Exam 8: Structuring Organizations for Todays Challenges

________ is the term used to describe those functions that a firm can do as well or better than others. It performs these functions in-house, rather than outsourcing.

Division of labor is difficult to achieve in small businesses.

Mini-Case Angelica Canizales is the CEO of Mucho Dinero Enterprises. Sales have dropped for four consecutive years and accountants have reported net losses in each of the last two years. Employees appear discouraged and frustrated. Recently, Angelica met with managers from marketing, production, and finance to listen to their views regarding the company's problems. The managers unanimously agreed that the main problem was a lack of communication among the several functional areas of the business. Each manager felt that the firm could increase quality and customer satisfaction with better interdepartmental communication. Angelica also met with marketing and production employees to get their respective opinions on the problems of the firm. One employee from the production department observed, "We have so many layers of management that it takes forever to make decisions." An employee from marketing complained, "This place is so bogged down with rules and regulations that there is no opportunity to be creative." Several employees shared their opinions regarding their bosses. Specifically, one employee said, "My boss never pays attention to my ideas. He just issues orders and expects me to obey them." Angelica decided, after listening to many comments from managers and employees and also suppliers and customers, that the only way to end Mucho Dinero's slide was to completely rethink the firm's structure and to make radical changes in its organization. She presented her ideas to the board of directors, promising to voluntarily resign if her efforts to reorganize did not return the firm to profitability. -Currently, Mucho Dinero is organized into specialized departments such as marketing, finance, production, and personnel. These departments are designed to allow people with similar skills and expertise to work together. This approach is known as ________ departmentalization.

Line organizations often experience the problem of employees reporting to more than one boss.

Cash Now Industries just hired 500 new workers to build ATMs and self-service check-out systems at its manufacturing plant in Tennessee. The company also plans to hire several hundred more employees by 2021. In the past, these machines were built primarily in Asia. Both shipping costs and quality control were cited as the reasons these companies have elected to change production strategy to

Mario recently earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry and has been asked to join a lab at a prestigious university. After a month on the job, he remarked to a graduate student at his former university that the spirit of help and cooperation at the lab was remarkable. He enjoyed going to work each day and sometimes exchanged calls with other lab partners in the evening with ideas to improve each other's experiments. Mario mentioned, "Now I understand why this lab is considered one of the best in the nation!" Mario is referring to

Mini-Case Angelica Canizales is the CEO of Mucho Dinero Enterprises. Sales have dropped for four consecutive years and accountants have reported net losses in each of the last two years. Employees appear discouraged and frustrated. Recently, Angelica met with managers from marketing, production, and finance to listen to their views regarding the company's problems. The managers unanimously agreed that the main problem was a lack of communication among the several functional areas of the business. Each manager felt that the firm could increase quality and customer satisfaction with better interdepartmental communication. Angelica also met with marketing and production employees to get their respective opinions on the problems of the firm. One employee from the production department observed, "We have so many layers of management that it takes forever to make decisions." An employee from marketing complained, "This place is so bogged down with rules and regulations that there is no opportunity to be creative." Several employees shared their opinions regarding their bosses. Specifically, one employee said, "My boss never pays attention to my ideas. He just issues orders and expects me to obey them." Angelica decided, after listening to many comments from managers and employees and also suppliers and customers, that the only way to end Mucho Dinero's slide was to completely rethink the firm's structure and to make radical changes in its organization. She presented her ideas to the board of directors, promising to voluntarily resign if her efforts to reorganize did not return the firm to profitability. -Employee complaints that there are too many layers of management and too many rules and regulations suggest that Mucho Dinero is a(n)

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. You also suggest that maybe he should solicit globally. You are suggesting to Brady that he put together a

Line organizations clearly define the lines of authority and responsibility.

The span of control for a manager

One disadvantage of the matrix style of organization is that it is more difficult to keep development projects on schedule. The model slows down the time from design to production, and then to market.

Transparency allows two companies to work more efficiently together.

Which of the following is considered to be a disadvantage of functional departmentalization?

Empowering employees to better serve customers requires ________ front-line employees.

A weakened corporate image is one of the disadvantages of a decentralized business organization.

Benchmarking requires organizations to compare each organizational function against the best in the world.

Electrolush manufactures a variety of home appliances and has historically produced the components for their products in-house. However, the company now contracts with other firms to produce these components. This strategy of ________ is a current trend among U.S. manufacturers.

Bureaucratic organizations are structured to empower employees and please customers.

A virtual corporation is a networked organization made up of replaceable firms that join the network and leave it as needed.

Matrix organizations give managers flexibility in assigning people to projects.