Q&A Hero

Q: In a team structure, there is a clear line of managerial authority from top to bottom.

Q: In a team structure, team members are not held responsible for their decisions.

Q: A weakness of the divisional structure is that duplication of activities tends to occur.

Q: A strength of a functional structure is that it avoids duplication of activities.

Q: One of the strengths of a simple structure is that it is flexible.

Q: Eric the Redd (Scenario)Eric Redd graduated from college and was hired by a corporation that manufactured parts for the automotive industry. The employees on the assembly line seemed bored, and their motivation was low. Eric's employer decided to try to reorganize to increase productivity. During his career, Eric will see his job change from an engineer to a more complex job assignment.Eric, who is trained as an engineer, is now in a group with production workers and marketing specialists from different departments designing a new product that the company plans to offer. This situation could be described as a(n) ________.A) alternative assignmentB) collective assignmentC) advanced assignmentD) project assignment

Q: A building contractor follows the network organization model when he does which of the following?A) does the framing and tiling by himselfB) hires three workers to help with framingC) gives orders to workersD) farms out the plumbing to a plumbing firm

Q: A ________ subcontracts part of a project to outside suppliers.A) virtual organizationB) boundary organizationC) matrix structureD) network organization

Q: How does a virtual organization save on costs?A) by hiring people who specialize in what they doB) by hiring fewer people than they need and making them work much longer hoursC) by eliminating all administrative dutiesD) by keeping only a small permanent staff for administrative purposes only

Q: A virtual organization is essentially ________ who come together for a particular project.A) a group of employees from a single companyB) a group of free agentsC) a team of employees from different departments of a companyD) a group of top managers and CEOs

Q: Boundaryless organizations try to eliminate ________ within their organization.A) horizontal specialization and vertical hierarchyB) horizontal specialization onlyC) vertical hierarchy onlyD) vertical specialization only

Q: Which of the following is the biggest concern when doing work at anytime and anywhere?A) employee payrollB) securityC) employee accountabilityD) customer satisfaction

Q: Which of the following areas has opened up new possibilities for how and where employees work?A) information technologyB) human resourcesC) organizational designD) global competition

Q: In a project structure, when employees finish a project they ________.A) return to their departmentB) return to a different divisionC) move on to another projectD) return to their regular work

Q: A key difference between a team structure and a matrix structure is that a team structure ________ while a matrix structure does not.A) empowers group membersB) works on projectsC) has fairly permanent groups or teamsD) holds group members accountable

Q: By giving employees two direct superiors, a matrix structure violates this key element of organizational design.A) unity of commandB) chain of commandC) span of managementD) decentralization

Q: When a group member in a matrix structure finishes a project, he or she ________.A) returns to his or her functional departmentB) stays with the group to take on a new projectC) enters a pool of available employees from the entire organizationD) starts looking for a new job

Q: In a matrix structure, a group member will typically report to ________.A) a project manager onlyB) both a project manager and functional department headC) a functional department head onlyD) Group members are fully autonomous in a matrix structure, so they don't report to anyone.

Q: In a ________, employees are recruited from functional departments to work on a specific project for a limited time period.A) team structureB) divisional structureC) product structureD) matrix structure

Q: All of the following are necessary for successful team structure EXCEPT ________.A) well-trained team membersB) team members with cross-functional skillsC) team members with years of management experienceD) a fair and well-run team-based pay plan

Q: In a team structure, team members ________.A) are subject to decisions made by their supervisorsB) can influence decisions made by top managersC) make decisions and are accountable for their decisionsD) make decisions only after first checking with management

Q: In a team structure, ________.A) there is a clear line of managerial authorityB) there is no clear line of managerial authorityC) authority comes from top managers onlyD) no one has the authority to make decisions

Q: Looking for ways to make their organization more flexible and innovative, today's managers may choose this kind of structure.A) simpleB) divisionalC) functionalD) team

Q: As the number of employees in an organization grows, structure tends to become more ________.A) bureaucraticB) informalC) decentralizedD) relaxed

Q: Having separate payroll departments in each division of a divisional structure is an example of which of the following?A) efficiency, because payroll departments competeB) duplication, because a single payroll department could do the jobC) effectiveness, because separate payroll departments create jobsD) efficiency, because separate payroll departments can share methods of operation

Q: A media company that has separate, autonomous companies for movies, TV, Internet, and print journalism is most likely a ________ structure.A) divisionalB) functionalC) simpleD) matrix

Q: In a ________ structure each business unit has complete autonomy to reach its goals.A) simpleB) functionalC) divisionalD) matrix

Q: Avoiding redundancy is a strength of which structure?A) simpleB) divisionalC) functionalD) corporate

Q: This is a weakness of a functional structure.A) favoring functional goals over organizational goalsB) favoring organizational goals over functional goalsC) failing to attain functional goalsD) overemphasizing organizational goals

Q: This is a key characteristic in an organization with a functional structure.A) adaptabilityB) departmentalizationC) flexibilityD) little specialization

Q: What is a weakness of a simple structure?A) Duplication of activities and resources increases costs and reduces efficiency.B) Functional specialists become insulated and have little understanding of what other units are doing.C) Pursuit of functional goals can cause managers to lose sight of what is best for the overall organization.D) Reliance on a single person is risky.

Q: What is a strength of a simple structure?A) Employees are grouped with others who have similar tasks.B) Power and authority are widely distributed.C) Accountability is clear.D) There are cost-saving advantages from specialization.

