Deck 13: Decision Rights: Bundling Tasks Into Jobs and Subunits

Question 1

Dan Unowsky assigns his computer repairers four tasks: customer service,replacement of broken parts,clean-up of equipment,and sale of used equipment to customers.If the company provides a 10% commission for all sales made by employees,then:

A)employees will clearly emphasize the clean-up task.
B)employees may ignore other tasks when faced with a potential sale.
C)replacement of broken parts will clearly be favored by employees.
D)the entire production process will be speeded up by the sales incentive.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Two tasks are said to be ______ if performing more of one task increases the benefit or reduces the cost of performing another task.

A)substitutes
B)complements
C)bundled
D)flexible

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What do we mean by the U form?

Answer 3

The U form refers to the unitary form where jobs are grouped according to functional specialty.An organization has multiple subunits where each subunit specializes in one function.A group of subunits report to another layer in the hierarchy.Senior management is the topmost layer of this system.

Question 4

Specialized task assignment's greatest cost is ignoring the foregone ______ across tasks.

A)comparative advantage
B)flexibility
C)complementarities
D)lower cross-training costs

Question 5

What is a matrix organization?

Question 6

What do we mean by the M form?

Question 7

When a worker specializes in one task,he focuses on that one function in the production process,ignoring the whole system.This is likely to:

A)increase the cross-training costs.
B)eliminate trade-offs since only one task is undertaken by each employee.
C)lead to greater complementarity between one task and another.
D)result in functional myopia that reduces overall productivity.

Question 8

Incentives are an important aspect to determine whether multiple tasks should be combined into one job or not.How can monetary incentives help and/or hinder the process of getting a job done,particularly if it is made up of several tasks?

Question 9

What are the recent trends in organization design?

Question 10

A disadvantage associated with grouping jobs on the basis of functional specialty is that:

A)managers rely on implicit understanding and informal relationships.
B)managers tend to ignore the interdependencies among units that might lower a firm's value.
C)employees concentrate more on achieving departmental goals rather than customer satisfaction.
D)employees have to seek ratification from managers for initiation and implementation of decisions.

Question 11

The choice between specialized and broad task assignments depends on:

A)politicking and other influencing activities carried on within an organization.
B)the principle of separation of decision management and control.
C)the principle of comparative advantage to increase the output level.
D)technological,informational,and incentive issues.

Question 12

What do you mean by a specialized task assignment and what are its advantages?

Question 13

Enhanced Computers specializes in rebuilding computers.Recently reorganized into geographic divisions,the Southern division headed by Dan Unowsky is outperforming the other divisions in sales and profits.However,corporate executives have noticed that Unowsky no longer sends refurbished computers to other divisions,and he has instituted special warranties and pricing systems unavailable in the rest of the company.Should Unowsky be promoted or fired?

Question 14

Grouping people together within a subunit is likely to:

A)lower the communication and coordination costs within the subunit.
B)increase the communication and coordination costs within the subunit.
C)lead to empowerment.
D)lead to boundary setting.

Question 15

In the Bagby Copy Company case study,the executives are faced with wiring ten different copiers that they make in five separate European countries.They must choose between specializing by country or specializing by manufacturing of copier type.The executives hire a lobbyist to work for a standard regulatory and sales environment across the entire European Union.Why?

Question 16

Which of the following is not a benefit of the unitary form (U form)of an organization?

A)Improved coordination among functional specialists
B)Higher level of functional expertise
C)Well-defined promotion path
D)Opportunity costs of the time of senior management

Question 17

Which of the following is not a cost of specialized task assignment?

A)Foregone complementarities across tasks
B)Functional myopia
C)Comparative advantage of specialization
D)Reduced flexibility

Question 18

The most famous story about organizing tasks into jobs comes from Adam Smith's tale of the pin factory.In that story,he argues that:

A)specialization of jobs into simple tasks increases productivity.
B)cross-training is critical for productivity.
C)coordination is the biggest problem for factory efficiency.
D)one worker should be assigned all the tasks in pin construction.

Question 19

Historically,many businesses have preferred specialized task assignment for employees over broad task assignments.Why has this been the case?

Question 20

Dan Unowsky manages a production group in a PC repair shop.He has noticed that the speed of repair is based on each worker doing one task.However,if an employee is out sick,then the entire repair process slows down.This is an example of:

A)coordination costs.
B)the trade-off between low cross-training costs and reduced flexibility of the employees.
C)the absolute need for every employee to be trained in all aspects of PC repair.
D)managerial ineptitude.

