Deck 10: Bureaucracy and the Corporation

Question 1

What is one result of alienation at work?

A) Higher turnover
B) Higher productivity
C) Work rage
D) Greater profits
E) Better employee relations

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Who was the first theorist to outline the essential characteristics of a bureaucracy?

A) Max Weber
B) Emile Durkheim
C) William Ouchi
D) Auguste Comte
E) Karl Marx

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Calvinists believe that God bestowed signs of approval on them. According to the Calvinists, what were these signs?

A) Mystical
B) Tangible
C) Divine
D) Spiritual
E) Ingenious

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Some managers assign alienated workers trivial tasks and give them little opportunity of coming into contact with the public or other workers. What is often the result of this treatment?

A) The worker is further alienated.
B) The worker quits.
C) The worker becomes less alienated.
D) The worker becomes more productive.
E) The worker apologizes to the manager.

Question 5

argued that the switch to rationality was the result of capitalism, while argued that capitalism emerged as a result of the switch to rationality in people's thinking.

A) Weber; Marx
B) Durkheim; Marx
C) Weber; Durkheim
D) Durkheim; Weber
E) Marx; Weber

Question 6

According to Max Weber, until recently, the world's groups and nations had what kind of orientation to life?

A) Capitalist
B) Rational
C) Traditional
D) Conventional
E) Bureaucratic

Question 7

Jean-Luc lives in a society that believes in the acceptance of rules, efficiency, and practical results. Henri lives in a society that believes in customs and relationships that are based on custom. Which society is more likely to be industrialized?

A) The society that believes in rules, efficiency, and practical results
B) Neither society will be industrialized
C) The society based on customs and relationships
D) The society based on customs and relationships will be more successfully industrialized, however both societies will be industrialized.
E) Both societies will have the same degree of industrialization

Question 8

George Ritzer maintains that the characteristics of bureaucracy now pervade our social life. What term did he coin to describe this process?

A) The rationalization of society
B) The bureaucratization of society
C) The McDonaldization of society
D) The credentialism of society
E) The Walmartization of society

Question 9

Linda is researching how a group of female clerks are affected by organizational arrangements. Which theoretical perspective is Linda probably using?

A) Conflict
B) Feminism
C) Functionalism
D) Postmodernism
E) Symbolic interactionism

Question 10

Arun has spent three months developing a plan to make his department operate more efficiently. The day that Arun decides to institute his plan in the department, he receives a memo informing him that the department will be eliminated next week. This is an example of between units.

A) trained incapacity
B) bureaucratic anomie
C) lack of communication
D) red tape
E) bureaucratic alienation

Question 11

Which term refers to the investment of capital with the goal of producing profits?

A) Mutual reciprocity
B) Capitalism
C) Economics
D) Bureaucratization
E) Socialism

Question 12

When people have a _ orientation to life, they believe that accepting rules, efficiency, and practical results is the right way to approach human affairs.

A) traditional
B) bureaucratic
C) rational
D) hedonistic
E) conventional

Question 13

Johanna works in a large organization; she has begun to feel more like an object at work and that no one in the organization cares about her as a person. What is Johanna feeling?

A) A lack of communication
B) Bureaucratic anomie
C) Bureaucratic alienation
D) Bureaucratic idealism
E) Bureaucratic displacement

Question 14

Su Mei works in a place that is hierarchical, has a division of labour, written rules, communications and records, and in which workers treat each other impersonally. Based on these characteristics, we can conclude that Su Mei works in a[n] .

A) oligarchy
B) bureaucracy
C) voluntary association
D) non-profit organization
E) formal organization

Question 15

According to Weber, why did the "rationalization of a society" occur?

A) Because of Catholic theology
B) Because of Protestant theology
C) Because of capitalism
D) Because of the Agricultural Revolution
E) Because of the Industrial Revolution

Question 16

Which term refers to an inflexible adherence to the rules that may impede the purpose of the organization?

