OB Ch 15 - Quiz

________ refers to the degree to which decision making is concentrated at a single point in the organization.

Centralization

________ is a systematic effort to make an organization leaner by selling off business units, closing locations, or reducing staff.

Downsizing

Elena is the senior manager of a scientific operations team at a well-known clinical research organization. The organization delivers more than 4,000 solutions across more than 18 therapeutic areas. Being a perfectionist, Elena has reached her present position through hard work and dedication. Given that she has also worked effectively with teams in the past, she has recently been assigned to lead a team working on a new project which is critical to the company. Elena refuses to allocate any tasks to her team and decides to put in extra hours and weekends to complete the groundwork herself. Based on the information presented here, which of the following would best explain this contradiction?

Elena is reluctant to delegate work as she lacks confidence in her team's abilities.

Which of the following is a drawback of a narrow span of control?

It is more expensive.

Who coined the term boundaryless organization?

Jack Welch

Mike Morrell is a production supervisor in Porco Rosso, an aircraft manufacturing firm. After evaluating Mike's managerial capabilities, some members of the senior management feel that average productivity would improve if more workers were assigned to him. However, some managers are skeptical about Mike's ability to handle more workers.

Mike's team consists of highly experienced and skilled labor.

A boundaryless organization tries to flatten the hierarchy and minimizes status and rank.

True

In centralized organizations, top managers make all the decisions, and lower-level managers merely carry out their directives.

True

In structural terms, a virtual organization is highly centralized, with little or no departmentalization.

True

Institutions are cultural factors that act as guidelines for appropriate behavior for organizational structure.

True

One way to overcome too much division within an organization and retain the positive elements of structure is to encourage or build in boundary-spanning roles.

True

The chain of command is an unbroken line of authority that extends from the top of the organization to the lowest echelon and clarifies who reports to whom.

True

The functional structure groups employees by their similar specialties, roles, or tasks.

True

The goal of a boundaryless organization is to break down cultural barriers.

True

The more scarce, dynamic, and complex the environment, the more organic a structure should be.

True

The organizational design of a simple structure is highly risky.

True

The strength of a bureaucracy lies in its ability to perform standardized activities in a highly efficient manner.

True

Which of the following statements is true regarding work specialization?

Work specialization decreases the time spent in changing tasks.

In an organization, top managers make all the decisions and lower-level managers merely carry out their directives. This organization is most likely to be characterized by ________.

a high degree of centralization

Which of the following terms refers to the rights inherent in a managerial position to give orders and expect them to be obeyed?

authority

You have learned about the traditional and new design options for organizational structures. You have decided that one of the designs developed during the last decade or two is probably the most appropriate for your newly formed organization. You decide to eliminate horizontal, vertical, and external barriers within your organization. You want to operate as a ________ organization.

boundaryless

You are interested in explaining the different types of organizational designs to students of basic management. These students need to know the advantages and disadvantages of each structure as well as the structure's characteristics.

bureaucracy

The major advantage of a virtual organization is its ________.

flexibility

Which of the following is typically a characteristic of an organic model of organization?

free flow of information

A plant manager organizes a plant by separating engineering, accounting, manufacturing, personnel, and purchasing into departments. The plant is departmentalized on the basis of ________.

function

Which of the following is most likely to be a characteristic of an organization pursuing a cost-minimization strategy?

high centralization

Some individuals want work that makes minimal intellectual demands and provides the security of routine; for them, ________ is a source of job satisfaction.

high work specialization

Organizations following a(n) ________ strategy try to both minimize risk and maximize opportunity for profit, moving into new products or new markets only after innovators have proven their viability.

imitation

Which of the following types of organizational designs combines two forms of departmentalization, functional and product?

matrix structure

A(n) ________ model is generally synonymous with the bureaucracy in that it has highly standardized processes for work, high formalization, and more managerial hierarchy.

mechanistic

A(n) ________ model is a structure that is flat, uses cross-hierarchical and cross-functional teams, has low formalization, possesses a comprehensive information network, and relies on participative decision making.

organic

The clerical and editorial employees in a publishing house need to be at their desks by 8:00 AM and follow a set of precise procedures dictated by management. The jobs of these clerical and editorial employees ________.

score high on the degree of formalization

The key concept that underlies all bureaucracies is ________.

standardization

Gordon is a new divisional manager at AskSocrates.com. In reorganizing his division, he must make some decisions regarding the span of control for management within his division. The question of span of control determines ________.

the number of levels and managers in an organization

A boundaryless organization is most likely to ________.

use 360-degree performance appraisals