Exam 4: The External Environment

Explain the differences between acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, and partnerships.

List and describe each of the task environment sectors.

The greatest uncertainty for an organization occurs in which environment?

Distinguish between complexity and instability in an organization's environment.

The complex-stable dimension concerns environmental complexity, which refers to heterogeneity, or the number and dissimilarity of external elements relevant to an organization's operations.

As the complexity in the external environment increases, so does the number of positions and departments within the organization, which in turn increases internal complexity.

Which of the following is a cross-functional group of managers and employees, led by a competitive intelligence professional, who work together to gain a deep understanding of a specific business issue?

As environmental uncertainty increases, organizations tend to become more mechanistic.

Bobby Barista is a researcher in the R&D department at 3M. Part of her job is to read technical and scientific journals, and to attend conferences to find out what new developments are occurring. When she is doing this part of her job she is carrying out a ____ role.

Assessment of environmental uncertainty of an organization is based primarily on analysis of two dimensions which are:

____ result in the creation of a new organization that is formally independent of the parents.

In addition to establishing favorable linkages to obtain resources, organizations also may try to change the environment.

The general environment includes sectors with which the organization interacts directly and which have a direct and regular impact on the organization's ability to achieve its goals.

What methods are suggested for dealing effectively with resource dependence?

What type of environment would Tommy Hilfiger have on the stable-unstable dimension? Explain and defend. Then use Tommy Hilfiger as an example for illustrating proper adaptation to that dimension of the environment.

Which of the following occurs when leaders from important sectors in the environment are made part of an organization?

The general environment includes those sectors that might not have a direct impact on the daily operations of a firm but will indirectly influence it.

Organizations in rapidly changing environments tend to have ____ management processes.

In rapidly changing environments, an organic structure is usually better.

When differentiation is high, integration should be high if the level of environmental uncertainty is high.