What is the omnipotent view of management?
Managers are directly responsible for an organization’s success or failure.
What is the symbolic view of management?
Much of an organization’s success or failure is due to external forces outside managers’ control.
What are the two types of constraints on managers’ discretion?
- Organizational culture (internal)
- Environment (external)
Define the term ‘environment’ in the context of management.
Institutions or forces outside of the organization that could potentially affect performance.
What are the two dimensions of environmental uncertainty?
- Degree of change
- Degree of complexity
What characterizes a dynamic environment?
The components in an organization’s environment change frequently.
What characterizes a stable environment?
The components in an organization’s environment change very little.
What does the degree of environmental complexity refer to?
The number of components in an organization’s environment and the extent of knowledge the organization has about those components.
List the components of the external environment.
- Economic
- Demographic
- Political/Legal
- Sociocultural
- Technological
- Global
What is the specific environment?
The part of the environment directly relevant to the achievement of organizational goals.
What are the components included in the specific environment?
- Suppliers
- Customers
- Competitors
- Government agencies
- Special interest groups
What role do suppliers play in the specific environment?
Managers need to ensure a steady flow of inputs.
Why do organizations exist in relation to customers?
Organizations exist to meet customer needs.
How do competitors affect an organization?
All organizations have competitors that they need to monitor.
What influence do government agencies have on organizations?
Federal, state, and local governments influence what the organization can and cannot do.
What are pressure groups?
Special interest groups that can have a significant impact on the organization.
Define organizational culture.
The shared values, principles, traditions, and ways of doing things that influence the way organizational members act.
What are the six dimensions of organizational culture?
- Adaptability
- Attention to detail
- Outcome orientation
- People orientation
- Team orientation
- Integrity
What is a strong culture in an organization?
Organizational cultures in which the key values are intensely held and widely shared.
How do strong cultures differ from weak cultures?
- Values widely shared vs. values limited to a few people
- Consistent messages vs. contradictory messages
- Strong employee identification vs. little identification
Where does organizational culture usually originate from?
The vision of the founders.
What are the methods through which culture is transmitted?
- Stories
- Rituals
- Material artifacts and symbols
- Language
How does culture affect managerial decisions?
An organization’s culture constrains what managers can and cannot do.
What are the seven dimensions of culture mentioned in the review?
- Attention to detail
- Outcome orientation
- People orientation
- Team orientation
- Aggressiveness
- Stability
- Innovation and risk taking
