MGMT5320 chapter 14
73. During which of the following stages of socialization do people first learn about the organization and job?
preemployment
31. Rituals are
programmed routines of daily organizational life that dramatize the organization's culture.
83. The _____ refers to the individual's beliefs about the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement between him- or herself and an employer.
psychological contract
85. Companies are initiating a(n) _________ to help reduce turnover and increase job performance.
realistic job preview
66. What has the most powerful effect on strengthening or reshaping an organization's culture?
rewards
79. Resolving conflicts between work and nonwork activities mainly occurs during the _____ stage of socialization.
role management
69. On the television show, Undercover Boss, the boss becomes an employee to learn the job. The current employees then judge how well the undercover boss will fit in. The employees are practicing
selection.
59. Which strategy for merging two distinct cultures is most appropriate when the two merging companies are in unrelated industries or operate in different countries, because the most appropriate cultural values tend to differ by industry and national culture?
separation
62. Which merger strategy is most difficult to maintain?
separation
27. Organizations differ in their cultural content, that is, the relative ordering of
shared values.
50. Organizational culture is a(n)
social control mechanism.
26. What are spawning grounds for emerging values that keep the firm aligned with the evolving needs and expectations of customers, suppliers, communities, and other stakeholders?
subcultures
41. Which of the following is true about the work space in a controlling and competitive culture?
symmetrical layout
61. When merging cultures, it is best to
take time to be sure it is a cultural fit.
20. The themes shared most widely by employees represent
the organization's dominant culture.
60. When merging two organizations, a separation strategy is most commonly applied when
the two organizations operate in distinct industries.
51. Wells Fargo is now under investigation for its cultural practices. Rewards were given based on meeting account quotas. This practice caused employees to behave
unethically.
35. Language is
verbal symbols of cultural values that reveal how employees describe customers, express anger, and greet stakeholders.
18. The organizational culture dimension of attention to detail is characterized by _____.
precision
48. Which one of the following statements about a strong culture is false?
A strong culture encourages decisions and behaviors that can undermine the organization's connection with its stakeholders.
75. Which of the following happens during the preemployment stage of organizational socialization?
Employees form expectations (a psychological contract) about working at that organization.
95. What are artifacts? Explain the four broad categories of artifacts.
Artifacts are the observable symbols and signs of an organization's culture, such as the way visitors are greeted, the organization's physical layout, and how employees are rewarded. The four broad categories of artifacts are: 1. Organizational stories: Organizational stories and legends serve as powerful social prescriptions of the way things should (or should not) be done. They add human realism to corporate expectations, individual performance standards, and the criteria for getting fired. Stories also produce emotions in listeners, and these emotions tend to improve listeners' memory of the lesson within the story. Stories have the greatest effect on communicating corporate culture when they describe real people, are assumed to be true, and are known by employees throughout the organization.2. Rituals and ceremonies: Rituals are the programmed routines of daily organizational life that dramatize an organization's culture. They include how visitors are greeted, how often senior executives visit frontline staff, how people communicate with one another, how much time employees take for lunch, and so on. These rituals are repetitive, predictable events that have symbolic meanings reflecting underlying cultural values and assumptions. Ceremonies are more formal artifacts than rituals. Ceremonies are planned activities conducted specifically for the benefit of an audience. This would include publicly rewarding (or punishing) employees or celebrating the launch of a new product or newly won contract.3. Organizational language: Language transmits and sustains shared values through metaphors and other special vocabularies that represent the employees' perspectives of reality. The language of the workplace speaks volumes about the company's culture. How employees talk to one another, describe customers, express anger, and greet stakeholders are all verbal symbols of cultural values.4. Physical structures and space: The size, shape, location, and age of buildings may symbolize the organization's culture. For example, a tall building with closed offices and senior executive offices on the top floor often reflects a hierarchical, bureaucratic organization. Along with the physical structure, executives should look at artifacts inside the building, such as paintings, office space, cafeteria food, and so on.
29. What is the significance of artifacts in organizational culture?
Artifacts represent the directly observable symbols and signs of an organization's culture.
54. _____ occurs when employees at the acquired company willingly embrace the cultural values of the acquiring organization.
Assimilation
39. _____ are planned activities conducted specifically for the benefit of an audience.
Ceremonies
46. Which of the following is a characteristic of an adaptive corporate culture?
Employees continuously question past practices.