A) Communication
B) Bureaucratic idealism
C) Red tape
D) Bureaucratic anomie
E) Bureaucratic alienation

Question 17

Sidney is an upper-level manager who has a weekly golf game with the president of the company. Sidney has decided to ask the president for additional staff rather than asking the vice-president who is his immediate supervisor. What does this example illustrate?

A) Ideal versus real bureaucracy
B) Bureaucratic alienation
C) Abuse of authority
D) Formal versus informal management style
E) A quick way to get fired

Question 18

What is one way that workers resist alienation?

A) They seek a promotion.
B) They form primary groups.
C) They concentrate on their work.
D) They look for another job.
E) They steal things from the company.

Question 19

The guilds of Western Europe, historically known for their highly controlled craft are an example of .

A) an early example of a modern day union
B) reference groups
C) informal organizations
D) primary groups
E) formal organizations

Question 20

According to Marx, occurs when workers feel cut off from the finished product of their labour.

A) idealism
B) anomie
C) displacement
D) alienation
E) ambivalence

Question 21

Which term is used to describe the methods developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor to reduce waste and inefficiency in production?

A) McDonaldization
B) The iron law of oligarchy
C) Corporate culture
D) The Peter principle
E) Principles of scientific management

Question 22

Almost of Canadians aged 35 to 44 (including a whopping 43 percent of Torontonians in this age group) describe most days as stressful, and researchers attribute much of this stress to smart phones, apps, and devices designed to save labour, ease lives, and increase productivity-an irony of the modern world.

A) 10 percent
B) 20 percent
C) 25 percent
D) 30 percent
E) 40 percent

Question 23

Why are bureaucracies sociologically significant?

A) Because they are the best way to accomplish all of society's goals
B) Because they are a new form of informal social organization
C) Because they are a fundamental change in how people relate to each other
D) Because they are a way for individuals to feel a sense of belonging
E) Because they are a way to ensure everyone in the community is employed

Question 24

According to Rosabeth Moss Kanter, how do the "hidden values" of an organization operate?

A) As self-fulfilling stereotypes
B) They assist women and minorities in gaining promotions
C) They weaken the organization
D) They lower productivity
E) They increase alienation

Question 25

Which term refers to an organization owned by members who collectively make decisions, determine goals, evaluate resources, set salaries, and assign work?

A) Employee stock ownership
B) Work teams
C) Co-operative
D) Quality circles
E) Oligarchy

Question 26

Which term refers to the profound transformation in regional and global economies brought about by the sheer size, influence, and power of big-box department stores?

A) McDonaldization
B) Globalization
C) Rationalization
D) Bureaucratization
E) Walmartization

Question 27

Which term refers to the orientations that characterize corporate work settings?

A) The mission statement
B) The rules and regulations
C) The command structure
D) The structure
E) The corporate culture

Question 28

What percentage of Canadian youths aged 15 to 24 volunteered in 2007?

A) less than 10 percent
B) 15 to 20 percent
C) 25 to 30 percent
D) 40 to 45 percent
E) Over 50 percent

Question 29

Canadians love voluntary associations, using them to express a variety of interests, goals, opinions, and even dissatisfactions. What binds the members together?

A) Alienation
B) Social disorganization
C) Shared recognition
D) Anomie
E) Shared interest

Question 30

Recently, the March of Dimes shifted its focus from raising funds for combating polio to raising funds for birth defect research. Which term is used to describe this shift in focus?

A) Goal displacement
B) Fear of failure to reach the goal
C) Organizational management
D) Goal conflict
E) Organizational pathology

Question 31

Which group consists of people who organize on the basis of a mutual interest?

A) Voluntary associations
B) Formal organizations
C) Bureaucracies
D) Community agencies
E) Informal organizations

Question 32

What term refers to the concentration of power in a formal organization and held by small, self-perpetuating elite?

