Deck 5: Organisational Structure and Design

Question 1

Early users of work specialisation early in the twentieth century found that the practice ultimately resulted in ________.

A)better communication among employees
B)huge and permanent productivity gains
C)bored workers with low morale
D)higher profits and better employee morale

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following are NOT basic elements of organisational structure?

A)Centralisation,decentralisation.
B)Departmentalisation,formalisation.
C)Geography,regulation.
D)Work specialisation,span of control.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The line of authority that extends from the upper levels of management to the lowest levels of the organisation is termed the ________.

A)chain of command
B)managerial prerogative
C)span of control
D)chain of responsibility

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A)Authority is a right.
B)Power is a right.
C)Authority is one's ability to influence decisions.
D)Both power and authority are rights.

Question 5

The importance of unity of command has diminished in today's workplace because of its tendency to be ________.

A)inflexible
B)oppressive and confrontational
C)chauvinistic and dictatorial
D)unethical

Question 6

Which statement accurately defines work specialisation?

A)It is the degree to which tasks are grouped together.
B)Work specialisation clarifies who reports to whom.
C)Jobs are ranked relative only to their worth or value to the businesses.
D)Individual employees specialise in doing part of an activity rather than the entire activity.

Question 7

Line authority gives a manager the ability to direct the work of ________.

A)other managers
B)any subordinate
C)only subordinates one level down
D)any subordinate,after consulting with the next higher level

Question 8

________ is the power that rests on the leader's ability to punish or control.

A)Referent power
B)Reward power
C)Expert power
D)Coercive power

Question 9

Today,managers favour this approach instead of work specialisation.

A)Important tasks are carried out by a select few.
B)Employees perform a broad range of tasks.
C)Monotonous tasks are shared by all employees.
D)Partners switch jobs every half hour.

Question 10

Organisational design means that a manager engages in ________.

A)changing the branding of the organisation
B)organising groups within an organisation
C)changing or developing the structure of an organisation
D)gathering feedback from all employees

Question 11

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A)Authority and power are identical.
B)Authority is a type of power.
C)Power is a type of authority.
D)Power is determined by horizontal position in an organisation.

Question 12

Which of the following is synonymous with work specialisation?

A)Equal opportunity.
B)Chain of command.
C)Division of labour.
D)Span of control.

Question 13

A soap company that features a bath soap department,a laundry detergent department and a dish soap department is using which of the following?

A)Product departmentalisation.
B)Functional departmentalisation.
C)Process departmentalisation.
D)Customer departmentalisation.

Question 14

________ departmentalisation is based on territory or the physical location of employees or customers.

A)Geographic
B)Dysfunctional
C)Functional
D)Divisional

Question 15

A construction site supervisor who sees an impending thunderstorm and tells workers to go home is demonstrating ________.

A)staff delegation
B)responsibility
C)provisional accountability
D)line authority

Question 16

________ prevents a single employee from getting conflicting orders from two different superiors.

A)Chain of command
B)Line authority
C)Staff authority
D)Unity of command

Question 17

The personal secretary of a top manager may have ________.

A)power and authority
B)line authority but not staff authority
C)power but not authority
D)authority but not power

Question 18

The chain of command answers this question.

A)How do I get a promotion?
B)How do I know when the task is complete?
C)Who reports to whom?
D)Where do I go for help?

Question 19

What kind of departmentalisation would be in place in a government agency in which there are separate departments that provide services for employers,employed workers,unemployed workers and the disabled?

A)Product.
B)Geographic.
C)Customer.
D)Outcome.

Question 20

In the chain of command,each person above you ________.

A)has line authority
B)has special privileges
C)receives higher pay
D)has no right to give you orders

Question 21

Eric is offered a chance to help direct the efforts of some employees assigned to his work group.Eric sees this new assignment as an increase in ________,or an obligation or expectation for him to perform at a new level.

A)authority
B)responsibility
C)functional structure
D)divisional structure

Question 22

Staff authority is the ability to direct the work of any employee who does not have a higher rank in the organisation.

