MGT 370: Chapter 07 Assignment: Designing Adaptive Organizations

Andy contrasts Barcelona restaurants with other establishments where employees are "told how to answer a phone and how to set a table and how to greet guests and it's all in giant books that they have to memorize." Barcelona's more relaxed work rules could help it achieve:

Relational coordination

The CEO of GardenGrow is considering moving to a team-based structure. What would be the best reason to make such a move?

To respond more flexibly to a changing environment

Each worker will become more productive, because he will develop a high level of expertise in his task.

Benefit

As an organization becomes more organic, its span of management becomes __________.

Broader

For the back of the house, where many employees from dishwasher and prep cook to sous-chef and head chef work to prepare dishes to order, which structure is the best fit?

An organic, decentralized structure

The cost of renting one large blanket-selling stand at the market is less than the combined cost of renting five small stands.

Benefit

All the employees in a unit work on citrus drinks, like orange juice and lemonade, so they know a lot about the customers for that product line.

Divisional Structure

Employees doing different kinds of work, such as research and development, manufacturing, and sales, tend to communicate with one another more and coordinate their activities.

Divisional Structure

By selling the five pieces of equipment each man used to perform all five steps, each worker can buy more advanced equipment necessary for his unique task.

Benefit

An organization's __________ conforms to the scalar principle when an unbroken line of authority links all employees in an organization.

Chain of Command

Employees in each unit tend to be focused on their work specialty rather than on the customer, so the organization can be slow to respond to changes in the business environment.

Functional Structure

When your manager assigns you a task, you have the __________ to carry out that task.

Responsibility

Federated Investors has a __________, with each mutual fund being managed by several portfolio managers who together take responsibility for the fund's performance.

Team-Based Structure

In your new job, which of the following can you expect? (Check all that apply.)

-If the environment is rapidly changing, the company will be able to respond quickly. -Two-boss employees will have to resolve conflicts between the competing priorities of their managers.

"Under what circumstances should I hire more managers so each can have a narrower span of control?" (Check all that apply.)

-When few management support resources, such as technology or people, are in place -When tasks are new and few procedures are in place to guide how work should be done

__________ is involved when your manager reviews your performance and evaluates your outcomes.

Accountability

Jake becomes extremely bored with hauling blankets to market over and over, and he misses getting to herd and shear the sheep.

Drawback

A trend in business today is to __________ authority and responsibility to the lowest level possible in the organization; this frees up time for upper management to focus on strategic issues.

Delegate

Human resources is done separately in each of the seven units serving different geographic areas, and having seven smaller HR departments is less efficient than having one.

Divisional Structure

When the unit focusing on business-to-business (B2B) customers develops a new, highly effective customer-tracking system, this system is not shared with the unit focusing on individual retail customers.

Divisional Structure

You would study a business's __________ to see a visual representation of its vertical structure, including the chain of command.

Organization Chart

When you examine the organizational chart of a __________ , you find that managers have wide spans of control and fewer layers of reporting relationships between frontline supervisors and senior executives.

Flat Structure

During a time of crisis, an organization may become __________, placing more decision-making authority near the top of the organization.

More Centralized

Employees who do a particular type of work, such as sales or accounting, have more opportunity to develop in-depth expertise.

Functional Structure

People in manufacturing communicate mostly with other manufacturing employees and relatively little with people in engineering and sales.

Functional Structure

The managers and employees in the manufacturing unit share a common outlook and find it easier to communicate with each other because they have similar training and experience.

Functional Structure

Which of the following characteristics would you expect GardenGrow to have? (Check all that apply.)

-Decision making in this company occurs lower in the chain of command, with product managers responsible for problem solving. -Certain functions within the company will be duplicated within each division. -By bringing employees together to make a single product, this company breaks down barriers between departments.

"Where would it make sense for managers to have wide spans of control?" (Check all that apply.)

-In shipping, where most employees are very experienced and highly trained -In manufacturing, where most employees perform similar tasks that don't change much over time

Which of the following characteristics would you expect Alfredo's Sausage to have? (Check all that apply.)

-The emphasis in this company is on horizontal communication, which facilitates rapid decision making. -Decision making in this company is decentralized, with responsibility pushed to lower levels. -This organizational structure is particularly effective when operating in an environment that demands flexibility.

The organization achieves economies of scale because units like customer service, shipping, and legal that serve the entire organization are relatively large.

Functional Structure

When a decision requires coordination between two or more units, such as between sales and logistics, it needs to go to the top of the organization and decision making can be slow.

Functional Structure

In your new job, which of the following should you be prepared for? (Check all that apply.)

-A relatively high level of conflict, meaning a lot of time spent in meetings to resolve differences -The ability to bring up issues with the people who can help resolve them

Disadvantages of this structure include: (Check all that apply.)

-Confusion and frustration from having two bosses -A need for many meetings to resolve conflicts

Advantages of this structure include: (Check all that apply.)

