Principles of Management: Chapter 10 (Wesson)

the desire for people to grow, develop, and expand their capabilities that is their response to the core dimensions

growth need strength

what a company needs for the job characteristics theory to work

growth need strength

in product departmentalization, the speed and effectiveness of decision making (increases/decreases)

increases

one advantage of product departmentalization is that all activities associated with one product are _

integrated, coordinated

t/f accountability is only established if the manager assigns responsibility and the subordinate accepts it

t

t/f boredom and dissatisfaction can result from job specialization

t

t/f delegation involves the assignment of responsibility, authority, and accountability

t

t/f delegation is always initiated by the manager's assignment of a task to a subordinate

t

t/f if an employee fails to accept accountability for a task that was assigned to her, the delegation attempt will fail

t

t/f job enlargement is an alternative to specialization

t

t/f the final step in delegation is the subordinate's acceptance of the obligation

t

the extent to which the worker does a complete or identifiable portion of the total job

task identity

the perceived importance of the task by the worker

task significance

grouping jobs into marketing/management departments is an example of

functional departmentalization

grouping jobs involving the same or similar activities

functional departmentalization

the set of building blocks that can be used to configure an organization

organization structure

deciding how to best group organizational activities and resources

organizing

(line/staff) janitor

staff

(line/staff) librarian

staff

(line/staff) receptionist

staff

(line/staff) security guard

staff

projects often span jobs and departments. which building block will you rely upon to ensure that the project development process runs smoothly and efficiently a. coordinating activities among jobs b. differentiating among positions c. grouping jobs d. distributing authority among jobs

a

the owner of the business where you work has asked for your advice on restructuring the organization. you know that customer service is the cornerstone of the company. what do you recommend (can select multiple) a. flatter structures are appropriate for organizations which empower employees to solve customer problems b. a flatter structure will further centralize decision making c. a taller structure will improve the speed at which decisions are implemented d. with a tall structure, supervisors can avoid hearing about customer complaints

a

which form of departmentalization is best if the regions in which the company competes have unique environmental characteristics a. location b. product c. function d. customer

a

which of the following is not necessary for delegation to be successful a. adaptability b. authority c. responsibility d. accountability

a

which type of sports team best exemplifies sequential interdependence a. football b. track c. basketball

a

in your annual performance review, your supervisor suggested you delegate more tasks to the subordinates on your team. consider the following scenario you experience as you try to delegate. you've just hired a new employee, Michelle, and she's eager to learn how things are done. unfortunately, you've been pulled into several unexpected meetings. you ask Paul to show Michelle, a new employee, the ropes while you are in meetings. Paul replies, "that's not my job." which reason best explains why your attempt to delegate was not effective? check all that apply. a. paul is reluctant to accept delegation b. delegation is not an effective tool for managers c. you didn't grant paul the authority to train michelle d. you didn't assign paul the responsibility for training michelle

a, c, d

in departmentalization, are managers added or taken away

added

the degree of control the worker has over how the work is performed

autonomy

the owner of the business where you work has asked you to assess whether he should restructure reporting relationships at the company to improve the ability of employees to met the needs of customers. which do you recommend (can select multiple) a. a flatter structure will further centralize decision making b. a flatter structure should result in higher levels of employee morale and productivity c. a taller structure will improve the speed at which decisions are implemented d. a taller structure will decrease administrative costs

b

the owner of the business where you work has asked you to identify ways to help the organization react faster to environmental changes. what do you recommend (can choose multiple) a. a flatter structure will further centralize decision making b. flatter structures lessen bureaucratic red tape, which can speed decision making c. a taller structure will decrease administrative costs d. a taller structure will improve the speed at which decisions are implented

