MANA 3335 6 Terms & Concepts

Virtual Organization

one that has little or no formal structure

Learning Organization

one that works to facilitate the lifelong learning and personal development of all its employees while continually transforming itself to respond to changing demands and needs

A major element of organizing is coordination. The primary reason for coordination is that work groups are interpendent. The lowest level of interdependence is called _________________ (Assignment)

pooled interdepndence

Authority

power that has been legitimized by the organization

All activities associated with a certain output can be easily coordinated What type of manager is it? (Learn It)

product

Organizational Life Cycle

progression through which organizations evolve as they grow and mature

In an organization, the most complex level of interdependence is called _______________ (Assignment)

reciprocal interdependence

If a manager uses the job enrichment approach to job design, the manager will _______________________

give workers new tasks that are higher level and involve more decision making

Product Departmentalization

grouping activities around products or product groups

Functional Departmentalization

grouping jobs involving the same or similar activities

Which of the following are disadvantages of bureaucratic organizations? (Assignment)

The structure may seem less personal to employees and customers Making exceptions to rules for individual situations may be difficult

Integration

degree to which the various subunits must work together in a coordinated fashion

Which of the following are strengths of the bureaucratic model? (Learn It)

Employees feel they are treated fairly Some organizations achieve greater efficiency

The owner of the business where you work has asked you to assess whether restructuring the reporting relationships at the company would improve the ability of employees to meet the needs of customers. What do you recommend? (Assignment)

A flatter structure should result in higher levels of employee moral and productivity

If an employee in an organization has exactly one supervisor, the organization has ________________________ (Learn It)

Unity of Command

Which of the following is a disadvantage of customer departmentalization? (learn It)

Administrative costs can be high due to the need to integrate the common activities of different departments

Work Teams

An alternative to job specialization that allows an entire group to design the work system it will use to perform an interrelated set of tasks

Job Enrichment

An alternative to job specialization that attempts to increase both the number of tasks a worker does and the control the worker has over the job

Job Characteristics Approach

An alternative to job specialization that suggests that jobs should be diagnosed and improved along five core dimensions, taking into account both the work system and employee preferences

Team Organization

An approach to organization design that relies almost exclusively on project-type teams, with little or no underlying hierarchy

Which advantage would you cite if you were advising a company to group jobs by product? (Assignment)

Assessment of department is easier

Technology

Conversion process used to transform inputs into outputs

An organization establishes an integrating department to coordinate activities among units. What is the usual reason for creating such a department? (Learn it)

Coordination of interdependent units is expected to be complex and challenging over the long term

Which of the following are elements that managers make decisions about when they build the organization's structure? (Learn It)

Distribution Authority Departmentalization Job Specialization

To improve the speed of decision making, an organization adopts a _______ structure, reducing the number of layers of management. (Learn it)

Flatter

A company groups jobs according to the types of activities the employees perform and the type of expertise they have. What basis of departmentalization is the company using? (Learn It)

Functional

Departments are staffed by experts in a certain line of of work What is the type of manager? (Learn It)

Functional

Customer Departmentalization

Grouping activities to respond to and interact with specific customers or customer groups

Location Departmentalization

Grouping jobs on the basis of defined geographic sites or areas

Which of the following are characteristics of the bureaucratic model of organization design? (learn it)

Hiring and Promotion criteria based on technical expertise Rules that enforce consistent execution of tasks An impersonal management style with clear professional boundaries

Conglomerate Design

Used by an oganization made up by of a set of unrelated business

A manager using ____________________ approach analyzes the work system and improves jobs in that system along five dimensions (Learn It)

Job Characteristics

When an organization gives its employees a broader range of tasks and more autonomy to decide how to do the work, it is using ________________; these changes are also part of the _______________________ approach, which involves not only skill variety and autonomy but also task identity, task significance, and feedback. (Assignment)

Job Enrichment Job Characteristics

Which form of departmentalization is best if the regions in which the company competes have unique environmental characteristics? (Assignment)

Location

As an organization becomes more mechanistic, its chain of command becomes ________________. it is also true that, as an organization becomes more organic, its chain of command becomes ___________. (Assignment)

Longer Shorter

When employees report to both a product and a functional manager, they are most likely working in a company with a __________________(Assignment)

Matrix Design

In contrast to a small organization, a large organization is likely to make which of the following design choices? (learn it)

More standard operating procedures and rules More decentralization of decision making Greater degree of job specialization

If an organization's environment is changing rapidly, which type of organization is likely to be most beneficial? (learn it)

Organic

multidivisional structure (M-form)- learn it

Organizational structure that consists of several distinct strategic business units (SBUs), each with its own profit-and-loss (P&L) responsibility.

