.Differing managerial philosophies
Difficulty: Medium
59.(p.39)For an organization to have a strong culture, core values must be all of the following except:
A.Widely shared
B.Respected
C.Ethical
D.Protected
Difficulty: Medium
60.(p.40)According to the organizational literature, spirituality originates ______.
A.At church
B.From within the individual
C.At home
D.From life and death experiences
Difficulty: Medium
61.(p.41)The ______socialization stage involves all those activities the individual undertakes prior to entering the organization or to taking a different job in the same organization.
A.Anticipatory
B.Accommodation
C.Role management
Difficulty: Easy
62.(p.41)In terms of culture, socialization involves a transmittal of ______from older to newer employees.
A.Paperwork
B.Technology
C.Values
D.Geography
Difficulty: Easy
63.(p.42)Nordstrom has built such a strong culture around serving the customer that the entire employee manual is a 5x8-inch card with a one rule on it: ______.
A.The customer always comes first
B.Use your good judgment in all situations
C.The customer serviced today will return tomorrow
D.Actions speak louder than words
Difficulty: Medium
64.(p.42)During the ______stage, the individual sees the organization and the job for what they actually are.
A.Anticipatory
B.Accommodation
C.Role management
Difficulty: Medium
65.(p.43)The ______stage requires the individual to adjust to the demands and expectations of the immediate work group.
A.Anticipatory
B.Accommodation
C.Role management
Difficulty: Medium
66.(p.43)Conflict arises during the ______stage of socialization.
A.Anticipatory
B.Accommodation
C.Role management
Difficulty: Medium
67.(p.44)The first jobs of new employees often demand ______.
A.Far more of them than they can deliver
B.Far less of them than they can deliver
C.Exactly as much as they can deliver
Difficulty: Medium
68.(p.45)In work organizations, a mentor generally provides all of the following except:
A.Coaching
B.Friendship
C.Role modeling
D.Performance incentives
Difficulty: Easy
69.(p.45)Which of the following is a practice associated with anticipatory socialization?
A.Recruitment using realistic job previews
B.Social as well as technical skills training
C.Adaptive and flexible work assignments
D.Supportive and accurate feedback
Difficulty: Easy
70.(p.47)During the ______phase, the relationship is ended or takes on a more peer like friendship.
A.Initiation
B.Cultivation
C.Separation
D.Redefinition
Difficulty: Medium
71.(p.47)______can play a role in the mentor-mentee matching process.
A.Computers
B.Gender
C.Religion
D.All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Medium
72.(p.48)All of the following are secondary dimensions of diversity except:
A.Ethnicity
B.Health disabilities
C.Religious belief
D.Marital status
Difficulty: Hard
73.(p.49)Who among the following is not considered Hispanic?
A.Cubans
B.Mexicans
C.Salvadorans
D.Hawaiian
Difficulty: Easy
Fill in the Blank Questions
74.(p.30)Organizational culture is what the employees perceive and how this perception creates a pattern of beliefs, values and ______.
expectations
Difficulty: Hard
75.(p.32)______are the conscious, affective desires or wants of people that guide their behavior.
Values
Difficulty: Hard
76.(p.33)Work serves as a place to achieve personal growth and ______.
fulfillment
Difficulty: Hard
77.(p.39)______are recurring events or activities that reflect important aspects of the underlying culture.
Rituals
Difficulty: Hard
78.(p.42)If the fit between the individual and the organization is to be optimal, two conditions are necessary: realism and ______.
congruence
Difficulty: Hard
79.(p.43)The four outcomes of the accommodation stage are acceptance, competence, role definition and ______.
congruence of evaluation
Difficulty: Hard
80.(p.43)The primary activities conducted during the first stage of socialization are recruitment, selection and ______.
placement
Difficulty: Medium
81.(p.48)______is the vast array of physical and cultural differences that constitute the spectrum of human differences.
Diversity
Difficulty: Medium
Short Answer Questions
82.(p.31)List five examples of cultural attributes, as defined in Schein's three-level organizational model.
Any five of the following: documents, physical layouts, furnishings, language, jargon, work ethic and practice, fair day's pay for a fair day's work, loyalty, commitment, helping others, performance leads to rewards, management equity, competency counts.
Difficulty: Medium
83.(p.32)How are values passed from one generation to the next?
Values are passed from one generation to the next through education systems, religion, families, communities and organizations.
Difficulty: Hard
84.(p.32)Society's values have an impact on organizational values. Why?
Society's values impact organizational values because of the interactive nature of work, leisure, family and community.
Difficulty: Medium
85.(p.38)Identify five compatibility issues that should be investigated and considered before going ahead with a merger.
Any five of the following: financial issues, marketing issues, cultural compatibility, compatibility of the information technology systems, the compensation and reward system and the human resource talent pool.
Difficulty: Hard
86.(p.40)Why do people naturally resist change to a new culture?
Cultures sustain people through periods of difficulty and serve to ward off anxiety by providing continuity and stability. Thus, people will naturally resist change to a new culture.
Difficulty: Medium
87.(p.41)At what point in a career is socialization most important?
Socialization is most important when an individual first takes a job or when he/she takes a different job within the same organization.
Difficulty: Easy
88.(p.41)List the three stages of socialization.
Anticipatory, accommodation and role management
Difficulty: Medium
89.(p.42)People are vitally interested in two kinds of information prior to entering a new job or organization. First, they want to know what working for the organization is really like. What is the second thing they want to know?
They want to know if they are suited to the jobs available in the organization.
Difficulty: Medium
90.(p.43)Conflict between the demands of work and family is almost inevitable. Why?
Because there is a fixed amount of time and the demands of work and family are seemingly insatiable.
Difficulty: Medium
91.(p.48)List the six core dimensions of diversity.
Age, ethnicity, gender, physical attributes, race and sexual/affectional orientation.
Difficulty: Medium
Essay Questions
92.(p.30-31)Edgar Schein contends that an organization's culture has three layers. Explain what each layer includes and give examples.
Layer I — includes artifacts and creations that are visible but often not interpretable. An annual report, a newsletter, wall dividers between workers and furnishings are examples of artifacts and creations.
Layer II — includes values or the things that are important to people. Values are conscious, affective desires or wants.
Layer III — includes the basic assumptions that people make that guide their behavior. This includes assumptions that tell individuals how to perceive, think about and feel about work, performance goals, human relationships and the performance of colleagues.