b

the extent to which the worker knows how well the job is being performed

feedback

in your annual performance review, your supervisor suggested you delegate more tasks to the subordinates on your team. consider the following scenario you experience as you try to delegate. you've just hired a new employee, Michelle, and she's eager to learn how things are done. unfortunately, you've been pulled into several unexpected meetings. you ask Paul to spend the day training Michelle while you are in meetings. what benefits might Paul experience as a result of this delegation? check all that apply. a. paul may try to steal your job b. paul may feel a sense of esteem that you chose him as the best person to train michelle c. it's a professional development opportunity for paul. paul gains managerial experience training new employees d. the authority granted to paul may be perceived as job enrichment

b, c, d

in your annual performance review, your supervisor suggested you delegate more tasks to the subordinates on your team. consider the following scenario you experience as you try to delegate. you've just hired a new employee, Michelle, and she's eager to learn how things are done. unfortunately, you've been pulled into several unexpected meetings. you could ask Paul to show Michelle the ropes while you are in the meetings, but you hesitate. which reason might explain your reluctance to assign this task to Paul? check all that apply. a. training isn't part of paul's job description b. you are a micro-manager c. you are worried that paul won't do a good job training michelle d. you don't want to be upstaged by paul

b, c, d

a typical criticism of highly specialized jobs is that the employees may become bored. which concern should you warn ancestry's managers about in the case of its staff of geneaologists a. job satisfaction b. lack of self-efficacy in job completion c. perceived monotony d. emotional attachment to families being researched

c

as a hiring manager at GE, you are tasked with using the building blocks that managers can use in constructing an organization. which basic building block of structure would you use as you scale down on managerial positions and scale up on engineering positions a. differentiating among positions b. distributing authority among jobs c. designing jobs d. grouping jobs

c

at ancestry, even in a job as seemingly specialized as that of genealogist, the component parts of the job are quite varied. if ancestry asked you to advise the company on restructuring job design, how would you explain a recommendation for further specialization a. specialization increases the transfer time between tasks b. highly specialized workers may feel their jobs are too stimulating c. when workers perform small, simple tasks, they become very proficient at each task d. the workers in highly specialized jobs tend to report higher levels of job satisfaction

c

you have decided that redesigning the jobs of the genealogists at ancestry will benefit the most by taking the job characteristics approach. which step will you take to enhance how valued each employee feels he or she is? a. publicize which genealogists were involved in which completed historical projects so that the employees feel they identify with the total job b. give the genealogists feedback on their performance at the end of each project c. communicate the importance of the tasks performed to increase task significance d. increase each employee's autonomy, so that they feel they have more control over how the work is performed

c

in your recommendations to ancestry, you suggest the company seek to enrich the jobs of the genealogists. which of the following suggestions would result in job enrichment a. the genealogists could learn to analyze and enter data in one unified step b. the genealogists with the best performance could be awarded the opportunity to work on the more interesting family histories c. the genealogist staff could be divided into those who focus on digital records and those who deal with traditional records d. genealogists like crista could determine for themselves when the ancestral trail warranted the acquisition of additional data from external sources

d

most common form of departmentalization

functional

in your role as management consultant at ancestry, you've been asked to develop a plan that will enable the organization to utilize job rotation in some job designs. what do you recommend as a necessary step a. measure absenteeism b. count the number of tasks each employee does in the original job c. assess the amount of autonomy each employee has d. cross-train the employees on the other jobs that could fall in their rotation

d

which advantage would you cite if you were advising a company to group jobs by type of customer a. administrative costs are higher b. coordinating activities inside each department is easier c. accountability is decreased d. tailoring services to meet customer needs is easier

d

you've decided that redesigning the jobs of the genealogists at ancestry will benefit the most by taking the job characteristics approach. which step will you take to influence the employees' perception of ownership of the final outcome of a family's ancestral research a. increase each employee's autonomy, so that they feel they have more control over how the work is performed b. give the genealogists feedback on their performance at the end of each project c. communicate the importance of the tasks performed to increase task significance d. publicize which genealogists were involved in which completed historical projects, so that the employees feel they identify with the total job

d

in job specialization, is transfer time between tasks increased or decreased

decreased

grouping jobs, one of the building blocks, is also known as _

departmentalization

organizational growth exceeds the owner-manager's capacity to personally supervise all of the organization is a rationale for _

