10.2 Managing organisational culture

Question 1

What does the organisational culture refer to

Answer 1

The ethos, values and beliefs of a business and its employees

Question 2

What is Handy’s model of culture

Answer 2

Used when attempting to study the business culture, managers and leaders

Question 3

What cultures are part of Handy’s model

Answer 3

• Power culture
• Role culture
• Task culture
• Person culture

Question 4

What is power culture

Answer 4

• Refers to a business that places importance on the authority and decision-making power of a small number of key employees
• Investment banks like Morgan Stanley have a few powerful individuals who make all important decisions

Question 5

What is Role culture

Answer 5

A business which places importance on employees having clear roles within the organisation

Question 6

What is task culture

Answer 6

A business which places importance on employees being associated with tasks and projects within the organisation

Question 7

What is person culture

Answer 7

A business that places the importance on employees being valued and operating autonomously within the business

Question 8

What does Hofstede’s model of national culture state

Answer 8

Businesses operating internationally will be affected by the cultural influences of the different countries in which they operate, and the influences are categorised

Question 9

Categories on Hofstede’s model of national culture

Answer 9

• Individualism and collectivism
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Power distance
• Long term orientation
• Masculinity and femininity

Question 10

Individualism and collectivism

Answer 10

Different countries will influence branches of a business in different ways as some countries have societies which value individuals whereas other countries have societies which value team members

Question 11

Power distance

Answer 11

Different countries will influence branches of a business in different ways as some countries have societies which value individuals based on age and experience whereas other countries have societies which value individuals based on their skill and ability

Question 12

Long term orientation

Answer 12

Different countries will influence branches of a business in different ways as some countries have societies and governments which value short-term approaches whereas other countries have societies and governments which value long-term approaches

Question 13

Uncertainty avoidance

Answer 13

Different countries will influence branches of a business in different ways as some countries have high adversity to uncertainty whereas other countries have much lower adversity to uncertainty

Question 14

Masculinity and femininity

Answer 14

Decision-making approaches may differ between cultures and that masculinity focusses on rewards and discipline whereas femininity focusses instead on relationships and being caring

Question 15

What are the different types of organisational structures

Answer 15

• Functional
• Product
• Matrix
• Regional

Question 16

Functional structure

Answer 16

When a business structures itself by the four main business functions of HR, finance, marketing and operations

Question 17

Product structure

Answer 17

Structure around the product or services it produces so there will be staff from each function working in team assigned to each business product

Question 18

Matrix structure

Answer 18

Structure around a matrix where each employee may report to two or more supervisors. e.g where one supervisor has knowledge of a product or project and another has knowledge of business function

Question 19

Regional structure

Answer 19

Structure around a region, staff from each function work in a team assigned to each region

Question 20

Influences when choosing organisational structure

Answer 20

-Industry
- Action of competitors
- Market conditions

Question 21

What is CPA`

Answer 21

A widely-used project management tool that uses network analysis to help project managers to handle complex and time-sensitive operations in the most efficient way

Question 22

CPA model includes

Answer 22

• A list of all activities required to complete the project
• The (duration) that each activity will take to completion
• The dependencies between the activities

Question 23

What does CPA calculate

Answer 23

• The longest path of planned activities to the end of the project
• The earliest and Latest that each activity can start and finish without making the project longer (identifies the critical activities and can calculate total float)

Question 24

What is a node

Answer 24

A circle on a CPA that represents a point in time where an activity is started or finished. The node is split into 3 sections

Question 25

What is the left half of a node

Answer 25

The unique node (activity) number - the network diagram draws these in order

Question 26

What is the top right section of a node

Answer 26

Shows the earliest start time (EST) that an activity can commence based on the completion of the previous activity

Question 27

What is the bottom right section on a node

Answer 27

Shows the latest finish time (LFT) by which the previous activity must be completed

Question 28

How is an activity shown on a CPA

Answer 28

By linking the nodes with a line. A letter representing the activity is usually shown above the relevant line

Question 29

How is the duration of an activity shown on a CPA

Answer 29

Under the activity line - below the letter of activity

Question 30

Advantages of CPA

Answer 30

• Helps reduce the risk and costs of complex projects
• Encourages careful assessment of the requirements of each activity in a project
• Help spot which activities have some slack (“float”) and could therefore transfer some resources = better allocation of resources
• A decision-making tool and a planning tool
• Provides managers with a useful overview of a complex project
• Links well with other aspects of business planning, including cash flow forecasting and budgeting

Question 31

Disadvantages of CPA

Answer 31

• Reliability of CPA largely based on accurate estimates and assumptions made
• CPA does not guarantee the success of a project - that still needs to be managed properly
• Resources may not actually be as flexible as management hope when they come to address the network float
• Too many activities make the network diagram too complicated. Activities might have to be broken down into mini-projects

Question 32

how to calculate float

Answer 32

latest finishing time - duration - earliest starting time