6 Managing in the Global Environment exercise

The global environment is a set of forces and conditions in the world outside an organization's boundary that affect how it operates and shape its behavior. A. True B. False

A

The quality of managers' understanding of forces in the global environment and their ability to respond appropriately to those forces are critical factors affecting organizational performance. A. True B. False

A

What benefits does the global environment offer organizations? A. The global environment provides organizations with several opportunities to increase efficacy and efficiency. B. The global environment is easy to operate within and is constant, straightforward, and predictable. C. Fluctuating sociocultural factors never affect the performance of organizations which function at a global level. D. Organizations are faced with fewer challenges and risks when they grow to prominence internationally. E. Organizations that operate internationally seldom compete for scarce and valuable resources.

A

According to Hofstede, individualist societies: A. value societal welfare over that of individual members of society. B. value personal freedom, personal success, and self-expression. C. emphasize subordination of the individual to the goals of the group. D. emphasize conformity to group norms and strong identification with the group. E. require individuals to put the needs of the group before their own.

B

All of the following are principal forms of capital that flow between countries except: A. human capital. B. virtual capital. C. political capital. D. resource capital. E. financial capital.

B

Which of the following statements supports the fact that Candlewick Inc. operates in a task environment with a high barrier to entry? A. The task environment within which Candlewick Inc. operates is inexpensive to enter. B. Candlewick Inc. is able to sell its products easily, even though they are overpriced. C. Candlewick Inc. has many competitors and faces challenges from them frequently. D. The task environment within which Candlewick Inc. operates is easy to enter. E. Candlewick Inc. is unable to obtain customers, despite the excellent quality of its products.

B

In what way does the task environment differ from the general environment? A. Threats in the general environment are easier to respond to than threats in the task environment. B. Forces in the task environment have a more immediate and direct effect on managers than forces in the general environment. C. Opportunities in the task environment are less easy to identify than opportunities in the general environment. D. Unlike the task environment, the general environment deals with conditions that effect an organization's ability to obtain inputs and dispose outputs. E. Unlike the general environment, the task environment includes the global, economic, sociocultural, political, and legal forces that affect an organization.

B?

A supplier's bargaining position is especially strong when: A. the input supplied has multiple sources and channels of distribution. B. the input supplied has inexpensive and easily available substitutes. C. the input supplied is a fundamental component of the organization's product. D. the input supplied is found freely and can be accessed by people with little effort. E. the input supplied is not protected by any patent.

C

Which of the following is true of the general environment? A. It contains opportunities and threats that are easier to identify and respond to than those in the task environment. B. It comprises the set of forces that originate with global suppliers, distributors, customers, and competitors. C. It includes the wide-ranging global, technological, sociocultural, and political forces that affect organizations. D. It contains the forces that have the most immediate effect on managers and their decisions. E. It contains forces that have very little impact upon the performance of organizations.

C

_____ is the traditional system of relationships established between people and groups in a society. A. Cultural imperialism B. Cultural pluralism C. National culture D. Social structure E. Social relativism

D

Which of the following is an advantage of the establishment of free-trade agreements? A. They protect domestic industries and jobs by taxing goods imported from outlying regions. B. They protect the well-being of people by restricting the flow of goods being exported from their country. C. They reduce the impact of globalization by preventing the loss of capital from a country. D. They provide managers with a threat-free environment to work within. E. They provide manufacturing organizations with opportunities to reduce production costs.

E

Which of the following is true of the task environment? A. It includes the wide-ranging global, technological, sociocultural, and political forces that affect organizations. B. It contains the forces that have the least immediate effect on managers and their decisions. C. It contains opportunities and threats that are harder to identify than those in the general environment. D. It is a framework of environmental policies that dictate the CSR policies of global organizations. E. It is the set of forces that originate with global suppliers, distributors, customers, and competitors.

E