If an organization permits departments to operate interdependently and simply assumes their profits and losses, which form of coordination is the organization using? (Learn It)

Pooled interdependence

Which of the following is the best example of a company using a bureaucratic model of organization design? (Assignment)

Safety is a key concern in most industries, but it is especially important at BigBoom Fireworks factory. Employees must use carefully standardized procedures for packing fireworks to prevent unwanted explosions

Mechanistic Organization

Similar to the bureaucratic model, most frequently found in stable environments

If a job includes a large number of different tasks, it features which core dimension of job design? (Learn it)

Skill Variety

An organization that makes a low volume of customized products is using _______________ technology (Learn It)

Small-batch

Three Step Delegation Process (Learn It)

Step 1: Assigning Responsibility Step 2: Granting Authority Step 3: Creating Accountability

Organizations can be thought of as proceeding through a four-stage life cycle. Which of the following tend to happen as an organization moves from less mature to more mature? (learn it)

The organization becomes more mechanistic Jobs become more specialized

Delegation

The process by which a manager assigns a portion of his or her total workload to others

Coordination

The process of linking the activities of the various departments of the organization

Decentralization

The process of systematically delegating power and authority throughout the organization to middle and lower-level managers

A company has little permanent infrastructure, instead hiring temporary employees, renting space, and contracting with outside suppliers as needed. What type of organization design is the company using? (learn it)

Virtual organization

Reciprocal Interdependence

When activities flow both ways between units

Pooled interdependence

When units operate with little interaction; their output is pooled at the organizational level

When a supervisor has many direct reports, the supervisor has a __________ span of management (Learn It)

Wide

In what direction does work flow in an organization characterized by sequential interdependence? (Assignment)

Work flows in only one direction

Chain of Command

a clear and distinct line of authority among the positions in an organization

Bureaucracy

a model of organization design based on a legitimate and formal system of authority

If equally managed, an organization with a multidivisional design will perform _____________ organizations with a conglomerate design - learn it

better than

The XYZ corporation has a distinct division of labor, consistent rules, and a clear hierarchy. Managers maintain distance between themselves and subordinates, and promotions are awarded based on technical expertise. These are all hallmarks of a ______________________ (Assignment)

bureaucracy

differentiation

extent to which the organization is broken down into subunits

Job Specialization

the degree to which the overall task of the organization is broken down and divided into smaller component parts

Span of Management

the number of people who report to a particular manager

Departmentalization

the process of grouping jobs according to some logical arrangement

Organizational Size

total number of full-time or full-time-equivalent employees

Conglomerate Design (H-Form)- learn it

used by an organization made up of a set of unrelated businesses

Organic Organization

very flexible and informal model of organization design, most often found in unstable and unpredictable environments

Sequential Interdependence

when the output of one unit becomes the input of another unit in sequential fashion

Job Enlargement

an alternative to job specialization that increases the total number of tasks that workers perform

Job Rotation

an alternative to job specialization that involves systematically moving employees from one job to another

An organization is __________ if authority is reserved mainly for top managers (Learn it)

Centralized

Divisional Design

based on multiple businesses in related areas operating within a larger organizational framework

An organization is more likely to choose a ___________ structure if it operates in a stable environment and decisions are high risk (Assignment)

centralized

Situational view of organization design

based on the assumption that the optimal design for any given organization depends on a set of relevant situational factors

Functional Design

based on the functional approach to departmentalization

Matrix Design

based on two overlapping bases of departmentalization

Centralization

The process of systematically retaining power and authority in the hands of higher-level managers