Chapter 14 Organizational C PDF

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Chapter 14 Organizational Culture Student: ___________________________________________________________________________

1. Organizational culture is best described as the basic pattern of shared:

A. assumptions, beliefs and behaviours that subconsciously guide employee thoughts and actions. B. behaviours that employees enact to demonstrate their support for corporate goals. C. decisions routinely occurring throughout the organization that support corporate strategies. D. values and assumptions that directs everyone in the organization toward the "right way" of doing things. E. rituals and ceremonies that employees enact to consummate their relationship with the organization. 2. Organizational culture includes:

A. three universal values. B. artifacts, values, and assets. C. values, assumptions, and audits. D. behaviours, beliefs, and budgets. E. None of these statements is accurate.

3. The assumptions and values that direct everyone in the organization toward the "right way" of doing things are called

A. organizational culture. B. organizational structure. C. organizational socialization. D. organizational politics. E. transformational leadership. 4. The deepest element of organizational culture is:

A. shared values. B. artifact s. C. languag e. D. symbol s. E. shared assumptions. 5. Which part of organizational culture is closest to the "surface" (i.e. observable indicators)?

A. Assumptio ns B. Artifac ts C. Belief s D. Shared values E. Storie s

6. The hidden elements of an organization's culture include:

A. physical structures. B. language used in the organization. C. employee values and assumptions. D. All of these are hidden elements of an organization's culture. E. None of these are hidden elements of an organization's culture. 7. How do espoused values relate to the concept of organizational culture?

A. Espoused values represent the shared assumptions within an organization's culture. B. Espoused values are what leaders and employees rely on to guide their decisions and behaviours. C. Espoused values are mainly used to decipher an organization's culture. D. Espoused values are the values that corporate leaders want others to believe guide the organization's decisions and actions. E. Espoused values are articulated mental models. 8. Which of these statements about shared assumptions is FALSE?

A. Shared assumptions are unconscious taken-for granted perceptions or beliefs. B. Shared assumptions are so deeply embedded they probably cannot be discovered by surveying employees. C. Shared assumptions include shared enacted values. D. Shared assumptions are revealed through corporate value statements. E. All of the above are correct.

9. The best way to determine an organization's shared assumptions is to:

A. interview executives. B. look for evidence of its corporate value statements. C. observe employees, analyze their decisions, and debrief them on their actions. D. read public relations statements produced by the organization. E. ask customers to evaluate the company's effectiveness. 10. Tsunami Ltd. hired a consultant to assess the corporate culture of Wise Widgets, which Tsunami wanted to acquire. Executives at Wise Widgets were eager to be acquired by Tsunami, so were willing to have the senior executives interviewed by the consultant regarding the company's culture. The consultant also relied heavily on news releases and other public relations statements produced by executives at Wise Widgets to decipher the company's culture. In this situation, the consultant probably is measuring Wise Widgets':

A. countercultu re. B. socialization process. C. espoused values. D. assumption s. E. The consultant is measuring none of these.

11. When estimating the content of an organization's culture, we should pay attention to:

A. the values employees actually apply. B. the beliefs that customers have about the company's products. C. the amount of reality shock newcomers experience when joining the company. D. the values executives say employees should apply. E. We should never pay attention to values or beliefs when estimating organizational culture. 12. The content of an organization's culture:

A. is usually apparent as soon as a visitor walks in the front door. B. can be placed into one of five main types, such as a "mercenaries" or "communes". C. represents the relative ordering of rewards and status symbols found throughout the organization. D. is all of these things. E. is none of these things. 13. An organization's dominant culture is:

A. the values dictated by an organization's new owners. B. the assumptions, values and beliefs shared most widely by the organization's members. C. the values held by the most vocal countercultural group in the organization. D. the assumptions, values and beliefs that the company's top executives are trying to spread throughout the organization. E. the values that senior executives want people outside the organization to believe are followed within the company.

14. The assumptions and values shared most widely by employees represent:

A. the organization's dominant culture. B. the organization's deculturation process. C. the organization's counterculture. D. artifacts held mainly by senior executives in the organization. E. organizational rituals. 15. Organizations that tolerate or encourage subcultures with dissenting values:

A. usually go quickly out of business. B. usually build stronger cultures to counteract those dissenting values. C. may eventually use those dissenting values to build a new set of dominant values in the future. D. do not have any corporate culture. E. None of these statements is accurate. 16. Which of these statements about organizational subcultures is FALSE?

A. Some subcultures support the organization's dominant culture. B. Subcultures spawn emerging values that the company may eventually adopt. C. Organizations should subdue subcultures that oppose the firm's dominant values. D. Subcultures potentially maintain the organization's standards of performance and ethical behaviour. E. Some subcultures directly oppose the organization's core values.

