Ch 8 - Structuring Organizations for Today's Challenges

During the era of mass production, organization theorists emerged. Two influential thinkers were _____ and _____

Henri Fayol; Max Weber

Networked organizations are so closely lined by the _____ that each can find out what the others are doing in real time

Internet

Not until the 1900s and the introduction of _____ did production processes and business organization become so complex

mass production

An organization in which specialists from different parts of the organization are brought together to work on specific projects but still remain part of a line-and-staff structure

matrix organization

The very best companies stress high _____ and _____ vales

moral; ethical

The key to a productive culture is _____ trust

mutual

Traditional managers sometimes have trouble adapting to the speed of change and the impermanence of relationships in _____

networking

Using communications technology and other means to link organizations and allow them to work together on common objectives

networking

A visual device that shows relationships among people and divides the organization's work; it shows who reports to whom

organization chart

You may develop an _____ that shows relationships among people: who is accountable for the completion of specific work, and who reports to whom

organization chart

Widely shared values within an organization that provide unity and cooperation to achieve common goals

organizational (or corporate) culture

A potential real problem with matrix management is that the _____ teams are not permanent. They form to solve a problem and then break up. There is little chance for _____ learning, because teams work together so briefly.

project; cross-functional

Max Weber's book The Theory of Social and Economic Organizations promoted the _____-shaped organization structure that became popular in large firms

pyramid

Today's organizations look for help in areas where they do not generate world-class _____

qualtity

The present moment or the actual time in which something takes place

real time

Redesigning an organization so that it can more effectively and efficiently serve its customers

restructuring

_____ means they are empowered to make decisions without management approval

self-managed

Some of the best organizations have cultures that emphasize _____ to others, especially customers

service

Cross-functional teams work best when leadership is _____

shared

The optimal number of subordinates a manager supervises or should supervise

span of control

Employees who advise and assist line personnel in meeting their goals

staff personnel

At lower levels, where work is _____, it is possible to implement a broad span of control

standardized

An organizational structure in which the pyramidal organization chart would be quite tall because of the various levels of management

tall organization structure

The result of real time is _____ which occurs when a company is so open to other companies that electronic information is shared as if the companies were one

transparency

Henri Fayol wrote General and Industrial Management, in this book he introduced the following principles: _____ of command, _____ of authority, division of _____, subordination of individual interests to the _____ interest, _____ - managers have the right to give orders and the power to enforce obedience, degree of _____ - amount of decision-making power by top management should vary by circumstance, clear _____ channels, _____ - materials and people should be placed in the proper location, _____ - managers should treat employees and peers with respect, and _____ - spirit of pride and loyalty

unity; hierarchy; labor; general; authority; centralization; communication; order; equity; espirit de corps

A temporary networked organization made up of replaceable firms that join and leave as needed

virtual corporation

Usually, the bigger the plant, the more _____ production became

efficient

Some companies are reorganizing to let employees make decisions in order to please customers no matter what. Giving employees such authority is called _____ and it only works when employees are given the proper training and resources to respond

empowerment

After you have structured an organization, you must keep monitoring the _____ to learn what changes are needed

environment

The trend today is to _____ the span of control

expand

Large organizations use _____ structures to try to match the friendliness of small firms

flat

An organization structure that has few layers of management and a broad span of control

flat organization structure

Advantages of matrix structure: 1. gives managers _____ in assigning people to projects 2. encourages _____ cooperation and teamwork 3. can produce creative _____ to product development problems 4. makes efficient use of _____ resources

flexibility; interorganizational; solutions; organizational

Networked organization structures tend to be _____

flexible

The structure that details lines of responsibility, authority, and position; that is, the structure shown on organization charts

formal organization

No organization can operate effectively without both types of organization. The _____ system is often too slow and bureaucratic to let the organization adapt quickly. The _____ organization is often too unstructured and emotional to allow careful, reasoned decision making on critical matters.

formal; informal

To empower employees, firms often must reorganize dramatically to make _____ workers their most important people

frontline

The traditional way to departmentalize is by _____

function

The informal organization's nerve center is the _____, the system through which unofficial information flows between and among managers and employees

grapevine

A system in which one person is at the top of the organization and there is a ranked or sequential ordering from the top down of managers who are responsible to that person

hierarchy

Some firms use a combination of departmentalization techniques to create _____ forms

hybrid

In large businesses, a line organization may have the disadvantages of being too _____, of having few _____ or experts to advise people along the line, and having lengthy lines of _____

inflexible; specialists; communication

The _____ organization is an invaluable managerial asset that can promote harmony among workers and establish the corporate culture

