Deck 4: Organizational Redesign

Question 1

Organizational design refers to:

A) formal arrangements that an organization calls upon to help shape employee behavior.
B) informal arrangements that an individual or an organization calls upon to help shape employee behavior.
C) informal and formal arrangements that an organization calls upon to help shape employee behavior.
D) organizational process that an organization calls upon to help shape employee behavior.
E) none of the above

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Before embarking on change implementation, organizational leaders must face 3 key challenges in organization design:

A) integration, differentiation and commitment.
B) organic, mechanistic, and differentiating control systems.
C) integration/differentiation, control/creativity and decision-making allocation.
D) integration/differentiation, commitment/control and creativity/consensus.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following applies to organic control mechanisms?

A) They enhance organizational flexibility and creativity.
B) They rely on shared values.
C) They pay attention to performance outcomes.
D) They involve interactive and open dialogue.
E) all of the above

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Which of the following is a correct statement related to informal design elements?

A) compensation and measurement
B) defining roles and responsibilities of customers
C) defining relationships within the organization
D) defining relationships within the organization and between the organization and external stakeholders

Question 5

An organization's level of differentiation is best determined by examining:

A) environmental complexity.
B) environmental dynamism.
C) the level of employee commitment.
D) goals, time orientation, formality and interpersonal style.

Question 6

refers to the number of external factors impacting organizational operation.

A) Organizational change
B) Environmental complexity
C) Environmental change
D) Organizational dynamics
E) Environmental dynamism

Question 7

Cross-functional teams are a good way to establish:

A) differentiation.
B) integration.
C) efficiency.
D) organic control.

Question 8

As part of an organizational change effort, organizations often work to enhance the sense of common purpose and direction among their employees, combined with a unified commitment to core values and business strategy. This is done in order to:

A) reduce turnover.
B) enhance commitment.
C) promote creativity and control.
D) create integration.

Question 9

Company Y introduces a new system of job design that includes a renewed focus on customer service. This would be considered:

A) informal design.
B) formal design.
C) job enrichment.
D) performance enhancement.

Question 10

Changing an organization's design is a process known as .

A) organizational alignment
B) organizational design
C) organizational redesign
D) organizational coordination
E) none of the above

Question 11

An organization's level of integration is best determined by examining:

A) environmental complexity.
B) environmental dynamism.
C) the level of employee commitment.
D) goals, time orientation, formality and interpersonal style.

Question 12

Organizational redesign is best described as the process of:

A) changing the formal and informal arrangements an organization uses to shape employee behavior.
B) changing an organization's design in response to shifting dynamics in the organization's environment.
C) balancing differentiation and integration in the organizational structure.
D) the strategic and systemic change of business processes.

Question 13

Company X implements a new system of rewards for its supervisors. This would be considered:

A) informal design.
B) formal design.
C) job enrichment.
D) 360 degree performance enhancement.

Question 14

Which of the following accurately describes the relationship between differentiation and integration in organizational design?

A) Levels of differentiation must be matched by appropriate levels of integration.
B) An organization's external environment determines proper levels of differentiation and integration.
C) Differentiation and integration are related to environmental complexity and dynamism.
D) none of the above
E) all of the above

Question 15

Informal design addresses questions of .

A) focus
B) coordination
C) behavior
D) both A and B
E) both B and C

Question 16

Differentiation is determined by the degree of .

A) functional strategies
B) formality of the units
C) environmental complexity
D) strategic integration
E) none of the above

Question 17

involve(s) the rights to initiate, approve, implement, and control various types of strategic or tactical decisions.

A) Decision-making rights
B) Dynamic control
C) Dynamic leadership
D) Strategic decision-making
E) none of the above

Question 18

Which of the following applies to traditional control mechanisms?

A) They may hamper an organization's ability to achieve flexibility and creativity.
B) They work well when core tasks are routine and repetitive.
C) They rely on rules, procedures and authority relationships.
D) They are congruent with a business strategy of predictability and standardization.
E) all of the above

Question 19

In selecting a target for early pilots, organizational leaders should select:

A) self-contained units with a clear customer and measurable outcome.
B) units that are not essential to company operation.
C) those units in which resistance is most likely.
D) those units that are experiencing the greatest number of problems.

Question 20

Change pilots are best described as:

A) piecemeal and haphazard attempts at implementation.
B) small, experimental units of change implementation.
C) interconnected sets of activities that convert inputs to outputs.
D) a method of optimizing the direction of outsourcing.

Question 21

Which of the following statements is correct?

A) Teams succeed or fail in organizations based not just on the efforts of team members but on the overall design and context of the organization, which must support and reinforce joint effort.
B) Organizational design involves both formal and informal elements; effective implementation targets informal design elements first and then addresses more formal elements, such as structure and systems, later in the process.
C) Creating effective teamwork requires providing a group of individuals with shared purpose and responsibility, empowering those individuals to make shared decisions, and making sure they have the competencies and resources required to be effective as a team.
D) all of the above
E) A and C only

Question 22

The statement "the degree to which the job provides substantial discretion to the individual in scheduling work and determining procedures for carrying it out" refers to which element of job description?

A) task identity
B) task significance
C) feedback
D) autonomy
E) skill variety

Question 23

What are the characteristics of job enrichment?