17. Which of the following is a spawning ground for emerging corporate culture values?

A. Subcultur es B. Bicultural audits C. Artifac ts D. The actions of the company's founder E. None of these 18. One advantage of countercultures is that they:

A. rarely exist in real organizations. B. maintain the organization's standards of performance and ethical behaviour. C. prevent organizations from developing a corporate culture. D. ensure that corporate mergers occur without any culture clashes. E. Countercultures never make organizations more effective. 19. The observable symbols and signs of an organization's values, and assumptions are called:

A. organizational culture B. mental models C. artifac ts D. value s E. organizational signposts

20. The observable symbols and signs of an organization's culture:

A. are called artifacts. B. are found only in companies with very strong cultures. C. are used to communicate culture only when more direct means are unavailable. D. are very easy to interpret. E. are all of these. 21. What is the significance of artifacts in organizational culture?

A. Artifacts are the same as organizational culture. B. Artifacts are the leftover parts of the organization that cannot fit into its culture. C. Artifacts represent the directly observable symbols and signs of an organization's culture. D. Artifacts are the observable indicators that the organization does not have a culture. E. Artifacts mainly reflect the subcultures that conflict with an organization's dominant culture. 22. The best way to measure an organization's culture is to:

A. interview executives. B. look for evidence of its corporate value statements. C. sample information from a variety of organizational artifacts. D. read and analyze the various mission statements produced by the organization. E. ask customers to evaluate the company's effectiveness.

23. To develop the most accurate estimate of an organization's culture, we should:

A. survey employees. B. observe workplace behaviour. C. investigate physical elements in the workplace. D. do all of these. E. survey employees and observe behaviour, but NOT investigate physical elements in the workplace. 24. Which of the following is potentially an artifact of organizational culture?

A. Artwork on office walls B. The way visitors to the organization are greeted C. The names employees give to conference rooms D. All of these are potentially artifacts. E. Artwork, greeting visitors, and conference room names are rarely, if ever, considered artifacts. 25. Which of the following would NOT be considered an artifact of an organization's culture?

A. The shape, size and location of corporate headquarters. B. How visitors are greeted when they first enter a company building. C. The stories told by employees to newcomers about the founder's experiences when he or she started the company. D. The unique metaphors and special vocabularies that employees use to share meaning. E. All of these would be considered artifacts of an organization's culture.

26. Which of these statements about organizational stories is FALSE?

A. Organizational stories are most effective at communicating organizational culture when employees believe the stories are true. B. Stories communicate organizational culture if they describe positive events, whereas they undermine organizational culture if they describe negative events. C. Organizational stories provide human realism to individual performance standards. D. Stories are most effective at communicating organizational culture when they describe real events with real people. E. Organizational stories communicate culture because they provide role models to demonstrate that organizational objectives are attainable. 27. Organizational stories are most effective at communicating organizational culture:

A. never; organizational stories always overinflate the organization's true culture. B. only when they are told by senior executives to the public. C. when they describe real people, are assumed to be true, and are known by employees throughout the organizations. D. when they are true and descriptive rather than prescriptive. E. when they are known by all stakeholders. 28. Rituals are:

A. programmed routines of daily organizational life that dramatize the organization's culture. B. deliberate attempts to communicate the corporate culture to new employees. C. events that suggest the organization's culture is about to change. D. physical structures that convey the dominant values of an organization's culture. E. games that people play to defy the dominant culture and, instead, support countercultural beliefs and values.

29. At meetings of a major consumer products firm, employees habitually stand up when the most senior executive at the meeting enters the room. This practice represents:

A. evidence that the meeting has employees who hold countercultural values. B. evidence that the company has an adaptive culture. C. a ritual that probably symbolizes the organization's dominant culture. D. a form of blind subservience to senior management. E. evidence that the company's espoused values differ from its enacted values. 30. Whenever an advertising firm lands a new contract, the successful team rings a loud bell and breaks out a bottle of champagne. In organizational culture, this practice would be considered:

A. a ritual. B. a ceremony. C. an idiosyncrasy. D. a manifestation of a culture that likes to party but needs an excuse to do so. E. a motivational tactic that masquerades as an espoused value. 31. Which of the following is an artifact rather than a cultural content?

A. Value s B. Languag e C. Assumptio ns D. Belief s E. Both language and assumptions are artifacts.

32. The building in which employees work:

A. often reflects the organization's culture. B. can potentially influence the organization's culture. C. is a possible artifact of organizational culture. D. reflects and influences an organization's culture. E. has little or no effect on an organization's culture. 33. A strong corporate culture potentially increases organizational performance by:

A. helping employees across all subunits understand and embrace the dominant values. B. ensuring that employees mindlessly perform their work in an obedient manner. C. ensuring that no one holds countercultural values. D. ensuring that employees do not adopt new and unapproved values. E. doing all of these things. 34. An organization's culture is deemed to be strong if:

A. it is intense but shortlived. B. it is deeply held by most employees across the organization. C. its values that are believed only by top management. D. it is held by only a few key people but are well known to most people in the organization. E. it consist of many values rather than only a few values.

