Management Midterm Chapter 6
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
product departmentalization
Grouping activities around products or product groups
customer departmentalization
Grouping activities to respond to and interact with specific customers or customer groups
functional departmentalization
Grouping jobs involving the same or similar activities
location departmentalization
Grouping jobs on the basis of defined geographic sites or areas
Carlotta, the owner of a small business, decides to promote Belle because of her knowledge and skills rather than Meera, who is her personal friend. Which characteristic of Weber's bureaucratic model is Carlotta using?
Hiring and promotion based on technical expertise
Gore Associates believes that by keeping plants size at 150 people will know each other and R&D will talk to design, manufacturing, sales, and marketing. This is the way Gore facilitates
coordination
Wal-Mart distribution works closely with sales inventory to move product where it is selling. During unseasonably warm weather fans move from cooler areas to warmer ones and jackets may be sent the other direction. This is an example of which type of interdependence?
reciprocal
Which of the following is NOT one of the characteristics of Weber's bureaucracy?
Close personal relationships between supervisors and subordinates
According to Woodward's classification scheme, an oil refinery for Shell Oil Co. would be classified as what type of technology?
Continuous-process
technology
Conversion process used to transform inputs into outputs
integration
Degree to which the various subunits must work together in a coordinated fashion
Gore Associates has no titles, differences in offices or dress. Gore's structure is
decentralized
Franklin asks his subordinate, Gary, to make the slides for an important brief. Franklin will review the slides. Franklin is ____ Gary.
delegating to
Dell Computer Corporation sells virtually the same personal computers through any one of its three divisions: Personal, Business, and Education. This represents which type of departmentalization?
Customer
Comcast is organized into telephone, Internet, and cable television divisions. Comcast is using the ____ form of organization design.
M-form
Communicators at Siemens report to their sector president, for example medical, industry, or power and also to the senior vice president for marketing and communications at corporate headquarters. Which organization design is Siemens using?
Matrix
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
organic organization
Very flexible and informal model of organization design, most often found in unstable and unpredictable environments
A ____ organization is one in which decision making is delegated as far down the chain of command as possible.
decentralized
The term "span of management" refers to the
number of subordinates reporting to a particular manager
The technology that is most associated with products made to the customer's specifications is
unit
Proceeding from the least complex to the most complex level, Woodward's classification scheme would flow from
unit to continuous-process.
According to the job characteristics approach, when task significance is high
workers believe the task is important
work team
An alternative to job specialization that allows an entire group to design the work system it will use to perform an interrelated set of asks
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 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
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 of the following is a true statement about the relationship between organizational life cycle and organization design?
As organizations mature they become more formalized and mechanistic.
divisional design
Based on multiple businesses in related areas operating within a larger organizational framework
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
Clifton likes his co-worker, Matthew, but when Matthew violates company policy, Clifton reports him to their boss. Clifton is using which characteristic of Weber's bureaucratic model?
Business conducted in an impersonal fashion
Which of the following is characteristic of the U-form design?
Departmentalization based on the kind of work being done
differentiation
Extent to which the organization is broken down into subunits
Borders book stores do not interact. Their sales are added together to form the success or failure of the company. What level of interdependence does this represent?
Pooled
authority
Power that has been legitimized by the organization
organizational life cycle
Progression through which organizations evolve as they grow and mature
Hyatt hotels each have a reservations department, a front-desk check-in department, and a housekeeping department, which continuously interact. Which type of interdependence is represented at Hyatt hotels?
Reciprocal
mechanistic organization
Similar to the bureaucratic model, most frequently found in stable environments
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
delegation
The process by which a manager assigns a portion of his or her total workload to others
departmentalization
The process of grouping jobs according to some logical arrangement
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
centralization
The process of systematically retaining power and authority in the hands of higher-level managers
organizational size
Total number of fulltime or fulltime- equivalent employees
conglomerate design
Used by an organization made up of a set of unrelated businesses
reciprocal interdependence
When activities flow both ways between units
sequential interdependence
When the output of one unit becomes the input for another in a sequential fashion
pooled interdependence
When units operate with little interaction; their output is pooled at the organizational level
A wide span of management results in
a flat organization.
LaTonnia supervises a manufacturing plant where work is highly specialized. This situation would tend to call for
a wide span of management.
