MANA 3335 6 Terms & Concepts
Virtual Organization
one that has little or no formal structure
Learning Organization
one that works to facilitate the lifelong learning and personal development of all its employees while continually transforming itself to respond to changing demands and needs
A major element of organizing is coordination. The primary reason for coordination is that work groups are interpendent. The lowest level of interdependence is called _________________ (Assignment)
pooled interdepndence
Authority
power that has been legitimized by the organization
All activities associated with a certain output can be easily coordinated What type of manager is it? (Learn It)
product
Organizational Life Cycle
progression through which organizations evolve as they grow and mature
In an organization, the most complex level of interdependence is called _______________ (Assignment)
reciprocal interdependence
If a manager uses the job enrichment approach to job design, the manager will _______________________
give workers new tasks that are higher level and involve more decision making
Product Departmentalization
grouping activities around products or product groups
Functional Departmentalization
grouping jobs involving the same or similar activities
Which of the following are disadvantages of bureaucratic organizations? (Assignment)
The structure may seem less personal to employees and customers Making exceptions to rules for individual situations may be difficult
Integration
degree to which the various subunits must work together in a coordinated fashion
Which of the following are strengths of the bureaucratic model? (Learn It)
Employees feel they are treated fairly Some organizations achieve greater efficiency
The owner of the business where you work has asked you to assess whether restructuring the reporting relationships at the company would improve the ability of employees to meet the needs of customers. What do you recommend? (Assignment)
A flatter structure should result in higher levels of employee moral and productivity
If an employee in an organization has exactly one supervisor, the organization has ________________________ (Learn It)
Unity of Command
Which of the following is a disadvantage of customer departmentalization? (learn It)
Administrative costs can be high due to the need to integrate the common activities of different departments
Work Teams
An alternative to job specialization that allows an entire group to design the work system it will use to perform an interrelated set of tasks
Job Enrichment
An alternative to job specialization that attempts to increase both the number of tasks a worker does and the control the worker has over the job
Job Characteristics Approach
An alternative to job specialization that suggests that jobs should be diagnosed and improved along five core dimensions, taking into account both the work system and employee preferences
Team Organization
An approach to organization design that relies almost exclusively on project-type teams, with little or no underlying hierarchy
Which advantage would you cite if you were advising a company to group jobs by product? (Assignment)
Assessment of department is easier
Technology
Conversion process used to transform inputs into outputs
An organization establishes an integrating department to coordinate activities among units. What is the usual reason for creating such a department? (Learn it)
Coordination of interdependent units is expected to be complex and challenging over the long term
Which of the following are elements that managers make decisions about when they build the organization's structure? (Learn It)
Distribution Authority Departmentalization Job Specialization
To improve the speed of decision making, an organization adopts a _______ structure, reducing the number of layers of management. (Learn it)
Flatter
A company groups jobs according to the types of activities the employees perform and the type of expertise they have. What basis of departmentalization is the company using? (Learn It)
Functional
Departments are staffed by experts in a certain line of of work What is the type of manager? (Learn It)
Functional
Customer Departmentalization
Grouping activities to respond to and interact with specific customers or customer groups
Location Departmentalization
Grouping jobs on the basis of defined geographic sites or areas
Which of the following are characteristics of the bureaucratic model of organization design? (learn it)
Hiring and Promotion criteria based on technical expertise Rules that enforce consistent execution of tasks An impersonal management style with clear professional boundaries
Conglomerate Design
Used by an oganization made up by of a set of unrelated business
A manager using ____________________ approach analyzes the work system and improves jobs in that system along five dimensions (Learn It)
Job Characteristics
When an organization gives its employees a broader range of tasks and more autonomy to decide how to do the work, it is using ________________; these changes are also part of the _______________________ approach, which involves not only skill variety and autonomy but also task identity, task significance, and feedback. (Assignment)
Job Enrichment Job Characteristics
Which form of departmentalization is best if the regions in which the company competes have unique environmental characteristics? (Assignment)
Location
As an organization becomes more mechanistic, its chain of command becomes ________________. it is also true that, as an organization becomes more organic, its chain of command becomes ___________. (Assignment)
Longer Shorter
When employees report to both a product and a functional manager, they are most likely working in a company with a __________________(Assignment)
Matrix Design
In contrast to a small organization, a large organization is likely to make which of the following design choices? (learn it)
More standard operating procedures and rules More decentralization of decision making Greater degree of job specialization
If an organization's environment is changing rapidly, which type of organization is likely to be most beneficial? (learn it)
Organic
multidivisional structure (M-form)- learn it
Organizational structure that consists of several distinct strategic business units (SBUs), each with its own profit-and-loss (P&L) responsibility.
