C 6
Which two SWOT categories are internal to the organization?
Strengths and weaknesses
What are the three stages of Lewin's change process, in order?
Unfreezing → change intervention → refreezing.
What is a tariff?
A direct tax on imported goods.
Which type of departmentalization groups employees according to business function or expertise?
Functional departmentalization
What is social loafing?
Team members withhold effort and fail to perform their share of the work.
What are the four categories of the BCG matrix?
Stars, cash cows, question marks, and dogs.
What is a dominant design?
A technological design or process that becomes the accepted market standard.
What is the difference between global consistency and local adaptation?
Global consistency uses the same rules/policies across countries; local adaptation modifies them to fit local customers, governments, cultures, or regulators.
What is the difference between centralization and decentralization?
Centralization concentrates authority at upper levels; decentralization gives significant authority to lower organizational levels.
Put the four stages of team development in order.
Forming → storming → norming → performing.
Differentiate cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategies.
Cost leadership = acceptable quality at consistently lower cost; differentiation = distinctive offering customers will pay a premium for; focus = cost leadership or differentiation aimed at a specialized segment.
What is the difference between incremental change and discontinuous change?
Discontinuous change involves uncertainty, technological substitution, and competition for a new standard; incremental change improves an established dominant design.
Which form of global business gives a parent company the most control, and what major disadvantage comes with it?
Wholly owned affiliate; it provides maximum control/profits but involves high cost and risk.
Explain the difference among job rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment.
Rotation = move among specialized jobs; enlargement = add different tasks; enrichment = add tasks and authority/control over meaningful decisions.
What is the difference between cognitive (c-type) conflict and affective (a-type) conflict?
C-type conflict focuses on problem-related differences of opinion; a-type conflict involves emotional/personal disagreement.
Compare the four adaptive strategies: defender, prospector, analyzer, and reactor.
Defender protects a defined position; prospector seeks new opportunities and accepts risk; analyzer follows successful prospector innovations; reactor responds to environmental change without a consistent strategy.
When should a company use the experiential approach rather than the compression approach to innovation?
Experiential = high uncertainty/discontinuous change; compression = planned incremental improvement when a dominant design already exists.
What is the difference between political uncertainty and policy uncertainty, and name one way a company can minimize political risk.
Political uncertainty concerns major changes in political regimes; policy uncertainty concerns changes in laws/government policies affecting business. Political-risk strategies include avoidance, control, or cooperation.
Explain the difference among pooled, sequential, and reciprocal task interdependence.
Pooled = members independently contribute to the whole; sequential = one person's/unit's output becomes another's input; reciprocal = work moves back and forth among people/units.
How does the level of autonomy change as an organization moves from a traditional work group to an employee involvement team, semiautonomous group, and self-managing team?
Autonomy progressively increases: traditional work group → employee involvement team → semiautonomous work group → self-managing team.
A company says it plans to compete through premium differentiation, but managers continue cutting features and competing primarily on price. What Chapter 6 concept describes the disconnect between the company's intended strategy and its actual actions?
Strategic dissonance — intended strategy differs from the actions actually being taken.
A company recognizes that its performance is declining but responds primarily with belt-tightening and cost-cutting to restore profits. What stage of organizational decline is it in, and what stage comes next if those efforts fail?
Faulty action; the next stage is crisis.
A U.S. company wants to enter a foreign market with a local partner, share resources, costs, and risks, and create a third independent company. Which global business arrangement best fits this situation?
Joint venture.
Employees need to continuously exchange work back and forth, customer needs change rapidly, and decisions must be made close to the work. What combination of task interdependence, organizational design, and authority structure would best fit this situation?
Reciprocal interdependence + organic design + decentralized authority.
A team is arguing about the best way to solve a work problem. The manager wants to preserve productive disagreement without allowing it to become personal. What type of conflict should the manager encourage, what type should the manager minimize, and name two practices that can help the team have a productive “good fight.”
Encourage cognitive/c-type conflict and minimize affective/a-type conflict. Any two: use more information, develop multiple alternatives, establish common goals, inject humor, maintain a balance of power, or resolve issues without forcing consensus.