A) Trained incapacity
B) The Peter Principle
C) Goal displacement
D) The iron law of oligarchy
E) The Ouchi Principle

Question 33

Often women in a corporation will ask men to take the leadership in a project they want to have the organization become involved in. Why do women often ask a man to be the leader in proposing the project to executives?

A) Because they are aware of the iron law of oligarchy
B) Because they are passive and don't want to talk in public
C) Because they know that men are better public speakers
D) Because they are aware of the Ouchi Principle
E) Because they are aware of the "hidden culture" in the corporate world

Question 34

Norene Pupo is critical of volunteerism. She asks "Is voluntarism confused with ?"

A) corporate culture
B) diversity training
C) assimilation
D) principles of scientific management
E) coercion

Question 35

What is one argument in favour of diversity training?

A) It facilitates understanding and people's ability to work together.
B) It absorbs minorities into the dominant culture.
C) It leads to better wages for minorities.
D) It reinforces stereotypes and divisiveness.
E) It eliminates the problems of racial and ethnic minorities in the workplace.

Question 36

One of the difficulties of is that they spend huge amounts of time to decide even routine matters.

A) co-operatives
B) communal organizations
C) corporations
D) workers' unions
E) quality circles

Question 37

After 244 years of production, the iconic announced that its 32-volume 2010 edition would be its last, as it succumbed to competition from Wikipedia and our thirst for instant, up-to-date information.

A) Academic American Encyclopedia
B) Hutchinson Encyclopedia
C) Chamber's Encyclopedia
D) Encyclopedia Americana
E) Encyclopaedia Britannica

Question 38

What term refers to companies "without walls"?

A) Minimum security workplaces
B) Informal bureaucracies
C) Lean corporations
D) Hotels
E) Virtual organizations

Question 39

When managers of bureaucracies try to increase access to opportunities on the basis of ability and contributions, distribute power more equally, and implement less rigid rules, they are attempting to .

A) humanize the work setting to develop human potential
B) improve the quality of the company's products
C) increase the number of employees purchasing company stocks
D) increase profits by downsizing
E) improve the morale of the workforce

Question 40

Marco works for a firm in which employees own 10 percent of the stock. Why is the firm that Marco works for more likely to be more profitable than other firms?

A) Because managers listen to the workers
B) Because they will be fired if the firm doesn't make a profit
C) Because it is a humanized work setting
D) Because the workers make all the decisions
E) Because the workers are more committed

Question 41

Which term is used to describe a production system in which parts inventories are limited to the amount needed at the time?

A) Fordist
B) Just-in-time
C) Sweating
D) Hotelling
E) Scientific management

Question 42

The Japanese organization often offers lifetime security. What is one advantage that comes with this?

A) Workers have a greater degree of involvement in the workplace.
B) Workers listen to their bosses.
C) Workers continue working until the age of 75.
D) Workers have to invest one-half of their salary in the company.
E) There is no need to give workers a gold watch when they retire.

Question 43

If an individual works for a Japanese corporation, his or her work relationship would probably be .

A) highly specific and his or her private life separate
B) negotiable and he or she decides when to participate in work sponsored social events
C) less satisfactory as Japanese are not involved in decision making and therefore do not feel as though they are an essential part of the organization
D) expanded to include his or her social life
E) oppressive, leaving no time for social activities

Question 44

Karl Marx was the first to describe the essential characteristics of a bureaucracy.

Question 45

Weber argued that Protestant doctrine encouraged individuals to embrace change rather than accept present arrangements.

Question 46

Marx concluded it was capitalism that led to the rationalization of society.

Question 47

The longer a bureaucracy exists, the less need there is for written communications and records.

Question 48

What does the Fordist production technique usually require?

A) Just-in-time strategies
B) Kaizen
C) Efficient trucking and delivery services
D) Large warehouses and workspaces
E) The latest in information technology

Question 49

Formal organizations are primary groups that we join by choice because they allow us control over our work.

