Deck 18: Environment, power, and Culture

Question 1

What aspect(s)of internal context are important in situations of chronic goal conflict?

A)Formal authority
B)Formal controls
C)Contracts
D)Power and culture
E)Exclusive dealings

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following is least true with regard to presidential power?

A)Presidential power is the ability to influence the people who make and implement government policies
B)Presidential power only consists of the president taking direct action on some front
C)The bargaining advantage that comes with the presidential office enables the president to persuade others to work in his interest
D)A source of presidential power is professional reputation, which comprises the expectations of professional politicians, bureaucrats, and others in the political community regarding the president's power and his willingness to use it
E)The president's prestige among the public is a source of presidential power

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What is the source from which a person derives legitimate or formal power?

A)Due to status
B)Possession of specialized knowledge
C)Ability to punish
D)Ability to grant rewards
E)Position within a hierarchy

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Which of the following was not one of the power bases that Francis "Jack" Reith used to push the development of the 1957 Ford Mercury?

A)He was a dynamic and charismatic leader
B)He was intelligent and effective at persuading others
C)He had a track record of success
D)He had position power
E)He threatened punishment to anyone who opposed the idea

Question 5

Which of the following statements is least true regarding how culture can serve as a control within organizations?

A)Culture controls the activities of employees on the basis of monitoring rather than firm attachment
B)Individuals who value belonging to the culture will align their individual goals and behaviors to those of the firm
C)The efficiency of culture as a control can be attributed in part to individuals controlling themselves
D)The efficiency of culture as a control can be attributed in part to monitoring costs being reduced
E)The efficiency of culture as a control can be attributed in part to opportunism being held to a minimum

Question 6

Which of the following statements is least true regarding the accumulation of power?

A)The accumulation of power is helpful when there are high agency costs in coordinating among managers and lower-level workers
B)The accumulation of power is helpful when the firm's environment is relatively stable
C)The accumulation of power is harmful when there are high agency costs in coordinating among levels of upper management
D)The accumulation of power is harmful when the firm's environment is relatively unstable
E)The major purpose of corporate governance is not to reign in the accumulation of power by CEOs

Question 7

Which of the following terms best describes an individual actor's ability to accomplish his or her goals by using resources obtained through noncontractual exchange relationships?

A)Power
B)Authority
C)Culture
D)Influence
E)Contracts

Question 8

Which of the following statements is least true regarding the conditions John Barney identifies under which culture can be a source of sustained competitive advantage?

A)Culture should be imitable
B)Culture must be valuable for the firm
C)If culture is common to most firms in the market, so that it reflects the influence of the national or regional culture, then it is unlikely to lead to a relative competitive advantage
D)If factors of a firm's culture are easy to copy, other firms will begin to do so, which will nullify any advantage for the firm where the culture first developed
E)Something about the firm's culture and values must be linked to the value the firm creates for customers

Question 9

What term best describes exchanges of goods,services,or promises on terms that take place outside of traditional economic markets and are not enforceable in court?

A)Handshake agreement
B)Noncontractual exchange relationship
C)Internal context
D)External context
E)Exclusive dealing

Question 10

What does Andrew Pettigrew identify to be the key issue that plagued Imperial Chemical Industries that stymied the organizational adaptation that was necessary to keep it successful in the 1970s?

A)Contracts
B)Cultural inertia
C)Pricing
D)Entry-deterring behaviors
E)Employment practices

Question 11

What term does Ronald Burt use to describe relationships in social networks in which one actor is the critical link between individuals or entire groups of actors?

A)Mavens
B)Nodes
C)Structural holes
D)Tertius gaudens
E)Brokers

Question 12

What does Chester Barnard mean when he uses the term zone of indifference?

A)The set of issues over which the powerful individual with formal authority usually prevails
B)The set of issues over which the powerful individual with reputation usually prevails
C)The set of issues over which the powerful individual with knowledge usually prevails
D)The set of issues over which the powerful individual with influence usually prevails
E)The set of issues over which the powerful individual with image usually prevails

Question 13

What does Gary Miller identify as the focus for actors around which a consensus can form within an organization?

A)Contracts
B)Incentives
C)Formal controls
D)Norms and Social conventions (culture)
E)Exclusive deals

Question 14

Which of the following terms best describes ability that stems from the explicit contractual decision-making and dispute-resolution rights that a firm (or some other source)grants to an individual?

A)Power
B)Authority
C)Culture
D)Influence
E)Contracts

Question 15

What term does Ronald Burt use to describe a valued relationship between two unconnected parties with a strategy involving spanning a structural hole and bargaining with parties on either side for the most favorable terms?

A)Mavens
B)Nodes
C)Second who benefits
D)Tertius gaudens
E)Brokers

Question 16

Which of the following terms best refers to the exercise or use of power in a given situation by an individual?

A)Control
B)Authority
C)Culture
D)Influence
E)Contracts

Question 17

What term best describes a set of values,beliefs,and norms of behavior shared by a firm's members that influence employee preferences and behaviors?

A)Codes
B)Routines
C)Culture
D)Influence
E)Mind-sets

Question 18

Which of the following statements is least true regarding institutions?

A)Institutions can involve formal regulation of firms by governmental agencies
B)Institutions can involve formal regulation of firms by nongovernmental regulatory organizations
C)Institutions can be less formal and involve ongoing power/dependence relationships between firms
D)Institutional arrangements may embody general patterns of values, beliefs, ad behavioral norms that motivate and stabilize affected firms
E)None of the above

Question 19

Which of the following is an example of informal regulations with respect to a firm's social context?

A)Contracting
B)Employment practices
C)Pricing
D)Entry-deterring behaviors
E)Cultural norms

Question 20

Which of the following terms best describes a transfer between two or more parties or resources,or rights to control resources,which occurs outside the terms of a market context?

A)Power exchange
B)Social exchange
C)Authority exchange
D)Knowledge exchange
E)Formal exchanges

Question 21

What technique did Google use to preserve its "evil-free" culture when going public with an initial public offering in 2004?

A)Used an IPO underwriter
B)Allow clients to purchase underpriced IPO shares
C)Used a "Dutch auction"
D)Committed to sell a certain number of shares at a set price
E)Drastically underpriced its shares (by 200%)

Question 22

Which of the following is not a way firms suffering from dependence relationships can take action to reduce their dependence on buyers or suppliers?

A)Vertical integration
B)Using a monopolist buyer/supplier
C)Long-term contracting
D)Joint ventures
E)Alliances

Question 23

What term best refers to interrelated beliefs,values,material practices,and norms of behavior that exist in an industry at any given time?

A)Institutional elements
B)Institutional standards
C)Institutional influences
D)Institutional logics
E)Institutional ideas

Question 24

Which of the following statements is least true regarding the costs that regulation imposes on firms?

A)Regulation costs include lower prices for goods that consumers pay
B)Regulation costs include costs of compliance
C)Regulation costs include increased business costs due to noncompliance
D)Regulation costs include the costs of strategic options that must be forgone because of regulations
E)Regulation costs include potential distortions to a market that may result from the imperfections of a given regulatory regime

Question 25

Which of the following is most true regarding the strategic value of institutional logics?

A)When institutional logics are stable, they have the most strategic importance
B)Institutional logics are coveted by firms (not taken for granted)
C)If firms share an institutional logic, the logic provides a basis for relative advantage among firms
D)Institutional logics are valuable because they raise the costs for firms adapting to their environments
E)Competitive advantage must come on some other dimension than institutional logic if firms share that institutional logic