Question 23

Today,most managers see work specialisation as a source of ever-increasing productivity.

Question 24

Today's managers are moving away from formalisation and trying to be this.

A)More strict.
B)Less permissive.
C)More flexible.
D)More rigorous.

Question 25

All of the following are characteristics of a highly formalised organisation EXCEPT ________.

A)explicit job descriptions
B)little discretion for employees
C)a standardised way of doing things
D)minimum number of rules

Question 26

The jobs of assembly-line employees are to be changed to allow more tasks to be done by individual workers.This is a reduction in ________.

A)chain of command
B)departmentalisation
C)centralisation
D)work specialisation

Question 27

When work specialisation originally began to be implemented early in the twentieth century,employee productivity initially declined.

Question 28

Grouping jobs on the basis of major product areas is termed 'customer departmentalisation'.

Question 29

Unity of command prevents an employee from trying to follow two conflicting commands at once.

Question 30

Modern managers find that they can ________ if their employees are experienced,well-trained and motivated.

A)eliminate their span of control
B)increase their span of control
C)decrease their span of control
D)fluctuate their span of control

Question 31

Eric is offered a chance to help direct the efforts of some employees assigned to his work group.This is a chance for Eric to experience ________.

A)divisional structure
B)authority
C)functional structure
D)responsibility

Question 32

There are six basic elements in organisational structure.

Question 33

The original ideas about organisational design formulated by Fayol and Weber are still relevant today.

Question 34

The traditional view holds that managers should not directly supervise more than ________ subordinates.

A)three or four
B)five or six
C)nine or ten
D)seven or eight

Question 35

Departmentalisation is how jobs are grouped.

Question 36

A traditional 'top down' organisation is ________ organisation.

A)an absolutely decentralised
B)a largely centralised
C)an absolutely centralised
D)a largely decentralised

Question 37

________ is the power that arises when a person is close to another person who has great power and authority.

A)Reward power
B)Coercive power
C)Referent power
D)Expert power

Question 38

When a top manager decides to hire an individual over the objections of her staff,she is exercising which kind of power?

A)Coercive.
B)Referent.
C)Legitimate.
D)Expert.

Question 39

A bank manager who passes out bonuses at the end of the year is exercising this.

A)Expert power.
B)Referent power.
C)Reward power.
D)Legitimate power.

Question 40

The advantage of work specialisation is that it tends to result in high employee engagement and high productivity.

Question 41

Which of the following characterises a mechanistic organisation?

A)Informal.
B)Collaborative.
C)Hierarchical.
D)All of the above.

Question 42

A company that is pursuing a cost leadership strategy would be most likely to have this kind of structure.

A)Virtual.
B)Matrix-project.
C)Mechanistic.
D)Team.

Question 43

Strategy,size,technology and the degree of uncertainty in the environment together make up what are called ________.

A)structure factors
B)probable factors
C)control factors
D)contingency factors

Question 44

Larger organisations tend to have ________ than smaller organisations.

A)less centralisation
B)less departmentalisation
C)fewer rules and regulations
D)more specialisation

Question 45

A company that is trying to be a leader in innovation within its industry would be most likely to have this kind of structure.

A)Mechanistic.
B)Simple.
C)Functional.
D)Organic.

Question 46

When decisions tend to be made at lower levels in an organisation,the organisation is said to be decentralised.

Question 47

In a short essay,list and discuss the following three common forms of departmentalisation: functional,product,and geographical.

Question 48

Which term best describes an organic organisation?

A)Pyramid shaped.
B)Hierarchical.
C)Flexible.
D)Centralised.

Question 49

In Woodward's study,this type of production combined high vertical differentiation and low horizontal differentiation.

A)Process production.
B)Mass production.
C)Unit production.
D)Technological production.

Question 50

In a short essay,list and explain the following three key elements in designing an organisation's structure: specialisation,departmentalisation,and authority and responsibility.

Question 51

Joan Woodward conducted pioneering studies on how this affected the structure of companies.

A)Values.
B)Corporate culture.
C)Ethics.
D)Technology.

Question 52

Describe line authority.What does it mean?

