Exam 8: Structuring Organizations for Todays Challenges

Corinne, part of the human resources department at a multinational corporation, works with several hundred employees. Her main function is to advise and assist managers in other departments, such as marketing and production, when they make staffing decisions. Corinne's position would be classified as a(n) ________ position.

Today's preference for flat rather than tall organization structures is mainly due to a flat organization's ability to

Leaf Lovers Garden Centers is a chain of discount gardening stores throughout the United States. Top management realizes that among the different regions of the U.S., there are vastly different climates and soil conditions. Therefore, regional managers are given a great deal of freedom to decide exactly what types of plants, fertilizers, and other items to stock and how to best market these products. Leaf Lovers is an example of a ________ organization.

Farm to Table Foods is a wholesaler serving grocery stores nationwide. Communications technology allows Farm to Table to work closely with its suppliers and customers in real time. Networking allows these organizations to operate more efficiently.

When we experience economies of scale, this means that as production levels rise (we make more of something), the cost of supplies and the cost of labor that go into the production go down.

Watchful Eyes Industries manufactures a multitude of safety products like burglar alarms, smoke detectors, surveillance cameras, and specialty locks. Watchful Eyes doesn't just stick to households, they outfit businesses and government agencies as well. They have found that each market requires a different marketing strategy. Watchful Eyes would probably benefit from departmentalization by

If a particular function is one of a firm's core competencies, it typically performs this function itself rather than outsourcing it to another organization.

Due to more emphasis on empowerment and more talented and better-educated lower-level management, span of control in organizations has ________.

Flat organizations have fewer managers.

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?

One advantage of a bureaucratic organization is that

When Eric Schmidt joined Google he tackled the organization function head-on. In speaking at a large conference with its founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, he commented that Google was running pretty well but "it just needed a little structure." Schmidt was referring to basic organization principles such as division of labor, specialization, and getting the departments running smoothly.

Dan was a team supervisor in a very large organization when the refrigerator in their lunchroom stopped functioning. He started the paperwork on the day it died, then the refrigerator request went out for bid. After that, two middle managers needed to approve acceptance of the bid and document their decision, and the purchasing director had final approval. The refrigerator arrived six months later. Max Weber would have approved of the decision process and its documentation at Dan's company to back up such a refrigerator purchase.

In a line-and-staff organization, staff positions are temporary jobs to train new line managers.

________ organizations are characterized by many layers of management and function with well-defined rules and procedures.

OnTrend, a cosmetology trade publication, utilizes the resources of other organizations as needed and business relationships are temporary as well as flexible. OnTrend is a networked organization made up of replaceable firms that join the network and leave it as needed. This unique organization is an example of

In the Making Ethical Decisions box titled "Would You Sacrifice Safety for Profit?" which of the following statements best expresses the theme of the discussion?

The process of setting up individual functional units of the business to do specialized tasks is called

Jarvis is a production engineer at Rubber Ring Tires. He recently joined a team of specialists from other departments in the business, such as marketing and finance. This long-term team assignment has developed several new products. Jarvis enjoys working in this environment, partly because Rubber Ring's management has given the team the freedom and flexibility to make decisions. Recently, outsiders from Freestone's major distributors and suppliers have been included on the team. It appears that Jarvis's team is a(n)

Empowerment works only when employees are given the proper training and resources to respond.