Deck 9: Internal Relations and Employee Communication

Question 1

You are the public relations practitioner charged with encouraging all organizational employees to participate in the company's recycling program.To do this, you create a campaign slogan: "Recycle for us; recycle for Earth." This slogan is likely to resonate in what type of organizational culture?

A)High Masculinity - Because men tend to recycle more than women
B)Low Masculinity - Because this kind of culture rewards nurturing and cooperation
C)High Individualism - Because you need specific individuals to engage in the desired behavior of recycling
D)Low Individualism - Because the slogan is appealing to the collective "us" and "the Earth"
E)Both B and D are organizational cultures in which this slogan would resonate

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Some who study it define organizational culture as:

A)How supportive the organization is of the visual and performing arts
B)The morale and general optimism of those who work in the organization
C)Documentation of how well managers and employees get along
D)The shared meanings, common values, and norms of group members
E)How interconnected and networked the internal publics are

Answer 2

D

Question 3

According to the text, organizational publications offer many advantages.Which of the following is NOT one of these?

A)They provide information to employees who don't use computers at work.
B)They are versatile and can deliver specific and detailed information to narrowly defined target publics.
C)They give sponsoring organizations a means of uncontrolled communication.
D)They let the company go on record with its positions on specific issues.
E)They offer a two-way communication channel.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of an authoritarian organizational culture?

A)Innovation is encouraged and rewarded
B)Communication processes are structured and formalized
C)Individuals are held accountable for a limited area of responsibility
D)Tasks are routinized, and there is high division of labor
E)Communication tends to be top-down

Question 5

Employee communication has several purposes.Which one of the following purposes serves to help employees "understand and internalize the organization's culture and values"?

A)Acculturating employees
B)Envisioning employees
C)Informing employees
D)Listening to employees
E)Connecting employees

Question 6

What is the difference between a company's intranet and the Internet?

A)Internet sites can be hacked into, but intranet sites are safe.
B)People's Internet use can be monitored, but intranet use is impossible to monitor.
C)People can access email using the Internet, but not using company intranets.
D)The Internet is publicly accessible, but company intranets are accessible only to employees.
E)None of the above is correct; the Internet and a company's intranet are exactly the same thing.

Question 7

Organizations that function as open systems receive input from the environment and often change as a result of that input.This situation represents which of the following organizational worldviews and cultures?

A)Asymmetrical worldview and participative organizational culture
B)Asymmetrical worldview and authoritarian organizational culture
C)Symmetrical worldview and authoritarian organizational culture
D)Symmetrical worldview and participative organizational culture
E)None of the above

Question 8

Which one of the following typically fills information gaps left by an inadequate internal communication program?

A)The "grapevine"
B)Speeches/speakers' bureaus
C)Video, film, and slide presentations
D)Meetings
E)Teleconferencing

Question 9

Employee communication happens in specific business and regulatory contexts.As public relations director for Groceries R Us, you must do which of the following in the United States?

A)Pay for your employees to take night classes to enhance their education
B)Hang posters listing worker safety standards from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
C)Provide full health, dental, and vision benefits
D)Require your CEO to blog on the company's website
E)Give all employees access to email

Question 10

Which one of the following is typically NOT a goal of employee publications?

A)Informing employees about the organization's strategy and goals
B)Providing employees information they need to perform their assignments
C)Encouraging employees to maintain and enhance the organization's standards
D)Providing a direct vehicle for employee "whistle-blowers" to report abuses
E)Recognizing employees' achievements and successes

Question 11

Two factors have enhanced management's respect for employee communication in public relations: One is the value associated with building employee understanding, teamwork, and commitment in achieving bottom-line results.What is the other?

A)Public relations' expanded role in directly achieving bottom-line results
B)The need for a strong management communication network and to hold supervisors accountable for effective employee communication
C)Advances in technology require greater skill to carry out the employee communication function
D)Employee disloyalty costs American businesses $150 billion a year
E)Public relations has the coordination and mediation necessary for dealing with employees

Question 12

Which one of the following represents the situation in multinational corporations in which managers and employees are from different cultures and thus must be oriented simultaneously toward each other and toward aspects of each other's culture?

A)Downward communication
B)Upward communication
C)Co-acculturation
D)Global accuracy
E)Integrated communication

Question 13

An organization holding which one of the following "worldviews" tends to retain decision-making power and only reluctantly incorporates public input or makes internal changes?

A)Symmetrical
B)Asymmetrical
C)Co-acculturation
D)Co-orientational
E)Culture of internal excellence

Question 14

Which of the following dimensions of culture is likely to affect the relationship between supervisors and employees, a concern of internal communication?

A)Masculinity - Because most public relations practitioners today are women
B)Confucian dynamic - Because supervisors are like teachers, and Confucius was the best teacher in non-Western history
C)Power-distance - Because this dimension deals with equality and hierarchy in interpersonal relationships
D)Uncertainty avoidance - Because internal communication is designed to reduce the uncertainty that employees feel about their jobs
E)Individualism - Because public relations practitioners deal with employees who are individual stakeholders, not an organizational public

Question 15

An organization's most important relationships are those with:

A)Customers and other consumers
B)Investors and analysts
C)Neighbors and the larger community
D)Government regulators and inspectors
E)Employees and their supervisors

Question 16

Which one of the following represents the most common form of periodical publication?

A)Letters
B)Newsletters
C)Bulletin boards
D)Reprinted speeches and position papers
E)Inserts and enclosures

Question 17

Surveys of employees often find which one of the following is the "preferred source" of information?

A)The "grapevine"
B)The organization's website
C)The weekly employee publication
D)The chief executive officer
E)The immediate supervisor

Question 18

When organizational culture is participative, companies "listen" to their employees' questions and concerns.Which of the following listening methods can protect the identity of employees by allowing them to communicate anonymously?

A)Third-party call centers
B)Videoconferencing
C)Personalized emails
D)Face-to-face meetings
E)Ombudsman

Question 19

Organizational mission statements accomplish which of the following?

A)They offer a standard format for reporting the missions of top-performing organizations.
B)They summarize the policies of the organization that employees must follow.
C)They deliver specific and detailed information to target publics.
D)They help employees set priorities and goals related to the company's mission.
E)They spell out the organization's future goal and strategy.

Question 20

When surveyed, the majority of employees give their organizations high marks on which one of the following?

A)Credibility
B)Manageability
C)Use of the grapevine
D)Downward communication
E)Upward communication