Q: A simple structure is ________ like a mechanistic organization, but ________ like an organic organization.A) centralized; informalB) informal; decentralizedC) decentralized; formalD) centralized; formal

Q: Traditional organizational designs tend to be more mechanistic and include ________.A) simple, complex, and divisional structuresB) simple, functional, and dysfunctional structuresC) functional, divisional, and vertical structuresD) simple, functional, and divisional structures

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

Q: Woodward and more recent studies have concluded that mass production worked best with an organic organizational structure.

Q: Joan Woodward attempted to view organizational structure from a technological perspective.

Q: As organizations become larger, they tend to become more organic.

Q: Innovators need the efficiency, stability, and tight controls of a mechanistic structure rather than an organic structure.

Q: An organic organization tends to be flexible and have few formal rules.

Q: A mechanistic organization is bureaucratic and hierarchical.

Q: The two prevalent organizational structure models in today's world are the organic organization and the inorganic organization.

Q: In Woodward's study, this type of production was the most complex and the most sophisticated.A) unit productionB) mass productionC) process productionD) technological production

Q: Woodward concluded that the least complex of the technologies was ________.A) unit productionB) mass productionC) process productionD) quality production

Q: Recent studies on Woodward's initial research found that if the technology was nonroutine, this structure worked best.A) mechanisticB) traditionalC) inorganicD) organic

Q: Joan Woodward conducted pioneering studies on how this affected the structure of companies.A) ethicsB) technologyC) valuesD) corporate culture

Q: As an organization grows to a size of over 2,000 employees, it finds it hard to avoid becoming more ________.A) mechanisticB) organicC) informalD) adaptable

Q: Larger organizations tend to have ________ than smaller organizations.A) more specializationB) less departmentalizationC) less centralizationD) fewer rules and regulations

Q: 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) mechanisticB) organicC) simpleD) functional

Q: Together, contingency variables determine the ________.A) success of an organizationB) culture of an organizationC) structure of an organizationD) size of an organization

Q: Strategy, size, technology, and the degree of uncertainty in the environment together make up what are called ________.A) contingency variablesB) control factorsC) structure variablesD) probable factors

Q: Which word best characterizes a mechanistic organization?A) bureaucracyB) collaborativeC) adaptableD) informal

Q: Which term best describes an organic organization?A) hierarchicalB) pyramid-shapedC) flexibleD) fixed

Q: A(n) ________ organization is able to change rapidly as needs require.A) organicB) hierarchicalC) verticalD) mechanistic

Q: Which of the following would likely be found in mechanistic organizations?A) wide span of controlB) empowered employeesC) decentralized responsibilityD) standardized jobs

Q: Eric Redd graduated from college and was hired by a corporation that manufactured parts for the automotive industry. The employees on the assembly line seemed bored, and their motivation was low. Eric's employer decided to try to reorganize to increase productivity. During his career, Eric will see his job change from an engineer to a more complex job assignment. A(n) ________ organization has a high degree of specialization, formalization, and centralization. A) organic B) horizontal C) learning D) mechanistic

Q: Traditional organizations are structured in a pyramid, with the power and authority located in the pyramid's broad base.

Q: When decisions tend to be made at lower levels in an organization, the organization is said to be centralized.

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

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

Q: Line authority can be exerted only after a manager checks with his or her superior.

Q: Grouping jobs on the basis of major product areas is termed customer departmentalization.

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

Q: Departmentalization is how jobs are grouped.

Q: The advantage of work specialization is that it always results in high employee motivation and high productivity.

Q: Today, most managers see work specialization as a source of ever-increasing productivity.

Q: When work specialization originally began to be implemented early in the twentieth century, employee productivity initially rose.

Q: The original ideas about organizational design formulated by Fayol and Weber are now largely obsolete.

Q: There are four basic elements in organizational design.

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Q: Organizational design is the process in which managers change or develop an organization's structure.

Q: In a short essay, describe the boundaryless organization.

Q: Eric Redd graduated from college and was hired by a corporation that manufactured parts for the automotive industry. The employees on the assembly line seemed bored, and their motivation was low. Eric's employer decided to try to reorganize to increase productivity. During his career, Eric will see his job change from an engineer to a more complex job assignment. Eric sees this new assignment as an increase in ________, or an obligation or expectation for him to perform at a new level. A) functional structure B) divisional structure C) responsibility D) authority

Q: Contingent workers may make up to 40 percent of the workforce by the end of the decade.

Q: Eric Redd graduated from college and was hired by a corporation that manufactured parts for the automotive industry. The employees on the assembly line seemed bored, and their motivation was low. Eric's employer decided to try to reorganize to increase productivity. During his career, Eric will see his job change from an engineer to a more complex job assignment. 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) functional structure B) divisional structure C) responsibility D) authority

Q: Organizations that implement flextime programs allow employees to work at home for some of the work day.

Q: Eric the Redd (Scenario)Eric Redd graduated from college and was hired by a corporation that manufactured parts for the automotive industry. The employees on the assembly line seemed bored, and their motivation was low. Eric's employer decided to try to reorganize to increase productivity. During his career, Eric will see his job change from an engineer to a more complex job assignment.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) work specializationB) departmentalizationC) chain of commandD) centralization

Q: A learning organization puts an enormous amount of effort on making sure that all of its employees are enrolled in some kind of university level class.

Q: Today's managers expect employees to ________. A) ignore rules for the most part B) use discretion when it comes to following rules C) faithfully follow rules even when it may harm the organization D) make their own rules

Q: The biggest issue in workers working at home or off-site involves fairness.