EXAM 8

56. _____ makes spatial differentiation even more of a reality for organizations.

Globalization

34. Job enrichment builds on _____.

Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation

2. _____ can be considered the design process of linking tasks together to form an organizational structure that supports goal accomplishment.

Integration

61. Which of the following is true of high-performance work systems (HPWS)?

It includes practices such as selection, training, performance appraisal, and compensation.

55. Which of the following statements is true of the perceptual/motor approach to job design?

It is more likely to be relevant to operational and technical work.

8. Which of the following is true of vertical differentiation in organizations?

It is the difference in authority and responsibility in the organizational hierarchy.

40. Which of the following is true of Woodward's classification schemes for technology?

Process technology is classified as the most complex.

38. _____ is a contextual variable and is defined as the tools, techniques, and actions used by an organization to transform inputs into outputs.

Technology

63. _____ is when employees work at home or in other locations geographically separate from their company's main location.

Telecommuting

11. _____ help individuals understand their roles in an organization, especially in times of crisis.

Vertical linkages

4. _____ can be defined as mental or physical activity that has productive results and is organized into jobs.

Work

57. For international businesses to achieve vertical differentiation, _____.

a hierarchy of authority must be created that clarifies the responsibilities of both domestic and foreign managers

31. According to Mintzberg's organizational structures, the _____ is designed to fuse interdisciplinary experts into smoothly functioning temporary project teams.

adhocracy

32. Reutiko Inc., a private detective agency, has experts from different fields. These experts work in small teams on different cases based on the requirements of the case. In the context of Mintzberg's organizational structures, Reutiko Inc. is an example of a(n) _____.

adhocracy

60. German industrial engineers have a more _____, which places human considerations at the center of job design decisions.

anthropocentric approach

42. According to James Thompson, greater technological interdependence leads to:

greater organizational complexity.

1. A(n) _____ can be defined as a set of specified work and task activities that engage an individual in an organization.

job

49. In the context of structural dimensions of an organization, the organic structure emphasizes:

open communication.

26. In the context of structural configurations proposed by Mintzberg, the _____ is a decentralized form of organization that emphasizes the expertise of the employees in the operating core of the organization.

professional bureaucracy

28. According to Mintzberg's organizational structures, hospitals and universities are examples of a:

professional bureaucracy.

64. Telecommuting results in:

reduced absenteeism.

45. The _____ of job design emphasizes the interpersonal aspects of work design.

social information-processing model

21. In the context of the elements of scientific management, time and motion studies focus on:

the efficient use of labor to the economic benefit of a corporation.

9. In the context of the six patterns people follow in defining work, _____ people define work as primarily a physical activity a person must do that is directed by others and generally performed in a working place.

Pattern D

57. Which of the following statements is true of sociotechnical systems (STS)?

STS emphasizes teamwork and self-managed and autonomous work groups.

5. Which of the following is a form of differentiation?

Spatial differentiation

62. Which of the following is a structural role of managers today?

Strictly adhering to boss-employee relationships.

65. Which of the following statements is true of telecommuting?

Telecommuting is neither a cure-all nor a universally feasible alternative.

59. In which of the following ways has the basic design dimensions of organizational structure been affected by advanced information-processing technologies?

The basis of centralization has been changed.

27. Which of the following is true of mass production jobs?

They are repetitive.

50. Which of the following statements is true of organizational strategies and goals?

They provide employee direction and criteria for performance.

60. _____ are a group of separate but integrated human resource (HR) practices that aim to increase employee efficiency and organizational productivity.

High-performance work systems

50. In the context of ergonomics and interdisciplinary framework in job design, which of the following is most likely a positive outcome associated with the motivational approach to job design?

Higher job satisfaction

6. _____ is the degree of differentiation between organizational subunits and is based on employees' specialized knowledge, education, or training.

Horizontal differentiation

68. Which of the following is most likely a reason why decision making is of poor quality in a weak or deficient organizational structure?

