Deck 4: Fundamentals of Organizing

Question 1

Most organizations use the matrix approach at the top and other approaches at lower levels.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

A matrix organizational structure brings together personnel from several specializations to complete limited-life tasks.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Product departmentalization requires more personnel and material resources than does functional departmentalization.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

A narrow span of management is needed by middle managers because they must spend much of their time in long-range planning and working with outside interest groups.

Question 5

The morale in organizations following the unity of command principle is higher than in those organizations which do not follow this principle.

Question 6

The unity of command principle states that everyone in an organization should report to and be accountable to only one boss for performing a given activity.

Question 7

Line organization is the first stage of growth of an organization.

Question 8

The matrix organization permits an organization to respond more quickly to change than the functional approach does.

Question 9

A given organization can use only a single approach to departmentalization.

Question 10

In an organization following the unity of command principle, the operating employees are themselves responsible for motivating the other employees and achieving effective results without any supervisors overseeing their work.

Question 11

Ideally, the top managers in an organization should have the least number of people directly reporting to them.

Question 12

All organizations inevitably go through all four stages of growth.

Question 13

The process of determining how activities are to be grouped is called departmentalization.

Question 14

Functional departmentalization helps in centralizing an organization's expertise.

Question 15

The functional approach to departmentalization creates efficiency through the principles of specialization.

Question 16

In an organization following the unity of command principle, there always tends to be duplication of orders and instructions.

Question 17

In the first stage of organizational growth, the owner/manager performs all the organizational activities.

Question 18

When an organization adds specialists to improve operations, a line-and-staff organization results.

Question 19

In line organizations, responsibility and authority are not clearly defined.

Question 20

Job assignments in a matrix departmentalization structure are temporary.

Question 21

One benefit of downsizing is immediate, tremendous cost reductions.

Question 22

In a decentralized organization, the upper management makes most of the important decisions that concern all levels or units within the organization.

Question 23

The right of staff personnel to advise, recommend, serve, and assist line departments is called line authority.

Question 24

Functional authority violates the unity of command principle.

Question 25

Staff personnel carry out the primary activities of the business, such as production and sales.

Question 26

A major way to avoid conflict between line and staff people is to ensure that people clearly understand the authority/responsibility relationships between individuals and departments.

Question 27

Advisory authority is also called the authority of ideas.

Question 28

If the top managers of an organization need to keep tight control, they will probably create a decentralized organization.

Question 29

Downsizing has had a positive effect on corporate profit in over 90 percent of the firms attempting it.

Question 30

Perhaps the greatest cost of downsizing are the social costs.

Question 31

In many situations, general supervision is more effective than close supervision.

Question 32

Geographically dispersed organizations tend to be centralized.

Question 33

There is a trend in the United States toward increasing the number of levels of management and shifting toward more centralization.

Question 34

The concept of decentralization is closely related to the concept of delegation.

Question 35

There is a tendency toward more decentralization during poor economic times.

Question 36

Companies following a policy of a narrow span of control are often hampered in achieving effective results.

Question 37

Wide spans of management save the company money.

Question 38

The staff personnel are always more important than the line personnel in an organization.

Question 39

Reengineering is a shift back toward more traditional organizational design.

Question 40

Organizations that have grown by merging with other companies tend to be decentralized

Question 41

The _____ principle states that everyone in an organization should report to and be accountable to only one boss for performing a given activity.

A) span of control
B) functional authority
C) limited line authority
D) unity of command

Question 42

The number of people a given manager directly supervises is called the:

A) chain of command.
B) span of management.
C) unity of command.
D) division of labor.

Question 43

The unity of command principle:

A) prevents line employees from coming in contact with staff personnel.
B) reduces organizational morale.
C) increases conflicts between line and staff personnel.
D) gives the employee a single manager to turn to when a problem arises.

Question 44

One of the disadvantages of the matrix structure is the lack of:

A) open communication.
B) clarity and coordination in assigned roles.
C) flexibility.
D) appropriateness for technologically oriented organizations.

Question 45

One disadvantage of product departmentalization is that:

A) there is less coordination of functions at the product division level.
B) it requires more personnel and material resources.
C) lower management assumes a greater burden of establishing effective coordination.
D) it results in an increased threat from competition.

Question 46

In Likert's internal systems model, there are three broad categories of variables: causal, intervening, and end-results variables.

Question 47

____ departmentalization is a hybrid type of departmentalization in which personnel from several specialties are brought together to complete limited-life tasks.

A) Functional
B) Product
C) Matrix
D) Consumer

Question 48

The inverted pyramid structure is a very flat organization with few management levels.

Question 49

Which of the following is an ideal way for an organization to apply the span of control principle?

A) Top-level managers should have the highest number of people directly reporting to them.
B) Middle managers should have the highest number of people directly reporting to them.
C) First-level managers should have the highest number of people directly reporting to them.
D) Every manager in the organization should have not more than two employees reporting directly to him/her.

Question 50

Which of the following is true of line organizations?

A) The owner performs all the functions single-handedly.
B) The accountability of employees is maximized in such organizations.
C) It is easy for employees to evade their responsibilities in such organizations.
D) Authority is decentralized in these organizations.