Question 50

With industrialization, there is an increase in the number of primary groups that individuals become members of.

Question 51

In a bureaucracy, every worker is seen as vital to the organization and hard to replace.

Question 52

Calvinists believed that the more money they made, the more they could spend on themselves.

Question 53

Which term refers to the practice of providing employees with laptops and only assigning desks on a temporary basis?

A) Outsourcing
B) Layoff
C) Lean production
D) Hotelling
E) Kaizen

Question 54

According to Professor Huws, information technology has affected industrialized countries in which of the following ways?

A) It has not allowed work to be relocated across the globe.
B) It has had no affect on skills or division of labour.
C) It has kept the work in central locations accessible to everyone.
D) It has allowed people the convenience of working from home - telework.
E) It has not been useful in creating "internalization of the division of labour in white collar work."

Question 55

Renee works at a hotel that scans her eyes when she checks in for work. What does this example illustrate?

A) An organization screening for theft
B) An unobtrusive way to drug test a worker
C) An attempt to humanize the workplace
D) A safety measure to ensure worker alertness
E) A maximum-security workplace

Question 56

Rather than categorizing an organization as either a "bureaucracy" or "not a bureaucracy," it makes more sense to think in terms of the extent to which an organization is bureaucratized.

Question 57

Computers allow managers to .

A) improve the quality of life in the workplace
B) increase surveillance without direct supervision
C) increase equality in the working place
D) create a more democratic workplace
E) decrease the amount of paperwork needed to complete many tasks

Question 58

Some theorists feel that attempts to humanize the workplace are simply ways to manipulate workers into co-operating in their own exploitation. These theorists would be considered theorists.

A) functionalist
B) anomie
C) labelling
D) conflict
E) symbolic interactionist

Question 59

Which Japanese term means "continuous improvement"?

A) Nagagi
B) Kinran
C) Kiyoshi
D) Ameratsu
E) Kaizen

Question 60

According to Max Weber, the process of industrialization requires rationality and the willingness to change.

Question 61

Today, most Canadians favour assimilation over diversity training.

Question 62

Humanizing a work setting is accomplished by writing additional rules that spell out who will make decisions and how power is to be distributed.

Question 63

The term "sweating" has been used in reference to working conditions in the fast- food industry.

Question 64

Canadians love voluntary associations, using them to express a wide variety of interests, goals, opinions, and even dissatisfactions.

Question 65

One characteristic of the Japanese work model is that workers are highly specialized and trained to do specific jobs.

Question 66

Because of lifetime security, Japanese workers are more likely to have a greater degree of involvement in their workplace.

Question 67

Walmartization refers to any large company that imports consumer goods from China.

Question 68

The computer has turned many workplaces into "maximum-security workplaces," environments in which managers can achieve greater control over workers.

Question 69

To resist becoming alienated from their work, workers form primary groups at work.

Question 70

Most workers have no way to resist alienation.

Question 71

Alexis de Tocqueville observed that Americans were reluctant to join voluntary associations, groups of volunteers who organize on the basis of some mutual interest.

Question 72

Many women in the corporate world have found they have had to learn how to maneuver the "hidden culture" in order be successful.

Question 73

Each unit within a bureaucracy always keeps the other units informed of their decisions.

Question 74

The characteristics of bureaucracies described by Weber refer to "real" bureaucracies.

Question 75

According to Amnesty International, 310 people in North America died in 2001 after being shocked with a taser.

Question 76

If you are self-employed, you will never have to deal with bureaucracies.

Question 77

The iron law of oligarchy refers to the way formal organizations come to be dominated by a small, self-perpetuating elite who hold on to power by passing leadership positions from one member to another.

Question 78

According to Marx, underlying alienation is the workers' loss of control over their work because they no longer own their own tools.

Question 79

The emergence of bureaucracies represented a fundamental change in how people related to one another.

Question 80

The Japanese model of work organization and lean production techniques has not yet been used in Canada.