COB 300 MANAGEMENT EXAM 2
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Opportunistic behavior - Answer-a transaction in which one party in the relationship
benefits at the expense of the other
Relationship behavior - Answer-the establishment of mutually beneficial, long-term
exchanges between buyers and suppliers
DreamWorks Studios, which makes films and TV shows, has had a long-term strategic
relationship with HewlettPackard (H-P), which makes computers and software.
Industry regulation - Answer-regulations and rules that govern the business practices
and procedures of specific industries, businesses, and professions
City Mayor Michael Bloomberg passed a controversial new law requiring restaurants,
movie theaters, and other food service locations in the city to limit the size of sugary
drinks
Advocacy groups - Answer-concerned citizens who band together to try to influence the
business practices of specific industries, businesses, and professions
Unlike the industry regulation component of the specific environment, advocacy groups
cannot force organizations to change their practices.
Public communications - Answer-an advocacy group tactic that relies on voluntary
participation by the news media and the advertising industry to get the advocacy group's
message out
Media advocacy - Answer-an advocacy group tactic that involves framing issues as
public issues; exposing questionable, exploitative, or unethical practices; and forcing
media coverage by buying media time or creating controversy that is likely to receive
extensive news coverage
Product boycott - Answer-an advocacy group tactic that involves protesting a company's
actions by persuading consumers not to purchase its product or service
Three-step process to make sense of changes in external environments - Answer-1.
Environmental scanning: searching the environment for important events or issues that
might affect an organization. Managers scan the environment to stay up to date on
important factors in their industry and to reduce uncertainty. Affected by organizational
strategies. contributes to organizational performance.
,2. Interpreting environmental factors: When managers interpret environmental events as
threats, they take steps to protect the company from further harm. When managers
interpret environmental events as opportunities, they consider strategic alternatives for
taking advantage of those events to improve company performance.
3. Acting on threats and opportunities: Because it is impossible to comprehend all the
factors and changes, managers often rely on simplified models of external environments
called cognitive maps. Cognitive maps summarize the perceived relationships between
environmental factors and possible organizational actions.The map shows three kinds
of variables. The first variables, shown as rectangles, are environmental factors. The
second variables, shown in ovals, are potential actions that the store owner might take,
such as a low-cost strategy. The third variables, shown as trapezoids, are company
strengths, such as low employee turnover, and weaknesses, such as small size. The
plus and minus signs on the map indicate whether the manager believes there is a
positive or negative relationship between variables.
Culture - Answer-shared norms and values
Culture influences every single aspect of business communication:
1. How to show politeness and respect
2. How much information to give
3. How to motivate people
Types of culture:
1. Organizational culture
2. National culture
3. Personal culture
Managers must also guard against ethnocentrism: a belief in the superiority of one's
own culture. "My culture is right, your culture is wrong."
Globalization - Answer-the influence of cultural differences
Internal environment - Answer-the events and trends inside an organization that affect
management, employees, and organizational culture. Because they affect what people
think, feel, and do at work. The key component in internal environments is
organizational culture, or the set of key values, beliefs, and attitudes shared by
members of the organization.
Organizational culture - Answer-the values, beliefs, and attitudes shared by
organizational members. Company founder influences organizational culture. Related to
organizational success. Cultures need to reinforce important values and behaviors, but
a culture becomes dysfunctional if it prevents change. One of the surest ways to do that
is to discourage open discussion and disagreement.
, Three levels:
1. Seen
2. Heard
3. Believed
Instead, managers should focus on the parts of the organizational culture they can
control. These include observable surface-level items, such as workers' behaviors and
symbolic artifacts, and expressed values and beliefs, which can be influenced through
employee selection.
A system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs that indicate appropriate and
inappropriate behavior within a given organization.
National culture - Answer-Differences in geography (climate, etc...), history, tech,
religion, government, family. Elements of culture.
Outcomes: Consumption decisions and behaviors, management style.
Organizational stories - Answer-stories told by organizational members to make sense
of organizational events and changes and to emphasize culturally consistent
assumptions, decisions, and actions. Way an organizational culture is sustained.
Organizational heroes - Answer-people celebrated for their qualities and achievements
within an organization. Way an organizational culture is sustained.
The impact of geography on culture - Answer-'Guns, germs, and steel'
Food,
Company mission - Answer-a company's purpose or reason for existing.
consistent organizational cultures - Answer-a company culture in which the company
actively defines and teaches organizational values, beliefs, and attitudes. Consistent
with its code of conduct to "Do no harm to people. Protect the environment, and comply
with all laws and regulations," when Royal Dutch Shell, the multinational energy
company, buys smaller drilling companies, the first thing it does is shut down the drilling
rigs for several weeks to retrain the workers in terms of safety and environmental
procedures.
