Deck 16: Organizational Structures

Question 1

Control is the set of mechanisms used to keep actions or outputs within predetermined limits.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The chain of command outlines the planned configuration of positions, job duties, and the lines of authority among different parts of the organization.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Wider spans of control are expected when tasks are complex, when subordinates are inexperienced or poorly trained, or when tasks call for team effort.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Operations charts are diagrams that depict the formal structures of organizations.

Question 5

The accounting and public relations functions of a firm are examples of line units.

Question 6

Executives, managers, and supervisors are hierarchically connected through unity of command, which is a listing of who reports to whom up and down the firm.

Question 7

The hierarchy of authority refers to an arrangement of work positions in order of increasing authority.

Question 8

Production and marketing are examples of staff units.

Question 9

Output controls are popular because they promote flexibility and creativity as well as facilitate dialogue concerning corrective action.

Question 10

Process controls focus on desired targets and allow managers to use their own methods for reaching defined targets.

Question 11

The number of individuals reporting to a supervisor is called the chain of command.

Question 12

Horizontal specialization is a hierarchical division of labor that distributes formal authority and establishes where and how critical decisions are made.

Question 13

Staff units provide specialized expertise and services to the organization.

Question 14

Decisions regarding what to accomplish must be matched with decisions on an appropriate way to organize in reaching these goals.

Question 15

Most modern organizations use output controls as part of an overall method of managing by exception.

Question 16

Organization charts can be important to the extent that they accurately represent the "chain of command."

Question 17

Task controls are controls that attempt to specify the manner in which tasks are accomplished.

Question 18

While an organization chart may clearly indicate who reports to whom, it is also important to recognize that it does not show how work is done, who exercises the most power over specific issues, or how the firm will respond to its environment.

Question 19

Staff units are groups that assist the line units by providing specialized expertise and services to the organization.

Question 20

One useful way to examine the horizontal division of labor is to separate line and staff units.

Question 21

Decentralization increases when the discretion to spend money, to hire people, and to make similar decisions is moved farther up the hierarchy of authority.

Question 22

A formal structure has the disadvantages of being very expensive, losing unity of command, causing overlapping managerial authority and responsibilities, and being difficult to explain to employees.

Question 23

Procedures indicate the best method for performing a task, show which aspects of a task are the most important, or outline how an individual is to be rewarded.

Question 24

Process controls include policies, procedures, and rules; formalization and standardization; and total quality management controls.

Question 25

Centralization is the degree to which the authority to make decisions is restricted to higher levels of management.

Question 26

Policies, rules, and procedures are often employed as substitutes for direct supervision.

Question 27

Functional departmentation refers to the grouping of individuals by skill, knowledge, and action.

Question 28

Formalization is the degree to which the range of allowable actions in a job or series of jobs is limited so that actions are performed in a uniform manner.

Question 29

Total quality management is a method for instituting process controls within an organization.

Question 30

Divisional departmentation is often used to meet diverse external threats and opportunities.

Question 31

Policies, which are more specific, rigid, and impersonal than procedures, typically describe in detail how a task or a series of tasks is to be performed, or they indicate what cannot be done.

Question 32

Matrix structures originated from the aerospace industry.

Question 33

Governmental agencies have found that increasing decentralization helps them effectively improve their performance.

Question 34

Standardization involves the creation of guidelines so that similar work activities are repeatedly performed in a similar fashion.

Question 35

Coordination is the set of mechanisms used in an organization to link the actions of its units into a consistent pattern.

Question 36

Organizations that rely heavily on functional specialization may expect the following tendencies to emerge over time: an emphasis on quality from a technical standpoint, rigidity to change, and difficulty in coordinating the actions of different functional areas.

Question 37

Horizontal specialization is often referred to as the process of departmentation.

Question 38

Vertical specialization is a division of labor through the formation of work units or groups within an organization.

Question 39

A procedure is a guideline for action that outlines important objectives and broadly indicates how an activity is to be performed.

Question 40

Formalization can be used to simplify many tasks in an organization.

Question 41

As compared to other forms of organization design, the simple design tends to minimize bureaucratic aspects and rests more heavily on the leadership of the manager.

Question 42

Weber argued that the rational and logical idea of bureaucracy was superior to building the firm based on charisma or cultural tradition.

Question 43

Organizations using continuous-process technology produce one or a few products through an assembly-line system.

Question 44

James D. Thompson classified technologies as retentive, meditative, and short-linked based on the degree of interdependence among the work activities.

Question 45

A simple design the process of choosing and implementing a structural configuration for an organization.

Question 46

The simple organization design is a configuration involving one or two ways of specializing individuals and units.

Question 47

Successful organizations arrange their internal structures to meet the dictates of their dominant technologies or workflows and information technology opportunities.

Question 48

The strengths of the simple design are simplicity, flexibility, and responsiveness to the desires of a central manager.

