Deck 11: Designing Organizational Structure

Question 1

Eric works with a team that includes production workers as well as marketing specialists to design the latest products the company was planning to offer. This implies ________.

A) the company is becoming more centralized
B) that Eric's job responsibilities have been reduced
C) the company is becoming more mechanistic
D) that Eric is a part of a cross-functional team

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Work teams composed of individuals from various functional specialties are known as ________ teams.

A) cross-control
B) cross-training
C) cross-functional
D) cross-department

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The process of grouping jobs together is known as ________.

A) departmentalization
B) centralization
C) formalization
D) organizational design

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Organizational design is a process that involves decisions about ________.

A) work specialization and cost-leadership
B) chain of command and span of control
C) centralization and differentiation
D) departmentalization and diversification

Question 5

In the early 20th century, automobiles were made one at a time by craftsmen who could perform every operation necessary to build the car. Henry Ford decided to limit the number of tasks each worker performed so each person could become expert in his position. With this practice, Ford introduced ________.

A) departmentalization
B) work specialization
C) centralization
D) formalization

Question 6

In the case of functional departmentalization, jobs are grouped according to ________.

A) tasks
B) territories
C) product lines
D) customer flow

Question 7

What kind of departmentalization would be in place in a government organization where different public service responsibilities are divided into activities for employees, children, and the disabled?

A) product departmentalization
B) geographic departmentalization
C) process departmentalization
D) customer departmentalization

Question 8

The line of authority that extends from upper organizational levels to lower levels, clarifying who reports to whom, is known as the ________.

A) employee power distance
B) unity of command
C) span of control
D) chain of command

Question 9

Michelle is very concerned about the formal framework by which job tasks are divided, grouped, and coordinated within her unit. This implies that she is concerned about ________.

A) the chain of command
B) the organizational structure
C) the organizational design
D) decentralization

Question 10

________ is the formal arrangement of jobs within an organization.

A) Departmentalization
B) Organizational design
C) Organizational structure
D) Work specialization

Question 11

Marcus was asked to represent the cardiac unit as part of a Total Quality Management (TQM) initiative that is aimed at improving the overall quality of care at his hospital. Other departments, such as orthopedics, neurology, oncology, and pediatrics also have representatives on this team. This TQM team is an example of ________.

A) a multi-cultural team
B) a cross-functional team
C) process integration
D) an interdepartmental team

Question 12

Bill manages the quality department. His people check parts made by the production departments to assure all specifications are met. Bill is ________.

A) a non-manager
B) a middle manager
C) a staff manager
D) a line manager

Question 13

At Chemetron, all the accounting people share one large work area; all the quality control people are housed in a large office next to the production floor; and maintenance has its own space at the back of the building. Chemetron is using ________.

A) departmental specialization
B) functional departmentalization
C) process departmentalization
D) product specialization

Question 14

________ departmentalization is based on the product or customer flow through the organization.

A) Product
B) Functional
C) Process
D) Customer

Question 15

Which of the following statements accurately defines work specialization?

A) It is the basis of grouping jobs together.
B) Individual employees specialize in doing part of an activity rather than the entire activity.
C) It is the line of authority extending from upper organizational levels to the lower levels.
D) It clarifies who reports to whom.

Question 16

A disadvantage of ________ departmentalization is poor communication across the different groups.

A) geographic
B) functional
C) process
D) customer

Question 17

Departmentalization based on ________ groups jobs on the basis of territory or physical location.

A) customer
B) product
C) geography
D) process

Question 18

The process of dividing work activities into separate job tasks is known as ________.

A) work specialization
B) organizational design
C) differentiation
D) span of control

Question 19

Melanie has noticed that everyone is very concerned about the line of authority within the hospital. This implies that the employees at the hospital are worried about the ________.

A) unity of command
B) chain of command
C) span of control
D) departmentalization

Question 20

Pauline sat on a bar-type stool screwing nuts onto bolts about 3,000 times a day while reading a novel. Her production job paid well but that's about all it had going for it. Even though the work was not physically taxing, Pauline was exhausted by the end of her day. Facing another day just like yesterday nearly brought her to tears. Pauline was experiencing ________.

A) repetitive motion stress
B) burnout
C) economies of scale
D) diseconomies from division of labor

Question 21

Which of the following factors would require a more decentralized organizational structure?

