MidTerm Flashcards
When trying to make sense of managing, the textbook authors reveal their position by emphasizing that management is _________
A ____ also a socio-political activity, which implies the need to adhere to societal, political, and ethical responsibilities.
B ____ a neutral activity that we should understand mainly in terms of its capacity to deliver objective gains in productivity/efficiency.
C ____ a higher calling that some respond to address society’s most pressing problems such as environmental degradation.
D ____ an activity that should, above all, be fun and light so that a positive atmosphere ensues.
A ____ also a socio-political activity, which implies the need to adhere to societal, political, and ethical responsibilities.
Your coursebook indicates that a fundamental premise of principal agency theory (Jensen and Meckling, 1976) is that the provision of capital
by shareholders is an endeavor in which the risks decrease if the agents that manage other people’s capital are also themselves shareholders.
Which group most likely identifies with such agents?
A Top managers
B Employees
C Middle managers
D Consumers
A Top managers
In their rather elaborate discussion of digital organization, the coursebook authors introduce the notion of holacracy. What is the core idea of
this concept?
A It’s a form of self-management that endeavors to remove vertical hierarchy.
B It’s a form of virtual reality that augments managerial decision-making.
C It’s a management style that advocates systematic approaches to problem-solving.
D It’s about leveraging algorithms to enhance organizational performance.
A It’s a form of self-management that endeavors to remove vertical hierarchy.
In Chapter 1, the coursebook authors attribute the notion of sensemaking most prominently to whom?
A Weick.
B Schumpeter.
C Mintzberg.
D Alvesson.
A Weick.
The coursebook presents sensemaking, sensegiving, and sensebreaking together. How do the authors depict sensebreaking?
A When organizational members replace the prevailing order with an alternative one.
B When senior managers use their power to impose their will upon organizational members in more vulnerable positions.
C When sensemaking goes wrong it becomes sensebreaking.
D When organizations make decisions based on incomplete information
A When organizational members replace the prevailing order with an alternative one.
What is the gig economy?
A It alludes to the participation in a labor market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as
opposed to permanent jobs.
B It means replacing vertical hierarchy with overlapping and concentric circles dedicated to specific functions in which circle
members can pursue other projects if the circle’s work is completed.
C It refers to the use of digital technologies to leverage, extend, and tightly control organizational processes.
D It refers to the tools, methods, and criteria upon which people will be, and are, selected for a given position. A job candidate is only
as good as his/her latest performance.
A It alludes to the participation in a labor market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs.
Leon Festinger (1957) was one of the first people to develop and study cognitive dissonance theory. When experiencing cognitive dissonance,
he argued, people will ____
A ____ seek to reconcile feelings of anxiety by changing their beliefs or reinterpreting the information that contradicts their beliefs.
B ____ seek to reduce their feelings of anxiety and discomfort by using mind-altering chemical substances, such as drugs or alcohol,
that numb the mind.
C ____ keenly adopt methodological, rational approaches to explain reality with ever-increasing levels of precision.
D ____ exhibit apathetic thought patterns whereby they show little or no responses to external stimuli to the extent that they seem
unresponsive
A ____ seek to reconcile feelings of anxiety by changing their beliefs or reinterpreting the information that contradicts their beliefs.
Clegg et al. write: “[W]e rarely question what we know, how we came to know it and what we think we know about things, because we take our
knowledge, experiences, values and belief systems, for granted. As a result, we selectively perceive and reinterpret what we experience to fit
what we already know.” (p. 47). If we interpret this phenomenon through the ideas of Kahneman (2011) on System 1 and System 2 thinking,
then we find that while the abovementioned way of thinking may be prone to errors, it also _________
A conserves cognitive resources.
B preserves our identity.
C helps maintain our social position in groups.
D surrenders easily, so that more accurate and critical thinking automatically takes over.If we interpret the phenomenon of selective perception through the ideas of Kahneman on System 1 and System 2 thinking, what do we find?
A conserves cognitive resources.
The coursebook authors define values as a person’s or social group’s consistent beliefs or sets of schemas about something in which they have
an emotional investment. They note that many scholars consider values as the essential building blocks of culture. In their subsequent
portrayal of management, the coursebook authors argue that ____
A ____ management is about realizing organizational outcomes while also ensuring that one’s own and others’ values are met.
B ____ management has been, and remains, about achieving results, and that values are non-essential.
C ____ management has been, and remains, about achieving results and that values are only relevant if they don’t obstruct
performance.
D ____ values are more important than results, meaning that it’s okay to decrease performance in order to preserve values.
A ____ management is about realizing organizational outcomes while also ensuring that one’s own and others’ values are met.
How do the authors portray organizational behavior (OB) in its first instance?
A OB concerns itself with human behavior, processes, and practices that inhibit or enable organizational performance.
B OB concerns itself with implementing management systems, processes, and training in accordance with a country’s legislation.
C OB concerns itself predominantly with capturing tacit knowledge that emerges from human interactions to improve organizational
efficiency.
D OB concerns itself with the theorizing of the psychological bases for leading the best life possible through positive thinking
What major concern do Clegg et al. raise regarding positive psychology?
A Positive psychology paradoxically presents itself in a negative light as it seems to be negative about negativity itself.
B The term ‘positive psychology’ is tautological because all psychology is about healing and making people positively whole.
C Positive psychology is just a fancy word for (regular) psychology.
