Deck 3: Fundamentals of Organizational Structure

Question 1

What horizontal linkage mechanism includes a liaison person who communicates and coordinates activities between other departments?

A) direct contact
B) task forces
C) information systems
D) teams

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Organizational Chart 3.2

Refer to Organizational Chart 3.2. From the perspective of an organizational structure analyst, what is the best assessment of the structure shown in Organizational Chart 3.2?

A) To lower fixed costs, this organization should change to a divisional structure with customer account executives heading each major division.
B) To improve the communications flow, it is recommended that this company add a full-time integrator between each account executive and operations head.
C) The customer account executives can be considered to be integrators.
D) The organization does not take advantage of economies of scale within the operations department.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following is a characteristic of an organization with a functional structure?

A) It reacts quickly to environmental changes.
B) It diminishes economies of scale compared to the divisional structure.
C) It often results in hierarchy overload.
D) It cannot work in small organizations.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

When does a liaison role exist?

A) when there is direct contact between managers affected by a problem
B) when there is an exchange of paperwork about a problem
C) when a temporary committee composed of representatives from each department affected by a problem is formed
D) when a person located in one department is required to communicate and coordinate other departments

Question 5

Organizational Chart 3.1

Refer to Organizational Chart 3.1.Which of the following can we accurately conclude from Organizational Chart 3.1?

A) There should be no assistant manager.
B) The company has a functional structure.
C) The company has a divisional structure.
D) The general manager has a span of control of five.

Question 6

Organizational Chart 3.2

Refer to Organizational Chart 3.2. Which of the following is the best assessment of this organizational structure?

A) If well managed, it achieves coordination both within and between customer accounts.
B) Efficiency and economy of scale are gained in the functional operations departments.
C) It facilitates in-depth artistic and technical competence in operations.
D) Balanced joint formal authority between functional and customer account heads ensures decisions not being "bumped up" to the president.

Question 7

Organizational Chart 3.1

Refer to Organizational Chart 3.1.What are some of the strengths of the structure shown in Organizational Chart 3.1?

A) clear and simple product responsibility
B) The hierarchy makes activity cost determination straightforward
C) suitability for an unstable environment
D) economies of scale

Question 8

If a company wishes to maintain its basic functional structure, but is having difficulty coordinating across departments because of growth, what should it do?

A) It should install horizontal linkages.
B) It should realize that the functional structure cannot work and replace it with a matrix structure.
C) It may find it necessary to abolish liaison roles.
D) It can profit most by adding more functional departments.

Question 9

Which of the following is being used when problems and decisions are funnelled to top levels of the hierarchy for resolution?

A) centralized decision making
B) functional structure
C) horizontal linkage
D) full-time integration

Question 10

Organizational Chart 3.2

Refer to Organizational Chart 3.2. Which of the following best describes the structure of this organization?

A) The structure is divisional.
B) There is duplication of activities between the customer accounts and marketing departments.
C) The structure is primarily functional.
D) Hierarchical referral is the best means for coordination in this organization.

Question 11

What structural device includes periodic reports, written information, and computer-based communications distributed to managers?

A) rules and plans
B) hierarchical referral
C) vertical information systems
D) task forces

Question 12

Which of the following is made up of organizationally or geographically dispersed members who are linked primarily through advanced information and communications technologies?

A) virtual teams
B) task forces
C) full-time integrators
D) information systems

Question 13

What would a researcher in organizational structure say is important about managing information in an organization?

A) Information should flow horizontally, but not vertically.
B) Information should flow vertically, but not horizontally.
C) The structure should fit the information requirements of the organization.
D) It is not possible to give people too much information.

Question 14

Organizational Chart 3.1

Refer to Organizational Chart 3.1.From the perspective of an organizational structure analyst, what is the best assessment of the structure shown in Organizational Chart 3.1?

