Exam 12: Corporate Culture and Leadership

A) requiring all company personnel to attend culture-training programs to better understand the new culture-related actions and behaviors that are expected.
B) promoting individuals who have stepped forward to spearhead the shift to a different culture and who can serve as role models for the desired cultural behavior.
C) dismissing executives that exude an "ends-justify-the-means" mentality in pursuing overambitious operating and financial targets.
D) adopting accounting principles that make the company's financial performance appear better than it really is.
E) hiring frontline employees who display high-performance behaviors and a passion for making the company successful.

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A) the company's defined spirit and character that pervades the work climate
B) the company's resource strengths, core competencies, and competitive capabilities
C) the company's revered traditions and oft-repeated stories about "heroic acts" and "how we do things around here"
D) the company's approach to people management and the official policies, procedures, and operating practices that paint the white lines for the behavior of company personnel
E) the company's shared values, business principles, and ethical standards that management preaches and practices

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A) forceful management actions to empower employees to adopt new operating practices.
B) competent leadership at the top.
C) de-layering the management hierarchy.
D) developing a new value statement that inspires company personnel to put forth their best efforts to achieve performance targets.
E) convincing employees that top management is genuinely committed to high ethical standards and the exercise of corporate social responsibility.

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A) place pressure on company personnel to display core values and to do their part in keeping the companies traditions alive.
B) illustrate the kind of behavior the company reveres.
C) inspire company personnel to perform similarly and reinforce the depth of commitment that people have displayed.
D) reflect an aspect of company culture no longer current.
E) steer company personnel toward both doing things right and doing the right thing.

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Epic's faith in its ability to accultura...

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In strong-culture companies, values and ...

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A) as levers to mobilize commitment to executing the chosen strategy.
B) as reinforcement for convincing staff that the strategy is sound and molded in tradition.
C) to ensure the staff will embrace the new strategy like they have in the past.
D) to manipulate jobholders into thinking traditions are important.
E) as disciplinary measures in making the employees perform better and achieve targets.

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Uber's culture was unhealthy, as evidenc...

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A) replacing old-culture managers with new-breed managers.
B) designing compensation incentives that boost the pay of teams and individuals who display the desired cultural behaviors and hit change-resisters in the pocketbook.
C) altering the company's financial objectives.
D) using company gatherings and ceremonial occasions to praise individuals and groups that display the desired new cultural traits and behaviors.
E) both symbolic and substantive actions by executives to implant new cultural behaviors.

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Hostility to change, heavily politicized...

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A) articulate a company's strategic vision and strategic intent.
B) capture a significant part of a company's culture.
C) are indicative of a company's openness in sharing its financial performance and strategic plan with all staff members.
D) mirror formal documentation about what are a company's best practices and performance benchmarks.
E) document troublesome customers who return products or who encounter problems with deliveries.

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A) most corporate personnel have acknowledged and accepted the cultural traditions.
B) management expectations and co-worker peer pressure cause employees to conform.
C) over time people who do not like the culture tend to leave.
D) over time achieving low workforce-turnover is a catalyst for conformity and acceptance.
E) a strong leader that uses coercion and the threat of punishment to enforce norms.

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A) desire validation of the company's formal values statement and code of ethics.
B) want to impress outsiders and create a positive company image.
C) want to increase the likelihood that the public will ignore any future lapses in approved behavior.
D) are committed to improving the company's strategy execution, performance, and reputation.
E) are certain that their company's strategic intent and strategy execution efforts will come to naught without those values and standards.

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A) tight budget controls, overly strict enforcement of long-standing policies and procedures, and high ethical standards.
B) a preference for conservative strategies, an aversion to incentive compensation, and excessive emphasis on profitability.
C) a politicized internal environment, hostility to change and an aversion to looking outside the company for best practices, new managerial approaches, and innovative ideas.
D) overemphasis on employee empowerment, a complacent approach to building competencies and capabilities, no coherent business philosophy, and excessively bureaucratic policies and procedures.
E) an emphasis on innovation, a strong preference for hiring managers from outside the company, and few core values and traditions.

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A) deep commitment to employee training, unusually attractive fringe benefit packages for company personnel, and frequently revised and updated values and ethics statements.
B) "can-do" spirit, pride in doing things right, no-excuses accountability, and a pervasive results-oriented work climate where people go the extra mile to meet or beat stretch objectives.
C) strong emphasis on teamwork, strict enforcement of company policies and procedures, and incentive compensation for all employees aligned with a balanced scorecard approach to measuring performance.
D) deep commitment to pioneering new best practices, a preference for being a fast-follower as opposed to a first-mover or late-mover, and across-the-board bonuses for all personnel when the company meets or beats stretch objectives.
E) deep commitment to top-notch quality and superior customer service, dedicated use of TQM and/or Six
F) Sigma quality control programs, and the payment of big performance bonuses and stock options.

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A) prohibiting giving or accepting bribes, kickbacks, or gifts.
B) expecting all company personnel to display honesty and integrity in their actions and avoid conflicts of interest.
C) barring dealing with suppliers that employ child labor or engage in other unsavory practices.
D) committing to a no-layoff policy and to adequate funding of employee retirement programs.
E) avoiding use of company assets, resources, and property for personal or other inappropriate purposes.

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A strong culture encourages actions, beh...

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High-performance cultures are where the ...

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