Deck 8: Organizational Structure and Design

Question 1

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

Answer 1

False
Explanation: The power and authority in a traditional organization resides at the narrow point of the pyramid where top management is located, not the base.

Question 2

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

Answer 2

False
Explanation: Grouping along the lines of product areas is termed product departmentalization, not customer departmentalization.

Question 3

A mechanistic organization is bureaucratic and hierarchical.

Answer 3

True
Explanation: Mechanistic organizations are formal, hierarchical, impersonal, specialized, and heavily dependent on rules and protocols.

Question 4

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

Question 5

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

Question 6

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

Question 7

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

Question 8

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

Question 9

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

Question 10

The relationship between organizational size and structure tends to be linear.

Question 11

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

Question 12

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

Question 13

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

Question 14

There are four basic elements in organizational structure.

Question 15

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

Question 16

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

Question 17

Departmentalization is how jobs are grouped.

Question 18

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

Question 19

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

Question 20

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

Question 21

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

Question 22

Managers want to eliminate boundaries in organizations primarily to increase stability and reduce flexibility.

Question 23

When employees in a project structure finish a project, they go back to their original department.

Question 24

All learning organizations share a distinct structure.

Question 25

A significant advantage of the matrix structure is the clear chain of command from top to bottom of the organization.

Question 26

Horizontal boundaries separate employees by the specialization of their job.

Question 27

A virtual organization relies on freelancers who have no permanent status or position in the organization.

Question 28

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

Question 29

The strength of a simple structure is that it is flexible.

Question 30

Horizontal boundaries separate employees by the amount of power they have in an organization.

Question 31

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

Question 32

When employees in a matrix structure finish a project, they go back to their functional department.

Question 33

Employees in an organization with a matrix design can have two bosses for the same job.

Question 34

A network organization uses its own employees and outside suppliers to provide manpower for projects.

Question 35

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.

Question 36

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

Question 37

Vertical boundaries separate employees by their rank in an organization.

Question 38

Woodward concluded that mass production worked best with an organic organizational structure.

Question 39

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

Question 40

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

Question 41

The chain of command answers this question.

A) Where do I go for help?
B) How do I know when the task is complete?
C) What are the rules?
D) Who reports to whom?

Question 42

All of the following are part of the process of organizational design EXCEPT ________.

A) deciding how specialized jobs should be
B) determining rules for employee behavior
C) determining the level at which decisions are made
D) determining goals for the organization

Question 43

Authority gives an individual the right to do this.

A) give orders
B) reprimand employees
C) command respect
D) obey orders

Question 44

Which of the following are NOT basic elements of organizational structure?

A) work specialization, span of control
B) chain of command, line authority
C) centralization, decentralization
D) departmentalization, formalization

Question 45

Today, managers favor this approach instead of work specialization.

A) All tasks are performed by all employees.
B) Partners switch jobs every half hour.
C) Employees perform a broad range of tasks.
D) Monotonous tasks are shared by all employees.

Question 46

Early users of work specialization in the early twentieth century found that the practice ultimately resulted in ________.

A) higher profits and better employee morale
B) bored workers with low morale
C) huge and permanent productivity gains
D) better communication among employees

Question 47

Early supporters of work specialization saw it as ________.

A) a reliable way to increase productivity
B) a good way to increase employee morale
C) a source of innovation
D) an immoral way to coerce workers into greater productivity

Question 48

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

Question 49

A soap company that features a bath soap department, a laundry detergent department, and a dish soap department is using which of the following?

A) process departmentalization
B) functional departmentalization
C) product departmentalization
D) customer departmentalization

Question 50

Staff managers have authority over ________.

A) special support employees only
B) line managers
C) middle managers
D) the person above them in the chain of command

Question 51

________ departmentalization is based on territory or the physical location of employees or customers.

A) Functional
B) Product
C) Geographic
D) Matrix

Question 52

What kind of departmentalization would be in place in a government agency in which there are separate departments that provide services for employers, employed workers, unemployed workers, and the disabled?

A) product
B) geographic
C) outcome
D) customer

Question 53

State motor vehicle offices usually use this kind of departmentalization.

A) product
B) functional
C) customer
D) process

Question 54

Organizational design requires a manager to ________.

