Deck 8: Organisation Development Interventions: Strategy and Structure

Question 1

Open systems planning (OSP) treats organisations as open systems that must interact with a suitable environment in order to survive and develop.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Organisational environment consists of two main segments: task environment and general environment.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Barriers to significant job restructuring are usually psychological and can be overcome by facilitating greater participation in the workplace and empowering employees.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

During the implementation process, the organisation development (OD) practitioner helps participants to establish sufficient trust and openness to share different views and work through differences.

Question 5

The engineering approach to work design provides people with opportunities for autonomy and responsibility.

Question 6

When supervisors use autocratic methods and control work-related feedback, jobs are difficult to enrich.

Question 7

Scanning units are best staffed by generalists who have a broad understanding of the world around them.

Question 8

Downsizing generally is a response to at least two major conditions: organisation decline due to implementation of a new structure and opposition to growth and expansion issues.

Question 9

During periods of uncertainty, less information processing is needed to learn about the environment.

Question 10

A key issue in sociotechnical systems is how to design the environmental interface.

Question 11

Perceptual disagreements among organisation members are a necessary part of developing a coherent business strategy.

Question 12

Functional departments, self-contained units and matrix structures represent new forms of structure within organisations.

Question 13

Resource uncertainty and information dependence can be combined to show the degree to which organisations are constrained by their environments and consequently must be responsive to their demands.

Question 14

External constraints and contingencies are unpredictable; therefore, organisations are unable to influence the environment.

Question 15

Modern organisations often engage in transorganisational development because many of the tasks, problems and issues facing organisations today are too complex and multifaceted to be addressed by a single organisation.

Question 16

The self-contained unit structure is frequently adopted as a more integrative and flexible structure to help organisations deal with uncertainty.

Question 17

The sociotechnical approach was first developed in North America.

Question 18

Re-engineering requires an almost revolutionary change in how organisations design and think about work.

Question 19

Strategic interventions are designed to help organisations to gain a comprehensive understanding of their environments and to devise appropriate responses to external demands.

Question 20

The enacted environment consists of the organisation's perception and representation of its environment.

Question 21

The task environment does NOT consist of:

A)customers
B)suppliers
C)competitors
D)labour unions
E)employees

Question 22

The organisation stage of transorganisational development includes:

A)gathering feedback data about performance outcomes and member satisfaction
B)establishing sufficient levels of motivation and of task consensus for the group
C)establishing a practical criterion for membership
D)contract with an outside change agent who can help them to achieve sufficient agreement
E)voluminous contracting and negotiating about members' contributions and returns

Question 23

Three traditional organisational structures are:

A)self-contained, life-cycle and traditional
B)functional, self-contained and matrix
C)matrix, hierarchical and complex
D)divisional, flexible and matrix
E)self-contained, divisional and product-specific

Question 24

Which of the following is NOT associated with transorganisational systems?

A)organisations are loosely coupled
B)organisations in transorganisational systems face a common problem
C)organisations in transorganisational systems always act in a coordinated fashion
D)leadership is dispersed
E)the process is underorganised

Question 25

Transorganisational systems tend to be:

A)overorganised
B)overorganised organisations
C)underorganised
D)autonomous and active organisations
E)based on practitioners' networking abilities

Question 26

The organisation's general environment consists of:

A)technological components
B)political components
C)legal components
D)social and ecological components
E)all of the above

Question 27

Technical interdependence can be reduced by breaking long assembly lines into more discrete groups.

Question 28

Open systems planning, starting with the perspective of a particular organisation or department:

A)assesses the relevant environment
B)assesses the organisation's responses to the environmental expectations
C)creates a realistic future scenario
D)moves both the environment and the organisation towards the desired future
E)identifies the relevant environment

Question 29

The engineering approach to work design produces enriched jobs and work groups and focuses on efficient performance.

