Question 1

The functional structure is the most typical type for small firms.

Accepted Answer

The simple structure is the form for small firms, often found in a firm's very early, entrepreneurial stages, when the organization is apt to reflect the desires and personality of the owner or founder.An organization with a simple structure has authority centralized in a single person, a flat hierarchy, few rules, and low work specialization.

Question 2

Integration is the tendency of the parts of an organization to draw together to achieve a common purpose.

Accepted Answer

Integration is the tendency of the parts of an organization to draw together to achieve a common purpose.

Question 3

The process of fitting the organization to its environment is called incidental design.

Accepted Answer

The process of fitting the organization to its environment is called contingency design.

Question 4

An advantage in using centralized authority is that there is less duplication of work, because fewer employees perform the same task.

Accepted Answer

An advantage in using centralized authority is that there is less duplication of work, because fewer employees perform the same task; rather, the task is often performed by a department of specialists.

Question 5

The founder of McDonald's, Ray Kroc, intended that a Big Mac should taste the same anywhere, and accordingly, the company has many specific procedures, making it a mechanistic organization.

Accepted Answer

In a mechanistic organization, authority is centralized, tasks and rules are clearly specified, and employees are closely supervised.Mechanistic organizations, then, are bureaucratic, with rigid rules and top-down communication.This kind of structure is effective at McDonald's because the market demands uniform product quality, cleanliness, and fast service.

Question 6

An organization is said to be flat when there are only a few levels with wide spans of control.

Accepted Answer

An organization is said to be flat when there are only a few levels with wide spans of control.

Question 7

Director of accounting is an example of a staff position.

Accepted Answer

Line managers have authority to make decisions and usually have people reporting to them, an example of which is a director of operations.Staff personnel have authority functions; they provide advice, recommendations, and research to line managers.

Question 8

A hollow structure is often called a network structure.

Accepted Answer

In the hollow structure, often called the network structure, the organization has a central core of key functions and outsources other functions to vendors who can do them cheaper or faster .

Question 9

Hierarchy of authority is also referred to as the chain of command.

Accepted Answer

The hierarchy of authority, or chain of command, is a control mechanism for making sure the right people do the right things at the right time.

Question 10

An organization with different groupings of people based on its products, customers, or geographic regions has a functional structure.

Accepted Answer

In a divisional structure, people with diverse occupational specialties are put together in formal groups by similar products, customers or clients, or geographic regions .

Question 11

Ford Motor Co.has what is known as a divisional structure because it has different divisions for passenger car dealers, large trucking customers, and farm products customers.

Accepted Answer

In a divisional structure, people with diverse occupational specialties are put together in formal groups by similar products or services, customers or clients (as in the case of Ford), or geographic regions .

Question 12

A functionally organized company can also use cross-functional teams to work on particular problems.

Accepted Answer

When managers from different functional divisions are brought together in cross-functional teams to solve particular problems, the barriers between the divisions break down.The focus on narrow divisional interests yields to a common interest in solving the problems that brought them together.

Question 13

Companies that must respond to fast-changing customer tastes often favor a mechanistic structure to an organic one.

Accepted Answer

In a mechanistic organization, authority is centralized, tasks and rules are clearly specified, and employees are closely supervised.In an organic organization, authority is decentralized, there are fewer rules and procedures, and networks of employees are encouraged to cooperate and respond quickly to unexpected tasks.This latter structure is favored by companies that need to respond to fast-changing consumer tastes.

Question 14

If a marketing person reports to both the vice president of marketing and also to the project manager for the Ford Mustang, she works in a network organization.

Accepted Answer

In a matrix structure, an organization combines functional and divisional chains of command in a grid so that there are two command structures: vertical and horizontal.Thus, a marketing person might report to both the vice president of marketing and to the project manager for the Ford Mustang.

Question 15

Staff personnel have authority functions in that they provide advice, recommendations, and research to line managers.

Accepted Answer

Staff personnel have authority functions; they provide advice, recommendations, and research to line managers.

Question 16

The four stages of organization life cycle include birth, growth, stability, and maturity.

Accepted Answer

The four-stage organizational life cycle has a natural sequence of stages: birth, youth, midlife, and maturity.

Question 17

One advantage of decentralized organizations is that procedures are uniform and thus easier to control.

Accepted Answer

An advantage of centralization, rather than decentralization, is that procedures are uniform and thus easier to control; all purchasing, for example, may have to be put out to competitive bids.

Question 18

Bombardier builds eight-passenger business jets from 12 separately sourced portions which can be put together in four days.This firm has a modular organizational structure.

Accepted Answer

In a modular structure, a firm assembles product chunks, or modules, provided by outside contractors.Bombardier builds jets from modules made throughout the world and thus has a modular organization structure.

Question 19

Power refers to the rights inherent in a managerial position to make decisions, give orders, and utilize resources.

Accepted Answer

Authority refers to the rights inherent in a managerial position to make decisions, give orders, and utilize resources.(Authority is distinguished from power, which is the extent to which a person is able to influence others so they respond to orders.)

Question 20

Lawrence and Lorsch's term for the tendency of an organization's parts to disperse and fragment is dissolution.

Accepted Answer

Differentiation is the tendency of the parts of an organization to disperse and fragment.

Quiz 8: Organizational Culture, Structure, and Design: Building Blocks of the Organization

The functional structure is the most typical type for small firms.

Integration is the tendency of the parts of an organization to draw together to achieve a common purpose.

The process of fitting the organization to its environment is called incidental design.

An advantage in using centralized authority is that there is less duplication of work, because fewer employees perform the same task.

The founder of McDonald's, Ray Kroc, intended that a Big Mac should taste the same anywhere, and accordingly, the company has many specific procedures, making it a mechanistic organization.

An organization is said to be flat when there are only a few levels with wide spans of control.

Director of accounting is an example of a staff position.

A hollow structure is often called a network structure.

Hierarchy of authority is also referred to as the chain of command.

An organization with different groupings of people based on its products, customers, or geographic regions has a functional structure.

Ford Motor Co.has what is known as a divisional structure because it has different divisions for passenger car dealers, large trucking customers, and farm products customers.

A functionally organized company can also use cross-functional teams to work on particular problems.

Companies that must respond to fast-changing customer tastes often favor a mechanistic structure to an organic one.

If a marketing person reports to both the vice president of marketing and also to the project manager for the Ford Mustang, she works in a network organization.

Staff personnel have authority functions in that they provide advice, recommendations, and research to line managers.

The four stages of organization life cycle include birth, growth, stability, and maturity.

One advantage of decentralized organizations is that procedures are uniform and thus easier to control.

Bombardier builds eight-passenger business jets from 12 separately sourced portions which can be put together in four days.This firm has a modular organizational structure.

Power refers to the rights inherent in a managerial position to make decisions, give orders, and utilize resources.

Lawrence and Lorsch's term for the tendency of an organization's parts to disperse and fragment is dissolution.