Exam 15: Organizational Structure and Design

Table 15.1 As the new general manager of a regional cable service, Joe is studying the formal configuration of groups and individuals in respect to the allocation of tasks, responsibilities, and authority within the cable company. He notices that there are numerous layers of people between the cable installers and technicians and himself as general manager. He thinks this is because of the high degree of specialization in the company. Everyone seems to have very narrowly defined jobs. Joe decides he wants fewer layers of employees and for each manager to have responsibility for more employees. He reduces the number of managers from 10 to 3. As a consequence, each manager will make of his/her own decisions and rely less on Joe. -Refer to Table 15.1. Joe's initial study is of the cable company's:

The process of breaking up organizations into coherent units is known as:

The basic difference between line managers and staff managers is that:

Matrix designs are not without disadvantages, such as:

A company that is attempting to gain a large share of the market by undercutting the prices of competitors is using a market expansion strategy.

Table 15.1 As the new general manager of a regional cable service, Joe is studying the formal configuration of groups and individuals in respect to the allocation of tasks, responsibilities, and authority within the cable company. He notices that there are numerous layers of people between the cable installers and technicians and himself as general manager. He thinks this is because of the high degree of specialization in the company. Everyone seems to have very narrowly defined jobs. Joe decides he wants fewer layers of employees and for each manager to have responsibility for more employees. He reduces the number of managers from 10 to 3. As a consequence, each manager will make of his/her own decisions and rely less on Joe. -Refer to Table 15.1. The numerous layers of employees between the service providers and top management represents the company's:

The degree to which individuals perform specialized jobs is dependent on the size of the organization.

The organizational charts that indicate who reports to whom represent the organization's:

In matrix design, organizations in which both the functional lines and the product lines are permanent and equally strong are known as:

The benefit of a narrow division of labor in an organization is:

Andrea works for a service organization that is very customer-orientated. Because of this, a great deal of power resides with the support staff, including her. This is an example of a(n):

Table 15.3 You are studying a medium-sized service company. You find that Joe, a customer service representative, has been doing his job for five years. He takes about 200 customer calls a day and helps customers with their product questions. Bridgette, the CEO, has been with the company about three years and is in the process of making its structure more organic and flexible. Between Bridgette and Joe is Fred, who conveys management's decisions and policies to Joe and helps Bridgette stay in touch with the several hundred 'Joes' who work in customer service. Sally is the corporate attorney and works with Bridgette on corporate legal matters. -Refer to Table 15.3. Bridgette represents the ________ in Mintzberg's model.

The process of coordinating the structural elements of organizations in the most appropriate manner is called:

The ________ involves dividing the many tasks performed within an organization into particular jobs.

Studies show that staff managers tend to:

When an organization is structured around its products, it has a process organizational structure.

In Mintzberg's ________, decision-making is concentrated at the top, work is highly standardized, and the operating environment is stable.

The formal configuration between individuals and groups with respect to the allocation of tasks, responsibilities, and authority within organizations is known as:

In a matrix design, there are three management roles. The ________ has the authority over both the functional and product lines of authority.

A value-chain partnership is a type of conglomerate.