Exam 8: Structuring Organizations for Todays Challenges

Cross-functional self-managed teams work best when ________________.

Top management at Topdown,Inc.wants to encourage communication between different departments and prevent employees from becoming narrow specialists.The best way to accomplish these goals is to departmentalize Topdown's organization by function.

A firm's formal organization would be better suited than its informal organization to:

As Bret prepares to open his new business,he has identified the tasks that need to be accomplished and has assigned employees to each task.This illustrates a:

The traditional way to departmentalize an organization is by geographical area served.

A recent business trend is the elimination of layers of management,creating flatter organizations and subsequently,a wider span of control.

Line managers issue orders,enforce discipline,and adjust the organization as conditions change.

Barclay developed two interactive computer games.He didn't do it entirely alone.Last year he started a small company,hired two programmers,and a marketing graduate.He considers himself a cutting-edge kind of guy and wants to position his company the same.Soliciting your advice as to how he should structure his organization as he moves forward,you suggest that he hire a few potential customers to join his team of employees as product testers.And,maybe he should solicit globally.The structure you have described would simulate a line and staff organization.

Outsourcing involves assigning various functions to outside organizations.

A ____________ organization is characterized by direct two-way lines of responsibility,authority,and communication running from the top to the bottom of the organization,with all people reporting to only one supervisor.

International Inns and Conference Centers [IICC],a national chain of professional event centers utilizes a centralized authority structure.Which of the following provides the most likely explanation for why management at IICC would favor centralized authority?

Due to the competitive nature of companies that compete for the same customers,cross-functional teams never consist of individuals from more than one firm.

Managing a growing business often requires managers to create departments to accomplish various tasks.

Successful managers will find the balance between promoting the informal organization and maintaining a formalized structure,as well.

Henri Fayol and Max Weber are best known for their contributions to accounting theory.

A matrix team for an aerospace company may consist of a project manager,a finance expert,a marketing specialist,a member of production,and two design engineers.

__________ are responsible for directly achieving organizational goals.

The degree to which an organization allows lower level managers to make decisions determines the degree of decentralization.

A study at the Slumber Inn Corporation identified poor employee morale.Employee respondents indicated frustration with their inability to deal directly with customers' concerns and complaints.These employees feel that if they were empowered with the authority to make decisions,customer satisfaction would dramatically increase.This illustrates one of the disadvantages of decentralized authority.

The virtual corporation does all its business online with partners considered a permanent part of the network.