Question 51

When an organization divides its sales personnel, accounting personnel, and operations personnel into different groups, it is using _____.

A) consumer departmentalization
B) geographic departmentalization
C) functional departmentalization
D) product departmentalization

Question 52

Reengineering is very expensive and should be used only for big challenges that really matter.

Question 53

In a line organization:

A) each person has clearly defined responsibilities and reports to an immediate supervisor.
B) a single person performs all the tasks of the organization.
C) each person does the tasks assigned to him/her with no manager overseeing their activities.
D) authority is decentralized, and the decision-making process is very slow.

Question 54

The temporary nature of assignments under _____ departmentalization does not allow employees to feel they belong to one project team.

A) matrix
B) functional
C) geographic
D) technical

Question 55

Which of the following is true of the unity of command principle?

A) It prevents duplication and conflict when orders and instructions are passed down.
B) It increases confusion and "passing the buck" because everyone is accountable to different supervisors and managers in the organization for a given assignment.
C) It inhibits supervisors from building supportive relationships with their employees.
D) It lowers the morale of employees working in the organization that has adopted this principle.

Question 56

Over the years, companies have tended to:

A) narrow their span of control at all levels.
B) broaden their span of control at all levels.
C) create new unity of command principles.
D) ignore the principle of span of control as it it is outdated.

Question 57

In the one-person organization stage, _____.

A) all functions of the organization are performed by the owner and his/her assistants.
B) there are more than 150 employees, and each person has clearly defined responsibilities.
C) all functions of the organization are performed by the owner/founder.
D) specialists are hired to oversee the work of different departments.

Question 58

Which of the following is an advantage of functional departmentalization?

A) Each individual in the organization takes responsibility for the total performance.
B) Each manager oversees a large variety of functions, so it is easy to train managers to take over the top position.
C) Coordination among functions become easier as the organization grows.
D) There is centralization of the organization's expertise.

Question 59

_____ is the organizational process of determining how activities are to be grouped.

A) Consolidation
B) Departmentalization
C) Centralization
D) Generalization

Question 60

In the wagon wheel organizational structure, customers are on the outer rim and top management is at the center, the hub.

Question 61

Which of the following violates the unity of command principle?

A) Span of management
B) Line management
C) Functional authority
D) Centralization

Question 62

In the wagon wheel organizational structure, the _____ form the hub of the wheel.

A) suppliers
B) customers
C) middle managers
D) top-level managers

Question 63

When a quality control specialist tells a production manager to adjust a machine to increase the quality of the product, he or she is using:

A) advisory authority.
B) unity of command.
C) functional authority.
D) line authority.

Question 64

The authority of most staff departments to serve and suggest ideas to line departments is called:

A) line authority.
B) functional authority.
C) advisory authority.
D) network authority.

Question 65

In a(n) _____ organization form, "helping hands" symbolize that all other levels of the organization are there to help and support the sales personnel to better serve and satisfy the customer.

A) "Hands On"
B) wagon wheel
C) network
D) inverted pyramid

Question 66

According to the internal systems model developed by Likert, _____ reflect the internal state and health of the organization.

A) causal variables
B) end-result variables
C) intervening variables
D) structural variables

Question 67

Line-and-staff organizations:

A) have fewer employees than line organizations.
B) have specialists in certain positions to assist the line personnel.
C) have a large number of employees and do not face any conflicts between departments or between employees.
D) consider line personnel as more important than staff personnel.

Question 68

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the functional approach to departmentalization?

Question 69

_____ use their expertise to assist others in the organization in various areas of business activities.

A) Line personnel
B) Staff personnel
C) Operative personnel
D) Rank-and-file employees

Question 70

The process of eliminating unnecessary levels of management, and thus reducing the number of staff personnel and supervisors, is:

A) decentralization.
B) delegation.
C) downsizing.
D) partnering.

Question 71

If there has been a strong history of growth in an organization, where mergers and acquisitions have occurred, then such an organization will most likely be:

A) centralized.
B) causal.
C) decentralized.
D) inflexible.

Question 72

_____ carry out the primary activities of a business such as producing or selling products and/or services.

A) Line personnel
B) Chief executive officers
C) Staff personnel
D) Chairpersons

Question 73

Describe what matrix departmentalization is, and some of the advantages of a matrix structure.

Question 74

Explain the principle of the span of control. Why is it related to management level?

Question 75

Reengineering:

A) should be used only when the focus of the organization is to improve the quality of products.
B) should be used by companies while planning new product development.
C) means merging with another company and adopting its organizational structure.
D) means closing down the organization and selling its shares to a larger company.

Question 76

In _____ organizations, middle and lower levels of management make broader, more important decisions about their units.

A) decentralized
B) centralized
C) tightly controlled
D) one-person

Question 77

List and explain the four stages of growth of an organization.

Question 78

All of the following are benefits of downsizing EXCEPT :

A) tremendous cost reductions.
B) improved management of operations.
C) constant and close supervision on each level.
D) higher profits.

Question 79

A restricted kind of authority which gives a staff person authority over a given operation is called:

A) advisory authority.
B) command authority.
C) line authority.
D) functional authority.

Question 80

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the product approach to departmentalization?