-High focus on the customer -Strong coordination across functional areas

During your orientation on your first day at work, you are introduced to your matrix bosses and your top leader. What are these managers' responsibilities? (Check all that apply.)

-Your top leader coordinates the activities of functional departments, like the Marketing and Sales department, and customer groups, like Small Business Accounts division. -One matrix boss is in charge of the Small Business Accounts division.

Scott says about his employees, "They might not always make the choice that I would make. Sometimes they make a better one." From this statement, you can infer that Barcelona is:

A decentralized organization

In an organization, the CEO has the __________ that the position of CEO gives her, and she has the right to make decisions to be carried out by subordinates.

Authority

If it used to take each man 4 hours to monitor one fifth of the sheep, it now takes Brian less than 20 hours to monitor all the sheep.

Benefit

What problem might the CEO expect if the company switches to a team-based structure?

Decentralized decision making may reduce economies of scale, making the company less efficient.

If Barcelona is organized by restaurant, with everyone who works in a restaurant reporting to the same manager, it has a __________ structure.

Divisional

Because each unit, such as the unit serving New England, is relatively small, it can respond quickly to changes in the business environment.

Divisional Structure

The accounting department in the Carribbean unit consists of three people, so they do not have the budget for much training and don't interact with a range of colleagues with accounting expertise.

Divisional Structure

The machinery that Daesun buys is much more efficient than Cedric's machinery, so Daesun often has downtime while he waits for Cedric to shear more sheep.

Drawback

The trend recently has been for organizations to adopt __________ structures, in which employees lower in the hierarchy have more decision-making authority.

More Decentralized

"Which of the following are often used by organizations to promote relational coordination?" (Check all that apply.)

-Training in how to resolve conflicts by focusing on shared goals -Open office plans with few walls and small spaces where people can hold impromptu meetings -Relaxation of work rules so employees have the freedom to contribute however they can

If Barcelona has a kitchen manager whom all kitchen staff report to, and a dining room manager whom all waitstaff report to, as well as a manager for each restaurant whom everyone working in that restaurant reports to, the company has a __________ structure.

Matrix

Advantages of this structure include: (Check all that apply.)

-High flexibility with regard to labor costs -Adaptability with regard to workers' skills

If Barcelona has a core staff of restaurant managers and head chefs and contracts with staffing agencies to fill all other positions, from accountants to dishwashers, then the company has a __________ structure.

Network

When managers meet to discuss __________, topics on the agenda include how tasks will be assigned, reporting relationships, and how to coordinate effort across departments.

Organization Structure

Andy says he wants his managers to "self-start" and tells new employees, "When people walk in the door, I don't want them looking for me. I want them looking for you." You can infer from this statement that Andy:

Prefers to delegate to subordinates

Layla is applying for a __________ position, in which she will coordinate the activities of the engineering and manufacturing departments to achieve a 5% reduction in defect rate.

Project Manager

A human resource generalist has the __________ to advise supervisors on how to handle employee disciplinary actions.

Staff Authority

If you are looking at the organization chart of a __________, you see more hierarchical levels and managers with relatively narrow spans of control.

Tall Structure

Manufacturing businesses can be classified according to their __________, or how much they use machinery instead of people to produce goods.

Technical Complexity

A cafeteria's microwave ovens, its short-order cooks' skills, and its process for setting up the salad bar with fresh vegetables are all part of its __________.

Technology

What problem might the CEO expect if the company switches to a functional structure?

The new structure will be slower to respond to changes in the environment.

Cisco Systems uses a differentiation strategy. It offers its customers the latest in routers and switches. Cisco products may cost a bit more, but customers believe they are worth every penny. Cisco Systems will be more effective if it has __________ structure. Which of the following reasons explain this? (Check all that apply.)

an organic -Decentralized decision making allows for greater flexibility in meeting customer needs. -Shorter chains of command and horizontal communication allow for increased innovation.

The workers may focus on their own needs and not understand or be concerned with the needs of the four workers doing different jobs.

Drawback

A company's strategy defines what the company will do, and __________ defines how it will execute the strategy.

Organizing

In a __________ effort, Hallmark reimagined and redesigned the way in which it brought new cards to market, cutting the time from three years to less than one year.

Reengineering

According to the information in the table, which of the following conclusions is most likely to be true?

A mass production design is likely to be effective if your bakery is operating in a stable environment without a lot of competition.

For the front of the house, where employees interact directly with customers to produce a dining experience, which structure is the best fit?

An organic, decentralized structure

Given Barcelona's emphasis on innovation and a fine dining experience customers can find nowhere else, as well as a dynamic environment of constantly changing food prices and dining trends, which structure is the best fit overall for this company?

An organic, decentralized structure using teams

The CEO of Alfredo's Sausage is considering moving to a functional structure. What would be the best reason to make such a move?

To gain more control over how the organization operates and centralize decision making