Question 1

Ideally decision making should be done by

Accepted Answer

Ideally decision making occurs at the level of the people who are most directly affected by and have the most intimate knowledge about the problem.

Question 2

According to Napoleon Bonaparte, the optimal number of subordinates is

Accepted Answer

The optimal number of subordinates, according to Napoleon Bonaparte, is five. Some managers today still consider five a good number.

Question 3

Clarissa, VP of operations, was looking for a new direction and asked Jack to manage the reorganization of the call center, even though he was less experienced than many of the managers in that department. Jack found that the other managers were not cooperative in giving him access to their current procedures or ideas about new ones, and he felt powerless to compel them. Clarissa most likely made the mistake of

Accepted Answer

The person who gets the assignment should be given the authority, time, and resources to carry out the task successfully. Jack seems not to have adequate authority.

Question 4

Which of the following statements about delegation is true?

Accepted Answer

Delegation helps develop effective subordinates; the approach is likely to empower subordinates and help them develop. Delegation gives the subordinate a more important job.

Question 5

The assignment of authority and responsibility to a subordinate at a lower level is referred to as

Accepted Answer

Delegation is the assignment of authority and responsibility to a subordinate at a lower level. It often requires that the subordinate report back to his or her boss about how effectively the assignment was carried out.

Question 6

A ________ organization may cluster jobs according to the following departments: marketing, finance, operations, accounting, and human resources.

Accepted Answer

In a functional organization, jobs (and departments) are specialized and grouped according to business functions and the skills they require: production, marketing, human resources, research and development, finance, accounting, and so forth.

Question 7

Precious Metals Decor manufactures the solid gold tableware used by government officials for State Department functions. Which of these would be considered a line department at this organization?

Accepted Answer

Line departments are those that have responsibility for the principal activities of the firm. Line units deal directly with the organization's primary goods or services; in this case they deal with manufacturing gold tableware.

Question 8

________ exists for an employee when his or her manager has an expectation that the job will be performed and has the right to take corrective action if it is not.

Accepted Answer

Accountability means that the subordinate's manager has the right to expect the subordinate to perform the job, and the right to take corrective action if the subordinate fails to do so.

Question 9

Mason Engineering is run in a very traditional way, with experienced top managers making all the decisions and passing them down to lower levels for implementation. Mason can be described as a(n) ________ organization.

Accepted Answer

In a centralized organization, important decisions usually are made at the top. This is the situation at Mason.

Question 10

An organization in which lower-level managers make important decisions is a(n) __________ organization.

Accepted Answer

The delegation of responsibility and authority decentralizes decision making. In decentralized organizations, more decisions are made at lower levels.

Question 11

When an person is assigned a task that he or she is supposed to carry out, that person has been given

Accepted Answer

Responsibility means that a person is assigned a task that he or she is supposed to carry out.

Question 12

Which of the following is an advantage of functional departmentalization?

Accepted Answer

One potential advantage of the traditional functional approach to departmentalization is that decision making and lines of communication are simple and clearly understood.

Question 13

A ________ span of control creates a flat organization.

Accepted Answer

Holding size constant, wide spans build a flat organization with fewer reporting levels.

Question 14

The number of subordinates who report directly to an executive or supervisor is called the

Accepted Answer

The number of subordinates who report directly to an executive or supervisor is called the span of control.

Question 15

Which of the following is an important aspect of delegation?

Accepted Answer

The person who gets the assignment should be given the authority, time, and resources to carry out the task successfully.

Question 16

Pendant Insurance has strictly defined job responsibilities and lines of communication. In this formal atmosphere, approval for any changes to standing procedures must be obtained by upper management. Here the insurance firm has

Accepted Answer

In a centralized organization, important decisions usually are made at the top.

Question 17

Subdividing an organization into smaller units is

Accepted Answer

Departmentalization is subdividing an organization into smaller subunits.

Question 18

Narrow spans of control build __________ organizations.

Accepted Answer

Holding size constant, narrow spans build a tall organization with many reporting levels.

Question 19

In a ________, important decisions usually are made at the top.

Accepted Answer