Question 30

As organisations are open systems, to survive and grow they must relate to their environments and maintain effective relationships with:

A)customers
B)task environments
C)general environments
D)suppliers
E)suitable environments

Question 31

The ability to continually design and redesign work should not influence existing work designs.

Question 32

Member satisfaction in self-managed work teams follows from how well the team functions.

Question 33

Organisations respond to environmental demands in a number of ways in order to:

A)reduce the number of administrators and specialists required in scanning units
B)respond proactively to the environment
C)avoid expensive transorganisational arrangements
D)buffer the organisation's technology from external disruptions
E)be seen as a good corporate citizen

Question 34

If an organisation's responses to its environment are to be effective:

A)members' perceptions must play a major role in environmental relations
B)members must permit coordinated action towards the environment
C)members' perceptions must accurately reflect the condition of the environment
D)members must proactively create the environment
E)organisations may value differently the complexity of their environment

Question 35

Transorganisational systems may prove difficult for Australian companies because:

A)there are too many obstacles in the Australian environment
B)collective and collaborative strategies are ineffective in Australia
C)Australian companies are traditionally 'rugged individualists' and prefer to work alone
D)Australian companies prefer strict hierarchical management structures
E)government regulation prevents many strategic partnerships from forming

Question 36

Which of the following can undermine the effectiveness of open systems planning?

A)viewing planning as a process
B)documenting all steps
C)carefully separating existing from future environments
D)collecting data on all environmental issues
E)carefully separating realistic from ideal futures

Question 37

The key benefit of open systems planning is that it:

A)investigates all aspects of the environment
B)investigates a few aspects of the environment
C)requires minimal effort and resources
D)identifies a future that is realistic
E)helps members develop an ongoing process for assessing and relating to the environment

Question 38

Open systems planning results in:

A)a reduction in the effects of environments on organisations
B)greater focus on niche markets
C)a clear strategic mission for the organisation
D)better fit to those external forces affecting performance
E)coordinating structures for strategic success

Question 39

Two organisational structures that are more integrative and flexible are:

A)process-based and functional
B)network-based and functional
C)network-based and process-based
D)self-contained and functional
E)process-based and divisional

Question 40

A standard implementation process applies to all sociotechnical systems work designs.

Question 41

Downsizing might be a response to:

A)pressure to focus on short-term profit
B)major change in organisational strategy
C)product or service demand
D)pressure to focus on short-term budget goals
E)all of the above

Question 42

Models of how self-managed teams perform demonstrate that:

A)team process interventions follow directly from team functioning
B)team functioning depends on team task design, team process interventions and organisation support systems
C)team process interventions follow directly from team task design
D)team functioning influences team process interventions
E)individuals with high social needs must be carefully monitored

Question 43

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of re-engineering?

A)it involves a fundamental rethinking of work
B)it results in vertical disaggregation of structure
C)it involves radical redesign of business processes
D)it is associated with downsizing and work redesign
E)it streamlines work processes or makes them faster and more flexible

Question 44

An approach to work design that is often used to achieve efficiency and simplification is known as the:

A)sociotechnical approach
B)business process management approach
C)engineering approach
D)motivational approach
E)job enrichment approach

Question 45

The motivational approach to work design views the effectiveness of organisational activities as a function of:

A)quality of working life projects
B)members' needs and satisfaction
C)re-engineered organisations
D)quality circles
E)process-based structures

Question 46

Which of the following does NOT constrain job enrichment?

A)the technical system
B)the location
C)the control system
D)the personnel system
E)none of these choices

Question 47

Successful downsizing is:

A)measured by the amount of workforce reduction
B)moving slowly and carefully to implement growth plans
C)identifying as many redundant employees as possible
D)closely aligned with the organisation's strategy
E)all of the above

Question 48

Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation includes:

A)motivators and hygiene factors
B)high-quality work performance and high job satisfaction
C)high levels of remuneration and high job satisfaction
D)task structure and consideration for employees
E)growth needs and social needs

Question 49

Which of the following is a key step in the downsizing intervention?

