Chapter 7 -

Delegating allows supervisors to _____.

focus on the tasks that they do best or that only they can do

The final step in the process of organizing is _____.

grouping the necessary activities and assigning work to the appropriate employees

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

Within an organization, delegating authority and responsibility is important because _____.

One person cannot do all the work

Which of the following tasks can be delegated by a supervisor?

- A task that is simple enough to be handled by employees - A task that an employee knows to do better than the supervisor

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

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

Assign the work

- Decides Phyllis is the most detail-oriented worker in his department. Inventory requires her level of perfectionism. He explains to her exactly what the task is that she will be doing. - Hires Toby, a student worker with strong computer skills, to take on the task of maintaining course websites. During a meeting Toby is given explicit instructions about the task.

Line authority

Phil is the supervisor of the machine shop and decides which workers will work on which machines and what shifts each worker will work each week.

Match the terms related to organizing (in the left column) with their descriptions (in the right column).

Power - the ability to get people to act in a certain way Responsibility - the obligation to perform assigned activities

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

Changes in the environment can require a change in structure. What initial environmental change resulted in the first structural change at HISD?

Tremendous increase in population and size

A manager's span of control is larger when the standards for performance are clear and familiar to the employees.

True

Although employees should accept responsibility for carrying out a task, this does not mean that a supervisor gives up the responsibility for its proper completion.

True

An organization with more than a handful of people works most efficient;y when it is grouped into departments.

True

The terms "decentralized" and "centralized" are relative since most companies fall along a range between both extremes.

True

True or false: The second step in the process of organizing requires a supervisor to review the objectives developed during the planning process and identify which resources are needed for the particular areas being organized.

True

Decide what to delegate

- Finds maintaining the course website is taking time she needs to prepare for class and looks for a high performing computer science student to take it on. - Could use extra time to focus on complex personnel issues rather than doing inventory.

Follow-up

- Lets Pete know to call if there are any unexpected difficulties. - Has meetings with Hanna once a month to check on her progress and work on any problems.

Create an obligation

- Suggests that Daryl, who will be organizing customer information, might like to design a new method for organizing the data more efficiently. - Brings Gabe into meetings where decisions are being made that will affect his tasks. Gabe is asked for his opinions and thoughts about proposed changes.

Grant authority

- Tells Clark that he can recruit up to three people to help with his task and that they can set their own schedule so long as the project is done within four months. - Gives Nellie a budget of $5,000 per month to order any needed supplies.

Identify the facts that need to be analyzed before writing a job description.

- The individual tasks involved in the job - The qualifications needed for the job - The purpose and responsibilities of the job

Identify the consequences of employees receiving orders from more than one supervisor.

- They tend to do poor work. - They get confused and aggravated.

If an employee decides to report directly to her supervisor's manager rather than report to her supervisor, he or she would be violating the _____.

Principle of the chain of command

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

Principle of unity of command

If the structure of a firm does not support its strategy or the firm's strategy changes, then it is necessary to modify the structure to accommodate this change. This type of change management is referred to as:

Restructuring

Responsibility

Mitchell knows the project must be finished in four months and within the initial budget.

The positions at the top of an organization chart are those with the _____.

Most authority ad responsibility

In order to be able to respond to stiffer competition, a firm adds more departments within the organization so that each department represents one geographic market. This is an example of _____.

Restructuring

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

line authority

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

line authority

The purpose of the initial change to a geographic structure at HISD would have been

to allow each district to manage its unique problems and opportunities.

A benefit of delegating authority and responsibility is that it is an important tool for _____.

Time management

Departmentalization helps _____.

determine the type of structure an organization has

When employees get into management, they are required to _____.

develop and coach employees through delegation of work

Steps in the Delegation Process

1. Decide what to delegate 2. Assign the work 3. Create an obligation 4. Grant authority 5. Follow-up

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

1. Define the objective. 2. Determine what resources are needed. 3. Group activities and assign duties.

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

False

In a job, the right to perform a task or give orders to another person is called _____.

Authority

When a supervisor assigns duties to an employee, he or she is giving the employee the _____ to perform the duties.

Authority

Accountability

Cameron never, ever again wants to be lectured for not getting an assignment done on time. He would much rather receive praise for a job well done.

To ensure that all the necessary responsibilities are assigned in the final step of the organizing process, a supervisor _____ at this step.

