Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 12e (Robbins/Judge)
Chapter 16 Organizational Culture
1) Alessio’s boss doesn’t care whether Alessio works at home, at the office, or from his beach
house. All he cares about is that the project is completed on time, on budget, and with exemplary
quality. Which characteristic of organizational culture best describes this aspect of Alessio’s job?
A) low risk taking
B) high outcome orientation
C) high attention to detail
D) low aggressiveness
E) high stability
2) Which of the following is not a characteristic of organizational culture?
A) attention to detail
B) innovation and risk raking
C) process orientation
D) team orientation
E) outcome orientation
3) Which of the following characteristics of an organization’s culture indicates the degree to
which management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on employees within
the organization?
A) attention to detail
B) outcome orientation
C) team orientation
D) people orientation
E) stability
4) “Stability” is one of the seven primary characteristics that captures the essence of an
organization’s culture. It indicates the degree to which ________.
A) employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risks
B) management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on the techniques and processes used
to achieve them
C) management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on people within the
organization
D) work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals
E) organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth
5) The key characteristic of organizational culture that addresses the degree to which people are
competitive rather than easygoing is termed ________.
A) assertiveness
B) team orientation
C) aversiveness
D) risk taking
E) aggressiveness
6) Which of the following statements distinguishes between organizational culture and job
satisfaction?
A) Job satisfaction is descriptive, whereas organizational culture is evaluative.
B) Organizational culture is static, whereas job satisfaction is dynamic.
C) Job satisfaction is immeasurable, whereas organizational culture is measurable.
D) Organizational culture is descriptive, whereas job satisfaction is evaluative.
E) Organizational culture measures how employees feel about organization’s expectations,
whereas job satisfaction is concerned about how employees perceive the organization’s culture.
7) Which of the following statements is true regarding an organization’s culture?
A) Organizational culture is evaluative rather than descriptive.
B) Large organizations rarely have subcultures.
C) A dominant culture expresses the core values shared by a majority of the organization’s
members.
D) A strong culture increases employee turnover.
E) Subcultures and dominant cultures must not share any common values.
8) Cultures that tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or
experiences faced by groups of members in the same department or location are often called
________.
A) micro-cultures
B) subcultures
C) divisional cultures
D) microcosms
E) counter cultures
9) Which of the following statements is not true regarding subcultures?
A) Subcultures include core values of the organization.
B) Subcultures typically exist within a department.
C) When we talk about an organization’s culture, we are referring to its subculture.
D) If organizations were composed only of numerous subcultures, organizational culture as an
independent variable would be significantly less powerful.
E) Subcultures influence members’ behavior.
10) The values that convey an organization’s culture and are widely accepted throughout the
organization are known as ________.
A) foundational values
B) core values
C) shared values
D) institutional values
E) unique values
11) Which of the following is most likely to be the indicator of a strong organizational culture?
A) high employee turnover
B) narrow span of control
C) employees’ diverse views of organization’s mission
D) presence of several subcultures
E) widely shared values
12) Which of the following is most likely to result from a strong organizational culture?
A) low employee turnover
B) low employee satisfaction
C) low organizational commitment
D) low agreement about what the organization represents
E) low behavioral control resulting from the climate within the organization
13) A strong culture should reduce employee turnover because it results in ________.
A) a highly centralized organization
B) narrow spans of control
C) cohesiveness and organizational commitment
D) a highly formalized organization
E) an outcome-oriented organization
14) Both ________ and strong culture achieve the same end result of predictability, orderliness,
and consistency.
A) high formalization
B) low departmentalization
C) wide span of control
D) low work specialization
E) people orientation
15) Which of the following statements is true regarding the functions of culture in an
organization?
A) It hinders the generation of commitment to something larger than individual self-interest.
B) It conveys a sense of identity for organization members.
C) It reduces the stability of the social system.
D) It reduces distinctions between one organization and others.
E) It does not affect employees’ attitudes and behavior.
