Chapter 2: The Environment and Corporate Culture Flashcards
includes all elements existing outside the boundary of the organization that have the potential to affect it.
external organizational environment
The external organizational environment includes what four things?
- Competitors
- Resources
- Technology
- Economic condition
The organization’s external environment can be conceptualized as having two components:
- Task environment
- General environment
What component of an organization’s external environment is closer to the organization and DIRECTLY influences its basic operations and performance?
task environment
What component of an organization’s external environment affects organizations INDIRECTLY?
general environment
What are the 3 dimensions of an organization’s internal environment?
- Employees
- (Corporate) Culture
- Management
What are the 4 dimensions of an organization’s task environment?
- Customers
- Competitors
- Suppliers
- Labor Market
What are the 6 dimensions of an organization’s general environment?
- Technological
- Natural
- Sociocultural
- Economic
- Legal/Political
- International
a system formed by the interaction among a community of organizations in the environment (includes organizations in all the sectors of the task and general environments that provide resource and information transactions, flows, and linkages necessary for an organization to thrive)
organizational ecosystem
includes the elements within the organization’s boundaries.
internal environment
a network of multiple businesses and individuals that are connected through the flow of products or services.
supply chain
represents people in the environment who can be hired to work for the organization.
labor market
What dimension of the general environment does this describe?
includes events originating in foreign countries, as well as new opportunities for U.S. companies in other countries.
international dimension
What dimension of the general environment does this describe?
includes scientific and technological advancements in a specific industry, as well as in society at large.
technological dimension
What dimension of the general environment does this describe?
represents the demographic characteristics, norms, customers, and values of the general population.
sociocultural dimension
What dimension of the general environment does this describe?
represents the general economic health of the country or region in which the organization operates.
economic dimension
What dimension of the general environment does this describe?
includes government regulations at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as political activities designed to influence company behavior.
Legal-political dimension
The legal-political environment includes __________.
regulations
What dimension of the general environment does this describe?
includes all elements that occur naturally on Earth, including plants, animals, rocks, and resources such as air, water, and climate.
Natural dimension
managers do not have sufficient information about environmental factors to understand and predict environmental needs and changes.
environmental uncertainty
T or F: Managers at large multinationals deal with thousands of factors in the external environment that create uncertainty.
True
T or F: When external factors change rapidly, the organization experiences high uncertainty.
True
events or forces either inside or outside an organization that are likely to alter its ability to achieve its objectives.
strategic issues
The fastest-growing segment of business intelligence is ___ _____ _______.
big data analytics
How instagram uses AI and Big Data Technology: In order to make its recommendations for the explore page, the explore system starts by observing the “______ ______” which are the accounts users have interacted with in the past by liking or saving their content. It then discovers the accounts that are similar to these and selects 500 pieces of content from them.
seed accounts
links to and coordinates the organization with key elements in the external environment; includes activities that represent the organization’s interest in the environment and attempt to influence elements of the external environment.
boundary spanning
Why may companies become involved in mergers or joint ventures?
To reduce environmental uncertainty
when two or more organizations combine to become one
merger
a strategic alliance or program by two or more organizations
joint venture (ex: Toyota and Panasonic battery joint venture)
Corporate culture surfaces as being extremely important to _____ _______.
competitive advantage
the set of key values, beliefs, understandings, and norms shared by members of an organization.
culture
What are the two levels of corporate culture? Explain both.
- Visible: culture that can be seen at the surface level
- Invisible: deeper values and shared understandings held by organization members
T or F: On the visible level of corporate culture, this includes things like artifacts, such as dress, office layout, symbols, slogans, and ceremonies.
True
T or F: On the invisible level of corporate culture, this includes
1.) expressed values (such as “The Penney Idea” and “The HP Way”) and 2.) underlying assumptions and deep beliefs, such as “people here care about one another like a family”
True
What are the 5 components of visible corporate culture?
- Symbol
- Slogan
- Story
- Hero
- Ceremony
an object, act, or event that conveys meaning to others.
symbol
a narrative based on true events that is repeated frequently and shared among organizational employees.
story
a figure who exemplifies the deeds, character, and attributes of a strong culture and who is regarded as a role model.
hero
a phrase or sentence that succinctly expresses a key corporate value. (ex: “Bring Inspiration and Innovation to Every Athlete In the World”)
slogan
a planned activity at a special event that is conducted for the benefit of an audience.
ceremony
What are the 4 types of corporate culture?
- Adaptability Culture
- Achievement Culture
- Involvement Culture
- Consistency Culture
What type of corporate culture does this describe?
emerges in an environment that requires fast response and high-risk decision making; managers encourage values that support the company’s ability to rapidly detect, interpret, and translate signals from the environment into new behaviors.
adaptability culture
What type of corporate culture does this describe?
suited to organizations concerned with serving specific customers in the external environment but without the intense need for flexibility and rapid change
achievement culture
The achievement culture is a _____-oriented culture.
results
What are the 5 things the achievement culture values?
- Competitiveness
- Aggressiveness
- Personal intiative
- Cost cutting
- Willingness to work long and hard to achieve results
What type of corporate culture does this describe?
emphasizes an internal focus on the participation of employees to adapt rapidly to changing needs from the environment; places a high value on meeting the needs of employees
involvement culture
In an involvement culture, managers emphasize values such as what 3 things?
- Cooperation
- Consideration of both employees and customers
- Avoiding status differences
What type of corporate culture does this describe?
uses an internal focus and a consistency orientation for a stable environment; following the rules and being thrifty are valued, and the culture supports and rewards a methodical, rational, and orderly way of doing things.
consistency culture
T or F: When cultural values aren’t connected to business performance, they aren’t likely to benefit the organization during hard times.
True
Companies that succeed in a turbulent world are those in which managers are evaluated and rewarded for paying careful attention to both ______ ______ and ______ ________.
cultural values; business performance
The high performance culture embodies ______ _______ ______ that guide decisions and business practices
shared adaptive values
The high performance culture is based on a _____ _______ mission or purpose.
solid organizational
defines and uses signals and symbols to influence corporate culture; he/she articulates a vision for the organizational culture that employees can believe in; he/she heeds the day-to-day activities that reinforce the cultural vision.
Cultural leader
The high performance culture encourages individual ______ _______ of both bottom-line results and the organization’s cultural backbone
employee ownership
T or F: In debates, employees have permission to disrupt. It comes right from the top.
True
T or F: Debates are an opportunity to find the best idea, not to ram home your points.
True
an approach to boundary spanning that results from using sophisticated software to search through large amounts of internal and external data to spot patterns, trends, and relationships that might be significant.
big data analytics
Robert is a top-level executive at a banking institution. She spends a significant part of her day meeting with local government officials, everyday consumers, and federal banking officials to address key issues. Her role can be described as:
boundary spanning
Task or general environment: includes the sectors that conduct day-to-day transactions with the organization.
task environment
What is the key element in the internal environment?
Corporate culture
What production strategy improves an organization’s return on investment, quality, and efficiency because much less money is invested in idle inventory?
Just-In-Time
an area of boundary spanning that refers to activities to get as much information as possible about one’s rivals
competitive intelligence
T or F: In a high-performance culture, managers must overcommunicate to ensure that employees understand the new culture values, and they signal these values in actions as well as words.
True
The _______ includes all elements existing outside the boundary of the organization that have the potential to affect it.
a. organizational environment
b. task environment
c. general environment
d. internal environment
a. organizational environment
