Deck 14: Organizational Structure

Question 1

Which of the following statements concerning the external environment is TRUE?

A)Different interest groups use identical criteria to evaluate organizational effectiveness.
B)Different interest groups seldom make conflicting demands on organizations.
C)Different parts of an organization will often be concerned with different components of its environment.
D)The smaller an organization, the more control it is likely to have over its environment.
E)Customers, suppliers, and employees are all components of an organization's external environment.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Environmental uncertainty exists when an organization is vague, difficult to diagnose, and ________.

Answer 2

unpredictable

Question 3

Events in various components of the environment provide both ________ and opportunities for organizations.

Answer 3

constraints

Question 4

The most ________ environment is complex and dynamic.

Question 5

As uncertainty decreases, cause-and-effect relationships become less clear.

Question 6

________ systems take inputs from the external environment, transform some of these inputs, and send them back into the environment as outputs.

Question 7

Other things equal, which of the following organizational environments is most uncertain?

A)Complex and dynamic
B)Simple and dynamic
C)Complex and static
D)Simple and static
E)Static and dynamic

Question 8

Legal regulations are most likely a part of which environmental component faced by a business firm?

A)Customer component
B)Social/political component
C)Supplier component
D)Competitor component
E)Technological component

Question 9

Coping may be oriented towards changing the environment.

Question 10

Parties or organizations other than direct competitors that have some vested interest in how an organization is managed are called ________.

Question 11

The most uncertain environments are complex and dynamic.

Question 12

Environmental uncertainty and resource dependence are highly correlated-the more uncertain the environment, the more the firms facing this uncertainty are resource dependent.

Question 13

The components of a highly dynamic environment

A)are in a constant state of cyclical change.
B)remain fairly stable over time.
C)contain a large number of dissimilar factors that affect an organization.
D)are in a constant state of unpredictable and irregular change.
E)are in a static state of unpredictable complexity.

Question 14

The concept of resource dependence shows how organizations are totally at the mercy of their environments.

Question 15

What is the relationship between resource dependence and environmental uncertainty?

A)They mean precisely the same thing.
B)Uncertainty causes dependence.
C)More uncertainty is correlated with more dependence.
D)Less uncertainty is correlated with more dependence.
E)They are fairly independent concepts.

Question 16

By definition, open systems

A)interact with their environments.
B)have no barriers against membership.
C)provide easy information access to outsiders.
D)provide an open forum for interest groups.
E)All of the above

Question 17

Resource dependence is dependent on environmental uncertainty.

Question 18

Which of the following is most accurate?

A)Uncertainty eliminates cause-and-effect relationships.
B)As uncertainty decreases, cause-and-effect relationships become less clear.
C)As uncertainty increases, cause-and-effect relationships become less clear.
D)Cause-and-effect relationships increase uncertainty.
E)Cause-and-effect relationships decrease uncertainty.

Question 19

As defined and described in the text, interest groups do NOT

A)exist within an organization's environment.
B)exist within an organization.
C)make competing demands on an organization.
D)have different criteria for evaluating organizational effectiveness.
E)have some vested interest in how an organization is managed.

Question 20

Resource dependency and environmental uncertainty mean the same thing.

Question 21

Much of the impact that the environment has on organizations is

A)direct.
B)indirect.
C)uncertain.
D)unknown.
E)ambiguous.

Question 22

What are the main components of an organization's external environment? Which of these components may contain or influence interest groups which are relevant to your college or university? Cite examples.

Question 23

Strategy formulation follows directly from

A)the objective environment.
B)strategy implementation.
C)the perceived environment.
D)managerial experience and personality.
E)organizational effectiveness.

Question 24

The objective environment comprises the basis for strategy formulation.

Question 25

Describe the open systems concept of organizations and give an example.What is the value of the open systems concept?

Question 26

What is meant by the "external environment"? Provide some examples of how it can influence organizations.

Question 27

The impact that the environment has on organizations is direct.

Question 28

What are the effects of increasing uncertainty on organizations and their decision makers?

Question 29

Personality characteristics and experience may colour managers' perceptions of the environment.

Question 30

At what point in the relationship between the environment and strategy does managerial experience and personality play a role?

A)Between the objective environment and the perceived environment
B)Between perceived environment and strategy formulation
C)Between strategy formulation and strategy implementation
D)Between strategy implementation and organizational effectiveness
E)Between perceived environment and strategy implementation

Question 31

Uncertainty depends on the environment's ________ and rate of change.

Question 32

What comprises the basis for strategy formulation?

A)Objective environment
B)Perceived environment
C)Managerial experience
D)Managerial personality
E)Managerial objectives

Question 33

An example of how organizations have to interface with the external environment is the ________ Motor Company.

Question 34

Strategy formulation is defined in the text as the process of adopting a particular organizational structure.

Question 35

Much of the impact that the environment has on organizations is indirect rather than direct.

Question 36

Under normal circumstances, strategy formulation precedes strategy implementation.

Question 37

What is one of the most common strategic responses employed by organizations?

A)Change in organizational structure
B)Mergers and acquisitions
C)Vertical integration
D)Joint ventures
E)Strategic alliances

Question 38

As ________ increases, cause-and-effect relationships become less clear.

Question 39

What are the two main factors which determine environmental uncertainty? Discuss how various combinations of these factors can result in four levels of uncertainty.Give examples of industries which depict each level of uncertainty.

