CHAPTER 7 Organizing and Authority

A ________ structure results when an organization is departmentalized according to the location of the customers served or the goods or services produced.

geographic

A national grocery chain is divided into well-demarcated groups such as the Northeastern division, the Northwestern division, the Southeastern division, and the Southwestern division. These divisions have been set up based on the location of large groups of customers the company serves. In the context of departmentalization, this company is most likely using a(n)

geographic structure

The positions at the top of an organization chart are those with the

most authority and responsibility.

The management at Pine Inc. reduces the size of the company's workforce in order to become more flexible. For specific project requirements, it arranges alliances. In this case, Pine Inc. is an example of a(n) ________ organization.

network

According to the ________ principle, when someone accepts a responsibility, he or she also needs enough authority to be able to carry out that responsibility.

parity

The parity principle states that

personnel must have equal amounts of authority and responsibility.

Name the standard way used by businesspeople to draw the structure of an organization.

An organization chart

Which of the following is a defining characteristic of centralized organizations?

Managers at the top retain a great deal of authority.

Which of the following is true of organizations with little height?

Employees have a lot of decision-making authority.

Peter is the human resource manager of Voir Power Company, which manufactures rotors for alternators. He has the authority to ensure that all departments in the company adhere to the United States labor laws and ensure fair employment practices. Identify the authority that Peter has in this scenario.

Functional authority

Which of the following is a benefit of understanding an organization chart?

It enables supervisors to see a variety of responsibilities held by others at their level in the organization.

Which of the following is true of unity of command?

It helps to eliminate factors within organization structure like complexity and confusion in the workplace.

Identify a true statement about a flat organization.

It is more flexible and responsive to customers than a tall organization.

Identify a true statement about a learning organization.

It signals that employees are expected to share ideas, solve problems together, and learn from their experience.

________, when clearly defined, allow those within the various organizational departments and positions to know exactly what are an individual's responsibilities.

Job descriptions

________ is the obligation to perform assigned activities.

Responsibility

John is an AutoCAD designer with MotoCorp Ltd. He reports to the research and development manager as well as the operations manager of his company. He often receives conflicting directions from both these departments, which severely impact his productivity as he must redo machine designs every time. Which of the following is violated in this scenario?

Unity of command

Delegation is best defined as the

act of giving another person the authority and responsibility to carry out a task.

Organizing is best defined as the management function of

setting up a group, allocating resources, and assigning work to achieve goals.