Final Review (True/False)
A group of managers who meet regularly to discuss common issues constitutes a "collective and occasional device"
F
High "permissive" formalization and vertical specialization of the job positions is a compatible combination in the job position design
F
Horizontal decentralization occurs via organizational hierarchy
F
In an organization where there is high formalization it is more likely that the job design is vertically enlarged
F
Organizations that make an intensive use of formalization should recruit and select employees with high needs for professional development
F
The CEO of Renfe (Spanish railway company) controls high speed (Long Distance), Middle Distance and suburban train and Transportation and Logistics. This departmentalization is a clear example of departmentalization by function
F
The departmentalization "by function" requires from the CEO to have greater expertise at each function
F
The formulation of corporate strategy is a rational process, deliberately planned by senior management, independent of the changing environmental circumstances.
F
The organization manual of a department or a company is a document involving the informal dimension that serves to define and structure the hierarchical levels, providing practical guidance to employees on the nature of their work and situation
F
The selection phase in the rational decision-making process includes the routines of diagnosis, study, evaluation-election and authorization
F
To reduce barriers inherent to the bottom-up information flow it is advisable to reduce the number of hierarchical levels, making the organizational structure taller
F
the decision of a small entrepreneur to sell his gas station and invest the money obtained in solar parks would be tactical-exceptional (strategic)
F
to decide the purchase of a new photocopier, a technician assesses its cost, speed and expansion possibilities of different models on the market. this is an example of the problem identification phase in the process of decision making
F
The main organizational viability conditions are Efficiency, Effectiveness, Complexity, and Coherency
F- not complexity
Cooperation might be hierarchically required or imposed.
False
Every organization requires the maintenance of certain balance and stability (equifinality) that allow consistent responses to the changing environment.
False
Managers of technostructure only use the coordination strategy through hierarchical authority relations.
False
The general environment of an organization is the business market associated to the industry where it develops its productive activity.
False
The organization's mission must remain unchanged with the passage of time.
False
The technostructure is an organizational area that provides support to the organization outside its main workflow of operations.
False
Upper level Support staff are simplified (specialized) in both dimensions
False
Vertical division of labor involves breaking an activity into simpler tasks that can be assigned to different people.
False
A "mechanistic" organization is characterized by a high degree of specialization, few relationships between jobs, hierarchical system based on heterocontrol, many norms, a network of vertical information and little participation in decision-making of workers at lower levels
T
According to Gouldner, bureaucratic systems weaken the authority of managers.
T
Coercive formalization is that organizational dimension which aims to achieve submission and extract the maximum effort out of the subordinates
T
Formalization according to the job position determines the steps that an employee must follow in order to develop the tasks, their sequence, priority, when and where they should be done.
T
Formalization reduces role ambiguity associated with the job position
T
Many organizational decisions escape the rational logic and its process becomes confusing
T
One of the advantages of decentralization is the decreased need for staff positions in advisory positions.
T
Operational decisions involve a routinary character linked to the firm's daily activity
T
Organizations facing simple environments can be centralized structures
T
Permissive formalization implies that knowledge is more dispersed throughout the organization
T
The "integrator" has line authority over jobs from various departments
T
The "matrix structure" arises from the proliferation of integrator
T
The degree of formalization varies from one organization to another, and even differs between different job positions within the same organization
T
The existence of product managers on hierarchical dependence of the CEO is an evidence of departmentalization "by markets"
T
The larger the span of control, the flatter the organization's structure
T
The main difference between an "integrator" and a "liasion role» is the absence of formal authority of the latter
T
The main organizational tools to allocate decision-making power are the job description and tacit norms, budgets, and the set of norms and rules
T
There might appear agency problems when conflicts arise between decision makers due to the clash of different interests
T
Transmission of specific knowledge is less expensive than general knowledge
T
When an organization requires communication and frequent contact between subordinates and bosses, it is advisable to reduce the size of the span of control
T
according to ansoff (1965), decisions can be classified according to routine and importance criteria such as operational decisions, coordination (programmed decisions), exceptional (non-programmed decisions), exceptional (non-programmed decisions) and strategic decisions
T
decentralization is the delegation of power from a central authority to the rest of the organization
T
exceptional (non-programmed decisions) can arise from events that involved various functions
T
formalization tends to reduce role ambiguity within the workplace
T
in a rational decision making process, a business manager will often employ a series of analytical steps to review relevant facts, observations, and possible outcomes before choosing a particular course of action
T
organizations that face simple environments should adopt centralized structures
T
the distribution of knowledge concentrated on top management is characteristic of bureaucratic systems of organizations
T
A job can be enlarged when the benefits from increased motivation exceed the loss of specialization
True
An occupational risk prevention technician employee in a Galician fish cannery surely belongs to the technoestructure area
True
An organization is viable when it satisfies a need from the environment that is linked with its mission.
