Deck 10: Designing Organization Structure

Question 1

 A tall structure is a management structure characterized by an overall narrow span of management and a relatively large number of hierarchical levels.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

 The duty to perform the task or activity an employee has been assigned is called accountability.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

 Certainty in the environment is usually associated with decentralization.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

 For companies to operate effectively, the amount of centralization or decentralization should fit the firm's strategy.

Question 5

 The right to advise, recommend, and counsel in the staff specialists' area of expertise is included in staff authority.

Question 6

 Authority is the formal and legitimate right of a manager to make decisions, issue orders, and allocate resources to achieve organizationally desired outcomes.

Question 7

 The deployment of organizational resources to achieve strategic goals refers to organizing.

Question 8

 The number of employees reporting to a supervisor is his or her span of management.

Question 9

 The basis for grouping positions into departments and departments into the total organization is referred to as departmentalization.

Question 10

 The trend in recent years has been toward narrower spans of control as a way to facilitate delegation.

Question 11

 Not having enough hierarchical levels and wide spans of control is a common structural problem for organizations.

Question 12

 Despite the apparent advantages of specialization, many organizations are moving away from this principle.

Question 13

 Unity of command refers to a clearly defined line of authority in the organization that includes all employees.

Question 14

 An organizational chart shows lines of informal communication and who has the most power in an organization.

Question 15

 Organizing defines what to do, while strategy defines how to do it.

Question 16

 Line departments perform tasks that reflect the organization's primary goal and mission.

Question 17

 Traditional views of organization design recommend a span of management of about 7 to 10 subordinates per manager.

Question 18

 Most organizations today discourage managers to delegate authority to the lower levels given the challenges to meet customer needs and adapt to the environment.

Question 19

 The organizing process leads to the creation of organization structure, which defines how tasks are divided and resources deployed.

Question 20

 The acceptance theory of authority argues that a manager has authority because subordinates do not have a choice in choosing to accept his or her commands.

Question 21

 Because the chain of command converges at the top, the functional structure offers a way to decentralize decision making and provide unified direction from all managers.

Question 22

 The horizontal structure provides traditional control within functional departments, and the vertical structure provides coordination across departments.

Question 23

 In a functional structure, divisions are created as self-contained units, with separate functional departments for each division.

Question 24

 The confusion and frustration caused by the dual chain of command is a major problem of the matrix structure.

Question 25

 With a matrix structure, the entire organization is made up of horizontal teams that coordinate their work and work directly with customers to accomplish the organization's goals.

Question 26

 The divisional structure fosters great coordination within divisions; however, coordination across divisions is often poor.

Question 27

 The functional structure offers a way to decentralize decision making and provide direction from the teams in the field.

Question 28

 In a geographic-based structure, all functions in a specific country or region report to the same division manager.

Question 29

 A disadvantage of the team approach is that it may cause too much decentralization.

Question 30

 The matrix boss oversees both the product and functional chains of command and is responsible for the entire matrix.

Question 31

 The focus of re-engineering is on functions rather than horizontal workflows.

Question 32

 Quick response to environmental changes is an advantage of the vertical functional structure.

Question 33

 The divisional structure encourages decentralization.

Question 34

 Regardless of the type of structure, every organization needs mechanisms for horizontal integration and coordination.

Question 35

 Aspects of both functional and divisional structures simultaneously in the same part of the organization are combined in the virtual network approach.

Question 36

 One major disadvantage of the virtual network approach is lack of hands-on control.

Question 37

 Members of a cross-functional team report to the team rather than to their functional departments.

Question 38

 A project manager is a person responsible for coordinating the activities of several departments for the completion of a specific project.

Question 39

 At Fox End, people are grouped together in departments by similar skills and work activities, including a sales department and a production department. This is an example of vertical functional approach.

Question 40

 The matrix approach can be highly effective in a complex, rapidly changing environment in which the organization needs to be flexible, innovative, and adaptable.

Question 41

 The highest level of horizontal coordination is relational coordination.

