Organization TRUE/FALSE

Managers create information linkages to facilitate communication and coordination among organizational elements.

TRUE

A task force is located in one department but has the responsibility for communicating and achieving coordination with another department.

FALSE

An organization's culture is usually contained in the written policy manual.

FALSE

As companies begin to explore international opportunities, they typically start with an international division that grows into an export department.

FALSE

As compared to a large company, the degree of specialization in a small company is higher.

FALSE

As organizations become larger, greater centralization is necessary.

FALSE

Centralized decision making means decision-making authority is pushed down to lower organizational levels.

FALSE

Competitive intelligence refers to the high-tech analysis of large amounts of internal and external data to spot patterns and relationships that might be significant.

FALSE

Cooptation is a strategy used for managing competitive resource interdependencies.

FALSE

Resource-dependence management refers to managing the sequence of suppliers and purchasers.

FALSE

A joint venture is the least formal type of strategic alliance.

FALSE

A key element of an organization is a building or set of policies and procedures, not the people and their relationships.

FALSE

A collusion is an agreement that commits two or more companies to share their resources to develop joint new business opportunities.

FALSE

A culture based on entrepreneurial norms and values is less likely to encourage innovation than a culture that is conservative and bureaucratic.

FALSE

Core competence refers to what sets the organization apart from others and provides it with a distinctive edge for meeting customer or client needs in the marketplace.

FALSE

Core-technology is a department work process that is important to the organization but is not directly related to its primary mission.

FALSE

Data mining software is designed to print out data from the government sector, particularly from census reports.

FALSE

Differentiation is the strategy that is specifically designed to innovate, take risks, and above all, grow in its dynamic environment.

FALSE

Economies of scale are cost savings that result when an organization is able to use underutilized resources more effectively because they can be shared across several different products or tasks.

FALSE

Economies of scope are cost savings achieved when an organization manufactures products in large volumes.

FALSE

Formation of organization results in increased transaction costs.

FALSE

Functional structures are found more frequently in a worldwide business than in a domestic business.

FALSE

Generalists are generally more competitive than specialists in the narrow area in which their domains overlap.

FALSE

Goals and strategies are usually fixed and remain unchanged once top management agrees upon them.

FALSE

Grouping by output means that people are organized by similar functions or work processes, with similar knowledge and skills.

FALSE

Horizontal linkages are used to coordinate activities between the top and bottom of an organization and are designed primarily for control of the organization, whereas vertical linkages refer to the amount of communication and coordinate across organizational departments.

FALSE

If an organization has well-developed goals for profitability, that is all they need for determination of their effectiveness.

FALSE

If the forces for national responsiveness and the forces for global integration are high, then a multidomestic strategy with a global geographic structure would be the best fit.

FALSE

In a bureaucratic culture, an important value is taking care of employees and making sure they have whatever they need to help them be satisfied as well as productive.

FALSE

In studies of culture and effectiveness, it has been found that two factors form the basis of the fit: (1) the extent to which the environment requires change or stability and (2) the extent to which the technology is analyzable or unanalyzable.

FALSE

In the competing values model, the two principle analysis dimensions are structure and profitability.

FALSE

In the elaboration stage, an organization's growth is rapid, and employees are excited and committed to the organization's mission.

FALSE

Increasing product quality and reducing number of defects are examples of indicators used to measure organizational effectiveness as per the internal systems approach.

FALSE

Indicators of effectiveness are quantitative but not qualitative in nature.

FALSE

Innovation and change goals are decreasingly important, even though they initially cause a large increase in profits.

FALSE

Management information systems (MIS) link together manufacturing components that previously stood alone.

FALSE

Many companies are changing from a partnership orientation mindset to a traditional adversarial.

FALSE

Mass customization refers to the separation of one product from the mass production line so that it can be adapted to the needs of a particular market.

FALSE

Ninety-nine percent of businesses that make it past the first year still fail within five years because they can't make the transition from the entrepreneurial stage.

FALSE

Numerous studies have shown that specific high goals can significantly decrease employee performance.

FALSE

One reason organizations exist is to shape the lives of all the organizational stakeholders.

FALSE

Operative goals refer to the formally stated definition of business scope and outcomes the organization is trying to achieve.

FALSE

Organization direction is the administration and execution of the strategic plan.

FALSE

Organizational mission and operational goals are the same thing.

FALSE

Organizational theory is primarily concerned with how an organization can outperform its competitors.

FALSE

Organizations are currently operating in a stable environment, so managers can focus on designing structures and systems that keeps the organization running efficiently.