A) organize groups within an organization
B) change the culture of an organization
C) change or develop the structure of an organization
D) change the logo of an organization

Question 55

Which of the following is synonymous with work specialization?

A) division of labor
B) job discrimination
C) chain of command
D) job preference

Question 56

Which statement accurately defines work specialization?

A) It is the degree to which tasks are grouped together.
B) Individual employees specialize in doing part of an activity rather than the entire activity.
C) Jobs are ranked relative only to their worth or value to the businesses.
D) Work specialization clarifies who reports to whom.

Question 57

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

Question 58

Functional departmentalization groups jobs by ________.

A) tasks they perform
B) territories they serve
C) products or services they manufacture or produce
D) type of customer they serve

Question 59

The line of authority that extends from the upper levels of management to the lowest levels of the organization is termed the ________.

A) chain of responsibility
B) unity of command
C) staff authority
D) chain of command

Question 60

In the chain of command, each person above you ________.

A) has special privileges
B) receives higher pay
C) has line authority
D) has no right to give you orders

Question 61

As represented in a power cone, power is based on ________.

A) vertical position only
B) horizontal position only
C) distance from the center only
D) vertical position and distance from the center

Question 62

________ is the obligation or expectation to perform a duty.

A) Responsibility
B) Unity of command
C) Chain of command
D) Span of control

Question 63

Your firm's attorney has ________ power when giving legal advice.

A) legitimate
B) status
C) expert
D) coercive

Question 64

________ prevents a single employee from getting conflicting orders from two different superiors.

A) Line authority
B) Unity of command
C) Staff authority
D) Chain of command

Question 65

________ is the power that rests on the leader's ability to punish or control.

A) Reward power
B) Coercive power
C) Expert power
D) Referent power

Question 66

As represented in a hierarchical organization diagram, authority is based on ________.

A) vertical position only
B) horizontal position only
C) distance from the center only
D) horizontal and vertical position

Question 67

________ reflects the degree to which decision making is distributed throughout the hierarchy rather than concentrated at the top.

A) Centralization
B) Span of control
C) Concentration
D) Decentralization

Question 68

When a top manager decides to hire an individual over the objections of her staff, she is exercising which kind of power?

A) referent
B) expert
C) coercive
D) legitimate

Question 69

Modern managers find that they can ________ if their employees are experienced, well-trained, and motivated.

A) increase their span of control
B) decrease their span of control
C) eliminate their span of control
D) fluctuate their span of control

Question 70

Line authority gives a manager the ability to direct the work of ________.

A) any employee in the firm
B) any subordinate
C) any subordinate, after consulting with the next higher level
D) only subordinates one level down

Question 71

A construction site supervisor who sees an impending thunderstorm and tells workers to go home is demonstrating ________.

A) line authority
B) staff delegation
C) provisional accountability
D) responsibility

Question 72

A traditional "top down" organization is ________ organization.

A) a largely centralized
B) a largely decentralized
C) an absolutely decentralized
D) an absolutely centralized

Question 73

A bank manager who passes out bonuses at the end of the year is exercising this.

A) reward power
B) coercive power
C) expert power
D) referent power

Question 74

In recent years, organizations have become more ________ to be responsive to a dynamic business environment.

A) centralized
B) decentralized
C) structured
D) mechanistic

Question 75

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Power is a right.
B) Authority is one's ability to influence decisions.
C) Authority is a right.
D) Both power and authority are rights.

Question 76

The importance of unity of command has diminished in today's workplace because of its tendency to be ________.

A) inflexible and inefficient
B) ethically questionable
C) chauvinistic and dictatorial
D) too decisive

Question 77

The traditional view holds that managers should not directly supervise more than ________ subordinates.

A) three or four
B) five or six
C) seven or eight
D) nine or ten

Question 78

________ is the power that arises when a person is close to another person who has great power and authority.

A) Expert power
B) Referent power
C) Reward power
D) Legitimate power

Question 79

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Power is a type of authority.
B) Authority and power are identical.
C) Authority is a type of power.
D) Power is determined by horizontal position in an organization.

Question 80

The personal secretary of a top manager may have ________.

A) power but not authority
B) authority but not power
C) power and authority
D) line authority but not staff authority