A) It could have a weakness of slow response to environmental changes that require coordination across functional areas.
B) It should be changed immediately to a horizontal grouping if the company is growing.
C) It would have increased the span of control for the general manager when the assistant manager position was added.
D) It has caused high levels of bureaucracy.

Question 15

Why would an organizational structure researcher say horizontal linkage mechanisms are important to an organization?

A) They cause employees to feel a lack of unity of command.
B) They coordinate functional areas when added to a divisional structure.
C) They confuse vertical linkages.
D) They enable people in different functional departments to exchange information.

Question 16

Which of the following are used to coordinate activities between the top and bottom of an organization and are designed primarily for control of the organization?

A) horizontal linkages
B) functional groupings
C) vertical linkages
D) divisional groupings

Question 17

Chantal Roy is the vice president of marketing for her company. Other officers in the company include the vice presidents of engineering, production, finance, and human resource management. What type of structure does this small company have?

A) product
B) matrix
C) functional
D) hybrid

Question 18

What element of organizational structure deals with the pattern of interactions among employees?

A) the design of systems to ensure effective communication, coordination, and integration of effort across each position
B) the identification of the tasks and processes for each position within the organization
C) the grouping together of individuals into departments and of departments into the total organization
D) designating formal reporting relationships, including the number of levels in the hierarchy and the span of control of managers and supervisors

Question 19

Which of the following would best be linked with "full-time integrator"?

A) brand manager
B) task force
C) direct contact
D) vertical control

Question 20

Define the role of a "full-time integrator "?

A) He or she improves vertical linkage of the organization.
B) He or she is responsible for the entire project and is located outside of any one department.
C) He or she reports to one of the functional departments being coordinated.
D) He or she has the responsibility of coordinating only one department.

Question 21

What is likely to be the result if a domestic company that manufactures four different types of products changes from a functional structure to a divisional structure?

A) lower fixed costs
B) better coordination within a product area between different functional areas
C) more technical development within functional areas
D) more centralized decision making

Question 22

In what type of matrix structure do the project/product managers have primary authority, and functional managers take on a more advisory role?

A) functional
B) virtual
C) divisional
D) product

Question 23

Which of the following is a key aspect of an organization whose employees are assigned to core processes along a horizontal structure?

A) Self-directed teams as the basis of the organizational design and performance.
B) The dual-authority structure facilitates communication and coordination.
C) The culture is closed, untrustworthy, non-collaborative, and focused on individual accomplishments.
D) The structure is grouped based on organizational outputs.

Question 24

Rules and plans are lower on the ladder of mechanisms for vertical linkage than is adding positions to the hierarchy.

Question 25

A task force is located in one department but has responsibility for communicating and achieving coordination with another department.

Question 26

The organizational chart is the visual representation of a whole set of underlying activities and processes in an organization.

Question 27

What is one of the benefits of a matrix structure?

A) It maintains dual-authority relationships.
B) It is most effective in an unstable environment.
C) It is designed for use within a bureaucracy.
D) It is known for its quality of centralization of key decisions for organizational control.

Question 28

If an organization has too much conflict or if decision making is delayed, what might these problems be a symptom of?

A) bureaucracy
B) structural alignment
C) structural deficiency
D) lack of employee motivation

Question 29

What two things does each of the two types of hybrid structures that are common today combine?

A) product and matrix structures; product and horizontal structures
B) functional and divisional structures; functional and horizontal structures
C) marketing and sales; marketing and logistics
D) horizontal and teams; vertical and authority

Question 30

Grouping by output means that people are organized by similar functions or work processes, with similar knowledge and skills.

Question 31

As the amount of required horizontal coordination increases, the costs of time and resources decrease.

Question 32

What is a potential weakness of the horizontal structure?

A) It is inflexible and slow to respond to rapid changes in customer needs.
B) Determining core processes to organize around is often difficult.
C) There is a failure to promote teamwork.
D) Organizational goals are not well understood by employees.

Question 33

A full-time integrator such as a project manager has the various functional managers-finance, engineering, marketing-reporting to him or her.

