Deck 2: Understanding the External and Organizational Environments

Question 1

The term "open market" refers to the:

A)large number of jobs available to recent college graduates
B)ability of the average company to differentiate itself from its competitors
C)openness of the U.S.to foreign competition
D)ease with which a recent college graduate can get a job
E)ability of companies to merge with and acquire their competition

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Anticipated changes in the U.S.labor in the next 20 years include:

A)slowed growth
B)a decrease in skills availability
C)greater competition for employees
D)increased dependence on migrants
E)all of the above

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Kaolin is a fine white clay used in making paper,paint,ceramics,and fiberglass.Two kaolin producers,Imetal SA and English Clay China International Inc. ,each produce about 8 million tons of kaolin a year.In 2008 these two firms were joined together in a(n):

A)merger
B)diversification
C)acquisition
D)divestment
E)spin-off

Answer 3

A

Question 4

There are four large companies that dominate the U.S.cereal industry.These companies are in the mature stage of the industry life cycle.These companies in the cereal industry:

A)are constantly trying to diversify into new products that are not breakfast cereals
B)are experiencing rapid growth
C)have an organizational culture that is built around the strategy of survival
D)are more concerned with creating brand loyalty than market development
E)are all striving to become more efficient and to produce higher quality products

Question 5

Few merger and acquisitions achieve their financial goals.One such example is Daimler-Chrysler.Why did this M&A attempt not working out as planned?

A)The two companies manufactured auto parts that were not interchangeable
B)The two companies were too geographically far apart to communicate
C)The corporate cultures were not able to be meshed effectively
D)The corporate training was not efficient
E)The German and US governments were creating obstacles too large for the companies to overcome

Question 6

The U.S.automobile industry has evolved into the _____ stage of its industry life cycle.There are three major companies in the industry.All are striving to become more efficient and to improve the quality of the automobiles it produces.

A)mature
B)evolved
C)growth
D)decline
E)developmental

Question 7

Which of the following statements about the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA)is true?

A)NAFTA has had minimal impact on how U.S.manufacturers do business.
B)NAFTA is an agreement signed by the U.S. ,Canada,and Mexico.
C)In order to be a member of NAFTA,Mexico had to agree to join no other international trade alliances.
D)NAFTA has removed all tariffs from non-technical products that were sold among the companies who signed the agreement.
E)All of the above statements about NAFTA are truE.

Question 8

_____ is intended to provide a forum for members to conduct trade negotiations and settle trade disputes,as well as the only global entity able to enforce decisions in its own court.

A)OPEC
B)International Labor Organization (ILO)
C)World Trade Organization (WTO)
D)North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA)
E)European Union (EU)

Question 9

During the _____ stage of the solar-powered automobile industry's life cycle,survival was a manufacturing company's biggest concern.

A)innovation
B)nascent
C)growth
D)startup
E)development

Question 10

Which of the following statements about the European Union (EU)is true?

A)The countries that belong to the EU have similar political environments.
B)The countries that belong to the EU have very similar cultures.
C)EU participating countries make up the largest economic zone in the world.
D)The countries that belong to the EU have nearly identical unemployment rates.
E)Government spending and individual savings rates in the countries that belong to the EU are likely to become even more uniform than they are currently.

Question 11

Which of the following statements BEST describes the global labor market?

A)There is no shortage of potential employees in the global labor market.
B)Most U.S.companies find that there is no better work force anywhere in the world than they can find at home.
C)The global work force is not as well educated as the U.S.workforce.
D)Employers find few,if any,college educated students in developing countries.
E)All of the above statements describing the global labor market are truE.

Question 12

The International Labor Organization,Social Accountability International and the World Trade Organization are examples of _____.

A)agencies of the United Nations
B)nongovernmental organizations
C)anticapitalistic movements
D)agencies of the European Union
E)intergovernmental groups created by NAFTA

Question 13

What is the major reason why the objectives that drive mergers and acquisitions are seldom,if ever,completely fulfilled?