Question 40

The process by which top executives seek to cope with the constraints and opportunities posed by an organization's environment is called

A)resource dependence.
B)environmental uncertainty.
C)strategy.
D)management coping.
E)organization coping.

Question 41

Discuss the nature of the relationship between environment and strategy.Be sure to describe each step in the process.

Question 42

Strategy ________ involves determining the mission, goals, and objectives of the organization.

Question 43

"Who gets to tell whom what to do" is associated with

A)horizontal division of labour.
B)differentiation.
C)coordination.
D)vertical division of labour.
E)departmentation.

Question 44

Much of the impact that the ________ has on organizations is indirect rather than direct.

Question 45

It is the perceived environment that comprises the basis for strategy formulation.

Question 46

What are the two basic dimensions of the division of labour?

A)A vertical dimension and a departmental dimension
B)A vertical dimension and a horizontal dimension
C)A differentiated dimension and a horizontal dimension
D)A differentiated dimension and an integrated dimension
E)A departmental dimension and a horizontal dimension

Question 47

The chosen ________ must correspond to the constraints and opportunities of the environment.

Question 48

What two basic things must an organization do to achieve its goals?

A)Divide and structure labour
B)Departmentalize and coordinate labour
C)Divide and differentiate labour
D)Divide and coordinate labour
E)Structure and coordinate labour

Question 49

The process by which top executives seek to cope with the constraints and opportunities posed by an organization's environment is called ________.

Question 50

One of the most common strategic responses employed by organizations is a change in organizational ________.

Question 51

The grouping together of the basic tasks that must be performed for the organization to achieve its goals is called

A)horizontal division of labour.
B)vertical division of labour.
C)integration.
D)formalization.
E)span of control.

Question 52

________ formulation involves determining the mission, goals, and objectives of the organization.

Question 53

At Ajax Corporation, differentiation is high and integration is low.This suggests that

A)Ajax offers a large number of products and services.
B)sales and production don't see eye-to-eye.
C)functional managers have similar goals and time orientations.
D)Ajax is performing very effectively.
E)managers have very wide spans of control.

Question 54

The domain of an individual's decision-making and authority ________ as the number of levels in the hierarchy increases.

A)is reduced
B)is increased
C)stays the same
D)is decentralized
E)becomes more integrated

Question 55

The vertical division of labour is best characterized by terms such as

A)finance, production, and marketing.
B)functional, product, and geographic.
C)president, manager, and worker.
D)span of control, size, and formalization.
E)differentiation, job design, and matrix.

Question 56

It is the perceived ________ that comprises the basis for strategy formulation.

Question 57

Which of the following is a logical symptom of high differentiation?

A)Marketing managers and engineering managers often don't see eye-to-eye.
B)There is a high degree of superior-subordinate conflict.
C)Very large spans of control
D)The organization is in poor financial shape and gravitating toward bankruptcy.
E)There are few formalized rules or procedures governing worker conduct.

Question 58

________ is the process by which top executives seek to cope with the constraints and opportunities posed by an organization's environment.

Question 59

It is the objective environment that comprises the basis for strategy formulation.

Question 60

Structure has to do with the manner in which an organization divides its labour into specific tasks and achieves

A)differentiation among these tasks.
B)integration among these tasks.
C)organization among these tasks.
D)coordination among these tasks.
E)departmentation among these tasks.

Question 61

Once labour is divided, it must be ________ to achieve organizational effectiveness.

Question 62

Differentiation is defined as the number of different products or services offered by a firm.

Question 63

As labour is progressively divided vertically, timely communication and coordination can become easier to achieve.

Question 64

Differentiation is a natural and necessary consequence of the vertical division of labour.

Question 65

As labour is progressively divided vertically, timely communication and coordination can become

A)more complex.
B)smoother and more efficient.
C)easier to achieve.
D)more effective.
E)harder to achieve.

Question 66

To achieve its goals an organization has to do two very basic things: divide and differentiate labour among its members.

Question 67

Labour must be ________ because individuals have physical and intellectual limitations.

Question 68

What does the vertical division of labour refer to and what are the key themes that underlie the vertical division of labour?

Question 69

Organizational structure is the manner in which an organization divides its labour into specific tasks and achieves ________ among these tasks.

Question 70

Under high differentiation, various organizational units tend to operate more ________.

Question 71

There is consensus that functional departmentation ________ than product departmentation.

A)is less efficient
B)is more sensitive to customers' needs
C)is more logical
D)leads to more coordination problems between functions
E)works better in very large firms

Question 72

Under high differentiation, various organizational units tend to operate more autonomously.

Question 73

Organizational structure is the manner in which an organization divides its labour into specific ________ and achieves coordination among these ________.

Question 74

At Sigma Limited, the production managers and the sales managers can't agree about anything.It would appear that differentiation is high and integration is low.

Question 75

To achieve its goals an organization has to do two very basic things: divide and coordinate labour among its members.

Question 76

The tendency for managers in separate functions or departments to differ in terms of goals, time spans, and interpersonal styles is called ________.

Question 77

The manner in which an organization divides labour into tasks and coordinates these tasks is referred to as ________.

Question 78

Under high differentiation, various organizational units tend to operate more

A)effectively.
B)easily.
C)autonomously.
D)formally.
E)centralized.

Question 79

What does the horizontal division of labour refer to and what are the key themes that underlie the horizontal division of labour?

Question 80

Define differentiation as it relates to the division of labour.What is the connection between differentiation and integration?