According to Woodward, which of the following is true about the relationship between organization design and core technology?
a. Organizations with small-batch core technologies tend to be less rigid and formal. b. Organizations with continuous-process core technologies tend to be less rigid and formal. c. Organizations with large-batch core technologies tend to be more rigid and formal. ALL OF THESE
Gore Associates has not titles, and no bosses. Workers have sponsors for advice and consultation. This violates the principle of
a. chain of command. b. unity of command. c. the scalar principle. ALL OF THESE
In theory, delegation from a manager to a subordinate consists of three steps, which are
assigning responsibility, granting authority, and creating accountability.
According to Woodward's findings relative to technology and organization design, the most successful mass production firms adopt a(n)
bureaucratic structure
An organization where power and control are kept at the top levels of management is
centralized
____ is defined as clear and distinct lines of authority among all positions in an organization.
chain of command
All of the following are bases for departmentalization EXCEPT
competition
The process of linking together the activities of the various parts of an organization to promote harmonious movement toward organizational goals is called
coordination
First City Bank makes loans through the consumer, agricultural, and commercial departments. Based on this information, we know that the bank is organized, at least in part, on the basis of
customer
According to Lawrence and Lorsch, an organization that can be classified according to differentiation would have a ____ level of differentiation if it had many subunits and would have a ____ level of differentiation if it had few subunits.
high; low
Which of the following alternatives to specialization gives individual workers more to do and keeps each worker on the same job all the time without giving more authority over, and responsibility for, the work?
job enlargement
Prior to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, CFOs were strategic visionaries, helping to lead the company. Post Sarbanes-Oxley, they are primarily regulation enforcers, who might get time to think strategically. Turnover in the CFO position has increased significantly since the Act was passed. In this case ____ did not produce satisfied workers.
job enrichment
Which of the following alternatives to specialization would require continually adding new tasks and challenges as part of the job design?
job enrichment
Carol worked in an office assigning, reviewing, and assessing projects. When her office was moved closer to the projects, she could walk outside to check on the projects. The ability to get fresh air in the middle of the day raised her job satisfaction significantly. This is an example of
job enrichment.
Timex watch manufacturing is an example of ____ technology.
large-batch
West Windsor school district has three elementary schools that each cover a region of the school district. This is an example of ____ departmentalization.
location
Span of control is also referred to as span of
management
The form of organization design in which a set of product groups is superimposed on a functional design is called
matrix
The New York Department of Transportation operates in a fairly stable environment and has no domestic competitors; Burns and Stalker would agree that the ____ design would be best for the DOT.
mechanistic
Tepi has three subordinates. Her span of management is
narrow
According to Burns and Stalker, a(n) ____ organization is typically found in ____ and ____ environments.
organic; unstable; unpredictable
GM's first entry into mass market electric cars was the Chevy Volt. Separating electric vehicles from gas vehicles is ____ departmentalization.
product
Gore Associates has separate plants for making camping gear, uniforms, and dental floss. It uses ____ departmentalization.
product
Information that flows from sales-R&D-sales-manufacturing-design-sales is ____ interdependence.
reciprocal
During episodes of Extreme Makeover, Home Edition, designers talk with builders about each families' needs, the builders and designers create the house, and together they furnish it for the family. This is an example of
reciprocal interdependence.
An assembly operation includes four different jobs. Bob spends three weeks on each of these jobs and then starts the cycle over again with the first job of the operation. This is an example of job
rotation.
Information that flows from R&D-design-manufacturing-sales is ____ interdependence.
sequential
According to a team of researchers at the University of Aston in England, ____ organizations tend to be characterized by ____ levels of job specialization and ____ standard operating procedures.
small; fewer; less
The starting point for all job design activities is determining the level of desired job
specialization
George works in acquisitions for the Department of Defense. He knows that it will take years before the projects he works on will be acquired. He often states that having this job gives him great satisfaction in mowing his yard because then he sees a task completed. His job has low
task identity
Gore Associates has virtually no hierarchy. The corner rooms are conference areas so no one has the corner office. Buildings accommodate 150 people so everyone knows each other and groups form based on personal knowledge of each other's strengths. Which of the following terms best describes its organizational design?
team
The primary reason for coordination in organizations is
the interdependence of work units and groups.
Robin creates bracelets to sell at the campus store. She uses the school colors, but the bracelets frequently change depending on what beads she has in inventory. Robin uses ____ technology.
unit