Question 53

What is 'unity of command'?

Question 54

Which of the following would likely be found in organic organisations?

A)Empowered employees.
B)Wide span of control.
C)Decentralised responsibility.
D)All of the above.

Question 55

As an organisation grows to a size of over 2000 employees,it finds it hard to avoid becoming more ________.

A)adaptable
B)mechanistic
C)collaborative
D)decentralised

Question 56

In a short essay,list and discuss the following two common forms of departmentalisation: process,and customer.

Question 57

Woodward concluded that a mechanistic structure worked best for a firm that used ________.

A)mass production
B)quality production
C)unit production
D)process production

Question 58

A(n)________ organisation is able to change rapidly as needs require.

A)vertical
B)mechanistic
C)organic
D)hierarchical

Question 59

Power is a right that a manager has when he or she has a higher rank in an organisation.

Question 60

In a short essay,list and explain the following three additional key elements in designing an organisation's structure: span of control;centralisation versus decentralisation;and authority,responsibility and power.

Question 61

What is a strength of a simple structure?

A)Power and authority are widely distributed.
B)There are cost-saving advantages from specialisation.
C)Accountability is clear.
D)Employees are grouped with others who have similar tasks.

Question 62

Joan Woodward attempted to view organisational structure from a technological perspective.

Question 63

A media company that has separate,autonomous companies for movies,TV,Internet and print journalism is most likely a ________ structure.

A)divisional
B)simple
C)matrix
D)functional

Question 64

A key difference between a team structure and a virtual organisation is that a team structure ________ while a virtual organisation does not.

A)permanently employs team members
B)works on projects
C)holds group members accountable
D)empowers group members

Question 65

The stability of a mechanistic structure seems to work best in today's dynamic and uncertain business environment.

Question 66

In a ________ structure,each business unit has complete autonomy to reach its goals.

A)matrix
B)functional
C)divisional
D)simple

Question 67

All of the following are necessary for a successful team structure EXCEPT ________.

A)team members with years of management experience
B)team members with cross-functional skills
C)well-trained team members
D)a fair and well-run team-based pay plan

Question 68

This is a weakness of a functional structure.

A)Overemphasising organisational goals.
B)Failing to attain functional goals.
C)Favouring organisational goals over functional goals.
D)Favouring functional goals over organisational goals.

Question 69

This is a key characteristic in an organisation with a functional structure.

A)Little specialisation.
B)Adaptability.
C)Departmentalisation.
D)Flexibility.

Question 70

By giving employees two direct superiors,a matrix structure violates this key element of organisational design.

A)Decentralisation.
B)Span of management.
C)Unity of command.
D)Chain of command.

Question 71

Having separate payroll departments in each division of a divisional structure is an example of which of the following?

A)Effectiveness,because separate payroll departments create jobs.
B)Efficiency,because separate payroll departments can share methods of operation.
C)Duplication,because a single payroll department could do the job.
D)Efficiency,because payroll departments compete.

Question 72

The two prevalent organisation structure models in today's world are the organic organisation and the mechanistic organisation.

Question 73

An organic organisation is bureaucratic and hierarchical.

Question 74

The relationship between organisational size and structure tends to be linear.

Question 75

A mechanistic organisation tends to be flexible and have few formal rules.

Question 76

A simple structure is ________ like a mechanistic organisation,but ________ like an organic organisation.

A)centralised;informal
B)centralised;formal
C)decentralised;formal
D)informal;decentralised

Question 77

What are the characteristics of the mechanistic organisation,and of an organic organisation?

Question 78

The greater the environmental uncertainty,the more an organisation needs to become ________.

A)high-tech
B)mechanistic
C)stable
D)organic

Question 79

In a team structure,team members ________.

A)are subject to decisions made by their supervisors
B)make decisions only after first checking with management
C)can influence decisions made by top managers
D)make decisions and are accountable for their decisions

Question 80

Looking for ways to make their organisation more flexible and innovative,today's managers may choose this kind of structure.

A)Divisional.
B)Team.
C)Functional.
D)Simple.