Information linkages do not provide the correct information to the right person.

48. Which of the following statements is true of the social information-processing (SIP) model of job design?

It emphasizes the importance of other people.

56. Which of the following statements is true of the Japanese approach to job design?

It encourages collective and cooperative working arrangements.

18. Which of the following is true of a flexible organizational structure?

It helps to stimulate creativity.

31. Which of the following statements is true of job rotation?

It horizontally enlarges jobs.

66. Identify a true statement about job sharing.

It is a way of addressing demographic and labor pool concerns.

2. Which of the following is true of a job?

It is not the same as an organizational position.

32. _____ is defined as designing or redesigning a job by incorporating motivational factors into it.

Job enrichment

25. _____ is a variation of job enlargement in which workers are exposed to a variety of specialized jobs over time.

Job rotation

29. Which of the following is a variation of job enlargement?

Job rotation

19. Which of the following statements is true of scientific management?

Jobs designed through scientific management consists of tasks that are designed in a manner that a worker is not required to think or deliberate.

47. In the context of the social information-processing (SIP) model, which of the following is a premise about the work environment?

Other people tell us how they see our jobs.

43. In the context of the job characteristics theory, _____, a core job dimension, stimulates a critical psychological state that is the degree to which an employee knows and understands, on a continuous basis, how effectively he or she is performing the job.

feedback

58. For international businesses to achieve horizontal differentiation, _____.

foreign and domestic operations should be grouped in such a way that a company effectively serves the needs of all customers

67. A major disadvantage of the _____ work pattern is that longer workdays may be a drawback for employees with many family or social activities on weekday evenings.

four-day workweek

8. According to the six patterns people follow in defining work, Pattern C people define work as an activity:

from which profit accrues to others by its performance and that may be done in various settings other than a working place.

51. In the context of ergonomics and interdisciplinary framework in job design, _____ is most likely a positive outcome of the motivational approach.

greater job involvement

63. Unlike managers today, managers of the future will most likely:

have broad cross-functional collaboration.

64. In the context of emerging organizational structures, _____ are weblike structures that contract some or all of their operating functions to other organizations and then coordinate their activities through managers and other employees at their headquarters.

network organizations

70. In the context of personality-organization constellations, in a _____ constellation, people are suspicious of each other, hence distrust in working relationships may interfere with effective communication and task accomplishment.

paranoid

55. Which of the following is true of globalization?

Corporations can become pitted against sovereign nations.

67. Which of the following is a symptom that appears when an organizational structure is out of alignment with its contextual variables?

Decision making is delayed because of the hierarchy being overloaded.

1. _____ can be described as the design process of breaking organizational goals into tasks.

Differentiation

4. _____ ensures that all essential organizational tasks are assigned to one or more jobs and that the tasks receive the attention they need.

Differentiation

36. Which of the following is a planned strategy to reduce the size of an organization?

Downsizing

47. _____ is the amount and rate of change in an organization's environment.

Environmental uncertainty

54. Short organizational life cycles put more pressure on the organization to:

be both flexible and efficient at the same time.

46. The area an organization claims for itself with respect to how it fits into its relevant environments is known as its _____.

domain

43. The _____ of an organization is most easily defined as anything outside the boundaries of that organization.

environment

69. In the context of the nature of the chief executive that affects the firm, the paranoid, the depressive, the dramatic, the compulsive, and the schizoid are:

personality-organization constellations.

28. Mass production jobs:

require surface mental attention.

10. The geographic dispersion of an organization's offices, plants, and personnel is referred to as:

spatial differentiation.

14. In the context of structural dimensions in organizations, _____ is the degree to which jobs are narrowly defined and depend on unique expertise.

specialization

48. In the context of structural dimensions of an organization, a mechanistic structure emphasizes:

specialized tasks.

