Deck 3: The Management Environment

Question 1

A common myth is that organizations can be too big to fail.

Answer 1

True
Explanation: Many people believe that large companies that dominate their industries don't require outstanding management. They are, in fact, often described as "too big to fail."

Question 2

The quarterback of a football team assumes a largely symbolic role for his team because his performance largely determines the outcome of the game.

Answer 2

False
Explanation: Since a quarterback's performance is critical, he is assuming an omnipotent role.

Question 3

Experts now agree that the role of government in the U.S. economy will be greatly diminished in the years to come.

Answer 3

False
Explanation: If anything, the opposite is true. Experts see a more active role for government in the U.S. economy in the years to come.

Question 4

Organizational consistency is one of the foundations of long-term success.

Question 5

Organizational traditions should not be followed if they don't fit with the current demands of customers and shareholders.

Question 6

The omnipotent view of management holds that good managerial decisions result in an organization's success.

Question 7

The U.S. housing market been identified as a major cause of the economic meltdown that began in 2008.

Question 8

Experts believe that in the future, income disparity between countries and individual wage earners will be eliminated.

Question 9

The sociocultural component of the external environment of an organization includes trends and traditions, but not basic attitudes and values.

Question 10

A major cause of the shutdown of a BMW assembly plant in South Carolina in 2010 was a bank crisis in Iceland.

Question 11

According to a recent poll, 50 percent of adults feel that economic inequality is not a problem.

Question 12

The overall trend toward globalization is part of the political component of an organization's external environment.

Question 13

The symbolic view of management holds that an organization's performance is based solely on the decisions of managers.

Question 14

The components of an organization's external environment include a technological component and a political component.

Question 15

The external environment of an organization includes factors and forces that can affect how the organization operates.

Question 16

The capitalistic system that the United States uses is thought to be perfect by most economists.

Question 17

Problems in the U.S. economy have affected economic systems around the world.

Question 18

Prior to the recent recession that began in 2008, many businesses became highly leveraged, which is another term for a company with a high debt-to-assets ratio.

Question 19

According to the omnipotent view of management, American managers would not be blamed for the economic meltdown of 2008.

Question 20

High interest rates have been identified as a major cause of the economic meltdown that began in 2008.

Question 21

Strong organizational culture can eliminate the need for rules and bylaws.

Question 22

Technology has changed the way managers manage by forcing them to keep track of employees in remote locations at all times of the day and night.

Question 23

A good manager considers the interests of all stakeholders equally when making an important decision.

Question 24

Given a choice, managers would prefer to operate in an environment that has a minimum of uncertainty.

Question 25

Employees learn organizational culture by reading official organization documents and histories.

Question 26

Corporate rituals are repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce important organizational values and goals.

Question 27

The age of a population is one of its most important demographics.

Question 28

Strong cultures make a manager's job easy because all organizational policies, practices, and traditions are provided in writing for easy reference.

Question 29

A company's organizational culture refers to a system of shared political beliefs.

Question 30

The cell phone industry faces a stable business environment.

Question 31

Gen Xers are generally the children of the Baby Boomers.

Question 32

Environmental complexity refers to the number of components that an organization must deal with.

Question 33

The business world cannot count on regulation to reform the economy.

Question 34

Using special language and unique terms to describe things is part of how culture is communicated.

Question 35

Having a strong culture can allow an organization to avoid any worry about ethics violations.

Question 36

The phrase "demographics is destiny" refers to the idea that older nations get tired, which causes their performance to slip.

Question 37

How employees dress has nothing to do with an organization's culture.

Question 38

An industry with a dynamic business environment that is also highly complex faces the maximum amount of environmental uncertainty.

Question 39

The age of a population is one of its most important demographics.

Question 40

An organization's founder has little influence on its culture.

Question 41

Which kind of company would be less likely to fire its CEO after a poor performance?

A) a company with a symbolic view of management
B) a company with a realistic view of management
C) a company with an external view of management
D) a company with an omnipotent view of management

Question 42

Which of the following identifies an outcome of the recent economic crisis of 2008?

A) fewer business regulation
B) increased business regulations
C) no business regulations
D) voluntary business regulations

Question 43

Which event triggered the recent recession that began in 2008?