16) The lack of frequent face-to-face contact in ________ organizations makes establishing a
common set of norms very difficult.
A) highly formalized
B) boundaryless
C) virtual
D) matrix
E) highly centralized
17) Which of the following statements is true regarding the establishment of organizational
culture and its effects on the organization?
A) Today’s trend toward decentralized organizations makes it easier to establish a strong culture.
B) In a virtual organization, a strong culture can be established quickly and easily.
C) Employees organized in teams always show greater allegiance to the values of the
organization as a whole than to their team and its values.
D) Culture acts as a control mechanism and guides the behavior of employees.
E) Cultures reduce the stability of the social system.
18) Janice works for a pet store where everyone is committed to the happiness of the animals.
Often employees, bosses and hourly workers alike, come into the store “off the clock” and spend
time training the animals. Everyone loves the store, the animals, and their jobs. This attitude of
her coworkers inspires Janice to do her best. Based on this information, we can say that Janice is
experiencing the effects of ________.
A) centralization
B) organizational climate
C) high departmentalization
D) high formalization
E) high work specialization
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19) A(n) ________ organization is an organization that takes on a life of its own, apart from its
founders or members and is valued for itself and not for the goods or services it produces.
A) virtual
B) matrix
C) boundaryless
D) institutionalized
E) centralized
20) Culture is most likely to be a liability when ________.
A) the employees of the organization are highly skilled
B) the organization’s environment is dynamic
C) the organization’s management is highly efficient
D) the organization is highly centralized
E) the organization scores low on the degree of formalization
21) Consistency of behavior is an asset to an organization when the organization ________.
A) has an aggressive culture
B) encourages innovation and risk taking
C) is highly departmentalized
D) has an employee oriented culture
E) operates in a stable environment
22) In recent years, ________ has become the primary concern in acquisitions and mergers.
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A) cultural compatibility
B) employee diversity
C) financial advantage
D) product synergy
E) legal complication
23) The ultimate source of an organization’s culture is ________.
A) its top management
B) its environment
C) the country in which the organization operates
D) its founders
E) the sociocultural backgrounds of its employees
24) The selection process helps sustain the organization’s culture by ________.
A) encouraging discussion about norms
B) hiring candidates who fit well within the organization
C) selecting employees who deserve to be promoted
D) developing performance evaluation criteria
E) rewarding conformity of skills
25) The ________ process helps candidates learn about the organization and if employees
perceive a conflict between their values and those of the organization, they can remove
themselves from the applicant pool.
A) orientation
B) training
C) performance evaluation
D) selection
E) institutionalization
26) ________ is a process that helps new employees adapt to the prevailing organizational
culture.
A) Satisficing
B) Reciprocal interdependence
C) Socialization
D) Formalization
E) Social loafing
27) The process of socialization consists of three stages. Which of the following is one of these
three stages?
A) prearrival
B) preencounter
C) evaluation
D) post-arrival
E) post-encounter
28) The ________ stage of the socialization process explicitly recognizes that each individual
that the organization comes across during the selection process has a set of values, attitudes, and
expectations about both the work to be done and the organization.
A) post-encounter
B) prearrival
C) metamorphosis
D) preencounter
E) post-arrival
29) Identify the correct order in the socialization process.
A) encounter, metamorphosis, post-encounter
B) prearrival, arrival, evaluation
C) prearrival, arrival, post-arrival
D) prearrival, encounter, metamorphosis
E) metamorphosis, preencounter, arrival
30) Elsa joined her new law firm expecting to participate in exciting environmental law cases,
and cutting edge research. After one month at the firm she still hasn’t been assigned a case and
spends most of her time filing standardized appeals for title disputes with insurance companies.
In which stage of the socialization process is Elsa?
A) prearrival
B) encounter
C) metamorphosis
D) post-encounter
E) post-arrival
31) During the ________ stage, a new employee compares her expectations with the realities in
the organization.
