MAN12 Exam #2
Understand what "flattening of an organization" means. (p 616, 617)
"With the flattening of organizations and intense competition among companies, individuals and organizations are driven to be creative in decisions ranging from cutting costs to generating new ways of doing business." Flattening an organization refers to removing management layers. Flattening involves removing or combining layers of administration and management. In a flat structure, there are fewer opportunities for advancement because there are fewer management layers.
What is group development?
Forming - storming - norming - performing -adjourning
Decision-making
...
What are SMART goals?
Developed by Peter Drucker -Specific, measurable, aggressive, realistic, time-bound
ESSAY: Definitions...?
...
Understand behavior within groups
...
What is a cross-functional team/organization?
A cross-functional team appears in matrix organizations where individuals from different parts of the organization staff the team which may be temporary or long-term in nature.
ESSAY: What is the performance appraisal process?
A performance appraisal is a process in which a supervisor evaluates the performance of an employee. Performance appraisals involve observing and measuring an employee's performance during an appraisal period, recording their observations, communicating results to the employee, and recognizing high performance while devising ways of improving deficiencies. Appraisals are generally conducted by a supervisor. (p 239)
What is the purpose of a performance appraisal?
A process of systematically evaluating performance and providing feedback on which performance adjustments should be made.
Understand chain of command/control
An important element of a company's structure is the number of levels it has in the hierarchy. Tall structures have several layers of management between frontline employees and the top level, while flat structures consist of few layers. A closely related concept is span of control, or the number of employees reporting to a single manager. In tall structures, the span of control tends to be smaller, resulting in greater opportunities for managers to supervise and monitor employee activities. In contrast, flat structures involve a wider span of control.
ESSAY: What is smart theory?
Goal-setting theory is one of the most influential theories of motivation. In order to be effective and motivate employees, goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, aggressive, realistic, time-bound). Goals should be specific, such as "increasing sales in a region by 10%" and also measurable. Measuring customer satisfaction through a survey may help. Goals that are aggressive will require people to work harder to achieve it. Goals should be difficult, but not impossible, so ensure that the goal is realistic. Finally, goals should have a time limit. SMART goals motivate employees because they energize behavior, give direction, provide a challenge, force employees to think outside the box, and devise new and novel methods of performing.
What is work/job specialization?
Job specialization entails breaking down jobs into their simplest components and assigning them to employees so that each person would perform a select number of tasks in a repetitive manner. Job specialization reduces the necessary skill requirements and decreases the effort and cost of staffing. However, jobs that are specialized are typically boring and repetitive, which can lead to absenteeism or turnover. Alternatives to job specialization include job rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment. Job rotation involves moving employees from job to job at regular intervals to prevent monotony. Job enlargement refers to expanding the tasks performed by employees to add more variety. Job enrichment allows workers more control over how they perform their own tasks, allowing employees to take on more responsibility.
Understand how teams work:
Key properties of a team -Work together (collaborative action) -Rewards (compensation based on shared outcomes) -Sacrifice for the common good Three major classes of team tasks: Production tasks, idea generation tasks, problem-solving tasks
Organization styles
Matrix organizations Boundaryless Learning
Organizational structure: functional structure, matrix structure, project structure?
Matrix organizations cross a functional structure with a product-based structure. Specifically, employees reporting to different managers are also pooled together to form project or product teams. As a result, each person reports to a department manager as well as a project or product manager. (p 620, 621)
ESSAY: What are organizational structures?
Organizational structure refers to how the work of individuals and teams within an organization are coordinated. Structure is a valuable tool in achieving coordination because it specifies reporting relationships (who reports to who). There are different types of organizational structures: centralized, formalized, and decentralized structures, and departmentalization, and mechanistic and organic structures. Centralization is the degree to which authority is concentrated at higher levels in an organization. Formalization is the extent to which policies, procedures, job descriptions and rules are written and explicitly articulated. Decentralization means that more
ESSAY: What is the group development process?
There are 5 stages in the group development process: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. The forming stage is essentially the forming of the team, coming together for the first time and getting to know each other. The storming stage is the "ugly" phase in which problems surface and members become more argumentative and raise different points of view. Often, groups will get stuck in the storming stage. In the norming stage people accept their roles and the team becomes functional. The performing stage is the longest in duration; members are getting work done, and relapses of storming stage may occur; monitoring for good progress The adjourning stage is the final stage in which the group members tie up loose ends.
Understand organizational structure
...
What are basic management functions?
...
What are the terms of an organization? (Work specialization, department, centralization, decentralization)
...
What is brainstorming?
...
What is groupthink?
A group pressure phenomenon that increases the risk of the group making flawed decisions
What is the difference between centralization and decentralization?
Centralization is the degree to which decision making authority is concentrated at higher levels within an organization. In centralized companies, many important decisions are made at higher levels of the hierarchy. More efficient. Decentralization means that more autonomy is given to lower level employees; decisions are made and problems are solved at lower levels by employees who are closer to the problem in question. Decentralized companies are generally more innovative.
What is departmentalization? (p 617)
Departmentalization refers to grouping jobs based on similarity into different departments, such as marketing, finance, manufacturing, etc. Each person serves a specialized role and handles large volumes of transactions. In divisional structures, departments represent the unique products, services, customers, and geographic location that the company serves. Each product or service in the company has its own department. Within each department, functions such as marketing, manufacturing, etc are replicated.
