Chapter 9- Organizational Structure

Which of the following organizations would potentially benefit from a flat hierarchy?

A consultancy partnership, with each consultant holding a specialty in a functional business area

What is the difference between a jury and a committee?

A committee will perform functions after the decision, while a jury is decision only.

John owns an emergency response non-profit of 10 employees. The service they provide is homogeneous and time-sensitive. He recognizes he must utilize speed and efficiency in making decisions across the organization. He should employ:

A centralized organizational structure

Very small companies tend to have limited operational scope and a need for adaptability and speed in the decision making process. Which decision making strategy would fit these types of business best, from a general perspective?

Centralized

In improving upon the 'silo' critique of functional management, matrices allow which of the following to enable strong collaboration?

Communication across task boundaries

Work specialization for greater efficiency represents which of Schein's four elements?

Division of labor

The critical conceptual advantage of a modular structure could best be generalized as which of the following?

Flexibility

There area variety of methods to alleviate friction in the adaptation process. Which is defined as collecting quality data from different departments through sharing opinions and experiences?

Focus groups

Often referred to as 'silos', the functional structure focuses on grouping areas of specialty within different functional areas (i.e. IT, finance, etc). It is often argued that this strategy works best for which type of company?

Large companies producing high quantities of standardized goods at a low price

Empowerment includes a wide range of abilities. Which of the following are NOT identified as examples of empowerment abilities?

Learning humility in accepting the opinions of more experience workers

An organization that pools individuals with similar skills and creates information channels across task boundaries is referred to as which type of organizational chart?

Matrix

Which of the following organizational structures would likely work best for a company like Sony, who is a related diversifier pursuing international markets?

Matrix

Which of the external environment theories describe factors in the context of an industry's competitive dynamics?

Porter's Five Forces

Generally speaking, organizations tend to see which characteristic decline over time (as observed by organizational ecologists)?

Risk of mortality

The idea of synergy defines the team-based structure. What is meant by synergistic efforts?

The end product exceeds the sum of it's parts