A) Consumers were unwilling to purchase electronic equipment.
B) Businesses were unable to make loan payments.
C) Homeowners were unable to make mortgage payments.
D) Renters were unable to find available housing.

Question 44

In a ready-fire-aim culture, managers will endlessly analyze a situation before taking action.

Question 45

What did the effect of a volcanic eruption in Iceland on production of Nissans in a plant in Japan illustrate?

A) how much organizations depend on their banks
B) how much organizations depend on their external environment
C) how much organizations depend on corporate culture
D) how much organizations depend on a strong brand image

Question 46

In the U.S. the gap between the rich and poor is ________.

A) decreasing
B) accepted
C) hidden
D) increasingly tolerated

Question 47

Organizational culture largely determines how much risk members of an organization will take.

Question 48

A ban on gay marriage is an example of a change in which components of an organization's external environment?

A) political/legal and technological
B) economic and demographic
C) sociocultural and global
D) sociocultural and political/legal

Question 49

Which of the following has been identified as a significant risk to business leaders in the next decade?

A) stagnation in technology
B) income disparity
C) declining birth rates
D) political instability

Question 50

Which components of the external environment of the BMW plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina were disrupted by the volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland?

A) the demographic and global components
B) the political and legal components
C) the economic and global components
D) the sociocultural and demographic components

Question 51

Which of the following is not involved with the demographic component of an organization's external environment?

A) values
B) gender
C) race
D) income

Question 52

Which of the following is NOT a feature of the U.S. model of capitalism in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries?

A) open markets
B) large-scale operations
C) full lifetime job security
D) corporate model of ownership and organization

Question 53

Which of the following views of management would agree with the statement that managers should not be held accountable for changing global economic conditions?

A) the geocentric view
B) the new-world order view
C) the demographic view
D) the symbolic view

Question 54

Which of the following contributed most to many companies becoming highly leveraged in the lead-up to the recent economic downturn in 2008?

A) high interest rates
B) low interest rates
C) limited liquidity
D) no liquidity

Question 55

The market crash in 2008 was largely a result of ________ the free market system.

A) newfound confidence in
B) indifference toward
C) new curiosity in
D) an erosion of trust in

Question 56

Which kind of company would you expect to pay its CEO the most?

A) a company with a symbolic view of management
B) a company with a liberal view of management
C) a company with a semipotent view of management
D) a company with an omnipotent view of management

Question 57

According to polls, which percent of adults believe that economic inequality is not a problem at all?

A) 90
B) 50
C) 30
D) 10

Question 58

What is the meaning behind the statement, "Too big to fail"?

A) Large organizations that dominate the industry can make management mistakes but still survive.
B) Small to medium organizations are not as innovative as large companies and hence not as successful.
C) Large companies are more customer responsive than small companies.
D) History has shown that large companies rarely fail.

Question 59

Which view of management describes a situation in which managers are directly responsible for a company's success or failure?

A) the structural view of management
B) the symbolic view of management
C) the omnipotent view of management
D) the realistic view of management

Question 60

Which organizational myth is not supported by the experiences of companies such as Arthur Andersen, Borders Group, Enron and Circuit City?

A) Strong organizational culture will always prevail.
B) A brilliant business plan will lead to success.
C) Customers are always right.
D) Too big to fail

Question 61

Which trend do most managers need to get used to in the coming years?

A) Most workers will be hired as permanent employees at a lower pay scale than they were in the past.
B) Many workers will be hired as consultants rather than as freelance employees.
C) Most workers will be hired as permanent employees rather than on a freelance basis.
D) Many workers will be hired on a freelance basis rather than as permanent employees.

Question 62

Which of the following best defines environmental uncertainty?

A) the amount of innovation and creativity in an organization's internal environment
B) the amount of resources and expertise in an organization's internal environment
C) the amount of change and confidence in an organization's external environment
D) the amount of change and complexity in an organization's external environment

Question 63

Which of the following best explains why increased regulations cannot be the complete solution to reforming the economy?

A) The regulators are all corrupt.
B) It is extremely difficult to write regulations.
C) There are too many transactions to keep track of.
D) There are too many regulations to keep track of.

Question 64

The greater the environmental uncertainty, the more an organization needs to become ________.

A) organic
B) mechanistic
C) stable
D) high-tech

Question 65

Which demographic do managers pay closest attention to with respect to large-scale trends in the business world?

