Exam 15: Foundations of Organization Structure

Which of the following types of organizational designs combines two forms of departmentalization, functional and product?

You are interested in explaining the different types of organizational designs to students of basic management. These students need to know the advantages and disadvantages of each structure as well as the structure's characteristics. -You explain to your students the structure of a local grocery store situated in your neighborhood. The store employs two full-time employees, a salesperson and a cashier. The owner of the store acts as its manager and makes all the decisions. Which of the following organizational structures is being described by you?

A ________ is characterized by a low degree of departmentalization, wide spans of control, authority centralized in a single person, and little formalization.

Describe the simple structure. Discuss its advantages and disadvantages.

According to the principle of unity of command, ________.

While observing the departments in his division, Gordon notices that some managers with wide spans of control seem to perform more effectively than other managers with similarly sized spans of control. Which of the following statements is most likely to be true regarding the high-performing managers?

According to a survey, many workers in Qtopia Inc. are dissatisfied with their jobs. The survey revealed that most of the dissatisfied workers believe that they have very little control over their job assignments. Therefore, to increase workers' job satisfaction, Boris, a production manager, feels they need to only concentrate on changing the dissatisfied workers' beliefs regarding the degree of control they have over their job assignments. Which of the following, if true, would weaken the conclusion made by Boris?

Which of the following is most likely to be a drawback of a virtual organization?

What are the key dimensions to any organization's environment?

What is a virtual organization and its advantages and disadvantages.

A virtual organization is also known as a(n) ________ organization.

You have learned about the traditional and new design options for organizational structures. You have decided that one of the designs developed during the last decade or two is probably the most appropriate for your newly formed organization. -In structural terms, a virtual organization is highly centralized, with little or no departmentalization.

Which of the following is most likely to be a characteristic of an organization pursuing a cost-minimization strategy?

Which of the following dimensions of an environment describes the degree to which the environment can support growth?

Mike Morrell is a production supervisor in Porco Rosso, an aircraft manufacturing firm. After evaluating Mike's managerial capabilities, some members of the senior management feel that average productivity would improve if more workers were assigned to him. However, some managers are skeptical about Mike's ability to handle more workers. -A ________ is consistent with recent efforts by companies to reduce costs, cut overhead, speed up decision making, increase flexibility, get closer to customers, and empower employees.

The key concept that underlies all bureaucracies is ________.

Compare and contrast the three primary organizational strategies: innovation, cost-minimization, and imitation.

Mike Morrell is a production supervisor in Porco Rosso, an aircraft manufacturing firm. After evaluating Mike's managerial capabilities, some members of the senior management feel that average productivity would improve if more workers were assigned to him. However, some managers are skeptical about Mike's ability to handle more workers. -Which of the following is a drawback of a narrow span of control?

Discuss boundary spanning in organizations and between organizations.

As compared to a decentralized organization, a centralized organization can act more quickly to solve problems.