Exam 16: Organizational Design and Structure

Examples of ________ include typical mass-production or assembly operations.

Explain the difference between an organic and mechanistic structure.

Designing an organizational structure is becoming increasingly complex in today's rapidly changing global world.

In general, the larger and more complex an organization is, the taller is its hierarchy.

A company that produces televisions decides to expand its operations and produce toys as well. As the company further grows, it also begins to produce office furniture. Assume that this company is organized with a functional structure. What is the MOST LIKELY consequence of this extensive growth?

The upper management of a toy company has decided that more divisions would be useful. They decided that one-year-olds have different needs than two-year-olds, so they created a division for each age. They also decided that people in the northern part of the state have different needs than the people in the central part of the state and the southern part of the state, so they created three more divisions. Lastly, they decided that because they serve schools, daycares, families with many kids, and families with few kids, they needed four more divisions. How would an expert on organizational structures MOST LIKELY rate this strategy?

A decentralized structure is appropriate with small-batch technology.

Formalization drives up operating costs.

A virtual organization does not require face-to-face interaction because employees are linked to centralized databases by computers, faxes, and videoconferencing.

Amos is an engineer on a team developing a new video game system. He is frustrated that one of his supervisors is impressed with the team's work while his other supervisor complains that Amos interacts with some of the team members too much. This supervisor feels that to be effective and develop a good product, Amos can't spend a lot of time working on being cordial and developing relationships. This role ambiguity caused by feedback from two different bosses could be seen as a disadvantage of the ________ structure.

Integrating mechanisms are tools used to increase communication and coordination among functions and divisions.

In a flat organizational structure, managers are expected to make all of the decisions.

A company uses mass production to manufacture toilet paper. The organization MOST LIKELY ________.

Organizing tools used to increase communication and coordination among functions and divisions BEST describes ________.

The principal way in which organizations standardize behaviors is through rules and standard operating procedures (SOPs).

The ________ is an organization's chain of command, extending from the CEO down through the middle managers and first-line managers, to the nonmanagerial employees who actually make the goods or provide the services.

What are the advantages of a functional structure? What are the disadvantages of a functional structure?

If an organization adopts a ________, then it locates different divisions in each of the world regions in which it operates.

A division is a group of workers who perform general operational functions.

Matrix structures minimize role conflict and role ambiguity.