A) age
B) sex
C) employment status
D) geographic location

Question 66

What will cause countries such as Denmark to shrink with respect to the size of their economy, relative to other nations?

A) no social safety net
B) welfare payments
C) high birth rate
D) low birth rate

Question 67

Which of the following is LEAST likely to be considered a stakeholder for a newspaper company, The Daily Recorder?

A) the paper boy who delivers the paper to customers
B) critics who claim that all newspapers are biased and dishonest
C) customers who buy the paper at newsstands
D) subscribers

Question 68

Which of the following provides the best illustration of technology transforming how managers manage in the workplace?

A) Managers oversee very large design teams.
B) Managers must supervise design teams more closely.
C) Managers oversee very large clerical and secretarial staffs.
D) Managers oversee very small clerical and secretarial staffs.

Question 69

Which of the following is an internal stakeholder for the newspaper, The Daily Recorder?

A) the editor of The Daily Sun
B) the city council
C) shareholders in The Daily Sun
D) The Daily Recorder shareholders

Question 70

Which of the following nations is likely to experience the greatest population increase in the years to come?

A) Canada
B) Spain
C) Russia
D) Nigeria

Question 71

The Daily Recorder is trying to decide whether it will fire about 200 employees if things don't change in the near future. The paper is scheduling a meeting with the 200 employees. The employees want to include their own family members at the meeting. How should the paper respond?

A) Family members are internal stakeholders, so they should have a separate meeting with the paper without the employees.
B) Family members are internal stakeholders, but they not should be allowed to attend the meeting.
C) Family members are external stakeholders, so they should be allowed to attend the meeting.
D) Family members are not stakeholders, so they should not be allowed to attend the meeting.

Question 72

Which kind of company has the lowest amount of environmental uncertainty in the environmental uncertainty matrix?

A) cell 1
B) cell 2
C) cell 3
D) cell 4

Question 73

A software company innovates constantly to keep up with new rivals that are constantly appearing on the scene. The software industry itself has an enormous number of players to deal with that includes retailers, online distributors, educational institutions, and government agencies. Where does the company belong on the uncertainty matrix?

A) cell 1
B) cell 2
C) cell 3
D) cell 4

Question 74

Which statement about the external environment and employment is true?

A) External environmental conditions improve employment during upswings and worsen employment during downturns.
B) External environmental conditions worsen employment during upswings and improve employment during downturns.
C) External environmental conditions have no effect on employment during upswings and worsen employment during downturns.
D) External environmental conditions worsen employment during upswings and have no effect on employment during downturns.

Question 75

Which of the following identifies the best illustration of the phrase "demographics is destiny"?

A) India is experiencing explosive growth partly because its population is growing rapidly.
B) India is experiencing poverty because its population is growing rapidly.
C) The United States is experiencing slow growth partly because its population is growing rapidly.
D) The United States is experiencing healthy growth partly because its population is not growing and people are saving their resources.

Question 76

How are the "Post-Millennials" likely to be different from previous generations?

A) They require products that are completely customized to the individual.
B) They require products that are completely generic and not at all customized to the individual.
C) They require products that are serious and meaningful rather than frivolous and fun.
D) They require products that are of much higher quality than those required by individuals in previous generations.

Question 77

Why were the Baby Boomers so much more influential than other generations with respect to changing American tastes and culture?

A) The Baby Boomers came after World War II when lifestyles were really changing.
B) The Baby Boomers were a much more coherent group than other generations.
C) The Baby Boomers were a much larger group than other generations.
D) The Baby Boomers were a much more free-spirited group than other generations.

Question 78

A TV reality show program essentially puts out the same product episode after episode, year after year, with little change and few rivals. The show exists in a TV industry that has hundreds of different components to keep track of. Where does the show belong on the uncertainty matrix?

A) cell 1
B) cell 2
C) cell 3
D) cell 4

Question 79

Which of the following is likely to be the permanent result of the recent economic downturn in the United States?

A) Almost all of the jobs lost will not return.
B) About half of the jobs lost will not return.
C) About a quarter of the jobs lost will not return.
D) Almost all of the jobs lost will return.

Question 80

Which of the following are many managers concerned about as a result of increased government participation in the economy?

A) an overheated economy
B) a growing budget deficit
C) an enormous budget surplus
D) corrupt government officials taking bribes