Chapter 7

departmentalization

Setting up departments in an organization.

organizing

Setting up the group, allocating resources, and assigning work to achieve goals.

Factors that describe the work situation

Similarity of functions geographical closeness complexity and change coordination planning availability of staff support performance standards

parity principle

The principle that personnel who are given responsibility must also be given enough authority to carry out that responsibility.

True or false: An understanding of organization charts enables supervisors to identify where they fit in an organization and determine how their department contributes to achieving the organization's goals.

True

True or false: The better the employees of an organization are able to work independently, the more the span of control of their managers.

True

In which of the following situations does a manager have the widest span of control in an organizational context?

When the standards for performance are clear and objective

department

A unique group of resources that management has assigned to carry out a particular task.

A firm that does well in creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge and in modifying behavior to reflect new knowledge is called a _____.

learning organization

Darius is a production manager at a company that manufactures breakfast cereals. He asks his workers to operate the conveyor belts in the assembly line. In this scenario, Darius is most likely applying his _____.

line authority

The branch manager of a spa asks her employees to focus on the quality of their work. In this scenario, the branch manager is most likely using her _____ to give such orders to the spa employees.

line authority

The right to carry out tasks and give orders related to an organization's primary purpose is called _____.

line authority

A feature of flat organizations is that _____.

many people report to each manager

The span of control within an organization can be wide when _____.

the functions assigned to employees are similar

A feature of learning organizations is that _____.

they expect employees to learn from their experiences

A feature of supervisors in organizations with organic structures is that _____.

they must be flexible

In the context of methods used by network organizations to stay small and flexible, when a small core organization, maybe a single person, arranges alliances as needed to carry out particular projects, it is known as a _____.

virtual organization

The employees in the project management department of a firm have the right to request information from different teams to prepare schedules and reports. This example illustrates the use of _____.

functional authority

A _____ groups employees and other resources based on the types of work they perform.

functional structure

A firm's organizational structure has senior managers of finance, production, marketing, and human resources. This is an example of _____.

functional structure

In comparison to flat organizations, a tall organization _____.

is less flexible

unity of command

The principle that each employee should have only one supervisor.

Departmentalization helps _____.

determine the type of structure an organization has

customer structure

divisions are created around different customer types

span of control

The number of people a manager supervises.

Identify a true statement about the level of centralization or decentralization within a firm.

A firm can make changes in the degree to which it centralizes authority, depending on its strategic plan and goals.

learning organization

An organization that does well in creating, aspiring, and transferring knowledge and in modifying behavior to reflect new knowledge.

Geographic structure

An organizational structure in which each region of a country or area of the world is served by a self-contained division.

Identify the ways in which an organization's top managers can help improve change management initiatives.

By helping employees understand their role after the intended change is completed By keeping employees informed of why changes are being made

True or false: The terms authority, power, accountability, and responsibility can be used interchangeably as they all mean the same thing.

False

Arrange the steps involved in the process of delegating work in the correct order.

Deciding what work to delegate Assigning the work Creating an obligation Granting authority Following up

Arrange the steps involved in the process of organizing in order, with the first step at the top.

Define the objective Determine what resources are needed Group activities and assign duties

empowerment

Delegation of broad decision-making authority and responsibility.

refers to the delegation of decision-making authority and responsibility in a variety of areas to employees.

Empowerment

True or false: An organic structure is seldom suitable for larger organizations.

False

True or false: An organization is either completely centralized or decentralized.

False

True or false: The basic type of authority in organizations is staff authority.

False

True or false: The process of organizing should typically change depending on whether the organizing job involves setting up a new company, restructuring an existing one, or deciding how to organize a department or team.

False

_____ is the right given by higher management to certain staff personnel to give orders concerning an area in which the staff personnel have expertise.

Functional authority

delegating

Giving another person the authority and responsibility to carry out a task.

Tall organzations

Height of the organization - Tall. Top management down to the operative employees

Identify the advantages of being able to understand organization charts.

It allows supervisors to see the variety of responsibilities held by others at their level in an organization. It allows supervisors to identify where opportunities for future promotions might lie.

_____ use boxes to represent the various positions or departments within a firm and lines to connect the boxes, indicating who reports to whom.

Organizational charts

organic structures

Organizational structure in which the boundaries between jobs continually shift and people pitch in wherever their contributions are needed.

Identify a true statement about change management.

Organizations may engage in change management by adding or reducing the number of products or services they offer.

network organizations

Organizations that maintain flexibility by staying small and contracting with other individuals and organizations as needed to complete projects.

In an organization, which of the following activities is best suited to be carried out by a functional structure?

Realizing efficiency through economies of specialization

responsibility

The obligation to perform assigned activities.

power

The ability to get others to act in a certain way.

Identify a true statement about accountability.

The authority to transfer responsibility to employees and hold them accountable adds to a supervisor's power.

chain of command

The flow of authority in an organization from one level of management to the next.

functional authority

The right given by higher management to specific staff personnel to give orders concerning an area in which the staff personnel have expertise.

staff authority

The right to advise or assist those with line authority.

line authority

The right to carry out tasks and give orders related to the organization's primary purpose.

Which of the following is true of supervisors in organic structures?

They must rely more on human relations than on technical skills.

According to the parity theory, when someone accepts a responsibility, he or she _____.

also needs enough authority to be able to carry out that responsibility

firm has a unit within the organization that specifically focuses on marketing its products in the Asian markets. Such a unit is referred to as a(n) _____.

department

A _____ departmentalizes the organization based on the type of end user served.

customer structure

A bank has different departments serving large businesses, small businesses, and individual consumers. This is an example of a _____.

customer structure

Assigning someone else the authority and responsibility to carry out a task is known as

delegation

To avoid adding employees to meet customer demands, some organizations contract with other individuals and firms as required to complete specific projects. Such organizations are referred to as _____.

network organizations

flat organization

one with an organizational structure with few or no levels of middle management between top managers and those reporting to them

An organization should avoid a functional structure when it _____.

operates in a dynamic business environment requiring quick decision making

An organizational structure in which the boundaries between jobs continually change and employees pitch in wherever their contributions are required is referred to as a(n) _____.

organic structure

The standard way to represent the structure of an organization is through a(n) _____.

organizational chart

According to the _____, each employee should have only one supervisor.

principle of unity of command

A consumer electronics firm has different departments for its laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. This is an example of a _____.

product structure

Organizing primarily helps supervisors and other managers _____.

put their plans into action

In order to become more responsive to consumers, an organization assigns more authority and responsibility to first-line managers by reducing its multiple layers of management. Thus, the firm is engaging in _____.

restructuring

When an organization changes its structure to respond to stiffer competition, tougher economic conditions, or the desire to benefit from new practices such as decision making by teams of employees, it is referred to as _____.

restructuring

Compared to decentralized organizations, the top managers in centralized organizations _____.

retain a great deal of authority

The human resource manager of a firm assists team managers in ensuring that the new team members are trained adequately. This scenario illustrates the human resource manager's _____.

staff authority

The right to advise or assist those with line authority is referred to as _____.

staff authority

The purpose behind network organizations is to _____.

stay flexible by staying small