informal

The _____ system is effective in generating creative solutions to short-term problems and creating camaraderie and teamwork among employees

informal

The system that develops spontaneously as employees meet and form cliques, relationships, and lines of authority outside the formal organization

informal organization

An organization that has contact people at the top and the chief executive officer at the bottom of the organization chart

inverted organization

Dividing up smaller jobs is called _____

job specialization

Weber emphasized: _____ descriptions, written _____, decision _____, and detailed ____, consistent procedures, _____, and policies, and staffing and promotion based on _____

job; rules; guidelines; records; regulations; qualifications

An organization that has direct two-way lines of responsibility, authority, and communication running from the top to the bottom of the organization, with all people reporting to only one supervisor

line organization

4 ways to structure an organization:

line organizations, line-and-staff organizations, matrix-style organizations, cross-functional self-managed teams

Employees who are part of the chain of command that is responsible for achieving organizational goals

line personnel

One important difference between line and staff personnel is authority. _____ personnel have formal authority to make policy decisions. _____ personnel have authority to advise line personnel and influence their decisions.

line; staff

One solution to the temporary nature of matrix teams is to establish _____ teams and empower them to work closely with suppliers, customers, and others to quickly and efficiently bring out new, high-quality products while giving great service

long-lived

Flat structures can respond readily to customer demands because _____-level employees have authority and responsibility for making decisions, and managers can be spared some day-to-day tasks

lower

A line organization does not have any specialists who provide _____ support. Many small businesses are organized this way.

managerial

Adjusting to changing _____ is a normal function in a capitalist economy

markets

Line organizations follow all of _____ traditional management rules

Fayol's

In more progressive organizations today, everyone shares information, often through an elaborate database system, and _____ firms as well as _____ them

among; within

In an inverted organization, managers are few, and the manager's job is to _____ and _____ frontline people, not boss them around

assist; support

Comparing an organization's practices, processes, and products against the world's best

benchmarking

The flatter organizations become, the _____ their spans of control, which means some managers lose their jobs

broader

An organization with many layers of managers who set rules and regulations and oversee all decisions

bureaucracy

Companies designed many rules and regulations to give managers control over employees; this reliance on rules is called _____

bureaucracy

Weber believed that large organizations demanded clearly established rules and guidelines to be followed precisely, he was in favor of _____. Rules and regulations became so rigid in some companies that they grew counterproductive.

bureaucracy

Max Weber used the word _____ to describe a middle manager whose function was to implement top management's orders

bureaucrat

5 ways to departmentalize

by product, by function, by customer group, by geographic location, and by process

An organization structure in which decision-making authority is maintained at the top level of management

centralized authority

The line of authority that moves from the top of a hierarchy to the lowest level

chain of command

Some organizations that follow Weber''s principles are less effective than UPS because they don't allow employees to respond quickly to new _____

challenges

Introducing _____ is one of the hardest challenges facing any manager

change

Managing _____ has become a critical managerial function

change

5 disadvantages of departmentalization by function: 1. departments may not _____ well 2. employees may identify with their _____ goals rather than the organization's 3. response to external changes may be _____ 4. people tend to become _____ specialists 5. department members may need input from outside to become more _____

communicate; department's; slow; narrow; creative

When a firm has completed its outsourcing process, the remaining functions are its _____, those functions it can do as well as or better than any other organization in the world

core competencies

Disadvantages for matrix structure: 1. it's _____ and _____ 2. can confuse employees about where their _____ belongs 3. requires good _____ skills as well as cooperative employees and managers to avoid _____ problems 4. it may only be a _____ solution to a long-term problem

costly; complex; loyalty; interpersonal; communication; temporary

Groups of employees from different departments who work together on a long-term basis

cross-functional self-managed teams

Companies based on inverted organization structure support frontline personnel with internal and external _____, advanced _____ systems, and professional _____

databases; communication; assistance

An organization structure in which decision-making authority is delegated to lower-level managers more familiar with local conditions than headquarters management could be

decentralized authority

3 advantages of departmentalization by function: 1. employees can develop skills in depth and progress within a _____ 2. the company can achieve economies of _____ by centralizing all the resources it needs and locate various experts in that area 3. _____ can coordinate work within the function

department; scale; employees

The dividing of organizational functions into separate units

departmentalization

The process of setting up individual departments to do specialized tasks is called _____

departmentalization

Young people today are called _____ because they grew up with the Internet and cell phones

digital natives

Organizing, or structuring, begins with determining what work needs to be done and then dividing up the tasks, this is called a _____

division of labor

The situation in which companies can reduce their production costs if they can purchase raw materials in bulk; the average cost of goods goes down as production levels increase

economies of scale