Question 34

What is one of the benefits of a product or divisional structure?

A) It is best suited to fast change in an unstable environment.
B) It centralizes decision making.
C) It facilitates integration and standardization across product lines.
D) It allows units to adapt to differences in products, regions, and clients.

Question 35

Integrator roles require excellent people skills.

Question 36

It would be logical for a full-time integrator to have no direct subordinates.

Question 37

Which of the following is one of the benefits of the horizontal structure?

A) The process owner is responsible for coordinating the core process in its entirety.
B) Because team members become recognized experts in a single area, less cross-training that characterizes other organizational forms is needed
C) Boundaries between departments are clearly defined to ensure functional expertise.
D) The horizontal structure is easy to implement, even if the organization has been rooted in a strict vertical, hierarchical structure.

Question 38

Project teams can be thought of as permanent task forces.

Question 39

The matrix structure is the correct structure when three conditions are met. Which of the following is one of these three conditions?

A) Pressure exists to share scarce resources across product lines.
B) Technical quality is not very important.
C) The environmental domain of the organization is simple.
D) The environmental domain of the organization is certain and stable.

Question 40

Horizontal linkages are used to coordinate activities between the top and bottom of an organization and are designed primarily for control of the organization, whereas vertical linkages refer to the amount of communication and coordinate across organizational departments.

Question 41

Contrast the following structural alternatives to achieving horizontal integration: liaison, task force, and full-time integrator.

Question 42

Divisional structure may be organized by product, services, major projects or programs, or profit centres.

Question 43

There are two variations of matrix structure: the functional matrix and the divisional matrix.

Question 44

What qualifications would be expected for the position of full-time integrator? Why?

Question 45

How can rules and plans serve as an information-linking mechanism in organizations?

Question 46

List and explain the structural devices used to achieve vertical linkage.

Question 47

The virtual organization may be viewed as a central hub surrounded by a network of outside specialists.

Question 48

The horizontal structure organizes employees around core processes.

Question 49

Explain the information processing perspective for the study of organizational structure.

Question 50

One disadvantage of the divisional structure is that the organization loses potential economies of scale.

Question 51

Functional grouping puts together employees who perform similar work processes and typically have similar knowledge and skills.

Question 52

A strength of the divisional structure compared to the functional structure is that the former tends to decentralize decision making.

Question 53

Pressure for innovation is sufficient cause for adopting the matrix structure.

Question 54

A horizontal structure is characterized by coordination around geographical areas.

Question 55

A weakness of the functional structure is that it results in a slow response time to environmental change.

Question 56

Extreme outsourcing is also known as a modular structure.

Question 57

Explain what we can and cannot learn from an organizational chart. What structural and contextual variables we study in organizational theory appear on the organizational chart?

Question 58

One advantage of the divisional structure is that coordination of functional matters for any one given product is maximized.

Question 59

Many companies are hybrids as they combine characteristics of multiple structures to take advantage of the strengths and avoid some of the weaknesses.

Question 60

What are the similarities and differences between a functional structure with horizontal linkages and a divisional structure?

Question 61

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the horizontal structure?

Question 62

What symptoms of structural deficiency would make a firm consider changing its structure?

Question 63

Compare and contrast a functional matrix and a project matrix.

Question 64

Describe Morgan's eight images of organizational design. How might organizations use the images for designing an appropriate structure?

Question 65

Assume that you are being interviewed for the position of project manager by a corporate recruiter. The recruiter says, "We've been having some problems with product communication and so have just created new project manager positions. I see on your transcript that you took a course in organizational theory. Tell me what you learned about project managers, and why you feel that this would be a good position for your career in management."

Question 66

What are the two types of hybrid structure? Discuss each type.

Question 67

List and describe the conditions of the matrix structure.

Question 68

List and give examples of two symptoms of structural deficiency provided in your textbook. Explain how an organization might cope with those two symptoms of structural deficiency.