Essay

BUSMGT Practice Test Questions

Meera arrived early for her first day as a junior programmer at ABC Technology Limited. She was surprised to be met at the door by Cassandra, the Chief Executive Officer, who advised Meera that she would be conducting her orientation that morning. As Meera walked down the corridor towards the staffroom, she noticed that recent photos on the wall were of staff volunteering at various local community events, and there was also a photo of the current ‘Team of the Month’.

When they got to the staffroom Cassandra introduced Meera to a couple of members of the staff who happened to be in there enjoying the free morning muffins. When Cassandra left to take a phone call, the staff told Meera that Cassandra’s husband, the Chief Financial Officer, had initiated the free muffins when they had first started the company. This was because they wanted everyone to feel like they were members of their extended family, and for everyone to feel part of the one big ABC Technology team, all working together towards the same goals.

Part A: Meera’s first day at ABC Technology Limited told her a lot about the organisation’s culture. Discuss three of the artefacts Meera observed, and what they potentially indicate in terms of the values and beliefs shared by the employees of ABC Technology Limited.

Provide examples from either the 711 class discussions and materials, or personal experience, to support your answers. [6 marks]

Part B: The strength of an organisations culture can have positive and negative implications. Using examples from the case above, make two clear arguments for why you believe ABC Technology Limited has either a weak or strong organisational culture. Draw on your MikesBikes and/or other personal experiences to further support each argument. [4 marks]

Part A

The answer requires the students to specifically identify 3 of the elements of organisational culture (the scenario includes 5 – and there will always be more than the question asks for) and then extrapolate (drawing on class discussion and material and/or personal experience) what this could mean. The student would get 1 point per element correctly identified as an artefact and 1 point for a well-considered explanation, and example, of what the element indicates in terms of organisational beliefs and values.

Please note: Students should name the theoretical models and frameworks referred to in their response. For example, where the answer notes the level of culture, it should note Schein’s model

The photographs of staff (the artefact) volunteering at local community events indicate that ABC Technology Limited have a belief (identified level of culture) in the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (correctly identified potential construct / concept). As discussed in our lecture the ANZ bank is an example of an organisation where staff are able to donate one workday per year to help in communities and this leads to approximately 15,000 hours of help to local communities each year. This is an example of an organisation with a strong culture of corporate social responsibility (a clearly linked example taken from the course content).

The photograph of the “Team of the Month” (the artefact) indicate that ABC Technology Limited have a value (identified level of culture) team work more than individual performance (correctly identified potential construct / concept). I personally worked at an organisation where the espoused culture was that of collective responsibility and working together as a team, just like ABC Technology Limited, but bonuses were actually awarded to individuals, meaning that the enacted culture was actually about individual performance (a clearly linked example taken from personal experience).

Finally, the free muffins (the artefact) indicate that ABC Technology Limited value (identified level of culture) their employees and understand that a culture that makes employees feel appreciated leads to positive outcomes such as job satisfaction and reduced employee turnover (correctly identified potential construct / concept There be more than 1 answer here so it is about supporting the construct with a relevant example). During one of the TBLs we discussed the culture at Google and other Silicon Valley companies and the importance of the various ‘perks’ in terms of how they make the staff feel appreciated and part of the team. This is the same approach that is being taken at ABC Technology Limited (a clearly linked example taken from personal experience, which also lead into the topic of motivation).

The other observable artefacts that could be discussed include that:

a) The CEO herself meet the new staff member and was conducting the orientation. This is a visible enactment of the espoused value that everyone is part of the same team and equally important even if they are only just starting out as a junior programmer.

b) That the CEO is a woman indicates enactment of an (assumed) espoused belief in diversity. This is not specifically identified in the scenario but as long as the explanation and examples are clearly explained then full points could be awarded. I include this so that students can see that we are open to allocating marks for any clearly argued points (as long as they are correct!)

Part B

The students need to be able to identify that the culture appears strong and explain why that is so. Based on 4 marks in total and 2 examples required they would get ½ a point per case element identified and ½ a point for explaining why this indicates a strong culture and 1 mark for a relevant and clearly linked Mikes Bikes or personal example.

The employees in the lunchroom telling the story about why there are free muffins (observable culture) indicates that this is part of the company’s history that all employees are aware of. This widely shared knowledge (accepted indication of a strong organisational culture) is a clear indication of a strong organisational culture. I personally worked at an organisation in the banking sector where it was widely known that the Friday night socialising often involved excessive drinking and often sexist behaviour. This in an example of a strong organisational culture as everyone knew the stories about what happened, but also an example of when a strong organisational culture is not necessarily a positive organisational culture (clearly linked personal example).

Cassandra showing Meera around (observable culture) illustrates that she believes the employees are part of one big team and therefore there is a strong link between the espoused values and what actually happens at ABC Technology Limited. A clear link between values and behaviours is another clear indication of a strong culture (accepted indication of a strong organisational culture). In my MikesBikes team we agreed that we would have core value of mutual accountability and this proved to be true when we made a bad decision because some of the data was entered incorrectly but we all subsequently acknowledged that it was our collective responsibility to check the data before the rollover (clearly linked MikesBikes example).