Question 42

 The __________ delineates the chain of command, indicates departmental tasks and how they fit together, and provides order and logic for the organization.

A) management chart
B) employee directory
C) structural table
D) administrative chart
E) organization chart

Question 43

 Jacob was recently looking at his company's organization chart in an attempt to discover who reports to whom. Jacob is studying his organization's:

A) degree of formalization.
B) amount of differentiation.
C) degree of centralization.
D) chain of command.
E) division of labor.

Question 44

 The pure functional structure is appropriate for achieving internal efficiency goals in a stable environment.

Question 45

 Organizational structure includes:

A) the set of formal tasks assigned to individuals.
B) the set of formal tasks assigned to departments.
C) the design of systems to ensure effective coordination of employees across departments.
D) formal reporting relationships.
E) all of these.

Question 46

 The distinctive feature of the project manager position is that the person is not a member of one of the departments being coordinated.

Question 47

 When an organization uses a differentiation strategy, it strives for internal efficiency.

Question 48

 Small-batch production is distinguished by standardized production runs.

Question 49

 Which of the following gives employees a small number of tasks to complete on a regular basis?

A) Multitasking
B) Accountability
C) Work specialization
D) Autonomy
E) Delegation

Question 50

 The matrix structure is perhaps the leanest of all organization forms because little supervision is needed.

Question 51

 Strategy defines __________, whereas organizing defines __________.

A) how to do it; what to do
B) how to do it; why to do it
C) what to do; how to do it
D) what to do; why to do it
E) when to do it; what to do

Question 52

 Goals of efficiency and a stable environment are associated with a mechanistic system.

Question 53

 The organization chart:

A) shows the characteristics of an organization's vertical structure.
B) is a visual representation of an organization's structure.
C) details the formal reporting relationships that exist within an organization.
D) provides order and logic for an organization.
E) all of these.

Question 54

 The functional structure is appropriate when the strategic goals are innovation and flexibility.

Question 55

 Louise works in the manufacturing department at Ice Sculptures. The work in Louise's department is low in task specialization. Based on this information, which of the following statements is true?

A) Louise usually performs a single task.
B) Louise does a variety of tasks and activities.
C) Louise is most likely isolated from the other employees.
D) Louise is rarely challenged and most likely bored.
E) There is much separation and low coordination between departments at Ice Sculptures.

Question 56

 The organizing process leads to the creation of:

A) a clear and compelling mission for an organization.
B) organizational structure.
C) a firm's strategy.
D) stable internal environments.
E) all of these.

Question 57

 Two highly important factors managers consider when designing an organization's structure are the organization's strategic goals and the ability of the subordinates.

Question 58

 __________ is also referred to as work specialization.

A) Division of labor
B) Unity of command
C) The scalar chain
D) Delegation
E) None of these

Question 59

 Which of the following refers to the deployment of organizational resources to achieve strategic goals?

A) Planning
B) Controlling
C) Organizing
D) Leading
E) Strategic management

Question 60

 When division of labor is extensive,:

A) employees specialize in a single task.
B) employees specialize in many tasks.
C) employees are often highly challenged.
D) employees are often inefficient.
E) jobs tend to be large.

Question 61

 __________ departments perform tasks that reflect the organization's primary goals and mission.

A) Line
B) Staff
C) Project
D) Functional
E) Strategic planning

Question 62

 Rebecca works for a company that has clearly defined lines of authority. Each employee knows that he or she has authority and responsibility for a distinct set of tasks. Employees are also aware of the company's reporting structure as well as successive management levels all the way to the top. Rebecca's company follows which underlying principle of the chain of command?

A) Work specialization 
B) Unity of command 
C) Scalar principle
D) Division of labor
E) Responsibility

Question 63

 Relative to a flat organizational structure, a tall structure has a __________ span of management and __________ hierarchical levels.

A) wide; fewer
B) narrow; fewer
C) narrow; wider
D) narrow; more
E) wide; more

Question 64

 __________ means that the people with authority and responsibility are subject to reporting and justifying task outcomes to those above them in the chain of command. 

