Deck 5: Organisational Structure and Design

Question 1

_________ is the power that rests on the leader's ability to punish or control.

A)Referent power
B)Reward power
C)Expert power
D)Coercive power

Answer 1

Coercive power

Question 2

The line of authority that extends from the upper levels of management to the lowest levels of the organisation is termed the _________.

A)chain of command
B)managerial prerogative
C)span of control
D)chain of responsibility

Answer 2

chain of command

Question 3

Early proponents of work specialisation early in the twentieth century found that the practice ultimately resulted in _________.

A)better communication among employees
B)huge and permanent productivity gains
C)bored workers with low morale
D)higher profits and better employee morale

Answer 3

bored workers with low morale

Question 4

Which of the following is synonymous with work specialisation?

A)Equal opportunity
B)Chain of command
C)Division of labour
D)Span of control

Question 5

A soap company that features a bath soap department, a laundry detergent department and a dish soap department is using which of the following?

A)Product departmentalisation
B)Functional departmentalisation
C)Process departmentalisation
D)Customer departmentalisation

Question 6

What kind of departmentalisation would be in place in a government agency in which there are separate departments that provide services for employers, employed workers, unemployed workers and the disabled?

A)Product
B)Geographic
C)Customer
D)Outcome

Question 7

Line authority gives a manager the ability to direct the work of _________.

A)other managers
B)any subordinate
C)only subordinates one level down
D)any subordinate, after consulting with the next higher level

Question 8

Authority is best defined as _________.

A)an obligation to perform assigned duties
B)a structure in which each employee reports to only one manager
C)the rights inherent in a managerial position to give orders and expect the orders to be obeyed
D)an individual's capacity to influence decisions

Question 9

A middle manager may try to impress her boss's administrative assistant because the administrative assistant has _________.

A)power and authority
B)line authority but not staff authority
C)power but not authority
D)authority but not power

Question 10

Which statement accurately defines work specialisation?

A)It is the degree to which tasks are grouped together.
B)Work specialisation clarifies who reports to whom.
C)Jobs are ranked relative only to their worth or value to the businesses.
D)Individual employees specialise in doing part of an activity rather than the entire activity.

Question 11

Today, managers recognise work specialisation as an important mechanism to improve employee _________.

A)productivity
B)efficiency
C)satisfaction
D)motivation

Question 12

_________ departmentalisation is based on territory or the physical location of employees or customers.

A)Geographic
B)Dysfunctional
C)Functional
D)Divisional

Question 13

Organisational design means that a manager engages in _________.

A)changing the branding of the organisation
B)organising groups within an organisation
C)changing or developing the structure of an organisation
D)gathering feedback from all employees

Question 14

A construction site supervisor who sees an impending thunderstorm and tells workers to go home is demonstrating _________.

A)staff delegation
B)responsibility
C)provisional accountability
D)line authority

Question 15

A bank manager who passes out bonuses at the end of the year is exercising this.

A)Expert power
B)Referent power
C)Reward power
D)Legitimate power

Question 16

_________ prevents a single employee from getting conflicting orders from two different superiors.

A)Chain of command
B)Line authority
C)Staff authority
D)Unity of command

Question 17

In some instances, strict adherence to unity of command may create a degree of inflexiblity that _________.

A)hinders the organisation
B)oppresses employee rights
C)emphasises technological advances
D)enhances a manager's power

Question 18

Which statement best summarises the difference between authority and power?

A)Power is a two-dimensional part of a three-dimensional authority
B)Power is a right, while authority is a privilege.
C)Authority is one's ability to influence decisions, while power is an informal right to make decisions.
D)Authority is a right and is part of power

Question 19

In the chain of command, each person above you _________.

A)has line authority
B)has special privileges
C)receives higher pay
D)has no right to give you orders

Question 20

Which element of organisational structure helps employees answer questions such 'Who do I report to?'

A)Authority and responsibility
B)Work specialisation
C)Span of control
D)Formalisation

Question 21

A traditional top-down organisation is _________ organisation.

A)an absolutely decentralised
B)a largely centralised
C)an absolutely centralised
D)a largely decentralised

Question 22

All of the following are characteristics of a highly formalised organisation except _________.

