Deck 5: Managing Organizational Structure

Question 1

Increasing the degree of responsibility a worker has over his or her job is known as job enlargement.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

According to the job characteristics model by Hackman and Oldham,every job has three core characteristics that affect employee motivation.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Organizational structure is the formal system of task and reporting relationships that determines how resources are used to reach organizational goals.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The process by which managers make specific organizing choices that result in a specific kind of organizational structure is known as organizational architecture.

Question 5

Most entrepreneurial start-ups adopt a functional structure.

Question 6

The extent to which actually doing a job provides a worker with clear and direct information about how well he or she has performed the job is known as autonomy.

Question 7

The second step in the process of organizational design is to decide how to divide tasks into specific jobs.

Question 8

A divisional structure is an organizational structure composed of all the departments that an organization requires to produce its goods or services.

Question 9

The job characteristics model suggests that the strength of the employees' need for growth,or growth need strength,affects their psychological states and levels of motivation.

Question 10

Home and gift store,Pier 1 Imports,uses a functional structure.

Question 11

Organizational design is the process by which managers make specific organizing choices that result in the construction of a particular organizational structure.

Question 12

Job simplification involves adding responsibilities and tasks to existing jobs.

Question 13

An advantage for managers in grouping similar jobs together into departments is that organizational goals take second place to departmental goals.

Question 14

After designing jobs,managers must decide how to group jobs together to best match the needs of the organization's environment,strategy,technology,and human resources.

Question 15

Because Starbucks offers a much broader variety of specialty coffees,lattes,and teas,each which is customized to satisfy every unique customer,it can be said that an employee at Starbucks has a "larger" job than someone serving coffee at Tim Hortons.

Question 16

The result of the job design process is a division of labour among employees.

Question 17

Job enrichment empowers employees by increasing their responsibilities and giving them more control over decision making.

Question 18

There are four forms of divisional structures-product,market,geographic,and national.

Question 19

The most fundamental step in organizational design is job design.

Question 20

Organizing is the process of establishing the structure of the organization.

Question 21

To satisfy the needs of diverse customers,TELUS uses a market segment division structure.

Question 22

Federal Express uses a geographic structure to serve its customers.

Question 23

A market segment division structure is also called a matrix structure

Question 24

A market structure allows managers to be both responsive to the needs of their customers and able to act flexibly to make decisions in response to customers' changing needs.

Question 25

The minimum chain of command principle states that top managers should always construct a hierarchy with the fewest possible levels of authority.

Question 26

In a matrix structure,managers group people and resources by function and by product.

Question 27

Product structures are self-contained separate divisions organized based on one type of good or service.

Question 28

Business-to-business (B2B)networks arose because of organizations pushing for lower costs.

Question 29

Matrix and product/project team structures provide managers with more flexibility than divisional structures.

Question 30

A cross-functional team is a group of individuals brought together from different departments to perform organizational tasks.

Question 31

A product structure allows functional managers to specialize in only one product area,so they can build expertise and fine-tune their skills in this particular area.

Question 32

A strategic alliance is an agreement among two or more companies to jointly establish and share the ownership of a new business.

Question 33

Managers coordinate functions and divisions by creating a hierarchy of authority.

Question 34

A network structure is a series of strategic alliances that an organization creates with suppliers,manufacturers,and/or distributors.

Question 35

When managers organize divisions according to the region in which they serve,this is known as market structure.

Question 36

The number of subordinates who report directly to a manager is known as span of control.

Question 37

A flat organization has only seven levels in the authority hierarchy.

Question 38

A boundaryless organization is also referred to as a virtual organization.

Question 39

A product structure requires that corporate managers supervise each division's day-to-day operations directly; this prevents corporate managers from creating the best corporate-level strategy possible.

Question 40

Dual reporting relationships are the main advantage of the matrix structure.

Question 41

Mechanistic structures allow managers to utilize resources effectively and efficiently in a stable environment.

Question 42

A formal structure is more appropriate when the technology used is:

A)cutting edge
B)routine
C)complicated
D)developed
E)uncertain

Question 43

Four factors determine the appropriate design of an organizational structure overall.

Question 44

A liaison role is a manager that has the responsibility to increase coordination and integration across departments or divisions to achieve performance gains.

Question 45

In an organization,departments are created according to the jobs performed with in them.This best represents which type of organizational structure?

A)Product structure
B)Geographic structure
C)Divisional structure
D)Functional structure
E)Market structure

Question 46

Authority is centralized in a mechanistic structure.

Question 47

The nature of an organization's environment is an important determinant of its overall structure.

Question 48

________ is the process by which managers establish the structure of working relationships among employees to allow them to achieve organizational goals efficiently and effectively.

A)Planning
B)Leading
C)Controlling
D)Motivating
E)Organizing

Question 49

Organic structures allow managers to utilize resources effectively and efficiently in a stable environment.

Question 50

The nature of an organization's human resources is an important determinant of its overall structure.

Question 51

Which of the following characterizes the outcome of job design?

A)Job simplification
B)Job enlargement
C)A division of labour among employees
D)Job enrichment
E)Job reduction

Question 52

The nature of an organization's technology is an important determinant of its overall structure.

Question 53

An organizational structure in which each region of a country or area of the world is served by a self-contained division is known as a:

A)Product structure
B)Geographic structure
C)Divisional structure
D)Functional structure
E)Market structure

Question 54

The more complex the organizational structure a company uses to group its activities is,the greater the problems of linking and coordinating its different functions and divisions.

