Tutorial work - 2 - Organisational culture quiz PDF

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Organisational culture quiz...

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LUBS1850 Organisational Behaviour

2015-16

OB Quiz (w/c 22/02/16) Seminar 10 Organisational Culture multiple response question 1) According to management theorists, what is organizational culture? Please select all that apply. Feedback: There are many definitions and understandings of organizational culture. The particular interpretations and understandings of what organizational culture is depend on the assumptions of the theorist, and if they see it as a tool for management to control, or a social process that is more in line with something the organization is. Page reference: 198 *a. The collective programming of the mind *b. Basic assumptions and shared beliefs of organizational members c. The manner in which an organization relates to the national culture *d. How we do things around here

multiple response question 2) Why, according to management theorists, does having the right organizational culture increase productivity? Please select all that apply. Feedback: Management theorists make numerous claims for organizational culture as a tool which increases productivity. They state that it increases workers’ sense of purpose, commitment, and through that morale. Deal and Kennedy (1982, 15) argue that it can actually increase productivity by the equivalent of two hours a day. Page reference: 200 *a. Increase commitment *b. Create a shared sense of purpose c. Makes work places more fun *d. Increases morale

matching question 1

LUBS1850 Organisational Behaviour

2015-16

3) Deal and Kennedy’s typology: Link the description of the culture with the titles. Feedback: Deal and Kennedy (1982) argue there are four main cultural types. These cultures are a product of the speed of feedback and the degree of risk. Organizations which have rapid feedback produce highly driven cultures as they produce rapid responses between the actions and any outcome. High risk cultures mean that the stakes are high, meaning that decisions are far more critical. It is important, they argue, to match the culture to the environment. Page reference: 203-204 a. Work hard/play hard culture = Fun, hard-working, action driven with a focus on the customer which requires high energy levels. b. Tough-guy macho culture = Has quick decision making, high stakes decision making, full of highly driven individualistic people who are very competitive. c. Process culture = Everyone follows the rules in this very bureaucratic culture. Often it takes years to discover if a decision is correct. d. Bet-your-company culture = High risk decisions which take years to know the outcome. It requires a lot of technical expertise and diligence.

matching question 4) Edgar Schein’s cultural iceberg: Link the descriptions of the levels of Edger Schein’s cultural iceberg with their title. Feedback: Edger Schein’s (2010) theory of culture is often presented as an iceberg. At the top are the physical artifacts, such as the language, technology, clothing, buildings, and emotional display. The next layer (under the water) is the espoused beliefs and values of the organization; these are what people say, in particular the official accounts like mission statements. Right at the bottom are the basic underlying assumptions, which are the values that guide behaviour. These are far harder to access but are also more significant. Page reference: 207-208 a. Artifacts = Include the physical environment, the language, technology, clothing, and myths and stories. They are visible but hard to decipher. They can be fairly easy to change but remain superficial. b. Espoused beliefs and values = These are what people say about the organization, for instance in mission statements. They provide an awareness of the shared (conscious) assumptions. Leaders can use this level to train new members how to behave. c. Basic underlying beliefs = These are the values that are shared, which guide the organizations members but they are not really aware of. They remain largely unconscious. They are the hardest to change but are arguably the most important. 2

LUBS1850 Organisational Behaviour

2015-16

multiple response question 5) Which of the following are ways Edgar Schein argues that leaders impact the culture? Please select all that apply. Feedback: Schein (2010) argues that the leader has a powerful position in the organization and can impact their followers through a wide variety of tools and techniques. A number of them are subtle and indirect, and are not necessarily through direct mechanisms but are through the behaviour and actions that the leader exhibits. Page reference: 212 *a. What the leader pays attention to *b. How the leader recruits, selects, and promotes people c. How the leader formally writes down the culture and tells the staff *d. How the leader reacts to critical incidents and organizational crisis

fill-in-blank 6) Mission statements are tools that senior managers can use to change the espoused _____ of the organizational members. Feedback: One of the central arguments that management theorists make is that organizational culture does not simply change the actions and behaviour of the followers but their beliefs as well. Cultural change is therefore about changing the outlook and values. Mission statements are said to be one of the tools that they can use to achieve this. Page reference: 216 a. beliefs

multiple response question 7) Jokes and stories offer a powerful way to communicate values and hidden rules in the organization because: Please select all that apply. 3

LUBS1850 Organisational Behaviour

2015-16

Feedback: Jokes and stories enable organizational leaders and their members to communicate hidden values and messages of how to behave. Both leaders and organizational members can use them, which they often do unconsciously, but they do not have the power to shape how they are interpreted. Therefore whilst a leader might intend a story to carry a particular message they can reinterpreted by others to carry different meanings. Page reference: 220-222 *a. Through them you can communicate things that would not be seen as acceptable otherwise *b. They can be used to transmit values, particularly in ways that people can remember c. They are something that management can use and put across their message in a way that staff cannot misinterpret d. They are a cost effective form of communication

true-false 8) According to Raelin (1986), professionals are likely to be highly loyal to their company over their profession. *b. False Feedback: Raelin argues that professionals are likely to be more loyal to their profession than the organization they work for. This is because they are committed to the aims of the profession. This can mean that they are in conflict with management because they want to advise their profession rather than the organization Page reference: 225

fill-in-blank 09) According to Linda Smircich (1983), the view which sees culture as something the organization ___, which sees culture as something that is owned and designed by the top management and available for manipulation. 4

LUBS1850 Organisational Behaviour

2015-16

Feedback: Smircich argues that there are two key views of culture, something that the organization has, which sees culture as something that is owned and designed by the top management that they can manipulate, and something the organization is, which is more like a social process and out of the control of any one individual or group. The latter view is more drawn from anthropology and, Smircich argues, provides a richer view of culture. Page reference: 226 a. has

true-false 10) From the critical perspective of Hugh Willmott (1993) organizational culture is a way of enhancing employees’ freedom. *b. False Feedback: Willmott sees organizational culture as a stronger form of control, governing employees’ souls. He states that organizational members can lose their critical facilitaties, meaning that they will accept things that are not in their best interest. However, not all critical theorists see culture this way. They argue that Willmott overestimates the power of management to influence employees, and in fact often they are more aware and able to resist attempts by management to impose culture. Page reference: 227

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