Management Chapter 2 Homework The fit between a new manager and organization can determine success

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external environment but without the intense need for flexibility and rapid change. An

emphasis on winning and achieving specific ambitious goals is the glue that holds this

organization together.

C. The involvement culture places high value on meeting the needs of employees and

Discussion Question #10: General Electric is famous for firing the lowest-performing 10

percent of its managers each year. With its strict no-layoff policy, Valero Energy believes

people need to feel secure in their jobs to perform their best. Yet both are high-performing

companies. How do you account for the success of such opposite philosophies?

V. SHAPING CORPORATE CULTURE FOR INNOVATIVE RESPONSE

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTES___________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

New Manager Self-Test: Culture Preference

The fit between a new manager and organization can determine success and satisfaction. This

exercise helps students better understand which type(s) of organizational culture they prefer.

Research shows that one factor that increases a company’s value the most is people and how they

are treated. Corporate culture has become increasingly important to managers as they recognize

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Exhibit 2.8: Combining Culture and Performance

A. Managing the High-Performance Culture

1. Companies that succeed in a turbulent world are those that pay attention to both

cultural values and business performance. Cultural values can energize and motivate

employees by appealing to higher ideals and unifying people around shared goals.

Values boost performance by shaping and guiding employee behavior, so that

everyone’s actions are aligned with strategic priorities. Four organizational outcomes

are possible based on the relative attention managers pay to cultural values and

business performance.

a. Companies that pay little attention to either values or business results are unlikely

to survive for long.

d. Companies that emphasize both values and business performance will develop a

strong organizational culture that gives employees a sense of identity, holds the

company together during tough times, and helps it adapt quickly to a changing

environment. These companies represent the high-performance culture that:

B. Cultural Leadership

1. One-way managers change norms and values to build a high-performance culture is

through cultural leadership. A cultural leader defines and uses signals and symbols

to influence corporate culture by:

2. Managers widely communicate the cultural values through words and actions. Value

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statements that aren’t reinforced by management behavior are meaningless. Cultural

Benchmarking: Netflix

Stock analyst Michael Pachter called Netflix a “worthless piece of cr**” in 2005 and said it

would be taken over by Walmart, Amazon, and Blockbuster. Reed Hastings was bothered by

having to pay a $40 late fee for one video and started to think people might join a DVD club the

Answers to Discussion Questions

1. How can you prepare yourself to become an effective manager in an increasingly uncertain

global business environment?

The range of things students could do is quite broad. Some specific things they could do inside

2. Would the task environment for a cellular phone company contain the same elements as that

for a government welfare agency? Discuss.

There are three components of the task environment: competitors, suppliers, and customers. An

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3. What do you think are the most important forces in the external environment creating

uncertainty for organizations today? Do the forces you identified typically arise in the task

environment or the general environment?

The forces influencing the external environment are competitors, resources, technology, and

economic conditions. The general environment forces include international, technological,

4. Contemporary best-selling management books often argue that customers are the most

important element in the external environment. Do you agree? In what company situations

might this statement be untrue?

5. Why do you think that many managers are surprised by environmental changes and hence

are less able to help their organizations adapt?

6. Why are interorganizational partnerships so important for today’s companies? What

elements in the current environment might contribute to either an increase or decrease in

interorganizational collaboration? Discuss.

Interorganizational partnerships are important for today’s companies to survive and grow in the

future. Sharing information and resources is essential to cost effectiveness and satisfying

7. Many companies are “going green” or adopting environmentally friendly business

strategies. Clorox, for example, now offers an eco-friendly household cleaner called Green

Works. How do companies benefit from going green?

8. Cultural symbols are usually noticed through sight, sound, touch, and smell. For example,

Abercrombie retail stores use music, attractive models, and fragrance to communicate

elements of its retail store culture. Why are symbols important to a corporate culture?

9. Both China and India are rising economic powers. How might your approach to doing

business with Communist China be different from your approach to doing business with

India, the world’s most populous democracy? In which country would you expect to

encounter the most rules? The most bureaucracy?

