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Contemporary Organizational Behavior (Elsbach)
Topic Summary 12 Culture
1) Which is true of an organization’s culture?
A) It is explicitly stated in the organization’s mission statement
B) It is more pronounced in publicly traded companies
C) New employees learn it during their orientation
D) It underlies the values, beliefs, and assumptions that are shared by individuals in an
2) Which of the following is a verbal artifact?
A) Ceremony
B) Jargon
C) Custom
3) What are the three dimensions of culture?
A) National, organizational, social
B) Organizational, group, individual
C) Artifacts, espoused values, basic assumptions
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4) If you want to know what a culture is really like, what should you examine?
A) Behavioral artifacts
B) Physical artifacts
C) Espoused values
D) Basic assumptions
5) Which of the following is not a cultural artifact?
A) Asking about an organization’s culture
B) Graduation ceremony
C) Words and sayings that are unique to the organization
6) Organization X offers monetary rewards to motivate their employees to work faster and be
more productive. Organization Y motivates their employees with a leadership development
program, empowerment, and job enrichment. What basic assumption is different for these two
organizations?
A) Reality
B) Space
C) Human nature
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7) Is it possible for two people working on the same team to have different perceptions of the
organization’s culture? Why or why not?
8) The competing values framework describes how organizations must choose between different
cultural values along two dimensions. What are the two dimensions?
A) External and control
B) Flexibility and internal
C) Control and organizational focus
D) Dominant and secondary
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9) Where on the iceberg should you look if you want to know about the day-to-day experience of
employees working in that organization’s culture?
A) The visible organization
B) Above the water line
C) At the water line
10) In what way is culture motivational?
A) Helps to establish and meet goals at the individual and organizational levels
B) Establishes acceptable standards and behavior
C) Provides a shared identity and fulfills a need for belonging
D) Helps in understanding what to expect at first
Difficulty: Easy
11) While some cultural concepts apply in both national and organizational settings, some don’t.
In what context should the competing values framework be utilized?
A) National
B) Social
C) Cultural
D) Organizational
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12) What is the most effective type of organizational culture for an “as seen on TV” product
manufacturer to adopt?
A) Clan
B) Adhocracy
C) Hierarchy
13) Which of the following is not a primary subculture found in organizations?
A) Productive
B) Executive
C) Operational
D) Professional
14) What do the members of Alpha Inc.’s professional subculture have in common?
A) They work in desk based rather than field based jobs
B) They are all engineers
C) They have the financial success of Alpha as a primary focus
D) They are Alpha’s dominant subculture
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15) Which of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions has the biggest impact on values and beliefs?
A) Power distance
B) Individualism vs. collectivism
C) Uncertainty avoidance
D) None of the above
16) Your company encourages innovative ideas, and perseverance in the face of failure, to
maintain their status as industry leader. Your company just made a new acquisition and they
want to keep doing what their customers expect, delivering on a proven background of
experience and tradition. What is the cultural dimension that differs between the organizations?
A) Power distance
B) Individualism vs. collectivism
C) Uncertainty avoidance
D) Time orientation
17) What is a best practice when managing a group of subordinates in an individualistic culture?
A) Recognize an individual’s effort toward the team project in weekly meetings
B) Recognize the group’s effort toward the team project in weekly meetings
C) Recognize an individual’s efforts privately with that individual
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18) What does a low score on the masculinity dimension (as defined by Hofstede) indicate about
a culture?
A) There is more assertiveness and competitiveness
B) There is little difference between gender roles
C) There is a vast difference between gender roles
19) As an expatriate getting ready for your first assignment, understanding as much as possible
about the host country’s culture is essential. Why? Provide at least two examples based on
Difficulty: Hard
20) How does an organization maintain consistent values and beliefs over time?
A) Retaining a small workforce of 20 or fewer employees
B) Effective socialization
C) Rewarding employees who maintain consistent values and beliefs
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21) Which act of socialization involves telling newcomers about what is important to the
organization?
A) Defining what is important
B) Reframing what is important
C) Rewarding and punishing what is important
D) Showing the way
22) When has an employee adapted to the organization’s culture?
A) After orientation
B) Before socialization
C) After 90 days
D) After accepting culture
23) What happens when a single subculture dominates in an organization?
A) Majority rules and members of that subculture assume leadership positions
B) The subculture becomes the new overall culture
C) Employees will adapt to the new dynamic
D) The organization’s strategy will be influenced by that subculture
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24) Ideally, an organization’s culture should be linked to an organization’s ________.
A) Culture
B) Workforce
C) Strategy
D) Socialization
25) You are considering applying to the Delphi Corp., but you want to be a good cultural fit with
the organization. You scour their website and conclude they are a formal professional
organization with high expectations. You don’t want to work in such a high pressure uptight
organization, so you decide to continue your job hunt. How were you able to draw conclusions
about Delphi’s culture?
A) Studying their espoused values
B) Skyping with the HR manager
C) Examining artifacts on their website
D) Applying the iceberg metaphor for studying their culture