FALSE

Organizations that provide essentially the same goods and services will always have similar organizational cultures.

FALSE

Organizations today have rigid boundaries separating them from other organizations.

FALSE

Perrow's study is classified as pertaining to organization-level technology, while Woodward's is classified as pertaining to department-level technology.

FALSE

Planning guarantees successful coping with an unstable environment.

FALSE

Pressure for innovation is sufficient cause for adopting the matrix structure.

FALSE

Products of different sizes, types, and customer requirements freely intermingling on the assembly line is an advantage of lean manufacturing.

FALSE

Six Sigma is a comprehensive management control system that balances traditional financial measures with operations measures relating to a company's critical success factors.

FALSE

Small companies are standardized, often mechanistically run, and complex.

FALSE

Stage two is the global stage which means the company takes exports seriously and begins to think multidomestically.

FALSE

Symbiotic interdependencies are the interdependencies that exist among organizations that compete for scarce inputs and outputs.

FALSE

Symbols are narratives based on true events that are frequently shared among organizational employees and told to new employees to inform them about an organization.

FALSE

The administrative support function is a distinct function, responsible for directing and coordinating other parts of the organization.

FALSE

The alliance resulting from a network is less formal than the alliance resulting from a contract.

FALSE

The balanced scorecard is an information system used for making decisions.

FALSE

The bureaucratic culture has a primary focus on the involvement and participation of the organization's members and on rapidly changing expectations from the external environment.

FALSE

The complex-stable dimension concerns environmental complexity, which refers to heterogeneity, or the number and dissimilarity of external elements relevant to an organization's operations.

FALSE

The elaboration stage involves the installation and use of rules, procedures, and control systems.

FALSE

The external resource approach to measuring organizational effectiveness evaluates an organization's ability to be innovative and function quickly and responsively.

FALSE

The formal routines, reports, and procedures that use information to maintain or alter patterns in organization activities are referred to as the balanced scorecard.

FALSE

The four systems of a management control system form an overall management control system that provides top management with control information about resource inputs, process efficiency, and output. This information allows them to create new strategies.

FALSE

The global product division structure works best when pressure for decision-making balances the interests of both product standardization and geographical localization and when coordination to share resources is important.

FALSE

The interdependencies that exist between an organization and its suppliers and distributors are known as competitive interdependencies.

FALSE

The internal process approach looks at the input side of the transformation process.

FALSE

The internal process emphasis represents management values of structural control and external focus.

FALSE

The internal systems approach to measuring organizational effectiveness evaluates an organization's ability to convert skills and resources efficiently into finished goods and services.

FALSE

The low-cost leadership strategy is known for requiring skills based on strong marketing ability, creative flair, strong capability in basic research, and corporate reputation for technological leadership.

FALSE

The management systems in both unit production and continuous process are characterized as mechanistic, whereas mass production is seen as organic.

FALSE

The organizational environment is a set of forces and conditions that operate within an organization's boundaries.

FALSE

The prevailing philosophy is that organizations consider themselves autonomous and separate, trying to outdo other companies so that they can grow and prosper.

FALSE

The purpose of boundary-spanning roles is to absorb uncertainty from the environment.

FALSE

The reactor strategy is a strategy because it responds to environmental threats and opportunities in a strategic fashion.

FALSE

The resource-based approach combines several indicators of effectiveness into a single framework, balancing traditional financial measures with operational measures relating to a company's critical success factors.

FALSE

The second stage of international evolution, "International Stage," will usually be structured with a domestic structure with an export department.

FALSE

The statistical report is typically used to set targets for the organization's expenditures for the year and then report actual costs on a monthly or quarterly basis.

FALSE

The technical approach to measuring organizational effectiveness evaluates an organization's ability to secure, manage, and control scarce and valued skills and resources.

FALSE

There are ten stages of life cycle development that an organization must generally go through in order to reach the final stage when rewards are personal and aimed at those who contribute to organizational success.

FALSE

Value creation by an organization takes place at three stages: input, conversion, and output. Out of these three stages, only the conversion stage is affected by the environment in which the organization operates.

FALSE

Variation, formation, and selection are the stages in the process of change in the environment.

FALSE

Written rules and policies are an integral part of corporate culture.

FALSE

According to the competing values model, the structure dimension is concerned with the degree of flexibility or stability offered by the structure.

TRUE

All organizations exist for a purpose.

TRUE

Managers use periodic statistical reports to evaluate and monitor nonfinancial performance, such as customer satisfaction, employee performance, or rate of staff turnover.

