Chapter 2—Strategic Management of Stakeholder Relationships
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Under the historical and traditional views of business, who was considered to be a stakeholder?
a.
Owners
b.
Owners and customers
c.
Owners, customers, employees, and business partners
d.
Owners, customers, employees, business partners, the community, the government, and
special-interest groups
e.
Society in general
2. Which stakeholder provides the goods and services necessary for an organization to function
effectively and efficiently?
a.
Stockholders
b.
Suppliers
c.
Employees
d.
Managers
e.
Government
3. Which of the following best describes the rationale of the stakeholder interaction model?
a.
The customer receives most of the value because investors, suppliers, and employees are
compensated at a reasonable level.
b.
This model involves a two-way relationship with the firm’s stakeholders.
c.
A company basically produces at a level equal to the amount of input received from
investors, suppliers, and employees.
d.
Open communication between employees and management creates the input-output flow
in an organization.
e.
In order to create final products or output, an organization must have several different
inputs.
4. The ____ model explicitly acknowledges the dialog that exists between a firm’s internal and external
environments.
a.
output
b.
input
c.
societal
d.
shareholder
e.
stakeholder interaction
5. Groups that are fundamental to a company’s operations and survival are collectively called
a.
critical stakeholders.
b.
primary stakeholders.
c.
top stakeholders.
d.
shareholders.
e.
VIPs.
6. Which of the following is not normally considered a primary stakeholder?
a.
Employees
b.
Media
c.
Community
d.
Business partners
e.
Employees
7. Which of the following does not describe the treatment of stakeholders on a worldwide basis?
a.
Large and progressive companies in most economically developed nations have embraced
the stakeholder model.
b.
As more businesses enter the global market, they encounter the complexity of balancing
stakeholders’ relationships with other business operations and decisions.
c.
The importance of stakeholders varies from country to country.
d.
Catastrophic events around the world have made a compelling case for building
relationships with nondomestic stakeholders.
e.
A company’s treatment of domestic stakeholders is generally the same as that of foreign
stakeholders.
8. The extent to which a stakeholder can gain access to coercive, utilitarian, or symbolic means to impose
or communicate its views to an organization is known as
a.
power.
b.
legitimacy.
c.
control.
d.
urgency.
e.
force.
9. By banning the importation of goods made by children under the age of 15 through indentured or
forced labor, the U.S. government exercised which type of power?
a.
Coercive
b.
Legal
c.
Legitimate
d.
Symbolic
e.
Utilitarian
10. Which of the following is the best way for a stakeholder to gain legitimacy?
a.
Committing acts of violence to show the company and the community that you are serious
b.
Making claims that you feel are reasonable, regardless of the view of other stakeholders
c.
Exploring the issue from a variety of perspectives and then communicating your desires
for change in a respectful manner
d.
Insisting that your group’s interests are extremely important to society in general
e.
Informing the media of the horrible things the company has done so that the rest of the
world will know
11. On what two factors is a stakeholder’s urgency based?
a.
Ethical sensitivity and the impact on society
b.
Time sensitivity and the importance of the claim to the stakeholder
c.
Economic timing and the stakeholder’s ability to use coercive power
d.
Goal orientation and motivation of the stakeholder
e.
Opportunity and rationale of the stakeholder’s claim
12. The outcomes associated with positive stakeholder relationships are
a.
always long-term in nature.
b.
mostly short-term in nature.
c.
both long-term and short-term in nature.
d.
unlikely to have an effect on the firm’s reputation.
e.
of minimal importance to the operation of the firm.
13. Reputation management is
a.
the process of building and sustaining a company’s good name and generating positive
feedback from stakeholders.
b.
the process of developing positive relationships with media sources in order to influence
news about the company.
c.
not worth much effort, since stakeholders will make their own decisions about the
company’s actions.
d.
communicating how an organization wants to be viewed by its stakeholders and by the
public.
e.
top management’s efforts to protect its reputation so that top management can achieve
greater job security.
