4860 Midterm - Chapter 1 - 5

_____ primarily focus on the design and functioning of an organization as a whole.

Administrative Principles

_____ means identifying who is best at something in an industry and then duplicating the technique for creating excellence, perhaps even improving it in the process.

Benchmarking

According to the HBR article on purpose, all of the following are benefits of having a purpose-driven strategy EXCEPT:

Centralizing the organization

Dave, the operations manager at a paper mill, is deeply concerned. The Environmental Protection Agency has just tightened restrictions on the amount of pollution mills can legally emit into the environment. He's not sure his mill will meet the new restrictions, and the last time he had to make modifications like this, it cost the mill more than a million dollars. In this instance, which type of forces could cause institutional adaptation?

Coercive

The _____ model tries to balance a concern with various parts of an organization rather than focusing on one part.

Competing values

_____ refers to what sets an organization apart from others and provides it with a distinctive edge for meeting customer or client needs in the marketplace.

Competitive advantage

Environmental _____ refers to heterogeneity, or the number and dissimilarity of external elements.

Complexity

At Infosoft Solutions, employees are encouraged to take care of their problems by working with one another and with customers, using their discretion to make decisions. From this information, it can be understood that Infosoft Solutions is a _____ organization.

Decentralized

Clinton has only been in his new job as the production manager for a manufacturing plant for a week, and he's already concerned with what he sees as an "us-versus-them" mentality among the various units on the floor. When he looked back at past performance over the last five years, he noticed that the same number of employees used to be far more productive, but when he started asking questions, he heard nothing but blame and finger-pointing from unit managers, who all have very different priorities and goals. This is an example of which symptom of structural deficiency?

Declining performance

According to Miles and Snow's strategy typology, the ____ strategy is concerned with stability or retrenchment.

Defender

In the context of Porter's model, a ___ has a learning orientation with strong horizontal coordination.

Differentiation strategy

_____ grouping means people are organized according to what the organization produces.

Divisional

For 30 years, the functional structure has worked just fine for Southwestern Foods, an organization that now manufactures and sells various food products nationally and in limited foreign markets. But as the CEO, you're aware of some emerging problems. The organization is manufacturing everything from canned goods to snack foods to organic items, all of which involve different materials, different distribution methods, and different consumers, and you can see that you're not operating as efficiently as you could. As you consider how to restructure your organization to best meet your organization's needs as it grows in the future, which structure should you choose?

Divisional structure

All of the following are contingency factors of organizational structure EXCEPT:

Economic Climate

In a mechanistic design, the organization is primarily concerned with...

Efficiency

_____ refers to the amount of resources used to achieve an organization's goals.

Efficiency

Midland Savings & Loan was once a small but thriving banking organization in the Midwest with about 30 branches. It was a tightly structured organization, and all employees knew their roles and were well-trained to do their jobs. Occasionally, upper management would respond to customer requests by making a small change in operations or developing a new product, but no one was formally assigned to develop innovations. Over time, the bank's customers dwindled, and the bank has just announced it will be closing its doors. Which contingency factor should have been addressed earlier in this organization?

Environment

Which of the following is a characteristic of the complex, stable environment?

External elements do not change rapidly in this environment.

A functional structure is also called an M-form (multidivisional) structure.

False

A product structure usually evolves into a functional structure as organizations grow more diverse.

False

A strategic alliance is more formal and binding than a joint venture.

False

A weakness of functional structures is that they seldom enable in-depth knowledge and skill development.

False

According to the HBR article on purpose, the benefits of putting purpose at the core of strategy include helping the organization specialize in already proven areas even more.

False

According to the LinkedIn Learning video on organization design, a functional structure represents a strong advantage when the company diversifies and needs to manage new channels and products and customers.

False

According to the LinkedIn Learning video on organization design, organization design is the same as having a strategy for changing your new business model.

False

According to the LinkedIn Learning video on organization design, the best approach to designing organizations is to start with the leadership team first and let them design the needed processes.

False

Amy Kates (LinkedIn Learning video on organization design) recommends designing the organization around people.

False

An organization is a closed system with centralized hierarchy and focus on simplicity and efficiency.

False

As environmental uncertainty increases, organizations tend to become more mechanic.

False

DFW Airport has a divisional organizational structure (as observed in its organizational chart).

False

In the context of the competing values model, the internal process emphasis is more concerned with human resources than with other internal processes that lead to efficiency.

