MGMT CH12

Which of the following statements does NOT accurately describe corporate culture? Multiple Choice 1. Corporate culture depends on how strongly its strategic vision is linked to the company's core values. 2. Corporate culture refers to the character of a company's internal work climate. 3. Corporate culture is shaped by a system of shared values, beliefs, ethical standards, and traditions that define behavioral norms, work practices, and styles of operating.

1. Corporate culture depends on how strongly its strategic vision is linked to the company's core values.

Change-resistant cultures encourage all the following undesirable and unhealthy behaviors, EXCEPT Multiple Choice 1. executives exuding an "ends-justify-the-means" mentality in pursuing overambitious revenue and profitability targets. 2. taking a lax approach to both product innovation and continuous improvement in performing value chain activities. 3. preferring to follow rather than lead market change, and prompting managers to lean toward safe options intended to maintain the status quo and protect their power base.

1. executives exuding an "ends-justify-the-means" mentality in pursuing overambitious revenue and profitability targets.

Which of the following are unhealthy cultures that impede good strategy execution? Multiple Choice 1. insular cultures, politicized cultures, and unethical cultures 2. change-resistant cultures, high-performance cultures, and politicized cultures 3. outwardly focused cultures, politicized cultures, and greed-driven cultures

1. insular cultures, politicized cultures, and unethical cultures

A company's culture is in part defined and identified by 1. its internal work climate and personality—as shaped by its shared values, work practices, traditions, and ingrained attitudes and behaviors that define "how we do things around here." 2. whether it employs a low-cost provider, best-cost provider, differentiation, or focused strategy. 3. whether decision making is centralized or decentralized and whether it is a single-business company or a diversified company.

1. its internal work climate and personality—as shaped by its shared values, work practices, traditions, and ingrained attitudes and behaviors that define "how we do things around here."

For an enterprise to execute its strategy in truly proficient fashion and approach operating excellence Multiple Choice 1. top executives must take the lead in the implementation/execution process and personally drive the pace of progress. 2. all employees must be very personable, effective communicators, and be skilled in the empowerment of company personnel. 3. the CEO must gather information firsthand and demand progress from mid-level managers.

1. top executives must take the lead in the implementation/execution process and personally drive the pace of progress.

Which of the following statements does NOT describe high-performance cultures? Multiple Choice 1. High-performance cultures are inwardly focused and discount the capabilities and accomplishments of rival companies. 2. The standout traits of high-performance cultures include taking pride in doing things right, adopting no-excuses accountability, and having a pervasive result-oriented work climate. 3. High-performance cultures are characterized by a results orientation and a spirit of achievement in beating performance targets.

1. High-performance cultures are inwardly focused and discount the capabilities and accomplishments of rival companies.

Companies with multinational operations and/or newly acquired businesses typically have 1. multiple cultures (or subcultures) rather than a single culture. 2. weak cultures. 3. adaptive cultures.

1. multiple cultures (or subcultures) rather than a single culture.

Which of the following is a hallmark of adaptive corporate cultures? Multiple Choice 1. There is a high willingness on the part of organizational members to accept change and take on the challenge of introducing and executing new strategies. 2. Issues and problems are promptly addressed and there is a razor-sharp focus on what needs to be done. 3. Skepticism about the importance of new developments and a fear of change are the norm.

1. There is a high willingness on the part of organizational members to accept change and take on the challenge of introducing and executing new strategies.

Which of the following is NOT one of the positive impacts that a company's stated values and ethical standards have on its corporate culture? Multiple Choice 1. steering company personnel toward both doing things right and doing the right thing 2,. identifying how best to adapt to changing market conditions

2,. identifying how best to adapt to changing market conditions

Technology companies, software companies, and Internet-based companies are good illustrations of organizations with Multiple Choice 1. inwardly focused cultures. 2, adaptive cultures.

2, adaptive cultures.

Unethical and greed-driven cultures 1. tend to result in average profits in the short-run, but higher profits in the long-run. 2. are predominant in companies that are run by executives driven by arrogance, ego gratification, and an "ends-justify-the-means" mentality in pursuing overambitious revenue and profitability targets.

2. are predominant in companies that are run by executives driven by arrogance, ego gratification, and an "ends-justify-the-means" mentality in pursuing overambitious revenue and profitability targets.

Which of the following is NOT an integral part of transforming core values and ethical standards into cultural norms? 1. instituting procedures for enforcing ethical standards 2. immediately dismissing any employee caught violating the company's code of ethics or disregarding core values

2. immediately dismissing any employee caught violating the company's code of ethics or disregarding core values

Which of the following is a common characteristic of unhealthy corporate cultures? 1. a reluctance to engage in business process reengineering, TQM, and Six Sigma 2. an aversion to offsite employee training programs 3. counterproductive cultural traits that adversely impact the work climate and company performance

3. counterproductive cultural traits that adversely impact the work climate and company performance

The first step in fixing a problem culture is for top management to 1. specify what new actions, behaviors, and work practices should be prominent in the new culture. 2. mandate that all company personnel attend culture-training programs to learn more about the new work practices. 3. identify facets of the present culture that are conducive to good strategy execution and those that are not.

3. identify facets of the present culture that are conducive to good strategy execution and those that are not.

