Question 1

Ideally, decision making should be done by the
A)board of directors.
B)top management of the organization.
C)customers of the organization.
D)supervisory-level employees.
E)people who are most affected by the issue.

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

The optimal span of control should be wide when
A)the work is ambiguous.
B)subordinates are untrained and do not have access to much information.
C)the manager has just taken over the position.
D)jobs are similar.
E)subordinates prefer close supervisory control.

Accepted Answer

The optimal span of control depends on a number of factors. The span of control should be wide when jobs are similar and performance measures are comparable.

Question 3

Integral Insurance has strictly defined job responsibilities and lines of communication. In this formal atmosphere, approval for any changes to standing procedures must be made by upper management. Here, the insurance firm has a
A)wide span of control.
B)high degree of centralization.
C)decentralized authority.
D)matrix design.
E)flat structure.

Accepted Answer

The delegation of responsibility and authority decentralizes decision making. In a centralized organization, important decisions usually are made at the top.

Question 4

_____ 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.
A)Corporate governance
B)Accountability
C)Strategic control
D)Coordination
E)Span of control

Accepted Answer

As the manager delegates responsibilities, subordinates are held accountable for achieving results. 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 5

In a _____ organization, jobs are specialized and grouped such as marketing, finance, operations, accounting, and human resources.
A)product
B)geographical
C)conglomerate
D)functional
E)customer

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 6

An organization in which lower-level managers make important decisions is a(n) _____ organization.
A)decentralized
B)horizontal
C)vertical
D)informal
E)centralized

Accepted Answer

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

Question 7

Which of the following is an advantage of functional departmentalization?
A)It most useful in a complex environment.
B)Employees are able to focus exclusively on creating customer satisfaction.
C)It encourages managers to become generalists.
D)Decision making and lines of communication are simple and clearly understood.
E)It is the most flexible organization form.

Accepted Answer

The traditional functional approach to departmentalization has a number of potential advantages for an organization. One such advantage is that decision making and lines of communication are simple and clearly understood.

Question 8

Spencer is an operations manager at Levant Corp. He has been put on a big project with a tight deadline. Spencer distributes half the work to two other supervisors, taking care of the bigger aspects of the project himself. This is an example of
A)unity of command.
B)delegation.
C)specialization.
D)span of management.
E)differentiation.

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 9

Which of the following statements is true about delegation?
A)It can be used only in organizations with flat structures.
B)It promotes subordinates to higher positions.
C)It helps develop effective subordinates.
D)It can be done only at top level of management.
E)It often sharply reduces what a manager can achieve.

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 10

Which of the following departments is considered a line department?
A)Public relations
B)Human resource
C)Assembly
D)Accounting
E)Legal

Accepted Answer

Line departments are those that have responsibility for the principal activities of a firm. Line units deal directly with an organization's primary goods or services; they make things, sell things, or provide customer service.

Question 11

Which of the following is a characteristic of product organizations?
A)Duplication of effort is cheap.
B)Decision making is decentralized.
C)Functions are centralized at headquarters.
D)Multiple managers are involved in the product lines.
E)Task responsibilities are unclear.

Accepted Answer

Coordination across product lines and divisions is difficult. Because decision making is decentralized, top management can lose control over decisions made in the divisions. Proper management of decentralization and delegation is essential for this structure to be effective.

Question 12

Julia, VP of operations, was looking for a new direction and asked Paulo to manage the reorganization of the call center, even though he was less experienced than many of the managers in that department. Paulo 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. Julia most likely made the mistake of
A)delegating inappropriate tasks to a junior manager.
B)delegating responsibility without adequate authority to Paulo.
C)"passing the buck" by blaming Paulo's performance.
D)taking credit for Paulo's accomplishments.
E)underestimating Paulo's capabilities.

Accepted Answer

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

Question 13

Which of the following is true of line departments?
A)They provide specialized skills to support staff departments.
B)They deal directly with the organization's primary goods and services.
C)They include research, legal, accounting, and human resources departments.
D)They focus on safeguarding the company from risks.
E)They focus more on requirements and procedures rather than products and customers.

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.

Question 14

Derek assigned some of his authority and responsibility to Christine, a subordinate employee. This practice is called
A)concentration.
B)centralization.
C)delegation.
D)division of labor.
E)unity of command.

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 15

In Valley Solutions, Inc., important decisions usually are made at the top. Valley Solutions has a _____ organization.
A)flat
B)wide
C)narrow
D)centralized
E)decentralized

Accepted Answer

The delegation of responsibility and authority decentralizes decision making. In a centralized organization, important decisions usually are made at the top.

Question 16

Best-Built Construction is run in a very traditional way, with experienced top managers making all the decisions and passing them down to lower levels for implementation. Best-Built can be described as a(n) _____ organization.
A)integrated
B)centralized
C)differentiated
D)decentralized
E)horizontal

Accepted Answer

In a centralized organization, important decisions usually are made at the top. This is the situation at Best-Built. In decentralized organizations, more decisions are made at lower levels.

Question 17

According to Napoleon Bonaparte, the optimal number of subordinates is ____.
A)3
B)5
C)10
D)25
E)50

Accepted Answer

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

Question 18

Casa Caliente Inc. was voted producer of the best hot sauce in its city. It soon expanded and now manufactures and distributes sauces, kitchen equipment, and specialty spices nationwide, with a separate department for each. Which of the following forms of departmentalization does Casa Caliente Inc. have?
A)Conglomerate
B)Horizontal
C)Geographic
D)Customer
E)Product

Accepted Answer

Organizations can create a divisional structure in several ways, including product divisions. In the product organization, all functions that contribute to a given product are organized under one manager. Casa Caliente Inc. uses product departmentalization.

Question 19

Subdividing an organization into smaller subunits is known as ____.
A)departmentalization
B)delegation
C)centralization
D)standardization
E)diversification

Accepted Answer

Departmentalization is subdividing an organization into smaller subunits. The three basic approaches to departmentalization are functional, divisional, and matrix.

Question 20

An organization with departmentalization that groups units around products, customers, or geographic regions is called a
A)divisional organization.
B)centralized organization.
C)conglomerate organization.
D)functional organization.
E)virtual organization.

Accepted Answer

A divisional organization uses departmentalization that groups units around products, customers, or geographic regions. In this structure, separate divisions may act almost as separate businesses or profit centers and work autonomously to accomplish the goals of the entire enterprise.

Quiz 8: Organization Structure

Ideally, decision making should be done by the

The optimal span of control should be wide when

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

_____ 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.

In a _____ organization, jobs are specialized and grouped such as marketing, finance, operations, accounting, and human resources.

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

Which of the following is an advantage of functional departmentalization?

Spencer is an operations manager at Levant Corp. He has been put on a big project with a tight deadline. Spencer distributes half the work to two other supervisors, taking care of the bigger aspects of the project himself. This is an example of

Which of the following statements is true about delegation?

Which of the following departments is considered a line department?

Which of the following is a characteristic of product organizations?

Which of the following is true of line departments?

Derek assigned some of his authority and responsibility to Christine, a subordinate employee. This practice is called

In Valley Solutions, Inc., important decisions usually are made at the top. Valley Solutions has a _____ organization.

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

According to Napoleon Bonaparte, the optimal number of subordinates is ____.

Subdividing an organization into smaller subunits is known as ____.

An organization with departmentalization that groups units around products, customers, or geographic regions is called a