TRUE

"Technology" could be considered to be the tools, techniques, and actions that are used to transform organizational inputs into outputs.

TRUE

2) Organizations die or are transformed when the needs satisfied by them are no longer important.

TRUE

A company's core competence is something the organization does especially well in comparison to its competitors.

TRUE

A contingency is an event that might occur and must be planned for.

TRUE

A defender strategy is concerned with internal efficiency and control to produce reliable, high-quality products for steady customers.

TRUE

A joint venture is a separate entity created with two or more active firms as sponsors.

TRUE

A niche is a domain of unique environmental resources and needs.

TRUE

A productivity goal could be stated in terms of "cost for a unit of production," "units produced per employee," or "resource cost per employee."

TRUE

A strategy is a plan for achievement of organizational goals.

TRUE

A symbol is something that represents another thing.

TRUE

An integrated information network refers to a computerized system with a common database linking all areas of the organization such as accounting, inventory control, design, marketing, production, etc.

TRUE

An interlocking directorate is a linkage that results when a director from one company sits on the board of another company.

TRUE

An internal process approach to evaluating effectiveness may adopt the confidence, trust and communication between workers and management as a performance indicator.

TRUE

An organization is a tool people use to coordinate their actions to obtain something they desire or value.

TRUE

An organization's culture is shaped by the type of structure used by the organization.

TRUE

As the complexity in the external environment increases, so does the number of positions and departments within the organization, which in turn increases internal complexity.

TRUE

As the complexity of computer-based information technology systems has increased, applications have grown to support effective top management control and decision making about complex and uncertain problems.

TRUE

Because of the diversity of products, services, and customers, generalists are able to reallocate resources internally to adapt to a changing environment, whereas specialists are not.

TRUE

Before the mission is defined and goals are set, top management should assess its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

TRUE

Both collusions and cartels are illegal in the United States.

TRUE

Cartels and collusion increase the stability and richness of an organization's environment and reduce the complexity of relations among competitors.

TRUE

Collaboration is being practiced as companies work together to form more competitive working partnerships.

TRUE

Compared with traditional mass production technologies, FMS has a narrow span of control, few hierarchical levels, adaptive tasks, low specialization, and decentralization, and the overall environment is characterized as organic and self-regulative.

TRUE

Competitive advantage is the ability of one company to outperform another because its managers are able to create more value from the resources at their disposal.

TRUE

Complex + Unstable environments = high uncertainty

TRUE

Cooptation is a strategy that manages symbiotic interdependencies by neutralizing problematic forces in the specific environment.

TRUE

Despite the increasing size of many companies, the economic vitality of much of Europe and the Middle East is tied to small and midsize businesses.

TRUE

Economies of scale are cost savings achieved when an organization manufactures products in large volumes.

TRUE

Efficiency refers to the amount of resources used to achieve the organization's goals, whereas effectiveness refers to the degree to which an organization achieves its goals.

TRUE

Entrepreneurship is the process by which people recognize opportunities to satisfy needs and then gather and use resources to meet those needs.

TRUE

Failing to adopt appropriate technologies to support strategy, or adopting a new technology and failing to realign strategy to match it, can lead to poor performance.

TRUE

Formalization refers to rules, procedures, and written documents that prescribe the rights and duties of employees.

TRUE

Functional grouping places employees together who perform similar work processes and typically have similar knowledge and skills.

TRUE

Given their flexibility, specialists are able to reallocate resources internally to adapt to a changing environment, whereas generalists are not.

TRUE

Government and nonprofit organizations such as social services agencies or labor unions do not have goals of profitability, but they do have goals that attempt to specify the delivery of services to clients or members within specific expense levels.

TRUE

Government is a part of organizational environment.

TRUE

Growth and output volume are examples of overall performance goals.

TRUE

Having a presence in multiple countries provides marketing power and synergy compared to the same size firm that has presence in fewer countries.

TRUE

If the external environment is stable, a mechanistic and formal organization can be successful.

TRUE

In a competing values model, the internal process emphasis reflects the value of structural control

TRUE

In a large company going through the organizational life cycle, the replacement of top management may occur in its elaboration stage as it struggles to revitalize.

TRUE

In a mission culture, managers shape behaviour by envisioning and communicating a desired future state for the organization.

TRUE

In many instances, companies will need to respond to both global and local opportunities simultaneously, in which case the global matrix structure can be used.

TRUE

In the mechanistic organization, communication is vertical.

TRUE

Interdependencies are symbiotic when the outputs of one organization are inputs for another.

TRUE

Large size enables companies to take risks that could ruin smaller firms, and scale is crucial to economic health in some industries.