Scenario B: BarkBark Inc. and Happy Toys Ltd. are considering a merger and are unsure whether their two organizations will have a difficult time with clashing cultures. They perform a detailed diagnosis, collecting and analyzing the gathered data about the two merging companies. They identify several overlapping values, which they feel that they can effectively meld into a cohesive new culture. 88. In Scenario B, BarkBark and Happy Toys used _______ when considering the merger.
a bicultural audit
58. Which of the following is true about using the strategy of integration for merging different corporate cultures?
It creates a new composite culture that preserves the best features of the previous cultures.
93. What does organizational culture consist of? Briefly describe its components.
Organizational culture consists of the values and assumptions shared within an organization. In the context of organizational culture, values are discussed as shared values, which are values that people within the organization or work unit have in common and place near the top of their hierarchy of values. Organizational culture also consists of shared assumptions—a deeper element that some experts believe is the essence of corporate culture. Shared assumptions are nonconscious, taken-for-granted perceptions or ideal prototypes of behavior that are considered the correct way to think and act toward problems and opportunities. Shared assumptions are so deeply ingrained that you probably wouldn't discover them by surveying employees.
77. Reality shock is
a perceived discrepancy between employee expectations and reality
98. Briefly describe the bicultural audit process.
Organizational leaders can minimize cultural collisions and fulfill their duty of due diligence by conducting a bicultural audit. A bicultural audit diagnoses cultural relations between the companies and determines the extent to which cultural clashes will likely occur. The process begins with interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, and observation of cultural artifacts to identify cultural differences between the merging companies. Next, the audit data are analyzed to determine which differences between the two firms will result in conflict and which cultural values provide common ground on which to build a cultural foundation in the merged organization. The final stage of the bicultural audit involves identifying strategies and preparing action plans to bridge the two organizations' cultures.
102. What is organizational socialization? How does it support the organization's culture?
Organizational socialization is the process by which individuals learn the values, expected behaviors, and social knowledge necessary to assume their roles in the organization. The process can potentially change employee values to be more aligned with the company's culture and gives newcomers clearer understanding about the company's values and how they are translated into specific on-the-job behaviors.
94. Explain the functions of organizational subcultures.
Organizational subcultures serve two important functions. First, they maintain the organization's standards of performance and ethical behavior. Employees who hold countercultural values are an important source of surveillance and critical review of the dominant order. They encourage constructive conflict and more creative thinking about how the organization should interact with its environment. Subcultures potentially support ethical conduct by preventing employees from blindly following one set of values. The second function of subcultures is that they are the spawning grounds for emerging values that keep the firm aligned with the evolving needs and expectations of customers, suppliers, communities, and other stakeholders. Companies eventually need to replace their dominant values with ones that are more appropriate for the changing environment.
64. Which of the following statements is consistent with the attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) theory?
Organizations have a natural tendency to attract, select, and retain people with values that are consistent with the organization's own culture.
43. Which of the following statements about the strength of organizational culture and organizational performance is true?
Organizations with stronger cultures tend to perform better than those with weak cultures when the culture content fits the external environment.
78. _____ is the third stage of organizational socialization that is most active as employees make the transition from newcomers to insiders.
Role management
16. _____ are unconscious, taken-for-granted perceptions or ideal prototypes of behavior that are considered the correct way to think and act toward problems and opportunities.
Shared assumptions
80. Which of the following is true about socialization agents?
Socialization agents help integrate new employees into the team.
37. Which of these statements about organizational stories is false?
Stories advise people what not to do, but leave out the solutions and suggestions.
32. 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 ritual that probably symbolizes the organization's dominant culture
22. One of the functions of _____ is that it is a spawning ground for emerging values that keep the firm aligned with the needs of customers, suppliers, society, and other stakeholders.
a subculture
19. Which of the following organizational culture dimension is characterized by competitiveness and a low emphasis on social responsibility?
aggressiveness
47. Employees at SuperTech Services seek out opportunities rather than wait for them to arrive. They also have a strong learning orientation. This implies that SuperTech has