True
An organizational capability could be defined as the firm's ability to undertake a specific activity by the use of its own set of available resources.
True
Complex positions, both vertically and horizontally enlarged, usually correspond to Middle a Top level Managers
True
Differentiation mechanisms eneble the organization to adequately adapt to environmental changes.
True
Middle managers connect Top management (strategic appex) with the operational staff
True
The assignment of one person to a functional role is the start of specilizaton and horizontal differentiation
True
The degree of differentiation that exists in an organization is called organizational complexity .
True
The normalization (standardization) of results can be used with poorly qualified operative staff (simple tasks) and highly qualified operative staff (complex tasks).
True
The organizational design determines how effectively the organization controls various factors in its environment and manages scarce resources.
True
The principle of Entropy orientates the organizational design and states that from different initial conditions and different mechanisms there might be reached final states resulting in greater viability of organizations.
True
The successive introduction of coordination mechanisms follows some logic based on increasing organizational complexity or environmental changes
True
The technology associated with the production of goods or the provision of services is one of the external conditions that influence organizational design due to innovation.
True
The transaction cost theory provides some criteria for establishing boundaries in organizations.
True
Two companies with the same resources can develop distinct organizational capabilities.
True
A group of managers who meet regularly to discuss common issues constitutes a "collective and occasional device"
false
A system of evaluation of university professors requires that each professor must annually publish three scientific articles/papers and attend to at least two academic conferences. These objectives are a good example of normalization/standardization of skills
false
An organization is an open, social, and balanced system with undefined boundaries, deliberately created to achieve a purpose with own values and permanent nature, combining human and material resources and capabilities, implies processes and whose essence is the division of labor and coordination.
false
Lower level managers are a combination of Horizontal simplification and Vertical Enlargement of job activities
false
One of the main problems of vertical simplification (specialization) is the coordination of the various positions
false
The CEO of Renfe (Spanish railway company) controls high speed (Long Distance), Middle Distance and suburban train and Transportation and Logistics. This departmentalization is a clear example of departmentalization by function
false
The departmentalization "by function" requires from the CEO to have greater expertise at each function
false
The hierarchical position of a manager in the organization is based on their functional authority
false
The more complex an organization become the less coordination mechanisms it requires, being able to functioning just by the "hierarchy"
false
The normalization of values reduces the need for control, so it is an appropriate instrument to facilitate delegation and decentralization of decision-making
false
To reduce barriers inherent to the bottom-up information flow it is advisable to reduce the number of hierarchical levels, making the organizational structure taller
false
Technostructure emerge because organization integrates in its hierarchy certain services that could be sporadically contracted out of the organization
false - definition of supporting staff
Companies with an organized structure should have a broad span of control, small formalization , and high centralization of decision-making
false - not broad span of control and small formalization
Homeostasis is a feature of open systems, which seeks to achieve a certain goal in different ways which increase the organizational viability.
false -equifinality
Advanced capabilities are more complex to imitate than resources
true
Each organization should customize its structure to suit its mission and goals
true
Formalization according to the workflow comprises the establishment of asset of rules for decision making
true
Horizontal specialization narrowly relates to the horizontal division of the work
true
In Vertical job simplification (specialisation),the employee limits to perform his/her work without asking how neither why
true
In order to get horizontal job simplification (specialization) itis required a sufficient workload in a manner that it is profitable
true
Middle managers do not like normalization of processes because it reduces their level of authority
true
Organizations need (like an open systems) of certain limits. Some of them are specifically expressed and distinctly visible. In this case, transaction cost theory provide some criteria for marking organizational boundaries
true
Production department is more likely to use normalization of processes meanwhile sales department is more likely to use normalization of outputs
true
The "integrator" has line authority over jobs from various departments
true
The "matrix structure" arises from the proliferation of integrator
true
The existence of product managers on hierarchical dependence of the CEO is an evidence of departmentalization "by markets"
true
The larger the span of control, the flatter the organization's structure
true
The main difference between an "integrator" and a "liasion role» is the absence of formal authority of the latter
true
The successive appearance of coordination strategies its not exclusive, although it has some logic based on increased organizational complexity or environmental changes.
true
When an organization requires communication and frequent contact between subordinates and bosses, it is advisable to reduce the size of the span of control
true