departmentalization

the process of grouping jobs according to some logical arrangement

departmentalization

job design and specialization are examples of which building block of organization structure

designing jobs

in functional departmentalization, accountability and performance are (easy/difficult) to monitor

difficult

job specialization is also known as _

division of labor

in functional departmentalization, coordination inside each department is (easier/harder)

easier

with job specialization, does employee replacement become easier or harder

easier

with job specialization, is it easier or harder to develop specialized equipment

easier

job _ is the application of the job characteristics theory

enrichment

t/f "it's not my job" is a good response to a delegated task

f

t/f in functional departmentalization, employees are focused on broad goals and issues

f

t/f in product departmentalization, the performance of individual products or product groups cannot be assessed

f

t/f one of the benefits of functional departmentalization is that each department can be staffed by customer-centered experts

f

t/f responsibility is assigned by the subordinate

f

t/f the first step in delegation is creating accountability

f

the determination of an individual's work-related responsibilities

job design

an increase in the total number of tasks workers perform

job enlargement

increasing both the number of tasks the worker does and the control the worker has over the job

job enrichment

systematically moving employees from one job to another in an attempt to reduce employee boredom

job rotation

the degree to which the overall task of the organization is broken down and divided into smaller component parts

job specialization

(line/staff) dean

line

(line/staff) doctor

line

(line/staff) nurse

line

(line/staff) professor

line

as companies grow larger, there are (more/less) types of departmentalization to take advantage of

more

if the growth need strength is high, it makes job enrichment (less/more) impactful

more

choose the span of control best suited for the situation (narrow/wide): frequent crises at work

narrow

choose the span of control best suited for the situation (narrow/wide): heavy use of unskilled labor

narrow

choose the span of control best suited for the situation (narrow/wide): high levels of nonsupervisory work in the manager's job

narrow

choose the span of control best suited for the situation (narrow/wide): interdependent work flows

narrow

choose the span of control best suited for the situation (narrow/wide): physically dispersed employees

narrow

in functional departmentalization, managers need to be familiar with a (wide/narrow) set of skills

narrow

designing jobs, grouping jobs, reporting relationships, distributing authority, coordinating activities, and differentiating between positions are all examples of _

organization structure

checking, banking, savings, and loans are types of _ departmentalization

product

grouping activities around products or product groups

product departmentalization

one of the benefits of job specialization is that workers can become _ at a task

proficient

a major element of organizing is coordination. the primary reason for coordination is that work groups are interdependent. the most complex level of interdependence is called (reciprocal/sequential/pooled) interdependence

reciprocal

one of the benefits of job specialization is that employee _ becomes easier

replacement

the number of tasks a person does in a job

skill variety

name the core dimensions of the job characteristics theory

skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback

in functional departmentalization, decision making is (quicker/slower)

slower

one of the benefits of job specialization is that _ can be more easily developed

specialized equipment

(line/staff) accountant

staff

(line/staff) advisor

staff

(line/staff) financial aid officer

staff

the type of sports team that best exemplifies pooled interdependence is the (baseball, basketball, track) team because the team members work independently, and their efforts are simply combined to represent the team's output

track

one of the benefits of job specialization is that _ between tasks is decreased

transfer time

choose the span of control best suited for the situation (narrow/wide): a highly competent supervisor

wide

choose the span of control best suited for the situation (narrow/wide): highly competent managers

wide

choose the span of control best suited for the situation (narrow/wide): highly competent subordinate

wide

choose the span of control best suited for the situation (narrow/wide): little interaction required between manager and subordinates

wide

choose the span of control best suited for the situation (narrow/wide): low levels of nonsupervisory work in the manager's job

wide

choose the span of control best suited for the situation (narrow/wide): standardized procedures

wide

choose the span of control best suited for the situation (narrow/wide): task specialization

wide

an alternative to job specialization that allows the entire group to design the work system it will use to perform an interrelated set of tasks

work teams