an adaptive culture
97. Explain the important contingencies of organizational culture and effectiveness.
Studies have found only a modestly positive relationship between culture strength and organizational effectiveness. This is because strong cultures improve organizational effectiveness only under specific conditions. Three important contingencies are: 1. Culture content alignment with environment: One contingency between cultural strength and organizational effectiveness is whether the organization's culture content—its dominant values and assumptions—is aligned with the external environment.2. Avoiding a corporate cult: A second contingency is the degree of cultural strength. Various experts suggest that companies with very strong cultures (i.e., corporate "cults") may be less effective than companies with moderately strong cultures. One reason corporate cults may undermine organizational effectiveness is that they lock people into mental models, which can blind them to new opportunities and unique problems. The challenge for organizational leaders is to maintain not only a strong culture but one that allows subcultural diversity.3. Culture is an adaptive culture: A third contingency determining the influence of cultural strength on organizational effectiveness is whether the culture content includes an adaptive culture. Employees who embrace an adaptive culture see things from an open systems perspective. They view the organization's survival and success in terms of ongoing adaptation to the external environment, which itself is continuously changing. They assume that their future depends on monitoring the external environment and serving stakeholders with the resources available. Thus, employees in adaptive cultures have a strong sense of ownership. They take responsibility for the organization's performance and alignment with the external environment.
81. _______ is a system whereby newcomers are assigned to coworkers for sources of information and social support.
The buddy system
Scenario A: Most employees at United FiberTech support the idea that the company's success depends on their willingness to continually change and improve customer service. 86. United FiberTech probably has
an adaptive culture.
99. Explain the main strategies for merging different corporate cultures.
The four main strategies for merging different corporate cultures are assimilation, deculturation, integration, and separation. • Assimilation: It occurs when employees at the acquired company willingly embrace the cultural values of the acquiring organization. Typically, this strategy works best when the acquired company has a weak, dysfunctional culture and the acquiring company's culture is strong and aligned with the external environment.• Deculturation: Employees usually resist organizational change, particularly when they are asked to throw away personal and cultural values. In these conditions, some acquiring companies apply a deculturation strategy by imposing their culture and business practices on the acquired organization. The acquiring firm strips away artifacts and reward systems that support the old culture.• Integration: A third strategy is to combine the two or more cultures into a new composite culture that preserves the best features of the previous cultures. Integration is slow and potentially risky because there are many forces preserving the existing cultures. Still, this strategy should be considered when the companies have relatively weak cultures or when their cultures include several overlapping values.• Separation: A separation strategy occurs when the merging companies agree to remain distinct entities with minimal exchange of culture or organizational practices. This strategy is most appropriate when the two merging companies are in unrelated industries or operate in different countries, because the most appropriate cultural values tend to differ by industry and national culture.
96. Explain the important functions of organizational culture.
The important functions of organizational culture are: • Control system: Organizational culture is a deeply embedded form of social control that influences employee decisions and behavior. Culture is pervasive and operates nonconsciously.• Social glue: Organizational culture is the "social glue" that bonds people together and makes them feel like part of the organizational experience. Employees are motivated to internalize the organization's dominant culture because it fulfills their need for social identity. This social glue is increasingly important as a way to attract new staff and retain top performers. It also becomes the common thread that holds together employees in global organizations.• Sense making: Organizational culture helps employees make sense of what goes on and why things happen in the company. Corporate culture also makes it easier for employees to understand what is expected of them.
44. Which of the following tends to happen when an organization's culture is misaligned with its external environment?
The organization has more difficulty anticipating and responding to stakeholder needs.
103. Describe the stages of organizational socialization.
The stages of organizational socialization are: • Preemployment socialization is all the learning and adjustment that occurs before the first day of work.• Encounter is the stage starting with the first day on the job, during which newcomers test how well their preemployment expectations fit reality.• Role management begins during preemployment socialization but is most active as employees make the transition from newcomers to insiders. It involves establishing and strengthening relationships with coworkers and supervisors, practicing new role behaviors, and adopting attitudes and values consistent with their new position and the organization.
100. Identify and briefly explain the strategies for changing and strengthening organizational culture.
The strategies are: • Through the actions of founders and leaders—transformational leadership and organizational change practices may be used.• Altering artifacts, or creating new artifacts, can potentially adjust shared values and assumptions.• Changing reward systems can strengthen or reshape the behavior of organizational members.• Supporting workforce stability and communication. Strong cultures depend on stable workforces.• Attracting, selecting, and retaining employees with the values and personality characteristics that are desired.
42. Which of the following is true about organizational culture?
The strength of an organization's culture refers to how widely and deeply employees hold the company's dominant values and assumptions.
17. Which of these statements about shared assumptions is true?
They are so deeply embedded they probably cannot be discovered by surveying employees.
67. Which one of the following is true about strong cultures?
They have a stable workforce.
101. Using attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) theory, describe how a company would maintain and perpetuate its culture.