35. Organizational culture does which of the following?

A. It is a powerful form of social control that influences employee decisions and behaviour. B. It is the social glue that bonds employees together and makes them feel part of the organization. C. It assists the sense-making process D. It does all of these things. E. It has no effect on employees. 36. Organizational culture serves what purpose in organizations?

A. It is a deeply embedded form of social control. B. It bonds employees together and makes them feel part of the organizational experience. C. It helps employees to understand organizational events. D. It does all of these things. E. It does none of these things. 37. Companies with strong organizational cultures are more effective than companies with weak cultures:

A. because such organizations do not have subcultures. B. if the cultural values emphasize customer service rather than cost efficiency. C. if their cultural values are compatible with the organization's external environment. D. if there is high turnover among production employees. E. never; companies with weak cultures are almost always more effective than those with strong cultures.

38. Which of these statements about the strength of organizational culture and organizational performance is TRUE?

A. Organizations with stronger cultures tend to perform better than those with weak cultures when that organization's culture content is aligned with its external environment. B. There is no relationship between an organization's cultural strength and its performance. C. Organizations with stronger cultures tend to perform better only when they acquire other organizations with distinct cultures. D. Organizations with stronger cultures almost always perform poorly compared to those with weak cultures. E. Organizations with stronger cultures perform poorly if they have subcultures. 39. What tends to happen when an organization's culture is misaligned with its external environment?

A. The corporate culture gets stronger. B. The organization's subcultures weaken. C. The organization has more difficulty anticipating and responding to stakeholder needs. D. The organization is unable to develop subcultures. E. All of these occur. 40. According to your text, why do corporate cults undermine organizational effectiveness?

A. They lock decision makers into mental models that prevent them from seeing new opportunities and unique problems. B. They manipulate organizational members. C. They create organizations where unethical behaviour is tolerated. D. They prevent subcultures from existing within the organization. E. All of these occur.

41. As an organization's culture becomes very strong, it:

A. becomes more misaligned with its external environment. B. becomes more effective in the marketplace. C. makes employees less committed to the organization. D. causes various subcultures in the organization to also become stronger. E. tends to suppress dissenting subcultural values. 42. Organizations with an adaptive corporate culture:

A. are unlikely to survive in the long run. B. has a strong learning orientation. C. tend to be less ethical than organizations with non-adaptive cultures. D. have no artifacts to keep their culture in place. E. are focused inward to employee needs. 43. Which of the following is a characteristic of an adaptive corporate culture?

A. Employees hold a common mental model that the organization's success depends on their personal well-being. B. Employees engage in continuous improvement of internal processes to serve external stakeholders. C. Employees wait for opportunities to arrive. D. Employees tend to take the view that any activity beyond their job description is not their job. E. All of these are characteristic of adaptive cultures.

44. Employees at SuperTech Services seek out opportunities rather than wait for them to arrive. They also have a strong sense of responsibility for the organization's performance. SuperTech likely has:

A. a weak organizational culture. B. a strong counterculture. C. relatively few artifacts representing the organization's culture. D. a culture that is misaligned with its external environment. E. an adaptive culture. 45. If an organization has an adaptive culture, it likely has:

A. employees with a strong sense of ownership over the company's success. B. a culture that emphasizes dozens of values at the same time. C. an external focus on the needs of customers and other stakeholders. D. all of these are characteristics of adaptive cultures. E. employees with a strong sense of ownership AND an external focus on stakeholder needs. 46. Most employees at United FiberTech support the idea that the company's success depends on their willingness to continually change and improve customer service. United FiberTech probably has:

A. an adaptive culture. B. many countercultures. C. more subcultures than employees. D. a market-driven culture. E. no corporate culture.

47. What is the relationship between organizational culture and business ethics?

A. Companies with a strong organizational culture are more likely to have employees with higher ethical standards of behaviour. B. When companies have a weak organizational culture, employees are more likely to rely on their ethical values to make decisions. C. An organization's culture may strengthen ethical values. D. Organizational culture can be a source of ethical problems. E. An organization's culture may strengthen ethical values AND can be a source of ethical problems. 48. One of the first steps one should take before a merger in order to minimize cultural clashes is to:

A. significantly reduce the strength of the culture in both organizations. B. conduct a bicultural audit. C. significantly increase the strength of the culture in both organizations. D. replace the chief executives in both organizations before merger negotiations begin. E. conduct a bicultural audit AND significantly reduce the strength of the culture in both organizations. 49. The main purpose of a bicultural audit is to:

A. determine whether your company's organizational culture is sufficiently strong. B. estimate the number of dominant and subcultural values that exist in an organization. C. find out whether people from different countries have the same corporate cultures. D. identify and diagnose differences in the corporate cultures of merging organizations. E. teach new employees the organization's dominant cultural values.

50. In a merger, the process of diagnosing cultural relations between the companies and determining the extent to which cultural clashes will likely occur is called:

A. organizational socialization. B. a multicultural a...