A) when the lower-level managers want a voice in decisions
B) when the lower-level managers are not capable of making decisions
C) when the decisions to be made are not significant
D) when the company is large

Question 22

Bob works in a mid-sized organization with other skilled workers who all pitch in to do what needs to be done to satisfy the customer. It is likely Bob works in a ________ organization.

A) formalized
B) decentralized
C) departmentalized
D) cross-functional

Question 23

When Bryan is offered a chance to help direct the efforts of some employees assigned to his work group, he sees this new assignment as a(n) ________.

A) decrease in authority
B) increase in departmentalization
C) increase in his responsibility
D) decrease in work specialization

Question 24

Willard has been assigned to a project development team in addition to his regular duties as a quality engineer. During this assignment he will report to both the project manager and his quality department manager. This situation ________.

A) violates span of control
B) violates unity of command
C) violates chain of command
D) violates the acceptance theory of authority

Question 25

According to the traditional view, managers could not-and should not-directly supervise more than ________ subordinates.

A) four or five
B) five or six
C) ten or eleven
D) fifteen or sixteen

Question 26

Paul, the HR manager, works in the Townsville plant and reports to the plant manager there, but he also reports to the corporate HR director in Cityburg. This reporting structure violates the principle of ________.

A) division of authority
B) unity of purpose
C) chain of command
D) unity of command

Question 27

Wilson is offered a chance to help direct the efforts of some employees assigned to his work group. This is a chance for Wilson to experience ________.

A) responsibility
B) leadership
C) command
D) authority

Question 28

________ is the degree to which decision making takes place at upper levels of the organization.

A) Centralization
B) Decentralization
C) Formalization
D) Departmentalization

Question 29

Which of the following factors calls for a more centralized organizational structure?

A) when the decisions to be taken are significant
B) when the company is geographically dispersed
C) when the organization is facing a crisis
D) when the environment is complex

Question 30

In highly ________ organizations, there are explicit job descriptions, numerous organizational rules, and clearly defined procedures covering work processes.

A) formalized
B) decentralized
C) departmentalized
D) specialized

Question 31

________ refers to how standardized an organization's jobs are and the extent to which employee behavior is guided by rules and procedures.

A) Specialization
B) Centralization
C) Decentralization
D) Formalization

Question 32

After extensive job cuts to reduce costs, upper level managers are spending significant amounts of time solving problems in the production units. Lower level managers are resentful that they cannot make decisions for their own units. What recommendation would you make for this firm?

A) Reorganize; departmentalize around customers instead of products.
B) Formalize; write explicit job descriptions, rules, and procedures so the upper managers won't have to decide each case individually.
C) Centralize; create a department that does nothing but make decisions.
D) Decentralize; give authority to the lower level managers regarding events in their own units.

Question 33

If top managers make key decisions with little input from below, then the organization is ________.

A) less mechanistic
B) more decentralized
C) less formalized
D) more centralized

Question 34

The fact that Monica's signature is required on all documents and her word is the last word on all decisions relating to her department suggests that ________.

A) her employer has a centralized structure
B) her employer has a decentralized structure
C) her employer has a simple structure
D) her employer has an organic structure

Question 35

________ is the obligation or expectation to perform a duty.

A) Responsibility
B) Authority
C) Commitment
D) Duty

Question 36

The ________ determines the number of levels and managers in an organization.

A) delegation of authority
B) unity of command
C) chain of command
D) span of control

Question 37

Which one of Fayol's 14 principles of management states that a person should report to only one manager?

A) unity of direction
B) unity of command
C) division of work
D) division of authority

Question 38

________ refers to the rights inherent in a managerial position to tell people what to do and to expect them to do it.

A) Responsibility
B) Liability
C) Bureaucracy
D) Authority

Question 39

All other things being equal, the wider or larger the span of control, the more ________ an organization is.

A) ambitious
B) rigid
C) mechanistic
D) cost efficient

Question 40

As organizations become more flexible and responsive to environmental trends, there is a distinct shift toward ________ decision making.

A) centralized
B) decentralized
C) concentrated
D) departmentalized

Question 41

In a short essay, explain authority and responsibility

Question 42

Define the process of organizing and explain how it helps an organization.

Question 43

What is meant by departmentalization? In a short essay, list and discuss the five common forms of departmentalization, their advantages and disadvantages.