10. General Electric is famous for firing the lowest-performing 10 percent of its managers each

year. With its strict no-layoff policy, Valero Energy believes people need to feel secure in

their jobs to perform their best. Yet both are high-performing companies. How do you

account for the success of such opposite philosophies?

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and the organization’s cultural backbone.

TEACHING NOTES FOR LEARNING EXERCISES

Self-Learning: Working in an Adaptability Culture

An adaptability culture is shaped by the values and actions of top and middle managers. When

managers actively encourage and welcome change initiatives from below, the organization will

be infused with values for change. The questionnaire measures the openness of students’

managers to change. The following questions may stimulate discussion among students.

Group Learning: Organizational Culture in the Classroom and Beyond

This exercise asks students to identify cultural norms from their own experiences in three

Action Learning

This exercise asks students to answer a series of questions about good and bad work situations,

TEACHING NOTE FOR ETHICAL DILEMMA

Competitive Intelligence Predicament

1. Go ahead and use the documents to the company’s benefit, but make clear to your boss that

you don’t want him passing confidential information to you in the future. If he threatens to

fire you, threaten to leak the news to the press.

2. Confront your boss privately and let him know you’re uncomfortable with how the documents

were obtained and what possession of them says about the company’s culture. In addition to

the question of the legality of using the information, point out that it is a public relations

nightmare waiting to happen.

3. Talk to the company’s legal counsel and contact the Society of Competitive Intelligence

Professionals for guidance. Then with their opinions and facts to back you up, go to your

boss.

CASE FOR CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Rio Grande Supply Company

1. What environmental factors have helped to create the situation Jasper Hennings faces?

What factors does Jasper need to consider when deciding on his course of action?

The biggest environmental factor in this situation is obviously technology and the ease of

accessing inappropriate material via the Internet with relative anonymity. Of course, the

2. Analyze Rio Grande’s culture. In addition to the expressed cultural values and beliefs, what

other subconscious values and beliefs do you detect? Are conflicting values present? When

values are in conflict, how would you decide which ones take precedence?

The espoused values of the company include integrity, honesty, and a respect for each individual

employee. There appears to be a subconscious value that it’s alright to ignore company policies

3. Assume you are Jasper. What are the first two action steps you would take to handle the

Henry Darger situation? How would your role as a cultural leader influence your decision?

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What message will your solution send to the other managers and rank-and-file employees?

Students will likely offer a variety of actions steps. Some of these steps might include firing

ON THE JOB VIDEO CASE

Camp Bow Wow: The Environment and Corporate Culture

1. What aspects of Camp Bow Wow’s corporate culture are visible and conscious? What aspects

are invisible and unconscious?

Visible aspects of Camp Bow Wow’s culture include the company logo, the presence of dogs in

workspaces, the dress code, the camp imagery, and Heidi Ganahl’s life story, which is told and

2. Why did Camp Bow Wow have to change its culture when it became a national franchise?

Camp Bow Wow’s early family-business culture was useful in the startup phase of Camp Bow

Wow’s growth. However, Founder Heidi Ganahl says her company required a different culture

3. What impact does Heidi Ganahl’s story have on employees at Camp Bow Wow?

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BIZ FLIX VIDEO CASE

Charlie Wilson’s War

Video Case Synopsis

Democratic Congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) from East Texas lives a reckless life that

includes heavy drinking and chasing attractive women. The film focuses on the Afghanistan

rebellion against the Soviet troop invasion in the 1980s. Wilson becomes the unlikely champion

Video Case Discussion Questions and Suggested Answers

1. This chapter discussed organizational culture as having two levels of visibility. Visible

artifacts are at the first level and the easiest to see. Which visible artifacts did you observe in

this sequence?

Many visible artifacts appear in this Biz Flix video case. Viewers can see them unfold in the

2. Values appear at the next level of organizational culture. You can infer a culture’s values

from the behavior of organizational members. Which values appear in this sequence?

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The social interaction as Wilson goes through the halls suggests formality in social structure and

3. Organizational members will subconsciously behave according to an organizational

culture’s basic assumptions. You also infer these from observed behavior. Which basic

assumptions appear in this sequence?

Wilson’s behavioral reaction to Donnelly’s (Daniel Eric Gold) observation that “Tip” wants to