False

Mechanistic designs are a thing of the past. They do not work nowadays.

False

New organizations should design their models based on the strengths and weaknesses of their leaders.

False

Organizational Behavior focuses on the processes and outcomes of organization change and development at the individual, group, organizational, and institutional levels using multiple methods and perspectives.

False

Organizational charts demonstrate the pay grades of different departments.

False

Organizations are social entities that are only linked to the internal environment.

False

Resource dependence theory is a "micro" theory that focuses on explaining human capital as a resource.

False

The direction-setting process typically begins with the administration and execution of the strategic plan.

False

The discipline Organizational Development and Change studies interpersonal processes such as trust, justice, power/politics, social exchange, and networks.

False

The organizational culture represents a structural dimension of organizations that explains who has the authority to make decisions.

False

The resource-based perspective notes that interorganizational relationships are shaped b legitimacy as well as products/services.

False

UNT's strategic plan for 2020-2025 explains the reporting relationships of all leadership positions.

False

When developing a strategy, organizations such as UNT, should base the strategy on what their competitors are doing in order to remain in operation.

False

As the CEO of a furniture manufacturer in Michigan, you are painfully aware that sales have been dropping off in recent years, forcing you to lay off some employees and decrease production. You aren't sure why, but you thought it was due to competition from foreign manufacturers entering the U.S. market. The HR manager just told you something that has made you pause. She says that a number of employees have recently quit their jobs in your factory to go work for two other manufacturers in the same area, both of which are increasing production. What step should you take to cope with the uncertainty?

Form a competitive intelligence team to study your organization's competitors

_____ pertains to the amount of written documentation in an organization.

Formalization

_____ pertains to the amount of written documentation in an organization.

Formulization

As the CEO of a rapidly growing fast-casual restaurant chain, you see tremendous potential for taking your organization global. However, you recognize that your products and the way they're served may have to be modified to suit the local tastes of different regions around the world. As you consider how to structure your organization to best meet your organization's needs as it grows in the future, which structure should you choose?

Geographic structure

Along with several other members of the upper management team, you've just completed an assessment of your organization's manufacturing plant. To meet demand for product, the group has determined that the plant must operate at a minimum of 75% capacity for at least 250 working days each year with no more than a total of 50 hours of down time due to accidents or other disruptions. The plant must produce 20,000 parts annually, with a cap of 2.5% of parts rejected after inspection. What approach should your team use to measure effectiveness of plant operations?

Goal Approach

Maxi's Magical Mystery Tour is a nonprofit organization operated by a group of six actors, singers, and dancers. They intend to bring the arts to school-aged children by performing at a minimum of nine grade schools in the tri-state region each school year. To which of the following elements is this information related?

Goals

Which of the following types of communication is emphasized by organic organizations?

Horizontal Communication

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a mechanistic management system?

Horizontal Hierarchy

In Bangladesh, Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus designed an organization that would manufacture a low-cost, fortified yogurt for toddlers to help lower the high mortality rate among two- and three-year-old children in that country. The organization would also provide jobs to those who worked in the plant, as well as to women who would sell the product door-to-door, keeping a small percentage of each sale as their commission. Which of the following best describes this organization?

Hybrid Organization

Which of the following statements is true about mimetic forces?

In the face of uncertainty, organizations copy or model each other.

Legitimacy is a concept that best fits under...

Institutionalism

What are the building principles of an organic management system?

Interdependency and cooperative effort

The process of having one organization in a population resemble another under the same environmental conditions is called...

Isomorphism

Which of the following is a weakness of a functional structure?

It has slow response time to environmental changes.

Which of the following is true about organization design?

It represents the conscious molding of the organizational structure so that it attains ends valuable goals such as profit, safety, quality.

______ is defined as the general perception that an organization's actions are desirable, proper, and appropriate within the environment's system of norms, values, and beliefs.

Legitimacy

Melissa works in the fashion industry. Her job is to research, by analyzing social media, the growing trends among youth. Her company designs and manufactures clothing based on her analysis. Melissa is a part of the _____ sector of the task environment.

Market

_____ grouping means an organization embraces two or more structural grouping alternatives simultaneously.

Matrix

A ______ organization is characterized by machine-like standard rules, procedures, and a clear hierarchy of authority. Organizations are highly formalized and are also centralized, with most decisions made at the top. A ______ design is concerned primarily with efficiency

Mechanistic

Benchmarking is an example of which institutional approach to adaptation?

