mgt4150- ch 12
Which of the following is NOT a typical characteristic of a weak company culture?
co-worker peer pressure to do things in a particular way
The single most visible factor that distinguishes successful culture-change efforts from failed attempts is
competent leadership at the top.
A company's culture is in part defined and identified by
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."
Which of the following statements about a high-performance culture is true?
Results-oriented, high-performance cultures are permeated with a spirit of achievement and have a good track record in meeting or beating performance targets.
Symbolic culture changing actions include all of the following EXCEPT
*revising* policies and procedures in ways that will help drive cultural change.
What is the hallmark of an adaptive corporate culture?
a clear 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 statements about a company's culture is NOT true?
a company's culture, once established, tends to remain stable and entrenched over time.
Even if a company has a strong culture, the culture and work climate may or may not
be *compatible* with what is needed for effective implementation of the chosen strategy.
The purpose of managing by walking around or MBWA is to
gather information about what is happening from people at different organizational levels and learn firsthand how well the strategy execution process is proceeding.
Leading the drive for good strategy execution and operating excellence calls upon senior executives to
personally lead the implementation process and drive the pace of progress.
Which of the following managerial practices is NOT used to lead the effort to foster a results-oriented, high-performance culture?
placing a premium on not making mistakes, prompting managers to lean toward safe, conservative options intended to maintain the status quo
Codes of ethics and statements of core values
serve as *yardsticks* for gauging the appropriateness of particular actions, decisions, and behaviors.
Which of the following statements about the match between a company's culture and its strategy is NOT true?
A tight strategy-culture alignment facilitates building core competencies and distinctive competencies that lead to low operating costs and a cost-based competitive advantage.
Which of the following is NOT a factor that makes a politicized internal environment so unhealthy?
the taking of positions on issues
The process of making corrective adjustments in strategy execution
varies according to the situation.
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?
*identifying* how best to adapt to changing market conditions
The menu of actions management can take to change problem culture does NOT include which of the following?
*shifting* from decentralized to centralized decision-making so as to give senior executives more authority and control in driving the cultural change
Changing a problem culture to create better alignment with strategy generally does NOT involve
altering the company's financial objectives.
Which of the following is NOT a factor in contributing to the emergence and sustainability of a strong culture?
centralized decision making, strict enforcement of company policies, and a strong commitment to being the market share leader
The characteristics of a strong-culture company include all of the following EXCEPT
co-worker peer pressure to challenge cultural norms.
A weak company culture
promotes greed-driven and unethical behaviors.
The retelling of legendary stories does a lot for establishing a company's core values, but it should NOT
reflect an aspect of company culture no longer current.
Which of the following would NOT be typical of leadership actions or managerial practices that perpetuate an unhealthy or problem culture?
using empowerment to help create a motivated workforce
What technique can be utilized by leaders to stay informed on how well the strategy execution process is progressing?
managing by walking around
Which of the following is something to look for in identifying a company's culture?
the atmosphere, spirit and character that pervades the work climate and the values, business principles, and ethical standards that management preaches and practices
Which of the following is NOT something to look for in identifying a company's culture?
the company's resource strengths, core competencies, and competitive capabilities
Which of the following is NOT a fundamental part of a company's culture?
the company's strategic vision, strategic intent, and culture strategy
The task of top executives in making corrective adjustments includes
thoroughly analyzing the situation and exercising good business judgment in deciding what actions to take.
Which one of the following is NOT an appropriate step management can take to change a problem culture?
*appointing a team* of key managers and employees to design a plan for cultural change and then lead the internal effort to change the culture
Which of the following topics would least likely be contained in a company's code of ethics?
*committing* to a no-layoff policy and to adequate funding of employee retirement programs
Successfully leading the effort to instill a spirit of high achievement into a company's culture and put constructive pressure on the organization to achieve good results
*entails* such actions as treating employees with dignity and respect, celebrating individual, group, and company successes, and setting stretch objectives.
A company's stated core values and ethical principles are
*meant to foster* a work climate where company personnel share common and strongly held convictions about how the company's business is to be conducted and provide guidance in displaying the core values in their actions and behaviors.
Companies with change-resistant cultures are
*prone* to be preoccupied with avoiding risks and are unlikely to pursue actions to capture emerging opportunities
Which of the following is NOT one of the leadership roles that senior managers have to play in pushing for good strategy execution and operating excellence?