A) prearrival
B) encounter
C) metamorphosis
D) post-arrival
E) post-encounter
32) If there is a basic conflict between the individual’s expectations and the reality of working in
an organization, the employee is most likely to be disillusioned and quit during the ________
stage of socialization.
A) prearrival
B) post-arrival
C) encounter
D) metamorphosis
E) post-encounter
33) During the socialization process, to work out any problems discovered during the encounter
stage, the new member changes or goes through the ________ stage.
A) post-arrival
B) metamorphosis
C) post-encounter
D) analysis
E) evaluation
34) Which of the following statements is true regarding random socialization?
A) Random socialization tries to strip away certain characteristics of the recruit.
B) Random socialization is carried out as per a fixed time schedule.
C) In random socialization, new employees are left on their own to figure things out.
D) Random socialization involves socializing the newcomers in groups.
E) Specific orientation and training programs are examples of random socialization.
35) Which of the following types of socialization involves putting the new employee directly
into the job,
with little or no special attention?
A) investiture socialization
B) serial socialization
C) collective socialization
D) fixed socialization
E) informal socialization
36) ________ socialization assumes that the newcomer’s qualities and qualifications are the
necessary ingredients for job success, so these qualities and qualifications are confirmed and
supported.
A) Variable
B) Collective
C) Serial
D) Investiture
E) Formal
37) Which of the following statements is true about formal socialization?
A) Formal socialization involves socializing the new members individually.
B) Specific orientation and training programs are examples of formal socialization.
C) Apprenticeship and mentoring programs are examples of formal socialization.
D) Formal socialization lacks a fixed time schedule.
E) In formal socialization, new employees are left on their own to figure things out.
38) ________ socialization tries to strip away certain characteristics of the recruit.
A) Random
B) Fixed
C) Collective
D) Divestiture
E) Formal
39) Apprenticeship and mentoring programs are examples of ________ socialization.
A) divestiture
B) variable
C) serial
D) informal
E) investiture
40) New employees are usually comfortable with their organizations by the end of the ________
stage of socialization.
A) encounter
B) post-arrival
C) establishment
D) metamorphosis
E) adaptation
41) ________ typically contain(s) a narrative of events about the organization’s founders, rule
breaking, or reactions to past mistakes.
A) Stories
B) Material symbols
C) Rituals
D) Language
E) Corporate chants
42) Which of the following is not a means of transmitting culture within an organization?
A) stories
B) people orientation
C) rituals
D) language
E) material symbols
43) Phil is new at JPS Corp., but after a week he already knows that the founder of the
corporation started the business in his garage with only $4,000 and one client. This information
was most likely transmitted to Phil by way of ________.
A) stories
B) material symbols
C) rituals
D) language
E) corporate chants
44) ________ help employees understand the history and past actions of an organization and
explain and legitimate current practices by anchoring the present in the past.
A) Stories
B) Material symbols
C) Rituals
D) Organization specific terms
E) Corporate chants
45) Which of the following is not an example of stories?
A) how the new standard operating procedures will be implemented
B) how the founders started the company
C) how the workforce grew from three to three hundred in one year
D) how the company had to cut one thousand employees last year
E) how one of its post popular products was invented
46) Company chants are examples of ________.
A) rituals
B) material symbols
C) stories
D) company policies
E) business strategies
47) Company chants are used to ________.
A) inform employees about changes in rules and policies
B) transmit company culture to employees
C) inform employees about latest technologies
D) communicate company strategies to the employees
E) update employees regarding performance of the company
48) Which of the following act(s) as a common denominator to unite members of a given culture
or subculture?
A) mechanistic organizational structure
B) 360 degree appraisals
C) jargons and acronyms that are specific to the organization
D) bureaucratic organizational structure
E) unity of command
49) Which of the following is not a message conveyed by material symbols?
A) organizational hierarchy
B) top management’s egalitarianism
C) the marketing strategy of the organization
D) appropriate risk-taking behavior
E) appropriate authoritarian behavior