A)government involvement
B)differences in corporate culture
C)competitive reaction
D)unpredictability of external environment
E)economic shortcomings

Question 14

The specific elements of the external environment include all EXCEPT:

A)economic conditions
B)labor markets
C)country cultures
D)human resources
E)the political landscape

Question 15

The internet auction business is in the growth stage of its industry cycle.This means that:

A)the primary concern for companies in this industry is survival
B)companies in this industry are undergoing a rapid growth
C)there are only a few large firms left in this industry
D)the companies in this industry are concentrating on increasing their efficiency without sacrificing their product quality
E)businesses in this industry are using the same human resource strategy that they adopted when the industry was newly founded

Question 16

The North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA):

A)went into effect during the 19^th century
B)has only two participants-the United States and Canada
C)resulted in the establishment of maquiladoras along the US-Mexico border
D)removed all tariffs from non-technical products
E)has led to little change in the U.S.manufacturing sector

Question 17

Computer games have overtaken traditional board games,making them obsolete.It appears that the board game industry is in its _____ stage.However,renewed interest in board games may resurrect the industry.

A)decline and renewal
B)mature
C)degeneration
D)decay
E)dissolution

Question 18

Reliable Packaging,which has competed on cost for several years,has found itself losing market share because of the cost-cutting initiatives from its competitors.In order to survive,Reliable Packaging should consider:

A)replacing its top management team
B)firing employees
C)changing its technology
D)changing the location of its firm
E)diversifying into industries where cost pressures are less severe

Question 19

"Maquiladoras" have had the following effect on Mexico and the United States:

A)Low wage jobs in the U.S.have all gone there
B)Population growth along the U.S.-Mexico border was higher in the U.S.border towns
C)Unemployment levels went down in the U.S.border towns
D)Wages increased on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border
E)Both countries would be better off if the work had moved to the Far East

Question 20

During the nascent stage of an industry's life cycle,a company in that industry:

A)enjoys a period of rapid growth
B)will look to international markets as a way to implement its growth strategy
C)has problems acquiring and retaining talent
D)must cope with the high-risk involved in its day-to-day operation
E)strives to be increasingly more efficient while improving the quality of its product

Question 21

Which of the following statements about the age of factories and mass production technologies is true?

A)At the turn of the 20^th century,people were eager to move to the city and work in factories.
B)Job satisfaction was so great during this period that income was not a great motivator.
C)Employees arrived at their factory jobs with most of the skills they needed to operate the machines.
D)Factories were the first types of organizations that required human resource management.
E)None of the above statements about the age of factories and mass production technologies is truE.

Question 22

Certain businesses are much more adept at taking full advantage of computer technology.Which of the following businesses would you expect to be the most adept at using computer technology?

A)day-care center
B)landscaping service
C)janitorial service
D)pet boarding kennel
E)medical services

Question 23

Which of the following events is likely to challenge a company's ability to manage diversity?

A)A U.S.company decides to set up manufacturing facilities in Mexico.
B)A company with a decidedly participative style of management merges with one that has an autocratic leader.
C)A company in Buffalo,NY hires 40 computer technicians from Quebec,Canada.
D)A Massachusetts investment company decides to open an office near Mississippi casinos.
E)In all of the above situations,the human resource department will have to manage diversity.

Question 24

Going from most specific to least specific,which of the following orderings best describes company leadership?

A)Vision,mission,values
B)Mission,values,vision
C)Mission,vision,values
D)Values,mission,vision
E)Values,vision,mission

Question 25

Which of the following statements about managing in the global arena is true?

A)Managers have to realize that culture shapes the preferences and behaviors of their stakeholders.
B)A successfully managed company can export its method of management to another culture and correctly expect to be successful there.
C)A good manager will still make good decision even if he is working in a culture he does not understand.
D)Managers in a culture that is individualistic must only give indirect feedback if they want to be accepted in a supervisory position.
E)Managers need to realize that as soon as an individual crosses from one country to another,the culture has changed.

Question 26

The forces pressuring U.S.companies to globalize have affected all of the following human resources areas EXCEPT:

A)computer technology
B)work design
C)management styles
D)staffing
E)compensation

Question 27

Following passage of the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA),the average wages rose in towns on both sides of the Mexico-U.S.border.

Question 28

Human resource information management (HRIM)systems:

A)are used to gather,analyze,and distribute information about the people in an organization
B)contain information about the organizations' internal and external environments
C)are used to keep current with the needs of the organizations' stakeholders
D)provide competitive information for the purposes of employee recruitment
E)check to see if organizational hiring practices are in line with federal government regulations

Question 29

Which of the following statements about HRIM systems?

A)Allow employees to access general information (e.g. ,policies,procedures,company events)using a company intranet.
B)Allow employees and managers to enter performance data,display and analyze it for trends over time,and use the data as input for both the employee's personal development plan and the organization's longer-term workforce and succession planning.
C)Make it easy to communicate a company's values and strategy to all employees,regardless of their location.
D)Make it easy for firms to design and implement HR policies and practices that are common across different cultures.
E)All of the above statements are truE.