If an organization permits departments to operate interdependently and simply assumes their profits and losses, which form of coordination is the organization using? (Learn It)
Pooled interdependence
Which of the following is the best example of a company using a bureaucratic model of organization design? (Assignment)
Safety is a key concern in most industries, but it is especially important at BigBoom Fireworks factory. Employees must use carefully standardized procedures for packing fireworks to prevent unwanted explosions
Mechanistic Organization
Similar to the bureaucratic model, most frequently found in stable environments
If a job includes a large number of different tasks, it features which core dimension of job design? (Learn it)
Skill Variety
An organization that makes a low volume of customized products is using _______________ technology (Learn It)
Small-batch
Three Step Delegation Process (Learn It)
Step 1: Assigning Responsibility Step 2: Granting Authority Step 3: Creating Accountability
Organizations can be thought of as proceeding through a four-stage life cycle. Which of the following tend to happen as an organization moves from less mature to more mature? (learn it)
The organization becomes more mechanistic Jobs become more specialized
Delegation
The process by which a manager assigns a portion of his or her total workload to others
Coordination
The process of linking the activities of the various departments of the organization
Decentralization
The process of systematically delegating power and authority throughout the organization to middle and lower-level managers
A company has little permanent infrastructure, instead hiring temporary employees, renting space, and contracting with outside suppliers as needed. What type of organization design is the company using? (learn it)
Virtual organization
Reciprocal Interdependence
When activities flow both ways between units
Pooled interdependence
When units operate with little interaction; their output is pooled at the organizational level
When a supervisor has many direct reports, the supervisor has a __________ span of management (Learn It)
Wide
In what direction does work flow in an organization characterized by sequential interdependence? (Assignment)
Work flows in only one direction
Chain of Command
a clear and distinct line of authority among the positions in an organization
Bureaucracy
a model of organization design based on a legitimate and formal system of authority
If equally managed, an organization with a multidivisional design will perform _____________ organizations with a conglomerate design - learn it
better than
The XYZ corporation has a distinct division of labor, consistent rules, and a clear hierarchy. Managers maintain distance between themselves and subordinates, and promotions are awarded based on technical expertise. These are all hallmarks of a ______________________ (Assignment)
bureaucracy
differentiation
extent to which the organization is broken down into subunits
Job Specialization
the degree to which the overall task of the organization is broken down and divided into smaller component parts
Span of Management
the number of people who report to a particular manager
Departmentalization
the process of grouping jobs according to some logical arrangement
Organizational Size
total number of full-time or full-time-equivalent employees
Conglomerate Design (H-Form)- learn it
used by an organization made up of a set of unrelated businesses
Organic Organization
very flexible and informal model of organization design, most often found in unstable and unpredictable environments
Sequential Interdependence
when the output of one unit becomes the input of another unit in sequential fashion
Job Enlargement
an alternative to job specialization that increases the total number of tasks that workers perform
Job Rotation
an alternative to job specialization that involves systematically moving employees from one job to another
An organization is __________ if authority is reserved mainly for top managers (Learn it)
Centralized
Divisional Design
based on multiple businesses in related areas operating within a larger organizational framework
An organization is more likely to choose a ___________ structure if it operates in a stable environment and decisions are high risk (Assignment)
centralized
Situational view of organization design
based on the assumption that the optimal design for any given organization depends on a set of relevant situational factors
Functional Design
based on the functional approach to departmentalization
Matrix Design
based on two overlapping bases of departmentalization
Centralization
The process of systematically retaining power and authority in the hands of higher-level managers