MG302 Chapter 2

Strategic issues are

"events or forces either inside or outside an organization that are likely to alter its ability to achieve its objectives."

High-performance culture is a culture that

(1) is based on a solid organizational mission or purpose, (2) embodies shared adaptive values that guide decisions and business practices, and (3) encourages individual employee ownership of both bottom-line results and the organization's cultural backbone

Which of the following statements are true about organizational culture?

Culture can create a competitive advantage for a company. The actions managers take can change a company's culture. Employees may be unaware of the underlying assumptions that guide an organization's culture.

2012 Environmental Performance Index

Rank Country Score 1 Switzerland 76.69 2 Latvia 70.37 3 Norway 69.92 4 Luxembourg 69.2 5 Costa Rica 69.03 6 France 69 7 Austria 68.92 8 Italy 68.9 9 Sweden 68.82 10 United Kingdom 68.82 11 Germany 66.91 12 Slovakia 66.62 13 Iceland 66.28 14 New Zealand 66.05 15 Albania 65.85 37 Canada 58.41 49 United States 56.59 116 China 42.24 125 India 36.23 132 Iraq 25.32

Hero

a figure who exemplifies the deeds, character, and attributes of a strong culture. Heroes are role models for employees to follow

Story

a narrative based on true events and is repeated frequently and shared among organizational employees

Slogan

a phrase or sentence that succinctly expresses a key corporate value. Many companies use a slogan or saying to convey special meaning to employees

Joint Venture

a strategic alliance or program by two or more organizations

External Organizational Environment includes

all elements existing outside the boundary of the organization that have the potential to affect the organization. The environment includes competitors, resources, technology, and economic conditions that influence the organization

Natural Dimension includes

all elements that occur naturally on Earth, including plants, animals, rocks, and resources such as air, water, and climate

Symbol

an object, act, or event that conveys meaning to others

Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and very expensive to treat, but now a joint venture of managed services provider Hitachi Consulting, medical device manufacturer Vital Connect, and information specialist ClearStory Data has developed a ___________ solution that can detect sepsis early enough to treat it by uploading real-time patient data to the cloud and analyzing it there with many other pieces of data

big data analytics

Task Environment includes

competitors, suppliers, customers, and the labor market

Internal Environment includes

current employees, management, and especially corporate culture, which defines employee behavior in the internal environment and how well the organization will adapt to the external environment

Cultural Leader

defines and uses signals and symbols to influence corporate culture

Adaptability Culture

emerges in an environment that requires fast response and high-risk decision making. Managers encourage values that support the company's ability to rapidly detect, interpret, and translate signals from the environment into new behaviors

Involvement Culture

emphasizes an internal focus on the involvement and participation of employees to adapt rapidly to changing needs from the environment. This culture places high value on meeting the needs of employees, and the organization may be characterized by a caring, family-like atmosphere

International Dimension (of the external environment) includes

events originating in foreign countries, as well as new opportunities for U.S. companies in other countries.

Legal-political Dimension includes

government regulations at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as political activities designed to influence company behavior.

Chicago Youth Centers, a nonprofit that provides services to children ages 3 to school age, entered an _____________ with Family Focus, which serves children ages 0 to 3, so that each organization could achieve cost savings and enhance its services.

interorganizational partnership

Achievement Culture

is suited to organizations concerned with serving specific customers in the external environment, but without the intense need for flexibility and rapid change. This results-oriented culture values competitiveness, aggressiveness, personal initiative, cost cutting, and willingness to work long and hard to achieve results

A trend has been for states to increase their minimum wage, and at the beginning of 2014, 13 states raised the minimum amount employers may pay most workers. The change in these regulations and the ongoing advocacy for more such changes is part of the __________ of the general environment.

legal-political dimension

Boundary-spanning roles

link to and coordinate the organization with key elements in the external environment. Boundary spanners serve two purposes for the organization: They detect and process information about changes in the environment, and they represent the organization's interests to the environment.

Merger

occurs when two or more organizations combine to become one.

Ceremonies

planned activities at special events, to reinforce company values

Suppliers

provide the raw materials that the organization uses to produce its output

Interorganizational Partnerships

reduce boundaries and increase collaboration with other organizations.

Labor Market

represents the people available for hire by the organization

Technological Dimension (of the general environment) includes

scientific and technological advancements in a specific industry, as well as in society at large.

General Environment includes

social, economic, legal-political, international, natural, and technological factors that influence all organizations about equally

Cell phones and laptops work because of minerals like tin, tantalum, and tungsten. The _________ for these elements stretches from mines in Africa to trading houses, exporters, and refiners before entering the device-manufacturing process.

supply chain

The organization's external environment can be conceptualized further as having two components:

task and general environments

The _________ of Office Depot includes Amazon.com, where many people order office supplies, as well as manufacturers of office supplies such as International Paper Company, but does not include state and local laws affecting the sales tax it must collect from customers.

task environment

Sociocultural Dimension (of the general environment) represents

the demographic characteristics as well as the norms, customs, and values of the general population. Important sociocultural characteristics are geographical distribution and population density, age, and education levels.

Economic Dimension represents

the general economic health of the country or region in which the organization operates. Consumer purchasing power, the unemployment rate, and interest rates are part of an organization's economic environment.

Culture

the set of key values, beliefs, understandings, and norms shared by members of an organization.

Customers

those people and organizations in the environment that acquire goods or services from the organization are customers.

Consistency Culture

uses an internal focus and a consistency orientation for a stable environment. Following the rules and being thrifty are valued, and the culture supports and rewards a methodical, rational, orderly way of doing things

Competitors

Organizations in the same industry or type of business that provide goods or services to the same set of customers