Deck 4: Organization: Structure and Process

Question 1

According to Max Weber, bureaucracy is ever-expanding. This is largely attributable to the fact that the government must undertake more tasks to keep up with a more complex society. How, then, can we explain the current trend toward reducing the size of government? What recourse do public servants at the federal level have to ensure that the government can keep up with such rapid societal change?

Answer 1

Not Answered

Question 2

Identify some individuals whom you consider to be leaders and discuss the situational and other factors and characteristics that contribute to their ability to lead.

Answer 2

Not Answered

Question 3

How realistic does the participatory organizational approach appear to you in view of your experience in organizations? What is known about human behavior in them?

Answer 3

Not Answered

Question 4

4. Harold Seidman examined the political approach to public organizations and provided a checklist of issues to be addressed in any proposed reorganization. Can you add to his list? Identify an organization that has recently undergone reorganization. How would you answer the questions posed by Seidman?

Question 5

Is the NPM correct in its assertion that current administrative structures are outmoded and require greater flexibility? Can you think of any governmental functions that require a hierarchical structure and strict adherence to rules?

Question 6

The political approach to organization, as discussed in the chapter, is most concerned with

A) efficiency
B) clear lines of authority
C)organizational constituencies
D)the electorate

Question 7

Pluralism within the federal bureaucracy promotes

A) representation
B) delay and fragmentation
C)overlapping missions
D)all of the above

Question 8

The situational approach to leadership holds that

A) leaders are born not made
B) leaders are produced by organizational circumstances
C)leadership depends entirely on interpersonal situations involving communication and empathy
D)there really is no such thing as leadership

Question 9

According to Max Weber, bureaucracy's "special virtue" was its

A) rationality
B) power
C)ability to take on new tasks
D)dehumanization

Question 10

A suitable leadership style would depend on

A) the manager
B) the subordinates
C)the organizational situation
D)all of the above

Question 11

The human relations approach seeks to

A) advertise the positive aspects of organizations
B) pay workers according to their individual output
C)satisfy workers' social needs
D)restrict output so that there will be more work to go around

Question 12

The Hawthorne studies purported to show that

A) workers adapted to adversity
B) productivity was related to social factors
C)physical factors were irrelevant in terms of productivity
D)none of the above

Question 13

Abraham Maslow is best known for

A) scientific management
B) organizational hierarchy
C)his critique of Max Weber
D)none of the above

Question 14

Chester Barnard, in The Functions of the Executive, describes the "zone of indifference" in which

A) workers do not have strong opinions about managerial directives
B) workers would follow managerial directives without question
C)managers do not have strong opinions about their own directives
D)workers would attempt to oppose, subvert, or circumvent managerial directives

Question 15

According to the chapter, which of the following is the best example of a public entrepreneur?

A) J. Edgar Hoover
B) Woodrow Wilson
C)Amitai Etzioni
D)Herbert Simon

Question 16

Which of the following assumes organizational effectiveness will improve if trust, support, and cooperation among members is increased?

A) Theory Y
B) total quality management
C)organizational development
D)agency theory

Question 17

Of the following choices, which needs occupy the highest position in Maslow's hierarchy?

A) self-esteem
B) safety
C)social
D)physiological

Question 18

Organization theory

A) is concerned with the behavior of organizations but not with that of the individuals in them
B) is concerned with the behavior of organizations and that of the individuals in them
C)is unconcerned with the rationality of organization design
D)pays little attention to nonmembers of the organization being studied

Question 19

Benchmarking

A) cannot be used in conjunction with TQM
B) makes use of "best practices" in a particular functional area
C)is not currently used in the public sector
D)all of the above

Question 20

The scientific management movement sought

A) efficiency
B) greater managerial control over workers
C)to make tasks easier for workers
D)all of the above

Question 21

Which of the following is not considered a "hygiene" factor?

A) administrative practices
B) supervisory relations
C)personnel discipline
D)all are hygiene factors

Question 22

Which of the following is not part of POSDCORB?

A) staffing
B) planning
C)controlling
D)directing

Question 23

Which of the following is not considered a standard feature of bureaucratic organization in its technical sense?

A) hierarchy
B) specialization
C)personal treatment
D)efficiency

Question 24

Herbert Simon wrote

A) The Administrative State
B) Administrative Behavior
C)The Functions of the Executive
D)Papers on the Science of Administration

Question 25

Theory X assumes that workers are

A) lacking in ambition
B) too well paid
C)highly motivated
D)none of the above

Question 26

Administrative law judges are

A) within agency hierarchies
B) members of the judiciary
C)politically appointed
D)also known as hearing examiners

Question 27

Networks are conceptually useful in analyzing organizational

A) structures
B) processes
C)environments
D)irrationalities

Question 28

Agency theory assumes that

A) individuals are altruistic
B) individuals are "other" regarding
C)individuals are "self" regarding
D)individuals are irrelevant to administrative agencies

Question 29

According to the traditional managerial approach, the fundamental key to economic rationality and productivity is

A) decentralization
B) hierarchy
C)specialization
D)privatization

Question 30

Which is not an organizational value embraced by the New Public Management?

A) direct citizen participation
B) employee empowerment
C)entrepreneurial management
D)marketlike competition

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT true concerning networked organizations?

A) consciously created as means to leverage the strengths of the partners
B) substitute information and expertise for authority structure and established administrative routines
C)partners are all known and/or are accessible to each other through the network itself
D)must be managed more than they are governed

Question 32

Organizations in which all employees had equal authority could not be bureaucratic in the Weberian sense.

Question 33

Expectancy theory assumes that all workers have the same general goals.

Question 34

Efficiency and productivity are not considered legitimate values by the human relations approach.

Question 35

The Federal Advisory Committee Act (1972) is intended to help make the federal government more representative of groups it serves and/or regulates.

Question 36

Performance-based organizations (PBOs) are private corporations that perform governmental functions.

Question 37

According to Etzioni's perspective, when individual involvement is alienative, an authoritarian leadership style may be appropriate.

Question 38

Jean Lipman-Blumen does not believe that there are myths about female leadership.

Question 39

According to Herzberg, if hygiene factors are adequately met, job satisfaction will likely result.

Question 40

The New Public Management places heavy emphasis on teams and teambuilding.

Question 41

Ex parte communications are always one sided.

Question 42

Advocacy administration refers most to the legal approach to public organization.

Question 43

According to classical public administrative organizational theory, the Department of Veterans Affairs would be an example of organization by purpose.

Question 44

Open systems are called "open" because they are subject to public scrutiny through various forms of "sunshine" legislation.

Question 45

The ecological model considers the environment to be of critical importance to organizations and focuses on change.

Question 46

Constitutionally, Congress has authority to initiate structural changes in the executive branch.

Question 47

The advantage of network based organizations is their ability to mobilize a diverse array of intelligence, information, and expertise in the solution of common problems.

Question 48

Spontaneous emergence of complex networks that exhibit many and varied task interdependencies produce less effective results.