Mimetic

The overall goal for an organization is also called the:

Mission

As the Operations Manager of a manufacturing plant, you have recently become aware of a conflict. The purchasing department wants to switch to a foreign supplier of a particular component part in order to save money, but the manufacturing floor manager says the new supplier's parts are lower in quality, break more easily, and thus, fewer pieces pass the final inspection, lowering overall production. Which of the following challenges are you facing?

Motivating employees to work together to achieve organizational goals

_____ are pressures to achieve standards of professionalism and to adopt techniques that are considered by the professional community to be up to date and effective.

Normative forces

Peyton is thinking about restructuring her organization in a way she believes will lead to enhanced collaboration, streamlined communication, and a more efficient use of resources. Peyton is currently performing a(n) _____ role.

Operations

A _____ organization is much looser, free-flowing, and adaptive. Rules and regulations often are not written down or, if written down, are loosely applied. People may have to find their own way through the system to figure out what to do. The hierarchy of authority is looser and not clear-cut. Decision-making authority is decentralized. The organic design is concerned primarily with learning and adaptation.

Organic Organization

During the first week of his new job as a sales representative for a national auto parts distributor, Tyler attended a regional sales conference. He couldn't help but notice that of the 400 or so sales reps there, nearly all of them were good-looking men under 35, like himself. He began to wonder if he got the job because of his skill in sales or because he fit a certain profile. Which aspect of organizational design is Tyler concerned about?

Organizational Culture

In the early years of Acme's strategic alliance with Zenith, the two organizations hit a few rough spots, but they were able to work them out. Representatives from both sides approached the alliance with enthusiasm and a willingness to resolve issues. Acme and Zenith now expect to work together profitably for many years to come. How would you describe this interorganizational relationship?

Partnership

_____ refers to frequent, timely, problem-solving communication carried out through relationships of shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect.

Relational coordination

Which of the following is true of relational coordination?

Relational coordination is not a device or mechanism like other elements, but rather is part of the very fabric and culture of the organization.

_______ argues that organizations try to minimize their dependence on other organizations for the supply of important resources and try to influence the environment to make resources available.

Resource-dependence theory

It's 10 p.m., and Kelli, the production manager, is still in her office, frustrated because she can't move forward with so many projects. The CFO has been nagging her relentlessly to submit her annual budget, but the people reporting to her have not given her their numbers. Also, the head of sales has been emailing her daily to get her approval on his sales projections, even though he hasn't responded to the few questions she's asked about it. And worst of all, the number of defective parts is up, and no one can tell her why, making it impossible for her to solve the problem. It was never like this in her old job at a different plant, she thinks to herself. This is an example of which symptom of structural deficiency?

Slow or poor quality decision-making

In the early 2000s, consumers became increasingly aware that in a number of countries possessing diamond mines, some governments and other organizations were mining diamonds under deplorable conditions and selling them to finance their war efforts. Suddenly, the sale of diamonds dropped as consumers became suspicious of the source of all diamonds available on the market and feared being party to the "blood diamond" trade. Organizations involved in the international diamond trade had to work hard to document the sources of diamonds and ensure the buying public that they were not involved in conflict diamonds. Which sector would you say had the greatest impact on international diamond organizations at that time?

Sociocultural sector

Which of the following describes the degree to which tasks are subdivided into separate jobs?

Specialization

Phoenix Software has won three international awards for innovative software design in the last five years. Innovation is obviously one of the organization's:

Strenths

Which of the following is an external element that contributes to environmental complexity?

Suppliers

A _____ is a narrowly defined piece of work assigned to a person.

Task

A fast food chain in the United States, Simpson's Kitchen, got its supply of chicken from a local farm. Its business was adversely affected when the country faced an epidemic of bird flu. The epidemic adversely affected Simpson's Kitchen's _____ environment.

Task

When you started your clothing design and manufacturing business eight years ago, you had limited financial resources so your only option was to set up a virtual team structure and outsource manufacturing to plants in Asia. Since then, your organization has grown rapidly and become extremely successful, but you've also seen just how volatile this business can be. Your sales revenues have varied widely due to evolving consumer preferences, swings in the economy, and other factors. Now you've decided to continue on with the virtual network structure and outsourcing. Which benefit of this structure is most important to you now?

The ability to be flexible and responsive to changing needs

What is organizational structure?