TRUE

One outcome of high differentiation is that coordination between departments becomes more difficult until integrative devices are put in place.

TRUE

One would expect the effectiveness criteria of a football team to be affected by goal measurability.

TRUE

Operative goals can be either short or long term in nature.

TRUE

Organizational design is the process by which managers select and manage aspects of structure and culture so an organization can control the activities necessary to achieve its goals.

TRUE

Organizational goals represent the reason for an organization's existence and the outcomes it seeks to achieve.

TRUE

Organizational structure is the formal system of task and authority relationships that control how people coordinate their actions and use resources to achieve organizational goals.

TRUE

Organizations using the differentiation strategy try to distinguish their products or services from others in the industry.

TRUE

Project teams can be thought of as permanent task forces.

TRUE

Research has shown that the assessment of multiple stakeholder groups is an accurate reflection of organizational effectiveness, especially with respect to organizational adaptability.

TRUE

Research suggests that FMS can become a competitive burden, rather than a competitive advantage, unless organizational structures and management processes are redesigned to take advantage of the new technology.

TRUE

Several subcultures may exist within large organizations, each differing from each other and from the culture as a whole.

TRUE

Stability reflects a management value for efficiency and top-down control, whereas flexibility represents a value for learning and change.

TRUE

Strategic intent means that all the organization's energies and resources are directed toward a focused, unifying, and compelling overall goal.

TRUE

Symbiotic and competitive interdependencies exist in the specific environment.

TRUE

The MIS is supported by the organization's transaction processing systems and by organizational databases.

TRUE

The adaptability culture encourages entrepreneurial values, norms, and beliefs that support the capacity of the organization to detect, interpret, and translate signals from the environment into new behaviour responses.

TRUE

The competing values model of effectiveness makes two contributions. First, it integrates diverse concepts of effectiveness into a single perspective. Second, the model calls attention to how effectiveness criteria are socially constructed from management values and shows how opposing values exist at the same time.

TRUE

The environment in which an organization operates is a major source of uncertainty.

TRUE

The environmental conditions of complexity and change create a greater need to gather information and to respond based on that information.

TRUE

The global geographic structure divides the world into geographical regions, with each geographical division reporting to the CEO.

TRUE

The globalization strategy means that product design, manufacturing, and marketing strategy are standardized throughout the world, whereas a multidomestic strategy means that competition in each country is handled independently of competition in other countries.

TRUE

The horizontal structure organizes employees around core processes. Select one:

TRUE

The internal process approach to effectiveness utilizes both cultural and economic measures.

TRUE

The keiretsu system is a form of minority ownership.

TRUE

The life cycle phenomenon is a powerful concept used for understanding problems facing organizations and how managers can respond in a positive way to move an organization to the next stage.

TRUE

The mission statement communicates legitimacy to stakeholders.

TRUE

The organization chart is the visual representation of a whole set of underlying activities and processes in an organization.

TRUE

The organizational environment is defined as all elements that exist outside the boundary of the organization and have the potential to affect all or part of the organization.

TRUE

The primary responsibility of top management is to determine an organization's goals, strategy, and design, therein adapting the organization to a changing environment.

TRUE

The purpose of data warehousing is to combine all of a company's data and allows users to access the data directly, create reports, and obtain responses to what-if questions.

TRUE

The resource dependence perspective argues that while organizations may attempt to control environmental resources, they also try to maintain their independence.

TRUE

The six structural dimensions of organization design are: formalization, specialization, hierarchy of authority, centralization, professionalism and personnel ratios.

TRUE

The stakeholder approach integrates diverse organizational activities by looking at various organizational stakeholders and what they want from the organization.

TRUE

The technology sector refers to techniques of production, science, computers, information technology, and e-commerce.

TRUE

To meet new competitive threats, many manufacturing firms are emphasizing the ability to customize their products to meet specific needs, which requires a greater emphasis on global responsiveness.

TRUE

Today, companies are cooperating with their competitors, sharing information and technology to their mutual advantage.

TRUE

Transaction costs are the costs associated with negotiating, monitoring, and governing exchanges between people.

TRUE

Truly global companies no longer think of themselves as having a single home country and have been called stateless corporations.

TRUE

Weber believed that a well-managed bureaucracy would ensure efficient organizational functioning in both government and business settings.

TRUE

When differentiation is high, integration should be high if the level of environmental uncertainty is high.

TRUE

Within business ecosystems managers learn to move beyond traditional responsibilities of corporate strategy and designing hierarchical structures and control systems.

TRUE