Question 49

Operations technology is the combination of machines, artifacts, procedures, and systems used to gather, store, analyze, and disseminate information for translating it into knowledge.

Question 50

The adhocracy emphasizes centralized decision making.

Question 51

A firm typically has much more choice in the composition of its general environment than its specific environment.

Question 52

An adhocracy is characterized by few rules, policies, and procedures; substantial decentralization; shared decision making among members; extreme horizontal specialization; few levels of management; and virtually no formal controls.

Question 53

Organizational design goes beyond indicating who reports to whom and what types of jobs are contained in each department.

Question 54

Joan Woodward divided technology into three categories: small-batch production, mass production, and continuous-process technology.

Question 55

A process design is a configuration involving one or two ways of specializing individuals and units.

Question 56

From an organizational standpoint, information technology IT) can be used as a partial substitute for some operations as well as some process controls.

Question 57

The adhocracy is particularly useful when the tasks facing the firm vary considerably and provide many exceptions.

Question 58

Two common classifications of operations technology that have received considerable attention are Thompson's classification and Woodward's classification.

Question 59

From an organizational standpoint, information technology IT) has the potential to add capability.

Question 60

An adhocracy is notoriously efficient.

Question 61

Controls that focus on desired targets and allow managers to use their own methods for reaching defined targets are called __________ controls.

A) process
B) output
C) turnout
D) production
E) methods

Question 62

__________ is the set of mechanisms used to keep actions or outputs within predetermined limits.

A) Organization
B) Leading
C) Control
D) Supervision
E) Planning

Question 63

Unity of command refers to the belief that each individual should __________.

A) be assigned to a work team
B) participate in the overall management of the firm
C) have multiple bosses and peers
D) contribute to the system of command and control adopted by the firm
E) have one boss and each unit one leader

Question 64

At ABC Manufacturing, the production and marketing functions would be examples of __________ units.

A) facilitator
B) staff
C) specialty
D) boundary-spanning
E) line

Question 65

__________ creates a hierarchy of authority-an arrangement of work positions in order of increasing authority.

A) Organizational dispersion
B) Hierarchical differentiation
C) Vertical specialization
D) Perpendicular regimentation
E) Functional regimentation

Question 66

Process controls include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) policies and procedures.
B) formalization and standardization.
C) total quality management controls.
D) rules.
E) behaviors.

Question 67

Most state and federal entities are also, by necessity, conglomerates.

Question 68

While __________ may clearly indicate who reports to whom, it is also important to recognize that they do not show how work is done, who exercises the most power over specific issues, or how the firm will respond to its environment.

A) institutional pictures
B) organizational rosters
C) institutional trees
D) organization charts
E) functional regimentation

Question 69

Most modern organizations use which types of controls as part of an overall method of managing by exception?

A) Methods
B) Turnout
C) Process
D) Output
E) Production

Question 70

At ABC Manufacturing, the accounting and public relations functions would be examples of __________ units.

A) facilitator
B) staff
C) specialty
D) boundary-spanning
E) line

Question 71

Compared to the machine bureaucracy, the professional bureaucracy is better for problem solving and for serving individual customer needs.

Question 72

Beyond substituting for direct management supervision, __________ is often used to simplify jobs.

A) decentralization
B) span of control
C) adhocracy
D) coordination
E) formalization

Question 73

Narrower spans of control are expected under which of these?

A) When tasks are complex, when subordinates are inexperienced or poorly trained, or when tasks call for team effort.
B) When tasks are straightforward, when subordinates are experienced, or when tasks call primarily for individual effort.
C) When tasks are straightforward, when subordinates are inexperienced or poorly trained, or when tasks call for team effort.
D) When tasks are complex, when subordinates are experienced, and when tasks call for team effort.
E) When tasks are complex, when subordinates are inexperienced or poorly trained, or when tasks call primarily for individual effort.

Question 74

Julie is working on creating the guidelines so that similar work activities are repeatedly performed in a similar fashion. Julie is creating which of these?

A) Adhocracy
B) Span of control
C) Standardization
D) Coordination
E) Formalization

Question 75

Executives, managers, and supervisors are hierarchically connected through the __________, which is a listing of who reports to whom up and down the firm.

A) human resources plan
B) span of control
C) functional specialization
D) chain of command
E) adhocracy

Question 76

The organic type of bureaucracy emphasizes vertical specialization and control.

Question 77

Which type of units provides specialized expertise and services to the organization?

A) Authority
B) Staff
C) Facilitator
D) Accountability
E) Boundary-spanning

Question 78

__________ controls attempt to specify the manner in which tasks are to be accomplished.

A) Process
B) Output
C) Turnout
D) Production
E) Methods

Question 79

__________ units are work groups that conduct the major business of the organization.

A) Staff
B) Line
C) Specialty
D) Boundary-spanning
E) Facilitator

Question 80

Traditionally, the formal structure of the firm has also been called the __________.

A) matrix department
B) horizontal groups
C) vertical groups
D) division of labor
E) line unit