Question 44

The more the decision-making power of lower-level employees, the more decentralized the organization is.

Question 45

Organizational structure is the formal chain of command of jobs within an organization.

Question 46

The chain of command is a principle that states that a person should report to only one boss.

Question 47

To counteract the diseconomies of division of labor, a company can increase the range of tasks the employee performs.

Question 48

At one end of the spectrum, organizations can be absolutely centralized, while at the other end, they can be completely decentralized.

Question 49

Employee empowerment gives employees more authority to make decisions.

Question 50

In highly formalized organizations, employees have more discretion in how they do their work.

Question 51

Organizational design is the degree to which standardized procedures are in place in an organization.

Question 52

Customer departmentalization works well because it emphasizes interdepartmental communication regarding customer's needs.

Question 53

Division of labor refers to the practice of identifying some workers as potential members of a bargaining unit and other workers as members of management.

Question 54

Given other things unchanged, managers with well-trained and experienced employees can function well with a wider span of control than those with a less talented workforce.

Question 55

Managers today continue to see work specialization as important because it helps employees be more efficient.

Question 56

Discuss the differences between line and staff authority.

Question 57

Write a short essay on work specialization. How does specialization affect productivity? How does it affect a firm's cost structure?

Question 58

Work specialization is also known as division of labor.

Question 59

Today's organizations mostly rely on strict rules and standardization to guide and regulate employee behavior.

Question 60

All other things unchanged, the narrower the span of control, the more efficient the organization is.

Question 61

Explain the concepts of mechanistic and organic structures.

Question 62

Large organizations tend to have more ________ than smaller organizations.

A) specialization
B) span of control
C) decentralization
D) autonomy

Question 63

Explain why unity of command is less important today than during the time when the principle was developed.

Question 64

Explain the contemporary view of span of control.

Question 65

List a few factors that influence the amount of centralization or decentralization in an organization.

Question 66

GlaxoSmithKline would become more ________ if it starts allowing its lab scientists to set the priorities and allocate the resources.

A) profitable
B) mechanistic
C) diversified
D) organic

Question 67

Explain centralization and decentralization. How do these relate to employee empowerment?

Question 68

Explain the traditional view of span of control.

Question 69

Large organizations are more ________.

A) mechanistic
B) organic
C) disorganized
D) decentralized

Question 70

Which of the following is a characteristic of an organic organization?

A) high specialization
B) cross-functional teams
C) rigid departmentalization
D) narrow span of controls

Question 71

An organic organization strictly adheres to the chain-of-command principle and has a wide span of control.

Question 72

A(n) ________ organization is highly formalized and centralized.

A) organic
B) mechanistic
C) complex
D) learning

Question 73

A(n) ________ organization is highly specialized and rigidly departmentalized.

A) organic
B) complex
C) learning
D) mechanistic

Question 74

What are the four contingency variables that an organization's structure depends on?

A) strategy, size, technology, and equity
B) management, technology, equity, and degree of environmental uncertainty
C) management, funding, technology, and degree of environmental uncertainty
D) strategy, size, technology, and environmental uncertainty

Question 75

A(n) ________ organization is highly adaptive, loose, and flexible.

A) organic
B) centralized
C) customer-oriented
D) mechanistic

Question 76

An organic organization is low in centralization.

Question 77

If a firm wants to become more adaptive and flexible, which of the following organizational structures is it likely to prefer?

A) formalized
B) mechanistic
C) organic
D) centralized

Question 78

Many of Custom Leather's employees are experienced artisans. The jobs most of them perform are not highly standardized. They take great pride in their craft and require few formal rules and little direct supervision. These traits are most typical of a(n) ________ organization.

A) departmentalized
B) mechanistic
C) organic
D) formalized

Question 79

Which of the following is a characteristic of a mechanistic organization?

A) cross-functional teams
B) free flow of information
C) wide spans of control
D) clear chain of command

Question 80

Paul Abdul Oil Corporation (PAOC) began as a relatively small oil company. As PAOC has grown, the company has gained a highly trained group of managers and analysts at the corporate headquarters. This group is highly adaptive in its structure. Members of this group do not have standardized jobs, but are empowered to handle diverse job activities and problems. PAOC seems to have a(n) ________ structure.

A) mechanistic
B) divisional
C) functional
D) organic