Table 15.1 As the New General Manager of a Regional Cable Service

Multiple Choice

Table 15.1
As the new general manager of a regional cable service, Joe is studying the formal configuration of groups and individuals in respect to the allocation of tasks, responsibilities, and authority within the cable company. He notices that there are numerous layers of people between the cable installers and technicians and himself as general manager. He thinks this is because of the high degree of specialization in the company. Everyone seems to have very narrowly defined jobs. Joe decides he wants fewer layers of employees and for each manager to have responsibility for more employees. He reduces the number of managers from 10 to 3. As a consequence, each manager will make of his/her own decisions and rely less on Joe.
-Refer to Table 15.1. The numerous layers of employees between the service providers and top management represents the company's:

A) division of labor.
B) hierarchy of authority.
C) functional matrix.
D) span of influence.