Test 6 organisation culture

ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE IN BUSINESS

1 Employees in country U tend to prefer working for bureaucratic businesses.
They expect there to be a large number of powerful managers who will provide guidance
on a day-today basis.
Which of the following traits, as identified by Hofstede, are these staff members
displaying?

A Masculinity
B Low power-distance
C Collectivism
D High uncertainty avoidance (2 marks)

2 Which writer on culture argued that the first leaders of a company create the culture
and that it is essential that leaders understand the culture of an organisation?

A Handy
B Hofstede
C Mullins
D Schein (2 marks)

3 Which of the four cultural types identified by Handy is often associated with the matrix
structure?

A Power
B Role
C Task
D Person (2 marks)

4 Which of the following statements is/are correct?

(i) Within a formal organisation an informal organisation will be present.

(ii) The informal organisation can either enhance or hold back the business.

A (i) only
B (ii) only
C Both
D Neither (2 marks)
5 If managers choose to work with the informal groups within their department which of
the following is likely?

A Lower levels of motivation and productivity

B Higher levels of motivation and productivity
C A reduction in the perceived authority of the managers
D A tendency for employees to attach less weight to formal forms of communication
(2 marks)

6 BZ Ness Ltd is an organisation with a strongly traditional outlook.

It is structured and managed according to classical principles: specialisation, the scalar
chain of command, unity of command and direction.
Personnel tend to focus on their own distinct tasks, which are strictly defined and
directed.
Communication is vertical, rather than lateral. Discipline is much prized and enshrined in
the rule book of the company.

From the scenario, what sort of culture does BZ Ness Ltd have, using Harrisons
classifications?

A Role culture
B Task culture
C Existential culture
D Power culture (2 marks)

7 Which of the following statements is true?

A Strong values improve corporate performance

B Strong values can replace rules and controls in an organisation
C Strong values minimise conflict within an organisation
D Strong values are dangerous if they filter out uncomfortable environmental information
(2 marks)

8 Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of
one ........................................ from another.

Which word or phrase most accurately completes the definition.

A Nation
B Category of people
C Social class (1 mark)
9 Which of the following is not one of the terms used by Hofstede to describe a key
dimension of culture?

A Power-distance
B Acquisitive/giving
C Individualism/collectivism
D Uncertainty avoidance (2 marks)

10 Which is the deepest set of underlying factors which determine culture, and the
hardest to manage?

A Values
B Rituals
C Assumptions (1 mark)

11 Who defined organisational culture as the set of shared, taken-for-granted implicit

assumptions that a group holds and that determines how it perceives, thinks about and
reacts to its environment.

A Maslow
B Schein
C Porter
D Mintzberg (2 marks)

12 Research has indicated that workers in country A display characteristics such as

toughness and the desire for material wealth and possessions, while workers in country
B value personal relationships, belonging and the quality of life.

According to Hofstedes theory, these distinctions relate to which of the following

cultural dimensions?

A Masculinity femininity
B Power distance
C Individualism collectivism
D Uncertainty avoidance (2 marks)
13 The research and development (R & D) function of a business:

(i) is primarily concerned with market research

(ii) can improve existing products as well as developing completely new products
(iii) has been less important for firms manufacturing computers to meet an industry
standard than for those firms developing the next generation of computers
(iv) is always undertaken under contract by specialist external consultancies

Which of the above statements are correct?

A (i) and (ii) only

B (ii) and (iii) only
C (i), (iii) and (iv) only
D (ii) and (iv) only (2 marks)

14 Services have certain qualities which distinguish them from products.

Because of their ........................................ , physical elements such as vouchers, tickets,
confirmations and merchandise are an important part of service provision.

Which of the following words most accurately completes the sentence?

A Intangibility
B Inseparability
C Variability
D Perishability (2 marks)

15 U Ltd produces a portfolio of products and focuses its efforts and resources on
persuading customers to buy them.

This is an example of which type of orientation?

A Production
B Sales
C Marketing (1 mark)

16 Which of the following is/are objectives of human resource management?

1 To meet the organisations social and legal responsibilities relating to the human
resource.
2 To manage an organisations relationship with its customers
3 To develop human resources that will respond effectively to change.

A 1 and 2
B 1 and 3
C1
D 1, 2 and 3 (2 marks)
17 Jeff, Jane and Jaitinder work in different departments in the firm XYZ Co.
They are members of the permanent staff committee which meets on a monthly basis to
discuss staff issues such as pensions and benefits.
Their purpose is to listen to communication from staff within their department and raise
issues on behalf of their department at committee meetings.

What is the name given to this type of committee?

A Joint committee
B Task force
C Standing committee (1 mark)

18 Josh, Joanne, Ed, and Sue all work for D Co.

Josh works in the finance department.
Joanne works in the human resources department.
Ed is Sues line manager in the purchasing department.

Which one of the staff members would be involved with payroll administration?

A Josh
B Joanne
C Ed
D Sue (2 marks)

19 Managers Jill and Paul are talking about how to resolve a business problem.
Jill suggests that a committee should be formed to discuss the issues.
Paul argues that committees are:

(i) time-consuming and expensive

(ii) they invite a compromise instead of a clear-cut decision.

Which of these statements is true?

A Both (i) and (ii)

B (i) only
C (ii) only
D Neither statement is true (2 marks)
20 Diane carries out routine processing of invoices in the purchasing department of L
Co. Joanne is Diane's supervisor.
Lesley is trying to decide how many staff will be needed if some proposed new
technology is implemented.
Tracey is considering the new work that L Co will be able to offer and the new markets it
could enter, once the new technology is well established.

Which member of L Co carries out tactical activities?

A Diane
B Joanne
C Lesley
D Tracey (2 marks)

21 Mr Q is manager of a division which is undergoing a business downturn.

He tries to shelter the workforce from the effects of downsizing: taking time for
consultation, organising counselling and refusing to institute compulsory redundancies.

Which one of the following cultural types identified in the Hofstede model is this
manager most likely to represent?

A Low power-distance
B Low masculinity
C Low uncertainty avoidance
D High individuality (2 marks)

22 Which of the following would not be an objective of stakeholder management in

relation to major suppliers?

A Continuity of supply
B Mutual dependency
C Information sharing (1 mark)

23 Janet works for a toy company called K Co.

She telephones Mary at P Co on a daily basis to order parts.
Janet has no contact with customers but does deal with complaint letters from D Group,
an organization against slave labour.
D Group believe that K Co use slave labour in the toy manufacturing factories.

Which of the following are internal stakeholders of K Co?

A Janet only
B Janet and Mary at P Co
C Janet and D Group
D Janet, Mary and D Group (2 marks)
24 Josina has been appointed Chair of a remuneration committee.

She is responsible for which one of the following duties?

A Fixing the date and time of the next meeting

B Giving a ruling on matters in dispute
C Taking notes during the meeting (1 mark)

25 Ali is responsible for preparing and issuing documents prior to a meeting, then acting
on and communicating decisions following the meeting.

What is his role?

A Committee secretary
B Committee member
C Committee Chair (1 mark)