Business management chap 3

Which of the following statements about a company's vision is true?

All of these statements about a company's vision are true

Which of the following companies is most likely operating in a dynamic environment?

a video game manufacturer

In order to change an organizational culture, top management can persuade other managers and employees to perform a new behavior in place of an older one. This technique is called ____.

behavioral substitution

Changes in any sector of the general environment ____.

will eventually affect most organizations.

Successful organizational cultures seem to be based solely upon consistency (i.e., "strength" of the organizational culture).

False

The best way to manage legal responsibilities is to retain a large staff of legal specialists to defend the company against any charges.

False

The general segment of a company's external environment is unique to each firm's industry and directly affects the way it conducts day-to-day business.

False

The specific segment of an organization's external environment is unique to its region of the country.

False

Refer to Dofasco. Sydney Steel Corporation is another steel producer in Canada. This company is part of Dofasco's ____ component of its ____ environment.

competitive; specific

Suppose that a Mexican car manufacturer wants to export cars to Guatemala. Knowing that the distribution of income within Guatemala is highly unequal and that about 75 percent of the population is below the poverty line would be a(n) ____ component in the manufacturer's general environment.

economic

The first step managers use to make sense of their changing environments is ____.

environmental scanning

According to the ____theory, companies go through long, simple periods of environmental stability, followed by short, complex periods of dynamic, fundamental environmental change, finishing with a return to environmental stability.

punctuated equilibrium theory

In a very strong economy, where the demand for qualified job applicants exceeds the supply, the environmental characteristic of ____ is likely to be particularly salient for many companies.

resource scarcity

According to its rate of environmental change, an organization's environment can be either stable or dynamic, but not both.

False

Which of the following is a component of Coca-Cola's specific environment and will directly influence how it does business?

Pepsi-Cola

____ is the degree to which an organization's external environment has an abundance or scarcity of critical organizational resources.

Resource scarcity

____ is a primary source of organizational culture.

The company's founder

After the company founders are gone, stories and heroes can help to sustain the founder's values, attitudes, and beliefs in the organizational culture.

True

Because external environments can be dynamic, confusing, and complex, managers use a three-step process to make sense of the changes in their external environments. Those steps are (1) environmental scanning, (2) interpreting environmental factors, and (3) acting on threats and opportunities.

True

Managers can make sense of their changing external environments by completing all three of the following steps: environmental scanning, interpreting environmental factors, and acting on threats and opportunities.

True

The two kinds of external organizational environments are the general environment and the specific environment.

True

One of the problems with many of the dot-com companies that failed in the mid-1990s was a lower and middle management adherence to innovation and an expectation that work would be fun while top management envisioned the company being profitable and the elimination of unnecessary expenses. These companies lacked ____ in their organizational cultures.

consistency

Refer to Dofasco. What technique would Dofasco most likely have used to keep apprised of environmental changes that could impact how the company does business?

environmental scanning

Legislation concerning the disposal of biological wastes, the development of more sophisticated imaging machines, and longer patient life spans would all be part of the ____ for a public hospital.

general environment

Which of the following is a component of the specific environment that would directly influence a restaurant's day-to-day operation?

its regular customers

A fast-food restaurant chain that is famous for its small, square hamburgers. Which of the following would be an industry regulation component of its specific environment?

local health inspectors

Managers can use behavioral addition and behavioral substitution to ____.

modify corporate culture

Refer to Dofasco. The company's commitment to triple the bottom line and to keeping its employees happy is indicative of Dofasco's ____.

organizational culture

When Susan started work at Henderson Textile Co., she was amazed at its employees who would take 30-minute restroom breaks, leave for the day at 2 p.m., and generally belittle the company's management. Such employees' actions most likely developed over time as a result of a faulty ____.

organizational culture

Two homebuilders are building homes in nearby subdivisions. One is offering 2,500-square-foot homes with two-acre yards. The other is offering a similar size of house with quarter-acre yards. The builder offering the smaller lots cannot keep up with demand. The builder offering the larger lots has several unsold houses. The builder with the smaller lots most likely used ____ to determine what homebuyers desired.

proactive customer monitoring

Advocacy groups use a variety of tactics to convince businesses to comply with the group's stand on issues. Which of the following advocacy group tactics would be most likely to cause a business to fail?

product boycotts

Which of the following is NOT a potential legal risk associated with traditional managerial decisions like recruiting, hiring, and firing employees?

product liability

Refer to Dofasco. The fact that Ford purchased less steel from Dofasco during the auto industry's slump would be part of Dofasco's ____ environment because Ford Motor Company is one of its customers.

specific

Environmental ____ is affected by environmental complexity, change, and resources.

uncertainty

A mace is commonly used at a university or college convocation ceremony. The mace was originally a weapon, then became the symbol of government, and now has become the symbol of authority of the institution to grant diplomas or degrees. In terms of organizational culture, the mace is an example of a(n) ____.

visible artifact

Organizations use behavioral addition, behavioral substitution, and ____ to change their organizational culture.

visible artifacts