BADM #3

Benchmarking

Comparing a firm's processes and performance to the world's best and/or best practices from other industries.

Bureaucracy

Management structure with many layers of management, a high degree of formalization and job specialization.

Chain of command

Official hierarchy of authority that dictates who is in charge of whom within the organization.

Decentralized authority

Organization structure in which authority and decision-making is delegated to lower levels of the firm.

Centralized authority

Organization structure in which decision-making and authority are concentrated at top levels of the firm.

Virtual corporation

Organization structure that temporarily networks replaceable firms that join together and leave as needed. A virtual corporation has no legal ties to the companies or individuals that perform a variety of jobs for the core firm, such as distribution, legal work, accounting, manufacturing, and production. The virtual corporation hires other companies or persons on an as-needed basis.

Flat organization

Organization with few layers of management between the executive level and the lowest level. Flat organizations have wider spans of control. A wider span of control lends itself to empowering lower-level employees to respond more quickly to customer needs, without the need to get permission from managers.

Tall organization

Organization with multiple layers of management between top executives and front-line employees.

Matrix organization

Organizational structure that combines employees from different parts of the organization; often used for special projects.

Staff personnel

Personnel whose positions are typically advisory and/ or facilitative in nature.

Departmentalization

Process of organizing employees into groups or units to accomplish specific organizational goals. Two disadvantages of functional departmentalization are that it tends to reduce communication among departments, and employees often end up becoming narrow specialists. Departmentalization by function means to group workers into departments based on similar skills, expertise, and resource use. A disadvantage of departmentalization is that department members begin to think like each other in their own department and do not understand the points of view of members of other departments.

Line organization

Structure in which authority and responsibility move from top to bottom and each employee reports to only one manager.

Formal organization

Structure of an organization that is typically depicted on organization charts.

Economies of scale

The increase in efficiency of production as the number of goods being produced increases.

Hierarchy

The levels of management within a business organization, from the lowest to the highest.

Span of control

The number of subordinates under the direct control of a manager or supervisor.

Restructuring

The reorganization of a company in order to achieve greater efficiency and adapt to new markets.

Corporate culture

The shared values, symbols, rituals, beliefs and traditions of an organization.

Core competencies

Those functions that the organization can do as well as or better than any other organization.

Line personnel

Those personnel in an organization who have direct job performance responsibilities.