MGMT Final Ch. 2

Question 1

Organizational Environment (internal vs external)

Answer 1

External environment: includes the factors outside organization’s boundaries that affect its performance

Internal environment: factors that affect performance from within its boundaries

Question 2

Mission

Answer 2

A company’s purpose or reason for being

Question 3

Core Values

Answer 3

Personal ethics or ideals that guide you when making decisions, building relationships and solving problems.

Question 4

Organizational Culture

Answer 4

Consists of the values, beliefs, and assumptions about appropriate behavior the members of the organization share.

Question 5

Levels of Culture

Answer 5

Behavior: observable things people do and say/the actions employees take

Values & Beliefs: the way people believe they ought to behave (guide decision making and shape behavior)

Assumptions: values and beliefs so deeply ingrained they are considered unquestionably true and taken for granted (shared but rarely discussed)

Question 6

How culture affects management decisions

Answer 6

The stronger a culture becomes, the more it affects what employees do & the way managers plan, organize, lead, & control; affects hiring practices (culture fit)

Question 7

Strong Culture

Answer 7

Employees share values/beliefs and behave as expected

Not always beneficial, dominant group can peer pressure others into conforming to their desired behavior

Question 8

Weak Culture

Answer 8

Organizations without easily understood artifacts and/or many employees who do not behave as expected

Question 9

Healthy Culture

Answer 9

Has positive values that are implemented to contribute to success

Question 10

Unhealthy Culture

Answer 10

Factors that are negative, hinder success, and can lead to failure

Question 11

Culture Fit

Answer 11

How compatible employees are with a company’s culture, goals, and values

Question 12

Why is culture fit important?

Answer 12

It is the key to employee engagement, performance and productivity.

Question 13

Systems Process

Answer 13

The technology used to transform inputs into outputs to make and deliver products (inputs → transformation → outputs → feedback)

Question 14

Social Responsibility

Answer 14

The conscious effort to operate in a manner that creates a win-win situation for all stakeholders

Question 15

What are the responsibilities of businesses?

Answer 15

Businesses have a responsibility to their stakeholders (role of business is to create value for stakeholders)

Question 16

Levels of corporate social responsibility

Answer 16

Legal: focus on maximizing profits while obeying the law

Ethical: focus on profitability and going beyond the law to do what is right, just, and fair

Benevolent: focus on profitability and helping society through philanthropy

Question 17

Benefits of responsible sustainable business:

Answer 17

Stakeholder capitalism: companies that treat their employees, customers, communities, shareholders, and the environment well outperform those who don’t

Question 18

Ethics

Answer 18

The standards of right and wrong that influence behavior

Question 19

Why do good people do bad things?

Answer 19

Humans respond to incentives

For self-interest, greed, or to avoid getting in trouble

Some people believe rules don’t apply to them

Question 20

Rationalization/Justification Strategies

Answer 20

“Everyone else does it”
“I did it for the good of others/the company”
“I’m not as bad as the others”
Disregard for distortion of consequences
“My peers/boss made me do it”

Question 21

Factors influencing (un)ethical behavior

Answer 21

Personality traits & attitudes towards ethics (predisposition)

Moral Development: distinguishing right from wrong/doing the right thing
Preconventional (self-interest), conventional (desire to be accepted), postconventional (universal principles of ethics)

The situation: some situations limit decision options and send signals about expectations; performance pressure

Question 22

Methods to ensure ethical behavior

Answer 22

Golden/platinum rule

Four-way test: 1. Is it the truth? 2. Is it fair to all concerned? 3. Will it build goodwill and better friendship? 4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Stakeholders’ approach: create a win-win situation

Question 23

How organizations promote ethics

Answer 23

Code of ethics & training: state importance of conducting business in an ethical manner and provide moral standard guidelines

Top management support & example: lead by setting an ethical example

Enforcing ethical behavior & whistleblowing: violations punished consistently

Whistleblowing: occurs when employees expose what they believe to be unethical behavior by their fellow employees