Having a consistent or strong organizational culture doesn't guarantee good company
performance. When core beliefs are widely shared and strongly held, it is very difficult to
bring about needed change. Consequently, companies with strong cultures tend to
perform poorly when they need to adapt to dramatic changes in their external
environments
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Opportunistic behavior - Answer-a transaction in which one party in the relationship
benefits at the expense of the other
Relationship behavior - Answer-the establishment of mutually beneficial, long-term
exchanges between buyers and suppliers
DreamWorks Studios, which makes films and TV shows, has had a long-term strategic
relationship with HewlettPackard (H-P), which makes computers and software.
Industry regulation - Answer-regulations and rules that govern the business practices
and procedures of specific industries, businesses, and professions
City Mayor Michael Bloomberg passed a controversial new law requiring restaurants,
movie theaters, and other food service locations in the city to limit the size of sugary
drinks
Advocacy groups - Answer-concerned citizens who band together to try to influence the
business practices of specific industries, businesses, and professions
Unlike the industry regulation component of the specific environment, advocacy groups
cannot force organizations to change their practices.
Public communications - Answer-an advocacy group tactic that relies on voluntary
participation by the news media and the advertising industry to get the advocacy group's
message out
Media advocacy - Answer-an advocacy group tactic that involves framing issues as
public issues; exposing questionable, exploitative, or unethical practices; and forcing
media coverage by buying media time or creating controversy that is likely to receive
extensive news coverage
Product boycott - Answer-an advocacy group tactic that involves protesting a company's
actions by persuading consumers not to purchase its product or service
Three-step process to make sense of changes in external environments - Answer-1.
Environmental scanning: searching the environment for important events or issues that
might affect an organization. Managers scan the environment to stay up to date on
important factors in their industry and to reduce uncertainty. Affected by organizational
strategies. contributes to organizational performance.
,2. Interpreting environmental factors: When managers interpret environmental events as
threats, they take steps to protect the company from further harm. When managers
interpret environmental events as opportunities, they consider strategic alternatives for
taking advantage of those events to improve company performance.
3. Acting on threats and opportunities: Because it is impossible to comprehend all the
factors and changes, managers often rely on simplified models of external environments
called cognitive maps. Cognitive maps summarize the perceived relationships between
environmental factors and possible organizational actions.The map shows three kinds
of variables. The first variables, shown as rectangles, are environmental factors. The
second variables, shown in ovals, are potential actions that the store owner might take,
such as a low-cost strategy. The third variables, shown as trapezoids, are company
strengths, such as low employee turnover, and weaknesses, such as small size. The
plus and minus signs on the map indicate whether the manager believes there is a
positive or negative relationship between variables.
Culture - Answer-shared norms and values
Culture influences every single aspect of business communication:
1. How to show politeness and respect
2. How much information to give
3. How to motivate people
Types of culture:
1. Organizational culture
2. National culture
3. Personal culture
Managers must also guard against ethnocentrism: a belief in the superiority of one's
own culture. "My culture is right, your culture is wrong."
Globalization - Answer-the influence of cultural differences
Internal environment - Answer-the events and trends inside an organization that affect
management, employees, and organizational culture. Because they affect what people
think, feel, and do at work. The key component in internal environments is
organizational culture, or the set of key values, beliefs, and attitudes shared by
members of the organization.
Organizational culture - Answer-the values, beliefs, and attitudes shared by
organizational members. Company founder influences organizational culture. Related to
organizational success. Cultures need to reinforce important values and behaviors, but
a culture becomes dysfunctional if it prevents change. One of the surest ways to do that
is to discourage open discussion and disagreement.
, Three levels:
1. Seen
2. Heard
3. Believed
Instead, managers should focus on the parts of the organizational culture they can
control. These include observable surface-level items, such as workers' behaviors and
symbolic artifacts, and expressed values and beliefs, which can be influenced through
employee selection.
A system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs that indicate appropriate and
inappropriate behavior within a given organization.
National culture - Answer-Differences in geography (climate, etc...), history, tech,
religion, government, family. Elements of culture.
Outcomes: Consumption decisions and behaviors, management style.
Organizational stories - Answer-stories told by organizational members to make sense
of organizational events and changes and to emphasize culturally consistent
assumptions, decisions, and actions. Way an organizational culture is sustained.
Organizational heroes - Answer-people celebrated for their qualities and achievements
within an organization. Way an organizational culture is sustained.
The impact of geography on culture - Answer-'Guns, germs, and steel'
Food,
Company mission - Answer-a company's purpose or reason for existing.
consistent organizational cultures - Answer-a company culture in which the company
actively defines and teaches organizational values, beliefs, and attitudes. Consistent
with its code of conduct to "Do no harm to people. Protect the environment, and comply
with all laws and regulations," when Royal Dutch Shell, the multinational energy
company, buys smaller drilling companies, the first thing it does is shut down the drilling
rigs for several weeks to retrain the workers in terms of safety and environmental
procedures.
Having a consistent or strong organizational culture doesn't guarantee good company
performance. When core beliefs are widely shared and strongly held, it is very difficult to
bring about needed change. Consequently, companies with strong cultures tend to
perform poorly when they need to adapt to dramatic changes in their external
environments
