Chapter 11 Management

Which of the following BEST describes the situational view of organization design?

The appropriate organization design depends on the circumstances.

In which type of organizational design, are team members likely to be highly motivated and committed to the organization since they assume a major role in decision making?

functional

When Kellogg's makes cereal and cereal bars, it uses ____ technology.

large-batch

A ____ organization works to facilitate the lifelong learning and personal development of all of its employees while continually transforming itself to respond to changing demands and needs.

learning

In a team organization ____.

people float from project to project

Lawrence and Lorsch used what two primary dimensions to characterize organizations?

integration and differentiation

Ramkumar works for an organization that uses a System 1 approach. In his organization, how is the control process set up?

It is centralized.

What is the major strength of the behavioral approach to organization design?

It stresses the value of employees.

Which of the following is an advantage of using a functional design for organizational structure?

Key positions can be staffed with experts.

According to the five basic characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy, why should the organization develop a consistent set of rules?

To ensure that task performance is uniform.

Which of the following is a characteristic of the ideal bureaucracy as put forth by Weber?

appropriate social distance maintained

According to Weber, how should positions in organizations be filled in an ideal bureaucracy?

based on the quality of personal relationships

As described by Burns and Stalker, mechanistic organizations are most like ____.

bureaucracies

Anke started a small business importing items and selling them online. In time, her business grew quite large and she now has a warehouse and several employees working for her. Anke has decided she now needs to formalize the authority structure. The type of organizational model Anke needs to establish for her firm is a(n) ____.

bureaucracy

A System 1 organization is most like ____.

bureaucratic

The two universal approaches to organization design that represent the foundation of what we know about organization design are ____.

bureaucratic and behavioral

The second stage of the organizational life cycle _____.

characterized by the growth of a firm's resources

Weber's guidelines for bureaucratic design include ____.

clear chain of command

Which type of organizational design is essentially a holding company that results from unrelated diversification?

conglomerate

An organization pursuing a ____ strategy is likely to be somewhat tall and centralized, have narrow spans of management, and perhaps take a functional approach to departmentalization.

defender

Organization ____ refers to the manner in which an organization's structural components are arranged to manage the total organization.

design

Lupita wants to streamline her invoicing processes and approval methods by establishing a systematic process. When designing this formalized system of authority, what should Lupita do?

determine one best way of doing things

The ____ design's basic objective is to optimize internal competition and cooperation.

divisional

Charmed by Claire is a gift shop. Each employee specializes in one product line, like Vera Bradley, Pandora, or Brighton. Clair, the CEO, oversees coordination of the entire operation. Which form of organization design is appropriate for Charmed by Claire?

functional (U-form)

Hampton Amusement Rides is a fairly small manufacturer of kiddy rides that can be towed from one site to another. The owner takes responsibility for coordinating and integrating the efforts of the various departments, such as marketing, production, finance, shipping, and personnel. Which of the following forms of organization design is most appropriate for this company?

functional (U-form)

The CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch, personally interviews ad models and approves every detail of store operations—actions typical of CEOs of smaller companies. Based on the CEO's level of control, which of the following organization designs would you expect it to use?

functional (U-form)

Which of the following industries uses large-batch technology?

furniture manufacturers

Which of the following is a characteristic of the ideal bureaucracy?

hierarchy of positions

Which of the following is a characteristic of organic organizations?

high fluidity

Which of the following is often neglected in a bureaucracy such as a university?

human and social processes

Raj uses a functional organization design in his organization. Recently an opportunity to expand his business was presented. Raj formed a temporary group to review this opportunity and see how it might fit in with the current goals of the organization. Which type of organization design did Raj switch to?

hybrid

In a bureaucracy, rules, division of labor, and hierarchies of authority ____.

improve organizational efficiency

A furniture company assembles parts to make dining room sets in five standard configurations. This is done by creating basic pieces and combining them in different ways. This company uses which type of technology?

mass-production

A ____ uses a multiple-command structure.

matrix

The ____ form of organization design is one in which a set of product groups is superimposed on a functional organization design.

matrix

Kaia's organization uses a single-product strategy and relies on functional departmentalization. Which type of corporate-level strategy is her organization likely to use?

mechanistic

Kansas State University operates in a relatively stable environment. According to the work of Burns and Stalker, which form of organization design is most appropriate for the university?

mechanistic

Which of the following can be describes as the set of structural elements and the relationship of those elements that are used to manage an organization?

organization design

Within Marah's organization, each department head is given a lot of latitude when it comes to decision making, but there is a narrow span of management. There is also great variability in the amount of information that is shared among units. Which type of strategy does Marah's organization use?

portfolio

Which of the following is an advantage of adopting a bureaucratic organizational approach?

prevention of favoritism

Raul's organization uses a high degree or coordination between all units in order to capitalized on synergy between the departments. Which type of strategy is this organization using in their organization design?

related diversification

The divisional design results from a strategy of ____.

related diversification

Which of the following best describes the communication process in a System 4 organization?

undistorted

A learning organization is concerned with ____.

the personal development of all its employees

The Aston studies found that as organization size increases ____.

the link between technology and organization design breaks down

Differentiation is the degree to which ____.

activities are structured in a predictable way

In a(n) ____ organization, when the needs of the organization change, its managers bring in temporary workers, lease facilities, and outsource basic support services to meet the demands of each unique situation.

virtual

Marah's organization consists of an in-house project management staff and an online network of industry professionals. Based on this, she is able to conduct business in the United States, Europe, and the entire Asia-Pacific region. Marah is an example of a(n) ____ organization.

virtual

What organization design is characterized by a very small staff and administrative headquarters facility?

virtual

A mechanistic organization operates in which type of environment?

stable

What is the purpose of organization design?

to help implement strategies to achieve organizational goals

In what way was the model of organization design developed by Rensis Likert different that the bureaucratic model?

