Exam 8: Structuring Organizations for Todays Challenges

Management at Leaves of Green, a nationwide vegetarian restaurant chain, believes that its customers value a predictable and consistent level of service and quality. When customers stop at one of its restaurants anywhere in the United States, they should know what to expect in terms of menu, price and quality. In order to maintain this consistency, Leaves of Green adopted a(n) ________ structure.

The informal organization is created by the decisions of top management.

A tall organization structure consists of multiple levels of management.

To better organize his landscaping business, Scott started to divide each job into several parts. One is excavation and removal of old landscaping, the next is design, followed by purchasing, and finally installation of new plants. If he assigns a different employee to each part, this action would be an example of departmentalization.

A disadvantage of the matrix organization is the temporary nature of the teams.

Once a company has restructured a firm to be more competitive in today's market, it alleviates the need to scan the external environment.

Devin had worked for his company for several years and was considered to be a politically savvy employee. After earning several promotions, he became the new president of the company. Nina, a longtime colleague of Devin's, had reported to him back when he was a first-line supervisor. She understood how the human side of the organization worked and made certain that she maintained a direct line of communication with Devin. On the company's organization chart, Nina maintained a lower-level position; but, due to her open line of communication with Devin, she was able to successfully push her agenda. The human side of the organization is synonymous with the

McNulty Manufacturing builds small consumer kitchen products like mixers and toaster ovens. The industry is relatively stable, having few new advances in product development. McNulty should use a line or line-and-staff organizational structure to ensure efficient operations.

As the head of the engineering department for her company, Jody works with her team on complex and challenging projects. The level of detail in this work requires Jody to spend a significant amount of time with each team member, providing advice and support. Due to the complexity and time involvement of each project, Jody has a(n) ________ span of control.

Brady developed two VR games. However, he didn't do it all on his own. He hired two programmers, a marketing specialist, and created a small company. He considers himself a pioneer and wants to position his company the same way. He solicits your advice as to how he should structure his organization as he moves forward, and you suggest that he hire a few potential customers to join his team of employees as beta testers. And, you suggest, maybe he should solicit globally. The structure you have described would simulate a line-and-staff organization.

Explain the difference between a firm's formal organization and its informal organization. Why are both types of organization important to managers?

Which of the following statements explains the unity of command principle of management?

A bureaucracy is designed to be customer focused.

Within its production department, Sooner Manufacturing has shift leaders, supervisors, assistant plant managers, plant managers, product group managers, assistant division managers, division managers, an assistant vice president for production, and a vice president in charge of production. Given its multiple-layer management structure, Sooner Manufacturing is an example of a(n) ________ organization.

The more complex the job, the narrower the span of control.

To better serve customers, many firms are restructuring to empower front-line employees.

In a capitalist economy, organizations seldom reorganize due to changing markets.

Which of the organization models follows all of Fayol's traditional management rules?

Describe two major issues that are important in organizational design.

A flat organizational structure is designed to be more responsive to the needs of management.