Question 55

An organizational structure composed of separate business units within which are the functions that together produce a specific product for a specific customer is known as a:

A)Matrix structure
B)Geographic structure
C)Divisional structure
D)Functional structure
E)Team structure

Question 56

Decentralizing authority allows an organization and its employees to behave flexibly even as the organization grows and becomes taller.

Question 57

Managers tend to move to what type of structure to overcome the problems of a functional structure?

A)Product structure
B)Geographic structure
C)Divisional structure
D)Network structure
E)Market structure

Question 58

An organizational structure composed of all the departments that an organization requires to produce its goods or services is known as a:

A)product structure
B)geographic structure
C)divisional structure
D)functional structure
E)market structure

Question 59

Decentralized authority is always the best way to achieve organizational goals effectively and efficiently.

Question 60

Which of the following is considered a disadvantage of excessive decentralization?

A)It leads to slow and distorted communication
B)Managers no longer make decisions
C)Divisions and functions may begin to pursue their own goals at the expense of organizational goals
D)Employees are better able to recognize and respond to customer needs
E)It leads to groupthink.

Question 61

When Subway Corporation made the basic decision that it would group the jobs of "chef" and "food server" into a single job description,this was an example of:

A)job simplification
B)job enlargement
C)job design
D)job enrichment
E)job reduction

Question 62

All of the following accurately describe matrix structures,except?

A)It is useful when technology is rapidly changing
B)It is useful when customer needs are rapidly changing
C)It is useful in environments of uncertainty
D)It is useful in environments of certainty
E)It is useful because it is flexible

Question 63

According to the text,Nike formed a ________ with suppliers of designs and manufacturers.

A)B2B network structure
B)boundaryless organization
C)joint venture
D)strategic alliance
E)permanent venture

Question 64

The process by which managers make specific organizing choices that result in a particular kind of organizational structure is known as:

A)organizational architecture
B)organizational design
C)organizational structure
D)span of control
E)organizational analyzability

Question 65

A formal agreement that commits two or more companies to exchange or share their resources in order to produce and market a product is known as a:

A)B2B network structure
B)boundaryless organization
C)joint venture
D)strategic alliance
E)permanent venture

Question 66

The criteria on which to answer design questions include:

A)The most efficient way to make the product or service
B)Matching the firm's organizational environment,HR,technology,and strategy with its size and resources
C)Following the principle of the minimum chain of command
D)The degree of change in the organizational environment
E)All of these criteria impact questions of designing an organizational structure.

Question 67

A series of strategic alliances that an organization creates with suppliers,manufacturers,and distributors to produce and market a product is known as a:

A)B2B network structure
B)boundaryless organization
C)joint venture
D)strategic alliance
E)permanent venture

Question 68

A formal system of task and reporting relationships that coordinates and motivates organizational members so that they work to achieve organizational goals is known as:

A)organizational architecture
B)organizational design
C)organizational structure
D)the span of control
E)organizational levelling

Question 69

Highly skilled human resources are better suited to work in _______________ organizational structures.

A)formal
B)hierarchical
C)flexible
D)stable
E)mechanistic

Question 70

An organizational structure in which employees are permanently assigned to a team and report only to the product manager or to one of his or her subordinates is known as a:

A)cross-functional team
B)homogenous structure
C)product/project team structure
D)market team structure
E)B2B network structures

Question 71

When McDonald's Corporation made a basic decision as to how to divide the tasks of the jobs of "chefs" and "food servers" in its restaurants,this was an example of:

A)job simplification
B)job enlargement
C)job design
D)job enrichment
E)job reduction

Question 72

In order to create an organizational structure,managers must make a decision about all of the following,except:

A)How to group tasks into jobs
B)How to group jobs into functions and divisions
C)How to coordinate jobs,functions,and divisions by allocating authority
D)How to appraise employee performance
E)Whether to pursue a formal or flexible structure

Question 73

The initial process by which managers decide how to divide tasks into specific jobs is known as:

A)job simplification
B)job enlargement
C)job design
D)job enrichment
E)job reduction

Question 74

An organizational structure where the owner is the general manager responsible for the activities in all the functions is known as:

A)departmentalization
B)functional structure
C)matrix structure
D)network structure
E)simple structure

Question 75

Reducing the number of tasks that each worker performs is known as:

A)job simplification
B)job enlargement
C)job design
D)job enrichment
E)job reduction

Question 76

If the external environment of an organization is stable and if uncertainly is ________,then ________ coordination among workers is needed to obtain resources,and managers can bring ________ formality to the design of the organizational structure.

A)low; more; more
B)low; less; more
C)high; less; more
D)high; less; less
E)high; maximum; enhanced

Question 77

Increasing the number of different tasks in each job by changing the division of labour is known as:

A)job simplification
B)job enlargement
C)job design
D)job enrichment
E)job reduction

Question 78

Which of the following is NOT an advantage of organizing using a product structure?

A)Allows functional managers to become familiar with a wide variety of products
B)Helps managers choose business level strategies to differentiate their products
C)Frees up corporate managers from the need to supervise the daily activities of the division
D)Allows corporate managers to choose corporate level strategies
E)Increases customer responsiveness by divisional managers

Question 79

A differentiation strategy that focuses on increasing the value that customers perceive in an organization's goods and services succeeds best in which type of structure?

A)Formal
B)Hierarchical
C)Flexible
D)Stable
E)Mechanistic

Question 80

All of the following describe potential problems associated with decentralizing decision-making authority,except:

A)Divisions,functions,or teams may lose sight of organizational goals
B)Lack of communication among functional managers might occur
C)Possible synergies might be missed
D)Organizational performance might suffer
E)Greater flexibility results