Symbolic culture changing actions include all of the following EXCEPT Multiple Choice 1. praising individuals and groups that exemplify the new desired behavior. 2. leading by example. 3. revising policies and procedures in ways that will help drive cultural change.

3. revising policies and procedures in ways that will help drive cultural change.

In high-performance cultures 1. there is a clear and unyielding expectation that all company personnel will strictly follow company policies and procedures. 2. there is willingness on the part of organization members to accept discipline and subordination. 3. there is a strong sense of involvement on the part of company personnel and an emphasis on individual initiative and effort.

3. there is a strong sense of involvement on the part of company personnel and an emphasis on individual initiative and effort.

Cultures that tend to support good strategy execution include Multiple Choice 1. high-performance and adaptive cultures. 2. inwardly focused and ethical cultures. 3. diverse and politicized cultures.

1. high-performance and adaptive cultures.

Which of the following actions would NOT help to rectify a company's unethical and greed-driven culture? Multiple Choice 1. Adopt accounting principles that make the company's financial performance appear better than it really is. 2. Require all company personnel to attend culture-training programs to better understand the new culture-related actions and behaviors that are expected. 3. Hire frontline employees display high-performance behaviors and a passion for making the company successful.

1. Adopt accounting principles that make the company's financial performance appear better than it really is.

Long-term industry success can give rise to a(n) 1. incompatible subculture. 2. high-performance culture. 3. insular, inwardly focused culture.

3. insular, inwardly focused culture.

A work environment where the culture is in sync with the chosen strategy and is conducive to good strategy execution is considered a valuable managerial ally because Multiple Choice 1. the culture can be readily incorporated into the company's strategic vision and facilitate the achievement of stretch objectives. 2. it provides company personnel with clear guidance regarding "how we do things around here" and produces significant peer pressure from co-workers to conform to culturally acceptable norms. 3. there is reduced need to incorporate negative motivational practices and punitive-type incentives into the reward structure and in the company's approach to people management.

2. it provides company personnel with clear guidance regarding "how we do things around here" and produces significant peer pressure from co-workers to conform to culturally acceptable norms.

All the following are necessary in the creation of high-performance cultures, EXCEPT Multiple Choice 1. managers must take pains to reinforce constructive behavior, reward top performers, and purge habits and behaviors that stand in the way of high productivity and good results. 2. managers must restrict collaboration with other organizational units to reduce the power of influential executives and/or coalitions among departments.

2. managers must restrict collaboration with other organizational units to reduce the power of influential executives and/or coalitions among departments.

Typically, key elements of corporate culture 1. must be continually refreshed and renewed to remain aligned with changing customer expectations, altered competitive conditions, and new strategic initiatives. 2. originate with a founder or certain strong leader who articulated them as a set of business principles, company policies, operating approaches, and ways of dealing with employees, customers, vendors, shareholders, and local communities.

2. originate with a founder or certain strong leader who articulated them as a set of business principles, company policies, operating approaches, and ways of dealing with employees, customers, vendors, shareholders, and local communities.

What makes a politicized internal environment so unhealthy? Multiple Choice 1. Managers tend to exude such negative traits as arrogance, greed, and an "ends-justify-the-means" mentality in pursuing stretch revenue and profitability targets. 2. It gives rise to nepotism and a failure to recruit the right people. 3. It consumes a great deal of organizational energy, often with the result that what is best for the company takes a backseat.

3. It consumes a great deal of organizational energy, often with the result that what is best for the company takes a backseat.

Which of the following can help in changing a problem culture? 1. Executives have to know the weaknesses of their subordinates to begin the change process. 2. It requires writing a new statement of core values, having a series of meetings with employees to explain the new cultural expectations, and having shareholders vote to ratify and adopt the new culture. 3. It takes concerted management action over a period of time to root out unconstructive behaviors and replace them with new ways of doing things

3. It takes concerted management action over a period of time to root out unconstructive behaviors and replace them with new ways of doing things

A strongly implanted corporate culture has a powerful influence on behavior because of all of the following EXCEPT 1. over time people who do not like the culture tend to leave. 2. over time achieving low-workforce-turnover is a catalyst for conformity and acceptance. 3. a strong leader can use coercion and the threat of punishment to enforce norms.

3. a strong leader can use coercion and the threat of punishment to enforce norms.

The strongest signs that management is truly committed to installing a new culture include all the following, EXCEPT 1. screening all candidates for new positions and carefully hiring only those who appear to fit in with the new culture. 2. promoting individuals who have stepped forward to advocate the shift to a different culture and who can serve as role models for the desired culture. 3. appointing only insiders to high-profile positions.

3. appointing only insiders to high-profile positions.

Which of the following is NOT one of the chief factors that defines a company's corporate culture? 1. the atmosphere and spirit that pervades the work climate 2. the strength of peer pressure that exists to do things in particular ways and conform to expected norms 3. the attractiveness and the competitive strength of the industry the company is operating in

3. the attractiveness and the competitive strength of the industry the company is operating in

Which of the following is NOT a fundamental part of a company's culture? 1. the legends and stories that people repeat to illustrate and reinforce the company's core values, traditions, and business practices 2. the company's standard of what is ethically acceptable and what is not, along with the "chemistry" and "personality" that permeates its work environment 3. the company's strategic vision, strategic intent, and culture strategy

3. the company's strategic vision, strategic intent, and culture strategy