*weeding out* managers who are consistently in the ranks of the lowest performers (the bottom 10 percent) and who are not enthusiastic about the strategy or how it is being executed
Changing a problem culture
is one of the toughest managerial tasks because of the heavy anchor of ingrained behaviors and ways of doing things.
What defines an insular, inwardly focused culture?
The firm believes they have all the answers because of their past great market success and is thus overconfident.
In moving to alter a problem culture, management should do all of the following EXCEPT
avoid cross-unit cooperation.
The character of a company's culture is a NOT a product of
organizational learning from past errant behavior on the part of executives and employees.
What actions, behaviors, and work practices that are conducive to good strategy implementation support the strategy execution effort?
using *peer pressure* to company personnel to perform, enhancing worker productivity and buy-in, and focusing the attention of employees on what is most important
The place for management to begin in trying to change a problem culture is
*identifying facets* of the present culture that are obstacles to executing the company's strategy and meeting performance targets.
Unhealthy company cultures typically have such characteristics as
a politicized internal environment, hostility to change and an aversion to looking outside the company for best practices, new managerial approaches, and innovative ideas.
A company's culture is NOT indicative of
its core competencies and capabilities along the value chain.
Companies with multinational operations and/or newly acquired businesses typically have
multiple cultures (or subcultures) rather than a single culture.
Many executives want the work climate at their companies to mirror certain values and ethical standards because they
are committed to improving the company's strategy execution, performance, and reputation.
A strongly implanted culture provides a huge assist in executing strategy because company managers can use the traditions, beliefs, values, common bonds, or behavioral norms
as levers to mobilize commitment to executing the chosen strategy.
Which of the following statements about companies and their corporate cultures is incorrect?
Apple's employee-centric culture fosters openness and sharing of company-developed technology.
The most important symbolic actions are those that top executives take to
lead by *example*
Company folktales and stories frequently
*capture* a significant part of a company's culture.
Which of the following statements about a strong-culture company is NOT true?
Centralized decision making, strict enforcement of company policies, diligent pursuit of a distinctive competence, and a bold strategic intent are the hallmarks of a strong-culture company.
Which of the following statements about a high-performance culture is NOT true?
High-performance cultures often have a low regard for high ethical standards, a strong preference for high-risk strategies, and a slow and methodical approach to responding to changes in the marketplace.
The character of a company's corporate culture is a product of all of the following EXCEPT
its lack of mechanisms for aligning, constraining, and regulating the actions, decisions, and behaviors of company personnel.
Once values and ethical standards have been formally adopted, a company must
make it *unequivocally clear* that the company's core values and ethical standards are strictly enforced cultural norms.
Changing a problem culture
means eliminating unhealthy or dysfunctional traits as fast as possible.
All of the following are examples of leadership actions or managerial practices taken to foster a results-oriented, high-performance culture EXCEPT
treating employees as individuals with no regard for their rank or contributions.
In adaptive corporate cultures
there's a spirit of doing what's necessary to ensure long-term organizational success provided that core values and business principles are not compromised and provided top management undertakes the changes in a manner that exhibits genuine concern for the legitimate interests of stakeholders.
When are multiple subcultures MOST problematic?
when they *embrace* conflicting business philosophies that are inconsistent with superior strategy execution
Which of the following is NOT particularly helpful in perpetuating a company's culture?
*maintaining* a consistent strategic vision and strategic intent over time
Which of the following does NOT describe an unhealthy company culture?
hyper-adaptive
The two culture-building roles of a company's stated values and ethical standards are to
*foster* a work climate where company personnel share common and strongly held convictions about how the company's business is to be conducted and to provide them with guidance about how to do their jobs, steering them toward both doing things right and doing the right things.
When trying to change a problem culture, management should undertake such steps as
*identifying facets* of the present culture that are supportive of good strategy execution and which ones are not and then specifying what new actions, behaviors, and work practices are needed in the new culture to improve performance.
Which of the following is NOT an integral part of transforming core values and ethical standards into cultural norms?
*immediately dismissing* any employee caught violating the company's code of ethics or disregarding core values
Which of the following is NOT a technique that companies employ to embed core values and ethical standards?
*instituting* standard practices and procedures for employees to follow as a foundation for maintaining ethical and cultural norm conflict clashes and behavioral lapses
Which of the following topics would least likely be contained in a company's statement of its core values?
*mandating* full compliance with all laws and regulations
Which of the following is a benefit of closely aligning the corporate culture with the requirements for proficient strategy execution?