Can encourage employee participation

Match the types of organizations (in the left column) to their description (in the right column).

Centralized organizations - Organizations that grant little authority to middle managers, supervisors, and operative employees Decentralized organizations - Organizations that allow the top management to share a lot of authority with middle managers, supervisors, and operative employees

Francisco's subordinates are clashing over the fact that Dean believes in ______ authority while Charlotte is advocating for ______ authority.

Centralized; decentralized

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

Chain of command

staff authority

Claire consults with the division manager about the number and type of new employees that will be needed when the company expands, and what, if any, effects new hiring will have on union contracts

Branch managers at First National Bank report to both a retail banking manager and a central operations officer. One of the managers is focused on sales and the other on control measures. What type of organizational structure does this most closely resemble?

Combination

Instead of focusing on the geography of the school district, the HSID changed to a ______ structure where it could focus instead on the differing needs of elementary, middle, and high school students.

Customer

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

The process of organizing within a department or work group begins with _____.

Defining the objective to be achieved

Ellie, a manager at a poultry farm, entrusts Mike, a senior employee, with the responsibility of maintaining workplace hygiene. She gives Tim, a new employee, the responsibility of managing the farm's inventory. In this scenario, the organizational function performed by Ellie is known as _____.

Delegation

A 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(n) _____ refers to a unique group of resources that management has assigned to carry out a particular task.

Department

The activity of setting up departments in an organization is called

Departmentalization

In the process of organizing, after a supervisor has defined an objective, the immediate next step would be to _____.

Determine what resources are required

The second structural change enabled savings by

Eliminating waste and redundancy

_____ is based on the tenet that employees will provide more insight and expertise than managers can provide alone when they are involved in decision making and that this participation will result in more committed employees.

Empowerment

_____ refer to the delegation of decision-making authority and responsibility in a variety of areas to employees

Empowerment

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

Empowerment

Power

Even though not in a formal leadership position, Gloria seems to be able to get anyone to do just about anything.

A growing number of organizations are trying to stay flexible by increasing their size.

False

The lesser the staff specialists available to provide support in a variety of areas, the larger the span of control.

False

To ensure that employees are deeply involved in the process of organizing, supervisors can involve them in defining the objectives of the department.

False

True or false: A supervisor who delegates authority and responsibility has lesser time for functions such as planning and counseling.

False

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

False

True or false: Supervisors should delegate tasks such as resolving conflicts and appraising performance.

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

Before the growth that led to the adoption of the geographic structure at HISD, what structure was probably in place?

Functional

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

A food processing company has separate departments each specifically dedicated for the American market, the European market, the Middle Eastern market, and the Asian market. This is an example of a _____.

Geographic structure

When a firm is departmentalized according to the location of the customers served or the goods or services produced, it is said to be using a _____.

Geographic structure

The ______ structure of the HISD appears to have involved a central headquarters that originally controlled much of the budgeting. As the _______ districts tried to take charge of their functional activities, this resulted in waste.

Geographic, five

The more people a manager supervises, the _____.

Greater the span of control

Functional authority

Jay is the HR manager and he can request any and all documents concerning potential employment law violations from any manager in the company.

A _____ allows those within the various organizational departments and positions to know exactly what are an individual's responsibilities.

Job description

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

Learning organization

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

_____ 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

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.

_____ is the management function of setting up a group, allocating resources, and assigning work to achieve goals.

Organizing

According to the _____, personnel must have equal amounts of authority and responsibility within an organization.

Parity principle

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

Product structure

When an organization has a _____, work and resources within the organization are assigned to departments responsible for all the activities related to producing and delivering a particular good or service to customers.

Product structure

Organizing primarily helps supervisors and other managers _____.

Put their plans into action

The number of employees a manager supervises is known as the manager's _____.

Span of control

The purpose behind network organizations is to _____.

Stay flexible by staying small

Rather than concentrating on each regional district's needs and wants, the second structural change focused on the needs and wants of

The students

A feature of learning organizations is that _____.

They expect employees to learn from their experiences

In an organization, individuals with the most authority and responsibility are referred to as _____.

Top managers

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

Before trying to organize work, supervisors must _____.

be aware of the objectives developed during the planning process

Charlotte complains that a lot of turnover is coming from branches that used to be First American before the merger. She claims that the employees there were not used to so much oversight. Based on this information, First American was most likely a(n) ______ organization.

organic

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

retain a great deal of authority