Foundations of Business Chapter 7

Departmentalization by location

grouping activities according to the defined geographic area in which they are performed

Departmentalization by customer

grouping activities according to the needs of various customer populations

departmentalization by product

grouping activities related to a particular product or service

responsibility

The duty to do a job or perform a task

Grapevine

The informal commutations network within an organization

Describe the four basic forms of organizational structure

There are four basic forms The line structure is the oldest and simplest form in which the chain of command goes directly from person to person throughout the organization through the levels of management

Understand how committees and task forces are used

Today business firms use several types of committees that affect organizational structure. An ad hoe committee is created for a specific short-term purpose such as reviewing the firm's employee benefits plan. Once the work is finished the committee disbands. A standing committee is a relatively permanent committee charged with performing a reoccurring task.

Five elements of an organization (continued)

Today the most common bases for organizing a business into effective departments are by function , product, by location and by customer. Span of management which is the number of workers who report directly to one manager.

informal group

a group created by the members themselves to accomplish goals that may or may not be relevant to an organization

organization

a group of two or more people working together to achieve a common set of goals

staff managers

a position created to provide support, advice, and expertise within an organization

line manager

a position in which a person makes decisions and gives orders to subordinates to achieve the organization's goals

cross-functional team

a team composed of employees from different functional areas of the organization

decentralized organization

an organization in which decision-making authority is delegated as far down the chain of command as possible example sales departments makes quick decisions with customers (decentralized =Flat or wide used in questions less decision making and less management levels)

network structure

an organizational structure in which administration is the primary function, and most other functions are contracted out to other firms

line structure

an organizational structure in which the chain of command goes directly from person to person throughout the organization

line-and-staff structure

an organizational structure that utilizes the chain of command from a line structure in combination with the assistance of staff managers

Delegation

assigning part of a manager's work and power to other workers

Ad Hoc Committee

committee created for a specific short-term purpose

Organizational chart

A diagram that represents the positions and relationships within an organization

standing committee

A relatively permanent committee charged with performing some recurring task

( continued) functions of informal organization and the grapevine in a business

An informal group is created by the group members themselves to accomplish goals that may or may not be relevant to the organization. Workers may create an informal group to go bowling, form a union, get a manager fired or transferred or meet for lunch. The grapevine is the informal communications network within an organization. Subordinates may pass info to their bosses, gossip an ED may relay something to a Maintenance worker or there may be an exchange of info between people who work in totally unrelated departments

centralized organization

An organization in which high-level executives make most decisions and pass them down to lower levels for implementation ( if see Tall has many layers of management highest level of management making decisions ex. Opening new business ex. Military or government)

Understand what an organization is and Identify its characteristics

An organization is a group of 2 or more ppl. Working together to achieve a common set of goals five elements: Job design: which involves structuring the tasks and activities required to accomplish a firm's objectives into specific jobs to foster productivity and employee satisfaction

matrix structure

An organizational structure that simultaneously groups people and resources by function and by product usually structure that combines vertical and horizontal lines of authority by superimposing product departmentalized organization

Five elements of organization (continued)

Chain of command is the line of authority that extends from the highest to the lowest levels of an organization will determine what the organizations chart will represent in the positions and relationships within an organization a diagram depicting just what the business entails and what it is all about

Explain how decentralized follows from delegation

Delegation is assigning part of a managers work and power to other workers. This involves 3 steps: First the manager must assign responsibility: is the duty to do the job or perform a task. Second the manager must grant authority this having the power within the organization to accomplish the assigned task. Third the manager must assign the accountability this is the obligation of a worker to accomplish an assigned job task

Identify the various bases for departmentalization

Departmentalization is the grouping of jobs into manageable units today the most common bases for organizing a business into effective departments are by function, by product, by location and by customer because each of these provide advantages most firms esp. larger ones use a combination of different bases to address different organizational situations

Explain the functions of the informal organization and the grapevine in a business

Informal organization is defined as the pattern of behavior and interaction that stems from personal rather than official relationships. Embedded within every informal organization are informal groups and the notorious grapevine.

task force

a committee established to investigate a major problem or pending decision

Explain why job specialization is important.

Job specialization is the separation of all the activities within an organization into smaller components and the assignment of those different components to different people. Several factors combine to make specialization a useful technique for designing jobs, but high levels of specialization may cause employee dissatisfaction and boredom. One technique for overcoming these problems is job rotation.

Five elements of an organization (continued)

Job specialization: is an often-used approach. After jobs are designed, they must be grouped together into working units or departments this is called departmentalization which is the process of grouping jobs into manageable units.

Describe the effects of corporate culture

Most managers function within a corporate culture. A corporate is generally defined as the inner rises, rituals, heroes and values of a firm. An organization's culture has a powerful influence on how employees think and act. It can determine public perception of the organization. Corporate culture can affect a firm's performance over time either negatively or positively

Forms of organizational structure (continued)

The line and staff not only uses the line structure but also uses staff managers to assist the line managers in decision making. Line structure works well for smaller organizations and is used by medium to large size organizations

Forms of organizational structure (continued)

The matrix structure may be depicted as product departmentalization superimposed on functional departmentalization with matrix structure, an employee on a cross-functional team reports to both the project manager and the individuals supervisor in a functional department. In an organization with a network structure, the primary function performed internally is administration and other functions are contracted out of other firms

span of management

The number of workers who report directly to one manager

Accountability

The obligation of a worker to accomplish an assigned job or task

informal organization

The pattern of behavior and interaction that stems from personal rather than official relationships

authority

The power within an organization to accomplish an assigned job or task

Job Specialization

The separation of all organizational activities into distinct tasks and the assignment of different tasks to different people

Understand how the span of management describes an organization

The span of management is the number of workers who report directly to the manager. Spans generally are characterized as wide ( many workers per manager) or narrow (few workers per manager) wide spans generally result in flat organizations (few layers of management, narrow spans generally result in tall organizations ( many layers of management) organizational height is the number of layers or levels of management in a firm

job rotation

The systematic shifting of employees from one job to another

Job Design

structuring the tasks and activities required to accomplish a firm's objectives into specific jobs to foster productivity and employee satisfaction

corporate culture

the inner rites, rituals, heroes, and values of a firm

chain of command

the line of authority that extends from the highest to the lowest levels of an organization

Organizational height

the number of layers, or levels, of management in a firm

Departmentalization

the process of grouping jobs into manageable units