A)working without a clear strategy
B)announcing the layoffs early in the process
C)addressing the needs of survivors and those who leave
D)clarifying the strategy after the layoffs
E)systemic changes

Question 50

Jobs that require worker cooperation are characterised as having:

A)a high degree of technical uncertainty
B)a low degree of technical uncertainty
C)a high degree of technical interdependence
D)a low degree of technical interdependence
E)high degrees of technical uncertainty and technical interdependence

Question 51

In re-engineering, it is important to focus on:

A)measuring behaviours, such as absenteeism and grievances
B)large, strategically important, cross-functional processes
C)continuity in work flows and processes
D)business process management
E)simple tasks

Question 52

The sociotechnical approach to work design is:

A)decreasing in popularity
B)generally associated with self-managed work groups
C)more concerned with outputs and productivity than worker satisfaction
D)unrelated to open systems concepts
E)derived from traditional and classical management principles

Question 53

Which statement is characteristic of self-managed work groups?

A)team members learn a variety of skills
B)team members are responsible for a whole product or service
C)team members set their own production goals
D)the team can control members' task behaviours
E)all of the above

Question 54

When the technology and the needs of the employees are incompatible, which changes should be made?

A)change the technology immediately
B)change the work design immediately
C)compromise with both
D)change the people immediately
E)engage consultants immediately

Question 55

An important consequence of downsizing has been:

A)lower product or service demand
B)increased pressure to focus on short-term profits
C)the belief that the slimmer the organisation the better
D)reductions in the size of organisations
E)the rise of the contingent workforce

Question 56

People who have low growth or social needs:

A)are rare and should have no influence on job design
B)work best in self-managed teams
C)should never be placed in individualised jobs
D)are inferior to those with high growth needs
E)represent a challenge for OD practitioners

Question 57

Reductions in total unit costs from re-engineering depend on:

A)changes to business processes
B)changes to fundamental approaches to work
C)narrow business processes
D)organisational commitment
E)committed leadership

Question 58

Downsizing using the systemic changes tactic is aimed at achieving:

A)workforce reduction
B)fostering transformation
C)changing existing systems
D)culture change
E)eliminating functions

Question 59

Achieving high levels of employee satisfaction and productivity depends on:

A)the engineering approach producing traditional jobs
B)the motivational approach producing stimulating and demanding jobs
C)optimising social and technical aspects of work
D)designing work to match specific factors in the work setting
E)combining the motivational and sociotechnical systems approach to work design

Question 60

When technical interdependence is low and uncertainty is high, and when workers have low social needs yet high growth needs, which work designs are recommended?

A)traditional jobs
B)traditional work groups
C)enriched jobs
D)self-managed work groups
E)enriched work groups

Question 61

When implementing open systems planning, much information is gathered and recorded.How can the tendency to collect and examine too much information be managed so that organisations do not lose track of what is important for organisational effectiveness?

Question 62

Explain transorganisational systems and how these can assist organisations to deal with complexity and environmental uncertainty.What are the advantages and disadvantages of transorganisational systems?

Question 63

Discuss the key ideas in each of three approaches to work design.

Question 64

Satisfying both technical and human needs to achieve work-design success is likely to occur in limited circumstances.Under which circumstances can this be achieved? Where technology and people are incompatible, what can be done? Discuss, drawing on the theories and models outlined in the chapter.Students may use case studies or draw on personal experiences in answering the question.

Question 65

Explain two popular options available for a manager who wants to restructure an organisation.

Question 66

Explain why organisations must relate to their environment.

Question 67

How might people react to job enrichment interventions?

Question 68

Describe the motivational approach to job design and how it produces high work quality, internal motivation and work satisfaction.What barriers to job enrichment exist and how would you overcome them?

Question 69

How do technical and personal factors affect work design?