Exam 8: Structuring Organizations for Todays Challenges

One advantage of a bureaucratic organization is that:

Which of the following was created as a solution to the temporary nature of the matrix structure?

Weber promoted the idea of the pyramid-shaped organization structure for large businesses.

Which one of the following would be the least likely to serve on a cross-functional team for the Discovery Corporation?

Networking requires transparency to work most effectively.

Fayol's principle of esprit de corps says that employees should be divided into small groups that can be directed efficiently by a single manager.

Which term describes a company being so open to other companies working with it that electronic information is shared as if the companies were one?

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

As organizations grew, the use of Fayol's principles led to rigid organizations that didn't always respond quickly to consumer requests.

The ________ an organization's structure, the ________ the span of control

As your good friend ponders putting some structure to his/her graphic design business idea, which of the following do you not advise him/her to do?

A(n) __________ consists of one person at the top of the organization and many levels of managers who are responsible to that person

A chain of command is a line of authority that moves from the lowest level of the hierarchy to the top.

Line organizations clearly define the lines of authority and responsibility.

Realizing that it was time to invest in an updated information system, a young CEO made the following announcement in his weekly broadcast: "We are going to shake things up around here. We need to break apart our information system, and start over." Unfortunately, the message translated poorly in the minds of employees. A total shake-up such as this could impact employee morale. Progressive companies today incorporate strategies that continuously embrace:

Alleta Publishing Company, Inc., is considering the use of cross-functional teams. In order to be most effective, Alleta should include customers as members of the teams.

Kate holds a middle-management position with a large corporation. She prefers to involve her subordinates in decision making. She also favors allowing workers a fair amount of flexibility in how they do their jobs. Kate's approach to management exemplifies the principles first popularized by Max Weber.

Jackie works in the finance department at the home office of a large retailer. Her main responsibility is to watch department expenditures and find ways to cut costs whenever possible. Tim, the marketing director for the same company, shares information with Jackie only when necessary. He finds her inflexible, and not understanding of what it takes to roll out a new product line. Jackie and Tim typify a disadvantage of departmentalization.

The ____________ of a business firm is the system that details lines of authority, responsibility, and position, similar to the structure on organization charts

Molly, a production-line employee at Holiday Industries learned from a friend at her coffee break that one of the managers in accounting is about to be fired. She is eager to learn if other friends at Holiday know any more about the situation. This flow of information is an example of Holiday's grapevine.