A tight strategy-culture fit steers company personnel into displaying behaviors and adopting operating practices that promote good strategy execution.
Which of the following actions would NOT help to rectify a company's unethical and greed-driven culture?
Adopt accounting principles that make the company's financial performance appear better than it really is
Why is a company's corporate culture important?
Because it influences the organization's actions and approaches to conducting business
Which of the following contribute to the emergence and sustainability of a strong culture?
a sincere, long-standing company commitment to operating the business according to established traditions, thereby creating an internal environment that supports decision making and strategies based on cultural norms
All of the following are distinctive characteristics of an unhealthy corporate culture EXCEPT
a strong fixation on attending to what customers are saying and how their needs and expectations are to be met
Which of the following is a substantive culture-changing action that a company's managers can undertake to alter a problem culture?
Revise policies and procedures in ways that will help drive cultural change and replace senior executives who are resisting and obstructing needed organizational and cultural changes.
Which of the following statements about adaptive corporate cultures is NOT true?
The standout cultural traits are a "can-do" spirit, pride in doing things right, no-excuses accountability, and a pervasive results-oriented work climate where people go the extra mile to meet or beat stretch objectives.
Which of the following is NOT a substantive culture-changing action that a company's managers can undertake to alter a problem culture?
Urging company personnel to search outside the company for work practices and operating approaches that may be an improvement over what the company is presently doing, and paying sizable bonuses to those employees who identify practices that the company ends up adopting
Which of the following statements about a weak company culture is true?
Weak cultures provide little assistance in executing strategy because there are no traditions, values, or behavioral norms that management can use as levers to mobilize commitment to executing the chosen strategy.
When should a culture be changed as rapidly as it can be managed?
When a strong culture is unhealthy or otherwise out of sync with the actions and behaviors needed to execute the strategy successfully
The hallmarks of a high-performance corporate culture include
a "can-do" spirit, pride in doing things right, no-excuses accountability, and a pervasive results-oriented work climate where people go the extra mile to meet or beat stretch objectives.
The hallmarks of a weak-culture company DO NOT include
a "can-do" spirit, where people take pride in doing things right, no-excuses accountability, and a pervasive results-oriented work climate where people go the extra mile to meet or beat stretch objectives.
A strongly implanted corporate culture has a powerful influence on behavior because of all of the following EXCEPT
a strong leader can use coercion and the threat of punishment to enforce norms.
Success in making corrective actions does NOT depend on
an action plan for executing strategy that enables managers to foresee all the problems that will arise.
Which of the following is NOT a common trait of an unhealthy company culture?
an aversion to incentive compensation and overemphasis on working in teams
When a company's culture is out of sync with what is needed for strategic success and good strategy execution
any unhealthy or dysfunctional cultural traits must be changed as fast as possible and management needs to be aggressively striving to ingrain new behaviors and work practices that will enable first-rate strategy execution.
Which of the following is NOT likely to be an effective management action (making a compelling case to employees) about culture-remodeling efforts that can create a better strategy-culture fit?
calling upon first-level supervisors and rank-and-file employees to identify cultural barriers to good strategy execution and then to lead the cultural change effort
When management is leading the drive for good strategy execution and operating excellence, it calls for all of the following actions on their part EXCEPT
establishing a must-be-invented-here mindset.
A company's value statement and code of ethics
help to mold the culture and communicate what kinds of actions and behaviors are expected of all company personnel.
In leading the push for proficient strategy execution and operating excellence, top-level managers need to take the lead on all of the following EXCEPT
holding periodic ceremonies to honor people who excel in displaying the company values and ethical principles.
A corporate culture founded on ethical business principles and socially approved values
is a positive force underlying a company's long-term financial success and reduces the likelihood of lapses in ethical and socially approved behavior that can damage the company's reputation
A work environment where the culture is in sync with the chosen strategy and is conducive to good strategy execution is considered a valuable managerially because
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.
Once established, company cultures can be perpetuated by
relying on word-of-mouth indoctrination and the power of tradition to instill the culture's fundamentals, as well as frequent reiteration of core values by senior managers and group members, and regular ceremonies honoring members who display desired cultural behaviors.
The leadership challenges that top executives face in making corrective adjustments when things are not going well include
undertaking a thorough analysis of the situation, exercising good business judgment in deciding what actions to take, and then ensuring good implementation of the corrective actions that are initiated.