A)explicit job descriptions
B)little discretion for employees
C)a standardised way of doing things
D)minimum number of rules

Question 23

When work specialisation originally began to be implemented early in the twentieth century, employee productivity initially declined.

Question 24

Today, most managers see work specialisation as a source of ever-increasing productivity.

Question 25

When a top manager decides to hire an individual over the objections of her staff, she is exercising which kind of power?

A)Coercive
B)Referent
C)Legitimate
D)Expert

Question 26

Power is a right that a manager has when he or she has a higher rank in an organisation.

Question 27

Sara is offered a chance to help direct the efforts of some employees assigned to her work group.Sara sees this new assignment as an increase in _________, or an obligation or expectation for her to perform at a new level.

A)authority
B)responsibility
C)functional structure
D)divisional structure

Question 28

Eric is offered a chance to help direct the efforts of some employees assigned to his work group.This is a chance for Eric to experience _________.

A)divisional structure
B)authority
C)functional structure
D)responsibility

Question 29

Which of the following is common strategy used by organisations that must deal with economic downturns?

A)Decreasing span of control
B)Reducing managerial staff
C)Decreasing the number of unstructured problems in the organisation
D)Reducing the number of employees reporting to the manager

Question 30

The jobs of assembly-line employees are to be changed to allow more tasks to be done by individual workers.This is a reduction in _________.

A)chain of command
B)departmentalisation
C)centralisation
D)work specialisation

Question 31

The advantage of work specialisation is that it tends to result in high employee engagement and high productivity.

Question 32

Modern managers find that they can _________ if their employees are experienced, well trained and motivated.

A)eliminate their span of control
B)increase their span of control
C)decrease their span of control
D)fluctuate their span of control

Question 33

One of the most popular ways to group activities in an organisation is by chain of command.

Question 34

There are six basic elements in organisational structure.

Question 35

Unity of command prevents an employee from trying to follow two conflicting commands at once.

Question 36

Today's managers are moving away from formalisation and trying to be this.

A)More strict
B)Less permissive
C)More flexible
D)More rigorous

Question 37

The original ideas about organisational design formulated by Fayol and Weber are still relevant today.

Question 38

Staff authority is the ability to direct the work of any employee who does not have a higher rank in the organisation.

Question 39

Grouping jobs on the basis of major product areas is called customer departmentalisation.

Question 40

_________ is the power that arises when a person is close to another person who has great power and authority.

A)Reward power
B)Coercive power
C)Referent power
D)Expert power

Question 41

Which term best describes a mechanistic organisation?

A)Informal
B)Collaborative
C)Hierarchical
D)Adaptive

Question 42

Larger organisations tend to have _________ than smaller organisations.

A)less centralisation
B)less departmentalisation
C)fewer rules and regulations
D)more specialisation

Question 43

Which term best describes an organic organisation?

A)Pyramid shaped
B)Hierarchical
C)Flexible
D)Centralised

Question 44

Woodward concluded that a mechanistic structure worked best for a firm that used _________.

A)mass production
B)quality production
C)unit production
D)process production

Question 45

Explain how line authority is often a link in a chain of command.

Question 46

In a short essay, list and discuss the following three common forms of departmentalisation: functional, product and geographical.

Question 47

In a short essay, list and explain the following three key elements in designing an organisation's structure: specialisation, departmentalisation and authority and responsibility.

Question 48

In Woodward's study, this type of production combined high vertical differentiation and low horizontal differentiation.

A)Process production
B)Mass production
C)Unit production
D)Technological production

Question 49

The greater the environmental uncertainty, the more an organisation needs to become _________.

A)high-tech
B)mechanistic
C)stable
D)organic

Question 50

As an organisation grows to a size of over 2,000 employees, it finds it hard to avoid becoming more _________.

A)adaptable
B)mechanistic
C)collaborative
D)decentralised

Question 51

A company that is trying to be a leader in innovation within its industry would be most likely to have this kind of structure.

A)Mechanistic
B)Simple
C)Functional
D)Organic

Question 52

When decisions tend to be made at lower levels in an organisation, the organisation is said to be decentralised.