51. As the level of formalization increases in an organization, the probability of _____ also increases.

strategic moves being incremental and precise

44. In the context of contextual variable for organizational design, the _____ is the part of the environment that is directly relevant to an organization.

task environment

45. The level of an organization's environment that includes stakeholders such as unions, customers, suppliers, competitors, government regulatory agencies, and trade associations is called the:

task environment.

66. In the context of emerging organizational structures, the three organizational parts of _____ are those that create demand, produce product, and provide support and are linked by the leadership and strategy council.

the circle organization

52. As the level of centralization increases in an organization, the probability of _____ also increases.

the decision process being goal-oriented and rational

53. As the level of complexity increases in an organization, the probability of _____ also increases.

the strategic decision process becoming more politicized

35. The _____ is the appropriate definition of size when discussing the design of organizational structure.

total number of employees

41. According to Perrow's classification schemes for technology, problem analyzability examines the:

types of search procedures followed to find ways to respond to task exceptions.

39. BuiltFine is a company that manufactures kids' Halloween costumes. The costumes are custom-made based on clients' themes and ideas. According to Joan Woodward's classification schemes for technology, the technology used by BuiltFine is _____.

unit technology

65. A temporary set of organizations designed to come together swiftly to exploit an apparent market opportunity is called a:

virtual organization.

22. In the context of Mintzberg's organizational structures, which of the following is a difference between a simple structure and a machine bureaucracy?

A simple structure is a centralized form of organization, whereas a machine bureaucracy is a moderately decentralized form of organization.

30. In the context of job enlargement, which of the following statements is true?

Cross-training programs are a variation of job enlargement.

58. Which of the following is a feature of the German approach to work?

Hierarchy and authority relationships are valued.

52. In the context of ergonomics and interdisciplinary framework in job design, which of the following is most likely a negative outcome of the motivational approach?

Increased training time

44. Which of the following statements is true of the Job Characteristics Inventory (JCI)?

It does not incorporate critical psychological states.

19. In the context of Mintzberg's organizational structures, which of the following statements is true of the simple structure?

It emphasizes strong centralization of decision making in the upper echelon.

3. Identify a true statement about a job in relation to an organization.

It is not the same as work.

49. In the context of ergonomics and interdisciplinary framework in job design, which of the following is most likely a negative outcome associated with the mechanistic approach to job design?

Lower job satisfaction

10. In the context of the six patterns people follow in defining work, _____ people define work as a physically and mentally strenuous activity.

Pattern E

62. In the context of adjusting work design parameters, which of the following methods can be used to reduce uncertainty?

Providing employees with timely and complete information needed for their work

38. Which of the following approaches to job design emphasizes the interaction between an individual and specific attributes of a job?

The job characteristics theory

39. Which of the following approaches to job design is a person-job fit model rather than a universal job design model?

The job characteristics theory

37. Which of the following is a problem with job enrichment as a strategy for work design?

The lack of consideration for individual differences among employees

9. Which of the following is true of tall organizational structures?

They are characterized by closer supervision and tighter controls than flat organizational structures.

18. _____ is the standardization and the narrow, explicit specification of task activities for workers.

Work simplification

42. In the context of the job characteristics theory, _____, a core job dimension, stimulates a critical psychological state that is the degree to which an employee feels personally accountable and responsible for the results of the work he or she does.

autonomy

53. The _____ to job design emphasizes a person's interaction with physical aspects of the work environment and is concerned with the amount of physical exertion required.

biological approach

54. An analysis of medical claims was conducted at Broil Technologies. The analysis identified neck and lower back problems due to uncomfortable seating arrangements as the most common health ailment experienced by the software developers of the company. In the context of ergonomics and interdisciplinary framework to job design, the _____ is most appropriate to solve these problems.

biological approach

17. An organization that is high in formalization, centralization, specialization, standardization, and complexity and has a tall hierarchy of authority is said to be highly _____.

bureaucratic

13. In the context of structural dimensions in organizations, the extent to which decision-making authority has been delegated to lower levels of an organization is called _____.

centralization

34. Contextual variables refer to a set of four:

characteristics that influence the success of an organization's design.

