STR 581 Wk 5 – Practice: Knowledge Check

For an enterprise to execute its strategy in truly proficient fashion and approach operating excellence

Multiple Choice

• mid-level executives must be charismatic, be decisive decision makers, and make inspiring speeches at company events.
• all employees must be very personable, effective communicators, and be skilled in the empowerment of company personnel.
• the management must be creative in establishing policies and procedures that will instill high standards of operating excellence.
• top executives must take the lead in the implementation/execution process and personally drive the pace of progress.
• the CEO must gather information firsthand and demand progress from mid-level managers.

Enron, Wells Fargo Bank, and JPMorgan Chase are examples of companies whose culture became

Multiple Choice

• change-resistant.
• politicized.
• insular and inwardly focused.
• unethical and greed-driven.
• an incompatible subculture.

You are considering employment opportunities after graduation. What would you look for in identifying a prospective employer’s company’s culture?

Multiple Choice

• the company’s atmosphere, spirit and character that constitutes the work climate and the values, business principles, and ethical standards that company management preaches and practices
• the company’s track record in meeting or beating its financial and strategic performance targets
• the intensity and makeup of the company’s value chain
• the strategic intent and competitive strategy inherent within the company’s efforts for successful strategy execution
• the resource strengths, core competencies, and competitive capabilities that permeate the organization

All the following are necessary in the creation of high-performance cultures, except

Multiple Choice

• managers must follow a disciplined, performance-focused approach to managing the organization.
• managers must take pains to reinforce constructive behavior, reward top performers, and purge habits and behaviors that stand in the way of high productivity and good results.
• managers must energize employees to put forth their very best efforts to do the right things right.
• managers must inspire high loyalty and dedication on the part of employees, so they are energized to put forth their very best to do things right and be unusually productive.
• managers must restrict collaboration with other organizational units to reduce the power of influential executives and/or coalitions among departments.

Long-term industry success can give rise to a(n)

Multiple Choice

• high-performance culture.
• politicized culture.
• insular, inwardly focused culture.
• unethical and greed-driven culture.
• incompatible subculture.

Technology companies, software companies, and Internet-based companies are good illustrations of organizations with

Multiple Choice

• achievement-oriented cultures.
• integrative cultures.
• diverse cultures.
• adaptive cultures.
• inwardly focused cultures.

The emergence and sustainability of a high-performance culture like that of Epic Systems has been fostered by

Multiple Choice

• senior executives that walk the talk of high ethical standards.
• centralized decision-making and strict enforcement of company policies.
• a strong emphasis on developing innovative core competencies and competitive capabilities.
• a commitment to operating the business according to established traditions.
• a long-standing commitment to strict enforcement of established policies and procedures and steadfast unwillingness to change these policies and procedures.

A company’s corporate culture is not defined by its

Multiple Choice

• values, business principles, and ethical standards that management preaches and practices.
• atmosphere and the spirit that pervades the work climate.
• intensity of peer pressure that exists to do things in particular ways and conform to expected norms.
• manner of dealing with external shareholders.
• industry’s attractiveness as well as its competitive strength relative to that industry.

In high-performance cultures

Multiple Choice

• the work climate focuses on not tolerating any mistakes.
• there is a strong sense of involvement on the part of company personnel and an emphasis on individual initiative and effort.
• company personnel share a feeling of impending doom if they don’t deal with whatever threats are posed by competitors.
• there is a clear and unyielding expectation that all company personnel will strictly follow company policies and procedures.
• there is willingness on the part of organization members to accept discipline and subordination.

Due to the retirement of the KombuchaCo’s founder and CEO, Robin, a long-time employee, has recently been promoted to CEO. KombuchaCo has recently experienced declining sales, missed deadlines, increasing costs, and the departures of many fellow long-term employees. What step would Robin not take to change a culture that is already out of step with the company’s strategy?

Multiple Choice

• promoting those individuals who have stepped forward to advocate the shift to a different culture and who can serve as role models for the desired culture
• appointing only insiders to high-profile positions
• screening all candidates for new positions and carefully hiring only those who appear to fit in with the new culture
• replacing key executives who are stonewalling needed organizational and cultural changes
• revising policies and procedures in ways that will help drive cultural change