This answer requires students to describe how each of the three parts of the theory contributes to maintaining an organization's culture. • Attraction: All organizations communicate their cultures (values) via artifacts that are visible to others in the community. These provide information to prospective job applicants about the organization's values. The resulting information leads applicants to a form of self-selection when they avoid companies that seem to have values that are incompatible with their own. Conversely, this same process encourages those who share the same values with the company to apply for jobs. The attraction component of the theory ensures the established culture is maintained.• Selection: Even during the employment selection stage, companies factor in the person's "fit" with the established culture. This focus on values congruence has the effect of weeding out those who hold differing values found in the established organizational culture. Rather than providing a mix of values, this practice tends to homogenize and perpetuate an organization's established culture.• Attrition: People are motivated to seek environments that are sufficiently congruent with their personal values and to leave environments that are a poor fit. This occurs because person-organization values congruence supports their social identity and minimizes internal role conflict. Even if employees aren't forced out, many quit when the values incongruence is sufficiently high. This attrition process contributes to perpetuating a workforce that comprises mostly of individuals who share the same values as those found in the company's culture.
23. _____ are conscious perceptions about what is good or bad, right or wrong.
Values
28. Which of the following are the observable indicators of organizational culture?
artifacts
65. The workplace layout, reporting structure, office rituals, type of information distributed, and language are all examples of
artifacts.
68. The web-based application, LinkedIn, uses _____ to find job applicants by posting that new people or firms have viewed your profile.
attraction
Scenario C: Reagan is a new HR manager for a large company. She is concerned about the number of employees leaving the company and the lack of job applicants. She begins with a review of the company's policies and then a look at the culture. She talks with long-time employees to learn the stories and the rituals. 91. After listening and researching, Reagan creates a posting on a popular website and searches employment boards. She has begun which component of cultural fit?
attraction
92. After listening and researching, Reagan now knows why people are leaving. She has found that _______ is the cause.
attrition
82. James has just joined CoraTech Systems, where he has been assigned to Paul and Natalie for sources of information about the company. Paul and Natalie introduce James to others at Coratech, give him an office tour, and assure him that they will meet him regularly for the first few weeks, to help him in the transition to the new company. In this scenario, Paul andNatalie are part of the CoraTech's
buddy system.
53. One of the first steps to minimize a cultural clash in a merger is to
conduct a bicultural audit.
45. Organizations with an adaptive corporate culture
have employees who see things from an open systems perspective.
55. In which strategy does the acquiring company impose its culture and business practices on the acquired organization?
deculturation
90. What type of cultural merge would be worst in this situation?
deculturation
30. Organizational stories are most effective at communicating organizational culture only when they
describe real people and are assumed to be true.
56. A deculturation strategy of merging two corporate cultures should be applied when
employees in the acquired firm want to hold on to their firm's culture even though it does not fit the external environment.
74. The preemployment stage of organizational socialization would be more effective if
employers and job applicants gave and received accurate information about each other.
25. Corporate leaders hope _____ will eventually become the organization's culture and guide the organization's decisions and actions.
espoused values
36. Which of the following is a verbal symbol of cultural values?
expressions of anger
63. An organization's culture begins with its
founders and leaders
52. The main purpose of a bicultural audit is to
identify and diagnose differences in the corporate cultures of merging organizations.
40. Collaborative and creative cultures value more teamwork and flexibility, so space design is
informal.
57. Which strategy for merging two distinct cultures is most effective when the two companies have relatively weak cultures with overlapping values?
integration
89. What type of cultural merge would be best for BarkBark?
integration
34. Which of the following is an artifact?
language
70. Organizational socialization is best described as a process of _____, where newcomers try to make sense of and adapt to the company's environment.
learning and adjustment
87. United FiberTech most likely has a strong
learning orientation.
72. The process of organizational socialization begins
long before the first day of work for the organization.
21. One advantage of countercultures is that they
maintain surveillance over and critically review the company's dominant culture.
49. Corporate cults may undermine organizational effectiveness because they lock people into _____, which can blind them to new opportunities and unique problems.
mental models
33. Ceremonies are
more formal artifacts than rituals.
76. Many employees experience a reality shock on their first day at work because
newcomers test how well their preemployment expectations fit reality, and many companies fail this test.
71. In the context of organizational socialization, the adjustment process is better for
newcomers with diverse work experience.
84. Effective socialization supports newcomers'
organizational comprehension.
24. If artifacts of organizational culture are the physical structure, language, rituals, and stories, then what are shared values and assumptions?
organizational culture
38. The Target motto, "Expect more, pay less," is an example of
organizational language.