D Positive psychology relies on pharmaceutical drugs; it should therefore be seen as a subdiscipline of psychiatry, not psychology
A Positive psychology paradoxically presents itself in a negative light as it seems to be negative about negativity itself.
What is one characteristic of a conscientious person according to the Big Five personality factor approach?
A disciplined.
B impulsive.
C agreeable and gets along well with others.
D emotionally unstable and anxious
A disciplined.
What does the notion of bounded rationality mean according to Herbert Simon?
A ____ being tied up in endless confusion.
B ____ that organizations should implement linear decision-making processes to stay competitive.
C ____ that organizations need to employ more computing power so that they can make optimally rational decisions.
D ____ decision-makers should acknowledge that there are limits to the human ability to make optimal decisions
D decision-makers should acknowledge that there are limits to the human ability to make optimal decisions.
Clegg et al. write that an incremental decision-making process, termed “incremental decision search and solution” (p. 229), means taking many
small steps. What is an important reason, the authors suggest in their explanation of the term, for following this approach?
A Once each small step has been taken, one obtains a clearer picture of what has to be done and the future becomes more focused.
B Once several small steps have been taken, one gets into a ‘flow state’ (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) and attains complete absorption
with the activity at hand.
C Once each small step has been taken, it is easier to document one’s complex considerations and thus capture expert knowledge.
D Once several small steps have been taken, people can gradually develop their identity along the way, which is important in
developing robust organizational cultures
A Once each small step has been taken, one obtains a clearer picture of what has to be done and the future becomes more focused.
Extinction Rebellion describes itself as “a decentralized, international and politically non-partisan movement using non-violent direct action and
civil disobedience to persuade governments to act justly on the Climate and Ecological Emergency”
Based on the information provided in this question, as a decentralized organization, they ____.
A ____ may or may not behave like a total institution in practice.
B ____ by definition, they meet the criteria of a total institution.
C ____ by definition, they do not meet the criteria of a total institution.
D ____ none of the above
A ____ may or may not behave like a total institution in practice.
In their portrayal of decision-making and sensemaking, combined, Clegg et al. paradoxically acknowledge the notion of non-decision-making.
Why would organizations engage in non-decision-making, according to the authors?
A It serves to constrain agendas in the interests of those who already occupy dominant relations of power.
B It serves to focus scarce organizational resources on solvable issues (‘low-hanging fruit’).
C It serves to preserve an organization’s ‘peace and quiet’ by minimizing conflicts among rivals.
D It just happens for no particular reason; it’s just an inevitable and ineffectual by-product of organizational life.
A It serves to constrain agendas in the interests of those who already occupy dominant relations of power.
Clegg et al. explore the relationship between uncertainty and power. We can draw on these ideas to infer why some individuals obtain more
power in uncertain times than they had previously. What is the primary mechanism that the authors describe in this regard?
A If a person has organizational skills that can reduce that uncertainty, they will derive power from such expertise.
B If a person demonstrably increases uncertainty, they will derive power from such acts of intimidation.
C It’s an entirely random process by which some people obtain more power; it’s like rolling a dice.
D If a person shows genuine emotions, others will perceive them as more authentic, which increases their power.
A If a person has organizational skills that can reduce that uncertainty, they will derive power from such expertise.
According to Clegg et al., the concept of concertive control, in essence, resonates with ____
A democratic ideas.
B autocratic ideas.
C hegemonic ideas.
D plutocratic ideas.
A democratic ideas.
In the chapter’s summary, the coursebook authors write: “Managing polyphony requires rethinking monotonic meaning” (p. 268). What does
the term polyphony mean?
A It means accepting the presence of many voices and hence different ideas and perspectives in an organization.
B It refers to the ability to ‘follow through’ in an organization, that is, driving initiatives from their inception to completion.
C It means combining various informational resources into a single, coherent organizational narrative.
D It means preventing the emergence of multiple versions of organizational reality through sophisticated internal communication
A It means accepting the presence of many voices and hence different ideas and perspectives in an organization.
Clegg et al. write: “Sometimes the announcement of a fact creates that very fact” (p. 266). Which construct do the authors associate with this
depiction?
A Performativity.
B Actuality.
C Assimilation.
D Normativity
A Performativity.
Nonaka calls the transformation of explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge ____
internalization.
Suppose that SkyFly is an aerospace company that is highly skilled at building reusable rocket engines. It has perfected a unique and patented
technology with an unprecedentedly low error rate. Its successes, however, paradoxically lower the firm’s chances of success in the longer
term. Which coursebook concept best describes this phenomenon?
A Competency trap.
B Garbage can.
C Corporate greed.
D Non-learning
Competency trap.
Argyris and Schön (1978) identified two types of organizational learning. The process of fundamentally changing one’s frame of reference that
requires rethinking whether the task is beneficial is called ____ learning.
A frame-bending
B double-loop
C abductive
D critical
double-loop.
Your textbook draws on the work of March (2002) to discuss distinct aspects of organizational learning. Which of the following statements
is/are true in this context?
1. If organizations cannot utilize what they know efficiently, they wither and atrophy.
2. If organizations do not learn how to do different things, they wither and atrophy.
A Statement 1 is correct & Statement 2 is incorrect.
B Statement 1 is incorrect & Statement 2 is correct.
C Statement 1 is correct & Statement 2 is correct.
D Statement 1 is incorrect & Statement 2 is incorrect.
Statement 1 is correct & Statement 2 is correct.