A) skill variety and task identity
B) skill variety, task identity and task significance
C) autonomy and feedback
D) Both A and C
E) Both B and C

Question 24

Which of the following statements is correct?

A) The challenge for multidivisional organizations is to allocate a limited level of autonomy to separate divisions as a way of achieving marketplace responsiveness while simultaneously making corporate-level decisions that allow the exploitation of synergies across the divisions.
B) The challenge for multidivisional organizations is to allocate no level of autonomy to separate divisions as a way of achieving marketplace responsiveness while simultaneously making corporate-level decisions that allow the exploitation of synergies across the divisions.
C) The challenge for multidivisional organizations is to allocate a high level of autonomy to separate divisions as a way of achieving marketplace responsiveness while simultaneously making corporate-level decisions that allow the exploitation of synergies across the divisions.
D) The challenge for small organizations is to allocate a high level of autonomy to separate divisions as a way of achieving marketplace responsiveness while simultaneously making corporate-level decisions that allow the exploitation of synergies across the divisions.
E) The challenge for small organizations is to allocate a limited level of autonomy to separate divisions as a way of achieving marketplace responsiveness while simultaneously making corporate-level decisions that allow the exploitation of synergies across the divisions.

Question 25

refers to the internalized desire of employees to expend energy and discretionary effort on behalf of the goals of the organization.

A) Motivation
B) Cross-functional teams
C) Integration
D) Commitment

Question 26

refers to design elements called upon to establish order, create predictability, and ensure efficiencies of operation.

A) Differentiation
B) Dynamics
C) Integration
D) Control
E) none of the above

Question 27

Reporting structures are components of informal design elements.

Question 28

refers to the advantages of efficiency and effectiveness conferred by the combined effect of interaction and collaboration among multiple units.

A) Dynamic control
B) Synergy
C) Systematic focus
D) Organizational effectiveness
E) none of the above

Question 29

In selecting a pilot project, organizational leaders should focus on units where resistance to change is highest.

Question 30

In this type of team, the multiple functions and tasks of the value chain are linked in order to enhance quality, coordination, and customer responsiveness.

A) work team
B) product development team
C) problem-solving team
D) project management team
E) synergetic team

Question 31

Integration is the degree to which different functions are allowed to develop their own response to the environment.

Question 32

Effective change implementation separates the two aspects of design, targeting formal design before seeking to alter informal design.

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT an approach that characterizes high-commitment design?

A) wide sharing of performance information
B) greater employee access to managers
C) individual development opportunities
D) dialogue confluence

Question 34

Pilot projects are an effective way to test out a strategic change process by focusing on one small unit or process at the early stage of change implementation. )

Question 35

The most effective way to change organizational design is one piece at a time.

Question 36

Pilot projects should be implemented in units where the change is most likely to be successful.

Question 37

refers to control exerted through peer pressure, organizational culture and expectations of outstanding performance reinforced through performance feedback.

A) Dynamic control
B) Synergy
C) Systematic focus
D) Organizational effectiveness
E) Organic controls

Question 38

Compensation and measurement are components of formal design elements.

Question 39

When allocating decision-making rights, the ideal design:

A) centralizes decision making in the hands of management.
B) emphasizes efficiency and control.
C) grants rights to those who have the best relevant information.
D) advocates dialogue and inclusion.

Question 40

Organic controls typically rely:

A) more on specific rules and procedures.
B) less on shared value.
C) more on clarity of organizational strategy.
D) less on complex understanding of risks.
E) more on closed dialogue.

Question 41

High integration enables the organization to achieve efficient operations among different functions, departments, and units.

Question 42

Integration refers to the required level of coordination across differentiated functions, units and divisions.

Question 43

You decide to initiate a pilot project, aimed at providing small companies with complete, integrated HR services. This project addresses what organizational design challenge?

A) control and creativity
B) integration and differentiation
C) allocating decision-making rights
D) need for a change laboratory

Question 44

High employee commitment can improve organizational performance by enhancing productivity, creativity, collaboration and the willingness to change.

Question 45

The pilot project requires staff from each of the 4 divisions. You select staff for the project by:

A) picking the worst performers from each of the divisions.
B) asking for experienced and enthusiastic volunteers from each of the divisions.
C) randomly picking from each of the divisions.
D) picking the best performers from each of the divisions.

Question 46

Traditional mechanistic control tools can create unpredictability and non- standardization but can undermine creativity, flexibility and collaboration.

Question 47

The manner in which work is performed is most fundamental to high employee commitment design.

Question 48

Pushing down operational decision making to employees with the "best information" is intended to unleash motivation and creativity.

Question 49

Decentralization enables different functions, departments and units in an organization to develop their own responses to their particular goals and unique competitive environments.

Question 50

You assign your pilot project staff the task of structuring its work as it sees fit, based on what best serves the needs of the clients. This approach to job design can exemplify what principle(s) of organizational redesign?

A) job enrichment
B) allocating decision-making rights to fit with relevant information
C) high commitment design
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 51

Organizations operating in a complex and dynamic competitive environment will have to develop increasingly sophisticated mechanisms for integration to match the requirement for high differentiation.