Question 1

Employees tend to be more satisfied with jobs that require them to perform a specialized kind of activity.

Accepted Answer

Organizations may struggle with employee job satisfaction when they make jobs highly specialized. Employees tend to be more satisfied with jobs that require them to perform a number of different kinds of activities.

Question 2

As companies become larger, they tend to use a combination of specialization, formalization, and centralization to control their activities, thereby becoming more mechanistic in nature.

Accepted Answer

As organizations become larger, they need to rely on some combination of specialization, formalization, and centralization to control their activities, thereby becoming more mechanistic in nature.

Question 3

As companies grow larger, their organizational charts get simpler.

Accepted Answer

As companies grow larger, their organizational charts get more complex.

Question 4

To keep the stress level low and avoid multiple chains of command issues, managers should adopt the matrix structure.

Accepted Answer

The matrix structure gives each employee two chains of command, two groups with which to interact, and two sources of information to consider. This doubling of traditional structural elements can create high stress levels for employees if the demands of their functional grouping are at odds with the demands of their product- or client-based grouping.

Question 5

Wide spans of control allow managers to be much more hands-on with employees.

Accepted Answer

Narrow spans of control allow managers to be much more hands-on with employees, giving them the opportunity to use directive leadership styles while developing close mentoring relationships with employees.

Question 6

Restructuring an organization has a positive impact on task performance because restructuring helps employees view their jobs in new and exciting ways.

Accepted Answer

Research suggests that restructuring has a small negative effect on task performance, likely because changes in specialization, centralization, or formalization may lead to confusion about how exactly employees are supposed to do their jobs, which hinders learning and decision making.

Question 7

Organic organizations are efficient, rigid, predictable, and standardized organizations that thrive in stable environments.

Accepted Answer

Organic organizations are flexible, adaptive, outward-focused organizations that thrive in dynamic environments. Mechanistic organizations are efficient, rigid, predictable, and standardized organizations that thrive in stable environments.

Question 8

Companies that follow a low-cost producer strategy believe that people will pay more for a product that is unique in some way.

Accepted Answer

Companies that focus on a low-cost producer strategy rely on selling products at the lowest possible cost. To do this well, they have to focus on being as efficient as they can be.

Question 9

Decentralized organizational structures tend to concentrate power and authority within a relatively tight group of individuals in the firm.

Accepted Answer

Centralized organizational structures tend to concentrate power and authority within a relatively tight group of individuals in the firm because they're the ones who have formal authority over important decisions.

Question 10

The chain of command helps the organization to attain order, control, and predictable performance.

Accepted Answer

The chain of command can be seen as the specific flow of authority down through the levels of an organization's structure. Organizations depend on this flow of authority to attain order, control, and predictable performance.

Question 11

Henry Ford was a strong believer in work specialization.

Accepted Answer

Henry Ford was perhaps the earliest (and clearly most well-known) believer in high degrees of work specialization.

Question 12

Many restructuring efforts are designed to remove one or more organizational layers to reduce costs.

Accepted Answer

Many restructuring efforts are designed to remove one or more of the organizational layers to reduce costs.

Question 13

If technologies need to be changed often to suit consumer needs, the decisions should be centralized.

Accepted Answer

If technologies need to be changed or altered to suit the needs of various consumers, it follows that decisions would be more decentralized and the rules and procedures the organization relies on would need to be more flexible.

Question 14

A company's chain of control determines how many employees report to each manager.

Accepted Answer

Chain of command details who reports to whom. Span of control describes how many employees report to each manager.

Question 15

Organizational structure can have a significant impact on an organization's financial performance.

Accepted Answer

Organizational structure can have a significant impact on an organization's financial performance.

Question 16

Many layoff survivors experience a great deal of guilt and remorse following a layoff.

Accepted Answer

Stress levels for layoff survivors can be much high due to additional workload and guilt.

Question 17

The most common kind of restructuring in recent years has been a "flattening" of the organization.

Accepted Answer

The most common kind of restructuring in recent years has been a "flattening" of the organization.

Question 18

Matrix structures try to take advantage of two types of structure at the same time.

Accepted Answer

Matrix structures try to take advantage of two types of structure at the same time. The most common matrix structure combines a functional structure and a product structure.

Question 19

Many small companies evolve into functionally based structures as they grow larger.

Accepted Answer

Many small companies naturally evolve into functionally based structures as they grow larger.

Question 20

In a traditional organizational structure, every employee has one person to whom they report.

Accepted Answer

Every employee in a traditional organizational structure has one person to whom they report.

Quiz 15: Organizational Structure

Employees tend to be more satisfied with jobs that require them to perform a specialized kind of activity.

As companies become larger, they tend to use a combination of specialization, formalization, and centralization to control their activities, thereby becoming more mechanistic in nature.

As companies grow larger, their organizational charts get simpler.

To keep the stress level low and avoid multiple chains of command issues, managers should adopt the matrix structure.

Wide spans of control allow managers to be much more hands-on with employees.

Restructuring an organization has a positive impact on task performance because restructuring helps employees view their jobs in new and exciting ways.

Organic organizations are efficient, rigid, predictable, and standardized organizations that thrive in stable environments.

Companies that follow a low-cost producer strategy believe that people will pay more for a product that is unique in some way.

Decentralized organizational structures tend to concentrate power and authority within a relatively tight group of individuals in the firm.

The chain of command helps the organization to attain order, control, and predictable performance.

Henry Ford was a strong believer in work specialization.

Many restructuring efforts are designed to remove one or more organizational layers to reduce costs.

If technologies need to be changed often to suit consumer needs, the decisions should be centralized.

A company's chain of control determines how many employees report to each manager.

Organizational structure can have a significant impact on an organization's financial performance.

Many layoff survivors experience a great deal of guilt and remorse following a layoff.

The most common kind of restructuring in recent years has been a "flattening" of the organization.

Matrix structures try to take advantage of two types of structure at the same time.

Many small companies evolve into functionally based structures as they grow larger.

In a traditional organizational structure, every employee has one person to whom they report.