GBS450 CH11 Quiz

Sean is having hard time replicating his competitors' strong organizational culture because of ________ and ________, which stem from the VRIO framework.

Causal ambiguity; social complexity

________ refers to the degree to which decision making is concentrated at the top of the organization.

Centralization

GM's insistence on sticking to a bureaucratic culture combined with its M-form structure and its subsequent failure to adapt to changing customer preferences for more fuel-efficient cars, produce higher quality, and create innovative designs best exemplifies

Core rigidity.

Which of the following organizational structures matches best with an international strategy?

Functional

A firm that uses a structure that is organized along different business functions such as HR, R&D, Sales, and Marketing and also along different geographical areas such as different countries of the world is most likely using a ________ structure.

Global matrix

McDonald's operates Hamburger University that trains students to ensure consistent food quality across its outlets throughout the world. This indicates that McDonalds's

Is mechanistic in nature.

Which of the following is an advantage of using a functional structure when pursuing a cost-leadership strategy?

It allows a cost-leader to upgrade core competencies in manufacturing and logistics.

Which of the following is an advantage offered by a functional structure?

It allows for a higher degree of specialization and deeper domain expertise.

Why does a firm use an organic organization combined with a functional structure when implementing a differentiation strategy?

It allows the firm to constantly upgrade core competencies in R&D, innovation, and marketing

Which of the following real-world scenarios best exemplifies formalization?

McDonald's use of standard operating procedures across the world

When a firm diversifies into different product lines and geographies, a ________ structure is preferred.

Multidivisional

Which of the following global strategies best matches with a multidivisional structure?

Multidomestic

1) Jerry is one of the SBU managers for a firm that has been in business for over 50 years. The external environment in which they have operated has changed significantly in the past decade, but this firm is still operating under a "business as usual" mantra. Jerry can't seem to convince the upper level executives to reorganize the firm's structure and formal reporting relationships. This firm is probably experiencing

Organizational Inertia

A high degree of formalization in an organization is most likely to

Slow down decision making.

What is most likely to happen if a firm relies too long on a competency without honing, refining, and upgrading as the firm and the environment change?

The firm's culture can turn from a core competency into a core rigidity.

Organizational design involves establishing a firm's structure, culture, and control mechanisms.

True

Organizational design is the process of creating, implementing, and modifying the structure of an organization.

Ture

The most important yet least visible element of organizational culture is

Values

1) Which of the following accurately describes an organic organization?

a flexible organization that fosters fast decision making and high employee motivation

Simple organizational structures often exhibit low levels of formalization and specialization. Which of the following is not a benefit of employing a simple organizational structure?

employing specialists that can develop deep knowledge/expertise in their field

To effectively implement a differentiation strategy, managers rely on a functional structure that resembles an organization that is highly

organic.

Oceanic Airlines Inc., a transportation firm, is headed by Denise Cordova, the CEO. Each functional department of the company—marketing, finance, and HR—has a president who reports to the CEO directly. Each department has various managers who manage teams. The managers report to the presidents, and the team leads report to the managers. Finally, the employees at the lowest level report to their team leads. It is rare for a lower-level employee to interact with the CEO of the company. In this scenario, Oceanic Airlines Inc. can be said to have a(n)

tall hierarchical structure

A firm that successfully balances exploitation of current opportunities and exploration of future possibilities is considered ambidextrous.

True

Firms with a flat structure and a low degree of specialization tend to foster innovation better than firms with a tall structure and high degree of specialization.

True