Question 30

Which of the following statements about the use of computers at the New Balance athletic shoe factory in Maine is true?

A)Skilled employees are using sophisticated computer technology to produce shoes faster than most overseas competitors are producing shoes using low-tech workers.
B)Production rates are expected to decrease unless New Balance can find enough domestic workers
C)Originally,New Balance used computer technology purely for record keeping.
D)It is easy to predict how computer technology will impact New Balance employees.
E)New Balance will never be able to use expert computer systems because the shoe industry is so labor intensive and low tech.

Question 31

Globalization is always results in improvements for all workers.

Question 32

Components of the external environment are highly interdependent,while components of the internal environment are highly independent.

Question 33

The forces pressuring U.S.companies to globalize have many implications for managing human resources.The human resources areas affected include:

A)accounting
B)sales presentations
C)evaluating employees
D)gathering competitive data
E)monitoring the economic and social environments

Question 34

Geert Hofstede's research shows that different societies encourage and reward different behaviors.According to the Dimensions for Comparing National Cultures (Exhibit 2.17)which of the following countries most values a performance orientation (performance improvements and excellence,acceptance of feedback)?

A)Russia
B)Argentina
C)Singapore
D)Denmark
E)Kuwait

Question 35

The organizational environment refers to conditions within the organization itself.

Question 36

Although pork is becoming an increasingly popular meat,most people don't realize that pork meat is tough.Pork processors can tenderize the meat,but there is a problem with testing for tenderness.One international meat processing company has tasked a group with finding an inexpensive method of testing tenderness.The project has been assigned to company employees in Brazil,Canada,Germany,and the U.S.These people communicate via computers.This group will not work together once they find a solution.This is an example of:

A)autonomous technology
B)a strategic alliance
C)an interconnected network
D)a virtual workforce (team)
E)job rotation

Question 37

P&G operates many different divisions to sell its various consumer brands.Jif peanut butter is one of the many products made by P&G.Imagine that P&G decided that Jif peanut butter should be the peanut butter served in 80% of the school districts in the Southeastern U.S.by the end of 2009.For P&G this would be an example of a(n):

A)corporate strategy
B)operational goal
C)tactical goal
D)business strategy
E)functional strategy

Question 38

For internal political and security reasons,European Union policies provide employees in its member countries with considerably less personal privacy protection;compared to regulations imposed on U.S.companies.

Question 39

What was central to implementing Yellow Freight's customer-focused strategy?

A)a merger with another firm
B)sophisticated technologies
C)the decision to globalize
D)a change in the economy
E)none of the above

Question 40

The virtual workforce refers to:

A)the ability to communicate using e-mail with all employees
B)a type of groupware
C)employees who work at home without managerial supervision
D)a company that virtually runs without the need of employees
E)employees who are geographically dispersed yet able to work in electronically-connected teams

Question 41

What has been the obvious effect of deregulation and open markets on U.S.business?

Question 42

What are the drawbacks to adopting virtual workforce arrangements?

Question 43

What are maquiladoras? What impact have they had on the economic landscape?

Question 44

While the labor forces in Europe and Japan will continue to expand,labor forces will continue to decline in Africa,Latin America,North America,and Asia.

Question 45

What is a human resource information management system?

Question 46

Most mergers and acquisitions result in achieving financial goals for the organizations.

Question 47

What is the commonly accepted definition of technology?

Question 48

A competitive strategy is how a business unit competes for resources within its own company

Question 49

Discuss the virtual workforce.

Question 50

In recent years,foreign-born workers have constituted nearly half of the net labor force increase in the United States.

Question 51

An organization's mission statement is more specific than its business strategy and is less specific that its strategic vision.

Question 52

As an industry enters its decline stage,many companies expend into international markets.

Question 53

List the four stages of the industry life cycle.

Question 54

U.S.employers make much more use of incentive pay compared to employers in many European countries.

Question 55

Human resource information management systems (HRIM)are used to gather,analyze,and distribute information about the people in an organization.

Question 56

During the nascent stage of an industry's life cycle,firms are competing to establish a distinctive reputation and to create customer loyalty.

Question 57

The lack of skilled labor in the domestic market has led many U.S.companies to look elsewhere for their employees.

Question 58

Why do U.S.companies actively recruit and hire so many foreign employees?