What is most likely the first step that must be taken by the organization once values and ethical standards have been formally established?

Which of the following statements about a company's culture is NOT true?
A.
The more new employees a company is hiring the more important it becomes to screen job applicants every bit as much for how well their values, beliefs, and personalities match up with the culture as for their technical skills and experience.

B.
The longer people stay at an organization, the more that they come to embrace and mirror the corporate culture—their values and beliefs tend to be molded by mentors, fellow workers, company training programs, and the reward structure.

C.
A company's culture, once established, tends to remain stable and entrenched over time.

D.
Typically, key elements of the culture originate with a founder or certain strong leaders who articulated them as a set of business principles, company policies, operating approaches, and ways of dealing with employees, customers, vendors, shareholders, and local communities where the company has operations.

E.
Company cultures can be perpetuated by the telling and retelling of company legends, by regular ceremonies honoring members who display desired cultural behaviors, and by visibly rewarding those who display cultural norms and penalizing those who don't.

What actions, behaviors, and work practices that are conducive to good strategy implementation support the strategy execution effort?
A.
using peer pressure to company personnel to perform, enhancing worker productivity and buy-in, and focusing the attention of employees on what is most important

B.
energizing the workforce, ensuring that personnel memorize the company values statement and code of ethics, and achieving competitive advantage

C.
providing for greater strategic flexibility, using peer pressure to company personnel to perform, and energizing the workforce

D.
enhancing worker productivity and buy-in, focusing the attention of employees on what is most important, and ensuring adherence to the company culture

E.
focusing the attention of employees on what is most important, insisting that official policies and procedures be followed religiously, and using peer pressure to company personnel to perform

Which of the following is NOT a factor in contributing to the emergence and sustainability of a strong culture?
A.
continuity of leadership, small group size, stable group membership, geographic concentration, and considerable organizational success

B.
a founder or strong leader who establishes values, principles, and practices that are consistent and sensible in light of customer needs, competitive conditions, and strategic requirements

C.
a sincere, long-standing company commitment to operating the business according to established traditions, thereby creating an internal environment that supports decision making and strategies based on cultural norms

D.
centralized decision making, strict enforcement of company policies, and a strong commitment to being the market share leader

E.
a genuine concern for the well-being of the organization's three biggest constituencies—customers, employees, and shareholders

Which of the following statements about a strong-culture company is NOT true?
A.
In a strong-culture company, culturally approved behaviors and ways of doing things are nurtured while culturally disapproved behaviors and work practices get squashed.

B.
In a strong-culture company, senior managers make a point of reiterating key principles and core values to organization members; more importantly, they make a conscious effort to display these principles and values in their own actions and behavior and they insist that company values and business principles be reflected in the decisions and actions taken by all company personnel.

C.
Continuity of leadership, small group size, stable group membership, geographic concentration, and considerable organizational success all contribute to the emergence and sustainability of a strong culture.

D.
Centralized decision making, strict enforcement of company policies, diligent pursuit of a distinctive competence, and a bold strategic intent are the hallmarks of a strong-culture company.

E.
In a strong-culture company, values and behavioral norms are like crabgrass: deeply rooted and hard to weed out.

The hallmarks of a high-performance corporate culture include
A.
a deep commitment to employee training, unusually attractive fringe benefit packages for company personnel, and frequently revised and updated values and ethics statements.

B.
a "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.
a 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.
a 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.
a deep commitment to top-notch quality and superior customer service, dedicated use of TQM and/or Six Sigma quality control programs, and the payment of big performance bonuses and stock options.

Unhealthy company cultures typically have such characteristics as
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.

The processof making corrective adjustments in strategy execution
A.
is a typical cultural mechanism for aligning, constraining, and regulating the actions, decisions, and behaviors of company personnel.

B.
exemplifies a results-oriented work climate where people go the extra mile to meet or beat stretch objectives.

C.
features a ceremony honoring individuals who believe so strongly in their ideas that they take it on themselves to hurdle the bureaucracy, maneuver their projects through the system, and turn them into improved services, new products, or even new businesses.

D.
varies according to the situation.

E.
enables companies to indoctrinate new hires rapidly into widely shared and strongly held values, principles, and behavioral norms.

Why is it important for a company to develop an ethical culture?

Which action best fosters high ethical standards in an organization?

What is an ethical corporate culture?

What is the relationship between culture and ethics in an organization?