The official, formal relationships and the informal and spontaneous relationships between organizational members as well as the spontaneous relationships

All of the following represent advantages of organic management systems EXCEPT:

They are better suited for stable environments.

Which of the statements below is correct about strategic decisions?

They are difficult to reverse. They are nonroutine and high stakes. They are unstructured. Correct! All of these options are correct.

Which of the following is FALSE about larger organizations in the context of size as a contingency factor driving organizational structure?

They are less structurally differentiated than smaller organizations.

Which of the following is true of full-time integrators?

They need excellent people skills.

According to John Boudreau as discussed by Amy Kates, pivot roles are roles that interact directly with the customer. These roles are not always the most senior roles in the hierarchy but are very influential because of their position in the network.

True

According to Miles and Snow's strategy typology, managers have left the organization with no direction and no clear approach to design with a reactor strategy.

True

According to the LinkedIn Learning video on organization design, collaboration creates value when the organization is creating new products.

True

According to the LinkedIn Learning video on organization design, it is important to design jobs that are meaningful and that minimize management layers.

True

According to the LinkedIn Learning video on organization design, organizations create value through having a strategy, insuring they have people with the right set of leadership and skills, and providing the environment that helps them contribute their unique talents to a shared mission.

True

According to the LinkedIn Learning video on organization design, structure determines the basic power dynamics in the organization.

True

According to the LinkedIn Learning video on organization design, talent and organization help the firm execute its strategy successfully.

True

According to the LinkedIn Learning video on organization design, the most common matrix structure connects functions to business units or functions to regions.

True

According to the video on organization design, management and business processes are ways to move ideas, decisions, and information across boundaries.

True

Boundary spanners prevent an organization from stagnating by keeping top managers informed about environmental changes.

True

Cooptation occurs when leaders from important sectors in the environment are made part of an organization.

True

Economic conditions are included in the general environment.

True

For nonprofit organizations, resource goals might include recruiting dedicated volunteers and expanding the organization's funding base.

True

Group/team characteristics such as size, diversity, and cohesion, and group/team processes such as development, leadership, decision making, and cooperation and conflict are studied by Organizational Behavior.

True

In tall organizations, the span of control is narrow.

True

One disadvantage of the matrix is that some employees experience dual authority, reporting to two bosses and sometimes juggling conflicting demands.

True

Organizational structure includes the design of stems to ensure effective communication, coordination, and integration of efforts across departments.

True

The population-ecology perspective explains why organizational diversity increases, and new organizations emerge.

True

_____ complexity is the number of levels in the hierarchy of an organization.

Vertical

_____ are used to coordinate activities between the top and bottom of an organization and are designed primarily for control of the organization.

Vertical linkages

A(n) _____ is a group that is made up of organizationally or geographically dispersed members who are linked primarily through advanced information and communications technologies.

Virtual team

When is a decentralized organizational structure deemed more appropriate?

When the information and decisions of different parts of the organization are not interrelated.

Examples of strategic decisions organizations usually make include all of the following EXCEPT:

Who to hire for an entry-level position

The _______ is an emerging alternative to resource-dependence theory. Companies join together to become more competitive and to share scarce resources.

collaborative-network perspective

In the competing values model, an organization that is primarily concerned with growth and resource acquisition will have a...

flexible structure and external focus

If the goal of the organization is to minimize errors of omission, which of the following decisions will be more suitable?

having a hierarchical organizational structure and centralization

The _____ describes how organizations survive and succeed through congruence between an organization and the expectations from its environment.

institutional perspective

The institutional environment is composed of....

norms and values from stakeholders (e.g., customers, investors, associations, boards, other organizations, government, and the community).

The ______ differs from the other perspectives because it focuses on organizational diversity and adaptation within a population of organizations. A population is a set of organizations engaged in similar activities with similar patterns of resource utilization and outcomes. Organizations within a population compete for similar resources or similar customers

population-ecology perspective

Normative forces are.....

pressures to achieve standards of professionalism and to adopt techniques that are considered by the professional community to be up to date and effective. Changes may be in any area, such as information technology, accounting requirements, marketing techniques, or collaborative relationships with other organizations.

The highest level of horizontal coordination is:

relational coordination

Coercive forces are....

the external pressures exerted on an organization to adopt structures, techniques, or behaviors similar to other organizations.

Memetic forces are....

the pressures to copy or model other organizations