MHR Unit 2 Knowing Quiz

Just as human beings have a personality, organizations also have a "personality"—the product(s) they sell and the type(s) of market(s) they participate in. a. true b. false

b. false Just as a human being has a personality, organizations also have a "personality"—their culture.

Bob, the owner of Quality Catering, is driven by competition. He is very focused on meeting deadlines and quality, and to deliver the results that customers want. He pushes his managers to continually exceed their productivity goals, and stresses that profits take precedence over employee development and satisfaction. Bob feels "there is not enough time for training." However, his employees are regularly rewarded for their success in meeting company goals. This is an example of a(n) ________ culture. a. hierarchy b. adhocracy c. market d. clan e. target-driven

c. market A market culture has a strong external focus and values stability and control. Kia Motors, which fires executives who don't meet their sales goals, is an example of a company with a very aggressive and competitive market culture.

Which of the following is an accurate conclusion from the "Organizational Culture and Organizational Effectiveness: A Meta-Analytic Investigation of the Competing Values Framework's Theoretical Suppositions" study involving the culture of 1,000 companies? a. Managers can use elements of these cultures to boost innovation and quality. b. Changing the organizational culture generally boosts financial performance. c. Adhocracy cultures produce better results. d. An organization's culture does not matter. e. Employees prefer market cultures.

a. Managers can use elements of these cultures to boost innovation and quality. 25 years of research on the relationship between organizational culture and various measures of organizational effectiveness demonstrated that the eight types of organizational outcomes had significant and positive relationships with clan, adhocracy, and market cultures, especially with the outcomes of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. One general conclusion was that managers can build into their organizations characteristics of some or all of these three cultures—clan, adhocracy, and market—to increase innovation and improve the quality of their products.

Elly and Sylvia, owners of Organic Foods, do not have a formal policy about dress code and work procedures because they see their company as a family place that is enjoyable to work for. Elly and Sylvia believe that if you treat employees like family, the company will do well and grow. These beliefs by the owners of Organic Foods represent the core values of their organization's culture, and are known as ________. a. basic assumptions b. family codes c. observable artifacts d. rites and rituals e. a code of ethics

a. basic assumptions Basic assumptions, which are not observable, represent the core values of an organization's culture. They are those that are taken for granted and, as a result, are difficult to change.

Symbols, stories, heroes, and rites and rituals are ways in which ________ is(are) most often transmitted to employees. a. culture b. objectives c. goals d. plans e. ethics

a. culture Culture is transmitted to employees in several ways, most often through such devices as symbols, stories, heroes, and rites and rituals.

Sometimes culture can be strong enough to take the place of an organization's ________. a. formal rules and regulations b. performance standards c. code of ethics d. business plan e. mission statement

a. formal rules and regulations Sometimes culture can be strong enough to take the place of bureaucracy; that is, the expectations of the culture replace formal rules and regulations.

North Community College strives to portray its image to citizens of the community through advertising and the actions of its faculty and staff that "community is our middle name." This act of trying to depict this image is a symbol. a. true b. false

a. true

The organizational culture is also called corporate culture. a. true b. false

a. true

When Greg and his wife Amy bought a local landscaping business, they wanted to make sure their values became embedded in the organization. Greg and Amy's company, like any organization, can accomplish this by having rites and rituals, watching how they react to each crisis, role modeling, training, and coaching. a. true b. false

a. true

Philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates recently spoke about their Global Development Division that works to help the world's poorest people lift themselves out of hunger and poverty. This is an example of a story, which is a narrative based on true events emphasizing a particular value. a. true b. false

a. true A story is a narrative based on true events, which is repeated and sometimes embellished upon to emphasize a particular value. Stories are oral histories that are told and retold by members about incidents in the organization's history.

Changing organizational culture is essentially a teaching process, a process in which members instruct each other about the organization's preferred values, beliefs, expectations, and behaviors. a. true b. false

a. true Changing organizational culture is essentially a teaching process—that is, a process in which members instruct each other about the organization's preferred values, beliefs, expectations, and behaviors. The process is accomplished by using one or more of the following 12 mechanisms: formal statements; slogans and sayings; rites and rituals; stories, legends, and myths; leader reactions to crises; role modeling, training, and coaching; physical design; rewards, titles, promotions, and bonuses; organizational goals and performance; measurable and controllable activities; organizational structure; and organizational systems and procedures.

The employees of XYZ Production enjoy a culture that has developed over time to become a model for local companies. A manager with XYZ mentioned that "Through a careful selection process while hiring and the strong culture we have developed, our employee turnover is one of the lowest our industry." This is an example of how low turnover can be a result of a good organizational culture. a. true b. false

a. true Organizational culture facilitates collective commitment. Consider 3M, one of whose corporate values is to be "a company that employees are proud to be part of." This collective commitment results in a turnover rate of less than 3% among salaried personnel.