A) Delegation
B) Line authority
C) Staff authority
D) Accountability
E) Decentralization

Question 65

 Which of the following factors is not associated with larger spans of control?

A) Work performed by subordinates is stable and routine.
B) Subordinates perform similar work tasks.
C) Subordinates are located at various different locations.
D) Subordinates are highly trained and need little direction in performing tasks.
E) Rules and procedures defining task activities are available.

Question 66

 __________ means that each employee is held accountable to only one supervisor.

A) The scalar principle
B) Unity of command
C) Work specialization
D) Division of labor
E) Span of management

Question 67

 Traditional views of organization design recommended a span of management of about __________ subordinates per manager.

A) 3 to 5
B) 5 to 7
C) 7 to 10
D) 10 to 15
E) 20

Question 68

 __________ departments include all those that provide specialized skills in support of __________ departments.

A) Line; staff
B) Staff; line
C) Staff; functional
D) Functional; line
E) Line; functional

Question 69

 Which of the following organizations has a tall structure?

A) Organization A, which has a wide span of control
B) Organization B, which has 11 hierarchical levels
C) Organization C, which has three hierarchical levels
D) Organization D, which is horizontally dispersed
E) All of these

Question 70

 __________ is the formal and legitimate right of a manager to make decisions, issues orders, and allocate resources to achieve organizationally desired outcomes.

A) Delegation
B) Responsibility
C) Authority
D) Span of management
E) Leadership

Question 71

 Shoshanna is manager of a customer service firm where she oversees five subordinates. To help her subordinates learn more about the different roles within the company, Shoshanna regularly assigns them tasks that are not part of their normal routine. This is an example of:

A) responsibility.
B) delegation.
C) staff authority.
D) line authority.
E) the scalar principle.

Question 72

 Which of the following typically is not considered a staff department?

A) Product development
B) Accounting
C) Marketing
D) Human resources
E) Labor relations

Question 73

 Which of the following characteristics distinguishes authority?

A) Authority is vested in people, not organizational positions.
B) Authority is accepted by subordinates.
C) Authority flows across the horizontal hierarchy.
D) Authority emerges from the organizational values.
E) Individuals are born with authoritative power.

Question 74

 Which of the following refers to the number of employees reporting to a supervisor?

A) Line of authority
B) Span of management
C) Chain of command
D) Management chain
E) Delegation

Question 75

 Unity of command and the scalar principle are both closely related to:

A) division of labor.
B) the degree of formalization.
C) the chain of command.
D) the amount of bureaucracy in an organization.
E) the matrix structure.

Question 76

 Carly's Clothes, Inc. manufactures children's clothes. Which of the following departments for Carly's Clothes can be considered a line department?

A) Finance
B) Human resources
C) Research and development
D) Manufacturing
E) Marketing

Question 77

 The acceptance theory of authority argues that:

A) a manager has authority only if subordinates choose to accept his or her commands.
B) a manager has authority at all times.
C) a manager can force subordinates to accept his or her authority.
D) authority should be shared between a manager and his or her subordinates.
E) authority is vested in people, not organizational positions.

Question 78

 __________ refers to a clearly defined line of authority in the organization that includes all employees.

A) The scalar principle
B) Unity of command
C) Work specialization
D) Division of labor
E) Span of management

Question 79

 Gina wishes to transfer authority and responsibility to her subordinates. This process is known as:

A) accountability.
B) coordination.
C) delegation.
D) departmentalization.
E) passing the buck.

Question 80

 Kevin's subordinates are highly trained and all perform similar tasks. Nichole's subordinates are spread over two locations, and she has little available in the way of support systems. Which of the following statements is most correct?

A) Nichole's span of management can be larger than Kevin's.
B) Nichole will have problems with unity of command.
C) Kevin's span of management can be larger than Nichole's.
D) Kevin has more problems with work specialization.
E) None of these