14. Which of the following is not one of the components of the reputation management process?
a.
Organizational identity
b.
Performance
c.
Image
d.
Impression
e.
Reputation
15. Which of the following was not an action taken by Green Mountain Coffee in an effort to manage its
reputation?
a.
Utilizing high-quality Arabica coffees
b.
Building a corporate culture open to employee ideas and concerns
c.
Implementing roasting standards that maximize taste and flavor differences between
coffees
d.
Publicly ridiculing other coffee manufacturers for poor quality and unethical harvesting
procedures
e.
Using fair trade certification on qualified coffees
16. Organizational crises are characterized by all of the following except
a.
a threat to a company’s high-priority goals.
b.
routine problems occurring in business.
c.
being a surprise to a company’s membership.
d.
the need for swift action.
e.
far-reaching events.
17. Which of the following statements is false concerning how a company should communicate after a
crisis?
a.
Crisis events are often chaotic, so management may begin the crisis response with a
degree of ambiguity.
b.
If a company is slow to respond, stakeholders may feel as though the company does not
care about their needs or is not remorseful about the crisis.
c.
It is better to wait until the company has a complete understanding of the crisis so that
stakeholders will not be led astray by partial information.
d.
The company should communicate how it plans to resolve the crisis.
e.
The communication after a crisis is usually not handled in a completely effective or
ineffective manner.
18. When Hormel Foods implemented an Internet-based procurement system, Hormel’s relationships with
its suppliers were affected in all of the following ways except
a.
through tangible investments such as equipment, tools, and software.
b.
by making Hormel’s suppliers more attractive to other food companies, which would
increase the prices the suppliers could charge.
c.
through intangible investments such as time, effort, and trust.
d.
by increased dependency on Hormel’s business in order to justify the cost outlays.
e.
through the suppliers’ evaluation to ensure that Hormel was worth the investment.
19. What asset resides in relationships, and is characterized by mutual goals and trust, and smoothes
internal and external transactions and processes?
a.
Financial capital
b.
Intellectual capital
c.
Interpersonal capital
d.
Social capital
e.
Relationship capital
20. A company committed to implementing the stakeholder perspective in its social responsibility strategy
begins by
a.
assessing corporate culture and identifying stakeholder groups.
b.
developing crisis management plans.
c.
identifying the resources of various stakeholders.
d.
conducting a social audit.
e.
measuring social capital.
21. When a company is denying responsibility and doing less than is required with a particular
stakeholder, it is engaged in a(n) ____ strategy.
a.
accommodative
b.
defensive
c.
reactive
d.
inactive
e.
proactive
22. The Reactive-Defensive-Accommodative-Proactive Scale is best described by which of the following?
a.
A scale that determines the motivations businesses have for implementing social
responsibility programs
b.
A scale that is used to rate a company’s overall efforts at developing and maintaining good
relationships with its employees and suppliers
c.
Another name for a social responsibility audit
d.
A method for assessing a company’s strategy and performance with one particular
stakeholder
e.
A technique for firms to use in developing public relations strategies
ESSAY
23. Describe the purpose of the stakeholder interaction model. Sketch a diagram of the model and briefly
explain the types and direction of those relationships that exist.
24. Describe the differences between primary and secondary stakeholders.
25. Name the three attributes of stakeholders, and explain how these attributes may affect the development
of a relationship between a stakeholder and a company.
26. What is reputation management? Describe the four components of the reputation management process,
and explain how these components work together.
27. Define ethical misconduct disaster (EMD). Provide two examples of ethical misconduct disasters that
have occurred in business over the past several years.
28. What is crisis management? Describe the four stages of the crisis management process and possible
conditions, strategies, and tactics that an organization may experience or consider at each stage.
29. List and describe the six steps involved in implementing a stakeholder perspective into a company’s
social responsibility strategy.
30. Name five stakeholder issues and how these could be measured to assess corporate impact and
success.