business 7

At Phil's Pharmaceutical, the vice president of marketing wants to plan and coordinate the launch of a new drug with the vice president of research and development. Any related communication between them will be referred to as _____ communication.

horizontal

At Alba Inc., subordinates send efficiency and quality reports to their respective managers at the end of each week. Which of the following patterns of formal communication does this best illustrate?

upward communication

Mike and Crystal are salespeople who work for the same jewelry company. They communicate with each other, share a common identity, and have a common goal, but they are individually accountable for their work. Mike and Crystal could be part of a

work group.

Diego, Martin, Samantha, and Keagan all work together at an accounting firm. They create collective work products and hold themselves mutually accountable. They share their knowledge and skills with each other and work together to accomplish the firm's goals. Thus, they are likely part of a

work team.

_____ are informal channels of communication, separate from management's formal, official communication channels.

Grapevines

In terms of organizational structure, which of the following statements is true of the multidivisional structure?

It allows delegation of decision-making authority.

Which of the following statements is true of project teams?

Their membership is likely to be composed of people from different functional areas.

Which of the following statements is true of centralized organizations?

They delegate very little decision-making authority to lower levels.

Which of the following statements is true of work groups in an organization?

They have the same purpose as the broader organizational mission.

Dan, Amy, Carlos, and Stefan work at a technology company. Together, they form a team that is responsible for developing all the company's new applications. Their boss gave them the authority to make and implement all decisions related to these programs, so they have the flexibility to change rapidly to meet the competition and respond to customer needs. What kind of team does this scenario describe?

a self-directed work team

Jamal is a lower-level manager at a men's clothing store in a mall. Jamal's boss trusts him to find new ways to attract customers and compete with other clothing stores in the mall. Because Jamal often walks around the store and the mall, he has developed a good understanding of the store's customers and thus, he is able to react quickly to their changing needs. What type of organization is Jamal's store?

decentralized organization

A pattern of relationships and accountability between a superior and his or her subordinates is established by the process of

delegation of authority.

At Fitness Factory, the head of the personal training department meets with a lower-level manager from the advertising department to determine the best way to sell the gym's new personal training membership package. All communications between them would be considered _____ communication.

diagonal

In an organization, the vice president of marketing directly assigns a task to a production manager. The pattern of formal communication illustrated in this scenario is _____ communication.

diagonal

In an insurance company, Marissa, the senior manager of the life insurance division, casually discusses a new car on the market with her friend Devin, who is the senior manager of the health insurance division. This is an example of _____ communication.

informal

A tall organization typically has

many layers of management.

If an organization has to coordinate different projects at the same time, the most effective form of organizational structure to employ would be a _____ structure.

matrix

Learning University wants to create its own learning management system, so all its course materials will be available to its students in one place. To set up this new system, the university created project teams with members from different departments. While working on this project, these team members are responsible to both functional and project managers. What type of structure does this scenario describe?

matrix structure

Walter Snacks, an international fast food chain, is facing tough competition in foreign markets. Any decision such as introducing a new product or service, dropping an existing product line, or changing promotional strategies needs to be approved by the top managers in the company's headquarters. This takes a lot of time to implement decisions, and as a result, the company is unable to effectively respond to changes and problems on a regional scale. Which of the following causes can be attributed to the problems faced by Walter Snacks?

overcentralization

When BlueGiant Electronics Inc. faced the problem of frequent customer complaints and declining sales, a temporary, cross-functional team was created to look into the matter. At the end of three years, the team had to make suggestions and initiate necessary changes within the company to improve brand image and regain customer loyalty. Such a team is referred to as a

task force.