Unit 2: culture and design

Twitter's organizational culture most resembles a ______ culture. Market Hierarchy Clan Adhocracy Competitive

Clan

In order to be more profitable by increasing sales, Thrifty Bank has an external focus, concentrating on strategic planning, risk taking, and flexibility over stability. This is an example of a hierarchy culture. True False

False Hierarchy culture has an internal focus and values stability and control over flexibility. Companies with this kind of culture are apt to have a formalized, structured work environment aimed at achieving effectiveness through a variety of control mechanisms that measure efficiency, timeliness, and reliability in the creation and delivery of products.

The activities and ceremonies, planned and unplanned, that celebrate important occasions and accomplishments in the organization's life are known as rites and rituals. True False

True Rites and rituals are the activities and ceremonies, planned and unplanned, that celebrate important occasions and accomplishments in the organization's life. Military units and sports teams have long known the value of ceremonies handing out decorations and awards, but many companies have rites and rituals as well.

Employees and customers are treated like a family at Bayou Seafood Café. Paul and Betsey, the owners, work to encourage unity to increase their employees' job satisfaction and commitment. At their café, Paul and Betsey have built a(n) ________. - goal-driven agenda - market culture - adhocracy culture - clan culture - bureaucracy culture

clan culture A clan culture has an internal focus and values flexibility rather than stability and control. Like a family-type organization, it encourages collaboration among employees, striving to encourage cohesion through consensus and job satisfaction and to increase commitment through employee involvement.

Making formal statements, holding rites and rituals, utilizing employee training and coaching, demonstrating how a leader reacts to a crises, being a role model, and giving rewards, promotions, and bonuses are some of the teaching methods that organizations can utilize to ________. conduct formal market research follow legal requirements perform competitive analysis effect corporate change write a strategic plan

effect corporate change Changing organizational culture is a teaching process in which organizational members teach each other about the organization's preferred values, beliefs, expectations, and behaviors. The process is accomplished by using one or more of the following 12 mechanisms: formal statements; slogans and sayings; rites and rituals; stories, legends, and myths; leader reactions to crises; role modeling, training, and coaching; physical design; rewards, titles, promotions, and bonuses; organizational goals and performance measurable and controllable activities; organizational structure; and organizational systems and procedures.

Espoused values are ________. - a narrative based on true events, which emphasize a particular value - the values and norms actually exhibited in the community - physical manifestations of organizational culture - profit and cost expectations stated in the business plan - explicitly stated values and norms preferred by an organization

explicitly state values and norms preferred by an org Espoused values are the explicitly stated values and norms preferred by an organization, as may be put forth by the firm's founder or top managers.

A system of shared beliefs and values that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members is known as the corporate system. True False

false A system of shared beliefs and values that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members is known as the company's culture or organizational culture. Organizational structure is a formal system of task and reporting relationships that coordinate and motivates an organization's members so that they can work together to achieve the organization's goals.

Just as human beings have a personality, organizations also have a "personality"—the product(s) they sell and the type(s) of market(s) they participate in. True False

false Just as a human being has a personality, organizations also have a "personality"—their culture.

Upper-, middle-, and lower-level management and nonmanagement workers are the layers of organizational culture. True False

false Organizational culture appears as three layers: (1) observable artifacts, (2) espoused values, and (3) basic assumptions.

Sometimes culture can be strong enough to take the place of an organization's ________. performance standards code of ethics business plan formal rules and regulations mission statement

formal rules and regulations Sometimes culture can be strong enough to take the place of bureaucracy; that is, the expectations of the culture replace formal rules and regulations.

The clan culture has a(n) ________. - external focus and values flexibility - continual focus on efficiency, cost cutting, and outsourcing - internal focus and values flexibility - strong external focus and values stability and control - internal focus and values stability and control

internal focus and values flexibility A clan culture has an internal focus and values flexibility rather than stability and control.

A hierarchy culture has a(n) ________. external focus and values flexibility internal focus and values stability and control strong external focus and values stability and control continual focus on efficiency, cost cutting, and outsourcing internal focus and values innovation and creativity

internal focus and values stability and control A hierarchy culture has an internal focus and values stability and control over flexibility.

Which of the following is an accurate conclusion from the "Organizational Culture and Organizational Effectiveness: A Meta-Analytic Investigation of the Competing Values Framework's Theoretical Suppositions" study involving the culture of 1,000 companies? - Employees prefer market cultures. - Adhocracy cultures produce better results. - An organization's culture does not matter. - Managers can use elements of these cultures to boost innovation and quality. - Changing the organizational culture generally boosts financial performance.

managers can use elements of these culture to boost innovation and quality 25 years of research on the relationship between organizational culture and various measures of organizational effectiveness demonstrated that the eight types of organizational outcomes had significant and positive relationships with clan, adhocracy, and market cultures, especially with the outcomes of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. One general conclusion was that managers can build into their organizations characteristics of some or all of these three cultures—clan, adhocracy, and market—to increase innovation and improve the quality of their products.