It focused on the human element.

Atmir had a departmental meeting to generate new ideas for a process implementation. He presented issues to his staff and asked for their ideas and opinions. Which type of System organization does Atmir use?

System 4

Atmir has grouped members of his organization into functional departments, such as marketing and production. Which type of organizational design is Atmir using?

U-form

A bureaucracy is a model of organizational design based on ____.

a legitimate and formal system of authority

The technology that is most effective with a System 4 design is ____ technology.

continuous-process

Which of the following will help determine what type of organization design will be most effective?

corporate-level strategy

A ____ strategy requires a strong commitment to efficiency and control. Such a firm tends to be more centralized as it tries to control costs.

cost leadership

Viacom owns Nickelodeon, TV Land, VH1, and Nick at Nite. Managers of these cable networks are given a fairly high degree of autonomy, yet they coordinate activities as needed. Purchasing is highly centralized, but many other functions are quite decentralized. Viacom uses a ____ organization design.

divisional (M-form)

According to the work of Lawrence and Lorsch, in organization design ____.

each unit of an organization faces its own peculiar environment

A virtual organization ____.

exists only in response to its needs

The best examples of bureaucracies today include ____.

government agencies

Conglomerate organizational design ____.

has each business operated by a general manager in charge of its profits or losses

Which of the following is an advantage to have a bureaucratic organization?

improved efficiency

Which of the following is a disadvantage of a bureaucratic model for an organizing?

inflexibility

Ramkumar supply's parts to a variety of customers and is in a very stable environment. He has various subunits in his organization, but they all work together in a coordinated fashion to get parts to the customer. Which dimension of the organization is Ramkumar using?

integration

As a software development company, Ozlem's firm continuously trains employees in the most recent hardware and software technologies. This allows them to maximize the company's ability to adapt to its changing environment. Which type of organization does Ozlem run?

learning

Microsoft is experiencing gradual growth, with most of it happening internationally. It is an example of an organization in the ____ stage of the organizational life cycle.

midlife

Due to rapid technological evolution, many dot-com companies have been created, been briefly successful, and failed in a relatively short period of time. Those that have remained have had to be responsive to their ever-changing external environments. As a rule, you would expect dot-com companies to have a(n) ____ design.

organic

What are the internal organizational factors that can influence the organization design selection?

organization size and the technology employed

Cypress Semiconductor refuses to allow the organization to grow so large that people cannot float from project to project and the company has no functional hierarchy. This is an example of a ____ organization.

team

In what type of organization might there be a lot of employees but little or no underlying functional hierarchy?

team

Rabeya runs a consulting firm that works almost exclusively on project-type assignments. Which type of approach to organization should Rabeya use that would allow her to utilize the right people with the right skill set on each project?

team

The behavioral model paralleled the emergence of ____.

the human relations movement

Pallavi has created a success company based on her ability to identify new opportunities in the markets her company serves. She almost exclusively uses of fluid groups of employees to tackle emerging issues in lieu of a functional hierarchy, which has helped the organization achieve a very high level of adaptability. What type of organization does Pallavi's use to maximize the company's responsiveness to changes in the external environment?

team

Heinrich works for Siemens Corporation. He lives in New York City and reports to both the communications president in Munich and the president in charge of Siemens Americas. He works in a ____ design organization.

conglomerate (H-form)

Which of the following approaches to organization design automatically creates lateral relationships?

matrix

Tesla Motors is a California start-up. It keeps units small and flexible, allowing them to quickly adapt to changing environments. Tesla is most likely a ____ organization.

team

What organization design is characterized by units splitting into smaller units if they become too large?

team

Merrill Lynch allows clients to view statements, make payments, and conduct stock trades, all online. Additionally, clients can read about market trends and other activities in the stock market. Which type of process do they use to transform information into a format that clients can use?

technology

With ____ technology, products are created in small quantities and made to customers' specifications.

unit

Virgin Group has divisions for media, active, Atlantic, holiday, money, and trains. The general managers function independently of each other. This is an example of which organization design?

conglomerate (H-form)

Levi Strauss launched Denizen denim brand in China and Singapore. What form of organization design is appropriate for Levi Strauss?

divisional (M-form)

To enhance the speed and effectiveness of decision-making, Kaia is restructuring her company's activities around related diversification. She plans to allow some of the work to be decentralized, while other aspects will be centralized. Which type of organizational structure is Kaia designing?

divisional (M-form)

Royal Dutch Shell focuses on continuously immersing people in shared experiences, so the firm can promote an organic design populated by people with common knowledge, goals, and expectations. Which of the following terms BEST describes its organization design?

learning organization

Which type of organizational design has the advantages of enhancing flexibility and giving employees considerable opportunities to learn new skills?

matrix

Staples print shop fills custom orders based on whatever the customer requests. What form of technology does it use?

unit production

Ugar often looks for the one best way to manage the activities of his department. Which approach to problem solving is he most likely to use?

universal

Which is considered to be a business-level strategy?

unrelated diversification