Employees and customers are treated like a family at Bayou Seafood Café. Paul and Betsey, the owners, work to encourage unity to increase their employees' job satisfaction and commitment. At their café, Paul and Betsey have built a(n) ________. a. bureaucracy culture b. clan culture c. market culture d. goal-driven agenda e. adhocracy culture

b. Clan Culture A clan culture has an internal focus and values flexibility rather than stability and control. Like a family-type organization, it encourages collaboration among employees, striving to encourage cohesion through consensus and job satisfaction and to increase commitment through employee involvement.

Della, the new CEO of Sky Advertising, has been with the firm for over 25 years. She was picked by the board to turn the 85-year-old agency around and to do so, Della wants to bring back some old ideas that previously worked at Sky. She plans on having managers and veteran employees instruct each other about the organization's chosen values, beliefs, and expectations through holding some of the old rites and rituals, retelling stories about company legends, bringing back training and coaching, and once again having quarterly reward ceremonies. The things Della wants to do are an example of ________. a. a value stabilizing plan b. embedding culture c. decentralizing authority d. MBO e. TQM

b. embedding culture (See on quiz)

A clan culture is a type of dysfunctional organization that has little collaboration and cohesion among employees, thus worker job satisfaction and commitment are low. a. true b. false

b. false A clan culture has an internal focus and values flexibility rather than stability and control (see Figure 8.2).

A system of shared beliefs and values that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members is known as the corporate system. a. true b. false

b. false A system of shared beliefs and values that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members is known as the company's culture or organizational culture. Organizational structure is a formal system of task and reporting relationships that coordinate and motivates an organization's members so that they can work together to achieve the organization's goals.

In order to be more profitable by increasing sales, Thrifty Bank has an external focus, concentrating on strategic planning, risk taking, and flexibility over stability. This is an example of a hierarchy culture. a. true b. false

b. false Hierarchy culture has an internal focus and values stability and control over flexibility. Companies with this kind of culture are apt to have a formalized, structured work environment aimed at achieving effectiveness through a variety of control mechanisms that measure efficiency, timeliness, and reliability in the creation and delivery of products.

Upper-, middle-, and lower-level management and nonmanagement workers are the layers of organizational culture. a. true b. false

b. false Organizational culture appears as three layers: (1) observable artifacts, (2) espoused values, and (3) basic assumptions.

A hierarchy culture has a(n) ________. a. external focus and values flexibility b. internal focus and values innovation and creativity c. continual focus on efficiency, cost cutting, and outsourcing d. internal focus and values stability and control e. strong external focus and values stability and control

b. internal focus and values stability and control A hierarchy culture has an internal focus and values stability and control over flexibility.

Manner of dress, awards, myths and stories told about the company, and rituals and ceremonies are ________. a. espoused values of organizational culture b. observable artifacts of organizational culture c. basic assumptions about organizational culture d. enacted values of organizational culture e. invisible artifacts of that industry's culture and values

b. observable artifacts of organizational culture At the most visible level, organizational culture is expressed in observable artifacts, which are physical manifestations such as manner of dress, awards, myths and stories about the company, rituals and ceremonies, and decorations, as well as visible behavior exhibited by managers and employees.

If Twitter were to exclusively use e-mail, collaborative computing, and other computer connections to connect geographically separate employees, it would be considered a(n) ______ organization. a. Computer b. Virtual c. Geographic d. Targeted e. Invisible

b. virtual

Rites and rituals are _______. a. objects, acts, or the quality that conveys meaning to others b. company expectations for employees, such as working hard, ethically, and honestly c. the activities and ceremonies that celebrate important occasions and accomplishments for an organization d. a narrative based on true events that emphasize a particular value e. company values included in the code of ethics

c. the activities and ceremonies that celebrate important occasions and accomplishments for an organization Rites and rituals are the activities and ceremonies, planned and unplanned, that celebrate important occasions and accomplishments in the organization's life.

Phillip, owner of Technology Sales, said, "We have to focus on our customers and how can we beat the competition, so we have to be flexible." He encourages his R&D department to develop innovative products and focuses on being quick to respond to market changes. Technology Sales has a(n) ________. a. clan culture b. market culture c. focused approach d. adhocracy culture e. goal-driven agenda

d. adhocracy culture An adhocracy culture has an external focus and values flexibility. This type of culture attempts to create innovative products by being adaptable, creative, and quick to respond to changes in the marketplace. Adhocracy cultures are well suited for companies in industries undergoing constant change.

Twitter's organizational culture most resembles a ______ culture. a. Adhocracy b. Competitive c. Market d. Clan e. Hierarchy

d. clan

Espoused values are ________. a. profit and cost expectations stated in the business plan b. a narrative based on true events, which emphasize a particular value c. physical manifestations of organizational culture d. explicitly stated values and norms preferred by an organization e. the values and norms actually exhibited in the community

d. explicitly stated values and norms preferred by an organization Espoused values are the explicitly stated values and norms preferred by an organization, as may be put forth by the firm's founder or top managers.

The clan culture has a(n) ________. a. continual focus on efficiency, cost cutting, and outsourcing b. strong external focus and values stability and control c. external focus and values flexibility d. internal focus and values stability and control e. internal focus and values flexibility

d. internal focus and values flexibility A clan culture has an internal focus and values flexibility rather than stability and control.