Bob, the owner of Quality Catering, is driven by competition. He is very focused on meeting deadlines and quality, and to deliver the results that customers want. He pushes his managers to continually exceed their productivity goals, and stresses that profits take precedence over employee development and satisfaction. Bob feels "there is not enough time for training." However, his employees are regularly rewarded for their success in meeting company goals. This is an example of a(n) ________ culture. - market - adhocracy - clan - target-driven - hierarchy

market A market culture has a strong external focus and values stability and control. Kia Motors, which fires executives who don't meet their sales goals, is an example of a company with a very aggressive and competitive market culture.

Hand-written welcome notes are an example of: Enacted Values Core Values Observable Artifacts Basic Assumptions Espoused Values

observable artifacts

Manner of dress, awards, myths and stories told about the company, and rituals and ceremonies are ________. - espoused values of organizational culture - basic assumptions about organizational culture - observable artifacts of organizational culture - enacted values of organizational culture - invisible artifacts of that industry's culture and values

observable artifacts of org culture At the most visible level, organizational culture is expressed in observable artifacts, which are physical manifestations such as manner of dress, awards, myths and stories about the company, rituals and ceremonies, and decorations, as well as visible behavior exhibited by managers and employees.

Adam, the owner of Adam's Roofing, was talking to a visitor in his office, telling her that "We are a fun-loving group that believes in teamwork and a family atmosphere at work, which significantly affects our work outcomes. Plus, we do things together outside of work. This is the 'social glue' that binds the members of our company together." Adam was referring to his company's ________. - diversity plan - organizational culture - organizational MBO - code of ethics - analytics

organizational culture Organizational culture, or corporate culture, is a system of shared beliefs and values that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members. This is the "social glue" that binds members together. Just as a human being has a personality, such as fun-loving, warm, uptight, competitive, so an organization has a "personality," too, and that is its culture.

Rites and rituals are ________. - a narrative based on true events that emphasize a particular value - company expectations for employees, such as working hard, ethically, and honestly - the activities and ceremonies that celebrate important occasions and accomplishments for an organization - company values included in the code of ethics - objects, acts, or the quality that conveys meaning to others

the activities and ceremonies that celebrate important occasions and accomplishments for an org Rites and rituals are the activities and ceremonies, planned and unplanned, that celebrate important occasions and accomplishments in the organization's life.

While a college student at the University of Texas, Michael Dell, the CEO and founder of Dell Computer, started a computer business in his dorm room. Michael Dell is a hero, as a person whose accomplishments embody the values of the organization "to empower countries, communities, customers and people everywhere to use technology to realize their dreams." True False

true A hero is a person whose accomplishments embody the values of the organization.

Dave, a graphic designer with Development Advertising, enjoys the flexibility of his management and its culture, which encourages risk taking, innovation, and creativity. Because it is a small company, Dave gets quick answers from his boss, which allows him and Development Advertising to quickly respond to changes in the marketplace. Development Advertising is an example of an adhocracy culture. True False

true An adhocracy culture has an external focus and values flexibility. This type of culture attempts to create innovative products by being adaptable, creative, and quick to respond to changes in the marketplace. Employees are encouraged to take risks and experiment with new ways of getting things done.

The community values of an organization's culture that typically do not change are represented by an organization's basic assumptions. True False

true Basic assumptions, which are not observable, represent the core values of an organization's culture that are taken for granted and, as a result, are difficult to change.

Managers can change organizational culture by maintaining rites and rituals; giving rewards, promotions, and bonuses; setting company goals; and establishing performance-measurable and controllable activities. True False

true Changing organizational culture is essentially a teaching process—that is, a process in which members instruct each other about the organization's preferred values, beliefs, expectations, and behaviors. The process is accomplished by using one or more of the following 12 mechanisms: formal statements; slogans and sayings; rites and rituals; stories, legends, and myths; leader reactions to crises; role modeling, training, and coaching; physical design; rewards, titles, promotions, and bonuses; organizational goals and performance measurable and controllable activities; organizational structure; and organizational systems and procedures.

The elements that drive an organization's culture also vary, representing the values of the founder, the industry and business environment, the national culture, the organization's vision and strategies, and the behavior of leaders. True False

true Culture can vary considerably, with different organizations having differing emphases on risk taking, treatment of employees, teamwork, rules and regulations, conflict and criticism, and rewards. The elements that drive an organization's culture also vary. They may represent the values of the founder, the industry and business environment, the national culture, the organization's vision and strategies, and the behavior of leaders. (See Table 8.1.)

The employees of XYZ Production enjoy a culture that has developed over time to become a model for local companies. A manager with XYZ mentioned that "Through a careful selection process while hiring and the strong culture we have developed, our employee turnover is one of the lowest our industry." This is an example of how low turnover can be a result of a good organizational culture. True False

true Organizational culture facilitates collective commitment. Consider 3M, one of whose corporate values is to be "a company that employees are proud to be part of." This collective commitment results in a turnover rate of less than 3% among salaried personnel.

North Community College strives to portray its image to citizens of the community through advertising and the actions of its faculty and staff that "community is our middle name." This act of trying to depict this image is a symbol. True False

true A symbol is an object, act, quality, or event that conveys meaning to others. In an organization, symbols convey its most important values.