Question 53

List and discuss the following two common forms of departmentalisation: process and customer.

Question 54

Strategy, size, technology and the degree of uncertainty in the environment together make up what are called _________.

A)structure factors
B)probable factors
C)control factors
D)contingency factors

Question 55

According to the authors, the span of control is increasingly being determined by looking at contingency factors.List three of these factors.

Question 56

How did early organisations handle a violation in the unity of command?

Question 57

Which of the following would likely be found in an organic organisation?

A)Technically proficient employees
B)A formal chain of command
C)High centralisation
D)Standardised job responsibilities

Question 58

A(n) _________ organisation is able to change rapidly as needs require.

A)vertical
B)mechanistic
C)organic
D)hierarchical

Question 59

A company that is pursuing a cost leadership strategy would be most likely to have this kind of structure.

A)Virtual
B)Matrix project
C)Mechanistic
D)Team

Question 60

Joan Woodward conducted pioneering studies on how this affected the structure of companies.

A)Values
B)Corporate culture
C)Ethics
D)Technology

Question 61

A simple structure is _________ like a mechanistic organisation, but _________ like an organic organisation.

A)centralised; informal
B)centralised; formal
C)decentralised; formal
D)informal; decentralised

Question 62

An organic organisation is bureaucratic and hierarchical.

Question 63

The relationship between organisational size and structure tends to be linear.

Question 64

A mechanistic organisation tends to be flexible and have few formal rules.

Question 65

A key difference between a team structure and a virtual organisation is that a team structure _________, while a virtual organisation does not.

A)permanently employs team members
B)works on projects
C)holds group members accountable
D)empowers group members

Question 66

Managers who are looking for ways to make their organisation more flexible and innovative would most likely choose a _________ structure.

A)divisional
B)team
C)functional
D)simple

Question 67

What is the one strength of a simple structure?

A)Power and authority are widely distributed
B)There are cost-saving advantages from specialisation
C)Accountability is clear
D)Employees are grouped with others who have similar tasks

Question 68

What are the characteristics of the mechanistic organisation, and of an organic organisation?

Question 69

Who coined the term boundaryless organisation? return to a different division

A)Keyur Patel, Accenture consultant
B)Jack Welch, former GE chairman
C)Philip Rosedale, founder of Second Life
D)Henry Ford, inventor of the Model T Ford

Question 70

Joan Woodward attempted to view organisational structure from a technological perspective.

Question 71

The two prevalent organisation structure models in today's world are the organic organisation and the mechanistic organisation.

Question 72

A media company that has separate, autonomous companies for movies, TV, Internet and print journalism is most likely a _________ structure.

A)divisional
B)simple
C)matrix
D)functional

Question 73

In a _________ structure, each business unit has complete autonomy to reach its goals.

A)matrix
B)functional
C)divisional
D)simple

Question 74

All of the following are necessary for a successful team structure except _________.

A)team members with years of management experience
B)team members with cross-functional skills
C)well-trained team members
D)a fair and well-run team-based pay plan

Question 75

Having separate payroll departments in each division of a divisional structure is an example of which of the following?

A)Effectiveness, because separate payroll departments create jobs
B)Efficiency, because separate payroll departments can share methods of operation
C)Duplication, because a single payroll department could do the job
D)Efficiency, because payroll departments compete

Question 76

In a team structure, team members _________.

A)are subject to decisions made by their supervisors
B)make decisions only after first checking with management
C)can influence decisions made by top managers
D)make decisions and are accountable for their decisions

Question 77

By giving employees two direct superiors, a matrix structure violates this key element of organisational design.

A)Decentralisation
B)Span of management
C)Unity of command
D)Chain of command

Question 78

The stability of a mechanistic structure seems to work best in today's dynamic and uncertain business environment.

Question 79

_________ is a key characteristic in an organisation with a functional structure.

A)Little specialisation
B)Adaptability
C)Departmentalisation
D)Flexibility

Question 80

.A weakness of a functional structure is that the organisation frequently loses sight of its _________ in the pursuit of _________.

A)sustainability plan; organisational goals
B)best interests; functional goals
C)long-term plan; organisational goals
D)span of control; functional goals