Question 21

Starting from the 1990s there was a significant shift toward:

A)granting employees broader decision authority and more specialized functions.
B)granting employees narrower decision authority and more specialized functions.
C)granting employees narrower decision authority and less specialized functions.
D)granting employees broader decision authority and less specialized functions.

Question 22

Industrial engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor was particularly rude in his recommendation that jobs be kept simple.He argued that the characteristics of lower-level workers were such that they should be assigned very limited decision rights and a narrow set of tasks.While certainly crude by today's standards,Taylor recognized that:

A)broad task assignment is necessary for complex jobs.
B)simple task assignment is always dehumanizing.
C)broad task assignment eliminates the need for coordination.
D)simple task assignment may improve overall productivity.

Question 23

Large multinational corporations are usually set up as:

A)U form of business organizations.
B)M form of business organizations.
C)network organizations.
D)mixed designs.

Question 24

Some of the activities of Chase Manhattan are organized by product,some by geography,and some by customer.Therefore,Chase Manhattan is said to have a(n):

A)U form of business organization.
B)M form of business organization.
C)network organization.
D)mixed design.

Question 25

The BankInc case shows the potential of shifting from ______ tasks to ______ task assignments.

A)broad; specialized
B)specialized; broad
C)functional; geographic
D)broad; functional

Question 26

Which of the following is not a benefit of the M form of an organization?

A)Improved coordination among functional specialists
B)Use of local product or geographic information
C)Focus across the entire product line
D)Improved use of senior management's time

Question 27

Network organizations depend upon:

A)formal lines of authority.
B)intersecting lines of authority.
C)decentralization of operating decisions to the business-unit level.
D)work groups and specific projects without any formal lines of authority.

Question 28

During the 1990s,many companies shifted from:

A)the M form to functional subunits.
B)the M form to product-oriented organizations.
C)product-oriented organizations to functional subunits.
D)functional subunits toward more product-oriented organizations.

Question 29

Matrix organizations may:

A)decrease influence costs.
B)reduce employee focus on the overall business.
C)reduce functional supervision.
D)increase influence costs.

Question 30

The Japanese keiretsu is an example of a(n)______.

A)U form of organization
B)M form of organization
C)mixed design
D)network organization

Question 31

Which of the following is not a type of an organization?

A)The U form
B)The M form
C)Mixed design
D)Trade-off free bundled mixed design

Question 32

In the BankInc case,the change in assignment for caseworkers was made practical by:

A)centralized functional management systems.
B)computerization of task input for managerial oversight.
C)elimination of cross-training among credit tasks.
D)integrating credit checking with pricing,but maintaining document preparation in a separate department.

Question 33

Functional U form subunits work best in:

A)large,geographically spread-out companies.
B)companies that produce many products.
C)small,specialized companies.
D)industries with rapidly changing technology.

Question 34

Dan Unowsky,director of remanufacturing for the Southern division of Enhanced Computers,finds that communication with marketing is very difficult.This is a ______ of separating marketing from production.

A)benefit
B)cost
C)necessary component
D)potential opportunity

Question 35

A matrix organization is organized on the basis of:

A)functional areas of expertise.
B)geographic region.
C)product line.
D)both functional specialty and product line.

Question 36

You are a manager of a small coal mining operation.Your best way to design task would be:

A)narrow task assignment to workers and limited interest in specialized task.
B)narrow specialization among workers without any task assignment.
C)narrow task assignment and functional specialization among workers.
D)broad allocation of decision rights and empowerment via delegation.

Question 37

The initial companies in the United States in the 1800s failed after following the design of the railroad system because ______.

A)global competition made labor cheaper abroad
B)monitoring costs increased rapidly
C)managers became greedy and workers began to shirk
D)managers could not handle the complexities

Question 38

Alfred Chandler,the noted business historian,indicated that "the administrative load of the senior executives increased to such an extent that they were unable to handle their entrepreneurial responsibilities efficiently." He was speaking of the:

A)U form of business organization.
B)M form of business organization.
C)matrix form of business organization.
D)mixed design.

Question 39

Which of the following is true of matrix organizations?

A)Employees are more likely to focus on the overall business process rather than on their functional specialty.
B)Employees have strong incentives to cooperate with other teams within a company.
C)Influence costs are low as there are separate product and functional managers.
D)There are well-defined lines of authority,eliminating scope of interdependence and lack of incentives.

Question 40

Defense,construction,and management consulting are usually set up as:

A)M forms of business organizations.
B)U forms of business organizations.
C)network designs.
D)matrix designs.