Question 1

Define and describe each of the contingency effectiveness approaches.

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Question 2

What is the difference between a differentiation strategy and a focus strategy?

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Question 3

In an introductory management course, the professor was quoted as saying that "organizational effectiveness is simply the degree to which the organization achieves its pre-set goals." Is he correct?

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Question 4

The competing values approach to effectiveness demonstrates that only one managerial value (or effectiveness criterion) can be used, and managers must decide which of the four competing values they will follow.

Accepted Answer

The competing values approach to effectiveness does not assert that only one managerial value can be used. Instead, it advocates for a balance of all four values (internal process, open systems, rational goal, and human relations) in order to achieve overall organizational effectiveness.

Question 5

Based on the following description, put the strategy of Granite Rock Company into a theoretical context and explain its approach in "textbook terms." We know that Granite Rock tracks its actual operations in at least 40 measurable ways, each plotted and posted on graphs and charts at every plant. The company surveys customers to rate itself and competitors, and aims to outperform the group average by 33%. When Granite Rock doesn't achieve its goal, management charts the daily operations, and are assured that their employees will see a negative and want to do something about it.

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Question 6

List and describe Porter's competitive strategies.

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Question 7

The rational goal emphasis incorporates the values of an internal focus and a flexible structure, whereas the internal process emphasis reflects the values of internal focus and structural control.

Accepted Answer

The statement is incorrect. The rational goal emphasis reflects the values of an external focus and a flexible structure, while the internal process emphasis reflects the values of internal focus and flexible structure.

Question 8

Some people believe that athletics is overemphasized in universities; others believe that it is underemphasized. How would you go about measuring the effectiveness of a university relative to its athletics program?

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Question 9

Assume that a non-profit organization is very successful at obtaining grants to support its activities. However, employees believe that a hostile work environment exists. You have heard that recipients of the organization's services run the range of satisfaction with services provided. If you came in as an outside evaluator to this situation, describe and defend the method would you use for assessing effectiveness.

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Question 10

Contrast official goals and operative goals, and provide an example that illustrates each.

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Question 11

You have just been hired by a large organization to serve as a first-line supervisor, but because you are in an influential department, you have the opportunity to meet the top managers at a company party and to speak with the CEO about his or her responsibilities. Knowing the responsibilities and types of decisions made by top management as we studied them in organizational theory, what would you discuss about the organization with the CEO?

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Question 12

What is the specific overlap between effectiveness and efficiency?

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Question 13

What is the difference between a goal and a strategy? Give an example that illustrates each.

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Question 14

The internal process approach to effectiveness utilizes both cultural and economic measures.

Accepted Answer

The internal process approach to effectiveness focuses on improving organizational processes and systems. This approach utilizes both cultural measures (e.g. employee satisfaction, communication effectiveness, and teamwork) and economic measures (e.g. cost reduction, productivity improvement, and cycle time reduction) to evaluate effectiveness.

Question 15

The new general manager of a (Broadway-style) theatre in Toronto wants to assess the theatre's effectiveness as an organization. Although the theatre has grown because of its stylish productions, management from a business perspective has been relatively absent. Based on our study in organizational theory, how should this assessment of effectiveness be approached?

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Question 16

Describe the internal-process effectiveness measure of economic efficiency.

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Question 17

Apply Porter's model for formulating strategies to the following situation: Quebecor Printing is a commercial printing company that is expanding, acquiring ailing printing companies, and moving into international markets. It has completed more than 100 mergers and buyouts since 1972, and has focused on customized service by using "selective binding" to print,
e.g., two dozen versions of Reader's Digest for different urban and regional markets.

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Question 18

When would you recommend that the resource-based approach be used to gauge organizational effectiveness?

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Question 19

You are talking at a social event with a top manager of another company about her company's effectiveness. She says flippantly, "Effectiveness is not an issue for me, because effectiveness is however I define it." Evaluate her claim.

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Question 20

What does a competing-values approach have to do with organizational effectiveness?

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Quiz 2: Strategy, Organizational Design, and Effectiveness