15. In the context of structural dimensions in organizations, _____ is the number of activities within the organization and the amount of differentiation needed within the organization.

complexity

14. In the context of the design of organizations, _____ is the process of subdividing and departmentalizing the work of an organization.

differentiation

15. The famous statement made by Harold Geneen, former chairman of ITT: "If I had enough arms and legs and time, I'd do it all myself," contradicts the concept of _____.

differentiation

20. In the context of Mintzberg's organizational structures, the simple structure achieves coordination through _____.

direct supervision by the upper echelon

29. In the context of structural configurations proposed by Mintzberg, the _____ is a loosely coupled, composite structural configuration composed of units, each of which may have its own structural configuration.

divisionalized form

23. The machine bureaucracy emphasizes:

limited horizontal decentralization of decision making.

46. The social information-processing (SIP) model of job design has four basic premises about the work environment. One such premise is that:

other people help us judge what is important in our jobs.

33. Job enrichment increases the amount of job responsibility through:

vertical loading.

24. Jobs designed by scientific management:

were too narrow and limited in the number of tasks and activities assigned to each worker.

25. The strength of the machine bureaucracy is:

efficiency of operation in stable, unchanging environments.

70. Employees may experience technostress when:

electronic performance monitoring is used.

20. According to Frederick Taylor, who advocated the scientific management approach to work design, the role of a worker in an organization is to:

execute the tasks defined by the management.

6. According to the six patterns people follow in defining work, Pattern A people define work as an activity:

in which value comes from performance and for which a person is accountable.

16. The process of connecting jobs and departments into a coordinated, cohesive whole in an organization is known as:

integration.

13. Jobs in an organization are:

interdependent.

36. A problem with job enrichment as a strategy for work design is that it:

is based on an oversimplified motivational theory.

68. Flextime, an alternative work pattern, _____.

is designed to ease traffic and commuting pressures

61. Unlike a technocentric approach, an anthropocentric approach:

relies on a more humanistic process in the design of work.

7. In the context of horizontal differentiation, _____ refers to the particular grouping of activities performed by an individual.

specialization

16. In the context of structural dimensions in organizations, _____ refers to the extent to which work activities are described and performed routinely in the same way.

standardization

41. In the context of the job characteristics theory, _____, a core job dimension, stimulates a critical psychological state that is the degree to which an employee experiences a job as one that is generally meaningful, valuable, and worthwhile.

task identity

12. The strongest method of horizontal integration is through:

teams.

59. The traditional German approach to work design was _____.

technocentric

23. Job enlargement was developed to overcome:

the difficulty of coordinating work within an organization.

27. In the context of Mintzberg's organizational structures, the professional bureaucracy achieves coordination through:

the standardization of professionals' skills.

33. According to Mintzberg's organizational structures, the adhocracy emphasizes:

the support staff and mutual adjustment among people.

69. _____ is an alternative work arrangement that is responsive to individual biorhythms.

Flextime

30. Which of the following statements is true of the divisionalized form of organizational structure?

It emphasizes the importance of middle management.

35. Which of the following statements is true of job enrichment?

It recommends increasing the recognition, responsibility, and opportunity for achievement.

40. The _____ was developed to determine the nature of jobs by measuring five core job characteristics and three critical psychological states in the Job Characteristics Model.

Job Diagnostic Survey

22. _____ is a method of job design that increases the number of activities in a job to overcome the boredom of overspecialized work.

Job enlargement

5. Which of the following statements is true of work?

The meaning of work differs by person.

3. An organization chart shows:

formal lines of authority and responsibility.

24. In the context of Mintzberg's structural configurations for organizations, an automobile plant with routinized operating tasks is an example of a_____.

machine bureaucracy

12. According to an international study involving the Work Value Scales (WVS), the two common basic work dimensions across cultures are:

work content and job context.

17. Scientific management, an approach to work design, emphasizes:

work simplification.