Question 1

There are four key design elements of organisational structure.

Accepted Answer

The answer of There are four key design elements of...

Question 2

Specialisation defines how job tasks are formally defined,grouped,and coordinated.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Specialisation defines how job tasks are formally...

Question 3

Which of the following is not a drawback of a narrow span of control?

Accepted Answer

A narrow span of control typically encourages tight supervision and makes vertical communication more complex. It can also be expensive to maintain. However, it does not necessarily discourage employee autonomy.

Question 4

The best definition for centralisation is:

Accepted Answer

Centralisation refers to the concentration of decision-making power at a single point in the organisation, typically at the top of the hierarchy. Option A describes decentralisation, which allows for more flexibility in decision-making depending on the situation. Option B describes a semi-centralised approach, with decision-making occurring at both departmental and higher levels. Option D also describes decentralisation, as decision discretion is pushed down to lower level employees.

Question 5

If a job is highly formalised,it would not include which of the following?

Accepted Answer

High employee job discretion is not characteristic of highly formalised jobs, as they rely on strict rules and procedures that leave little room for flexibility or individual decision-making.

Question 6

The strength of functional departmentalisation is putting similar specialists together.

Accepted Answer

Functional departmentalisation involves grouping individuals who share similar skills or expertise into departments. This creates synergies and facilitates the efficient use of specialized knowledge, resulting in improved performance and productivity in the workplace.

Question 7

Employee discretion is inversely related to:

Accepted Answer

Standardisation refers to the degree to which tasks, procedures, and organisational structures are explicitly defined and prescribed. In highly standardised organisations, employees have less discretion or autonomy in making decisions. Therefore, employee discretion is inversely related to standardisation.

Question 8

The trend in recent years has been toward:

Accepted Answer

The trend in recent years has been toward wider spans of control. This is due to advancements in communication technology and the need to increase efficiency and reduce costs in organizations. With technology enabling quicker and more frequent communication, supervisors can oversee more subordinates effectively, resulting in wider spans of control.

Question 9

The degree to which tasks in the organisation are subdivided into separate jobs is termed departmentalisation.

Accepted Answer

The degree to which tasks in the organization are subdivided into separate jobs is termed "work specialization" or "division of labor," not departmentalization. Departmentalization refers to the manner in which an organization is divided into distinct units or departments to perform different functions.

Question 10

Organisations may use all of the forms of departmentalisation.

Accepted Answer

Organisation can use all the forms of departmentalisation such as functional, product, customer, geographic, and process departmentalisation based on their business requirements.

Question 11

Managers need to address six key elements when they design their organisation's structure: work specialisation,departmentalisation,chain of command,span of control,centralisation and decentralisation,and formalisation.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true as these six elements are considered essential when designing an organization's structure. Work specialisation involves dividing tasks and responsibilities among employees, departmentalisation groups employees according to functions or products, chain of command establishes the hierarchy of authority, span of control determines the number of employees a manager can effectively supervise, centralisation and decentralisation refer to the distribution of decision-making power, and formalisation determines the degree to which rules and procedures are formalised.

Question 12

For much of the first half of this century,managers viewed departmentalisation as an unending source of increased productivity.

Accepted Answer

The answer of For much of the first half of...

Question 13

Work specialisation can be carried too far and may result in employee boredom,stress,and absenteeism.

Accepted Answer

When work is too specialized, employees may become bored with their repetitive tasks, leading to demotivation and absenteeism. Additionally, the lack of variety in responsibilities can also lead to increased stress and burnout.

Question 14

The component of structure which considers where decision-making authority lies is:

Accepted Answer

Centralisation considers where decision-making authority lies, whether it is concentrated at the top levels of the organisation or spread out across various levels. Formalisation refers to the presence of rules and procedures, delegation refers to the distribution of tasks and responsibilities, and complexity refers to the level of intricacy in the organisational structure.

Question 15

___________ are consistent with recent efforts by companies to reduce costs,cut overhead,speed up decision making,increase flexibility,get closer to customers,and empower employees.

Accepted Answer

The answer of ___________ are consistent with recent efforts by...

Question 16

In an organisation that has high centralisation:

Accepted Answer

High centralisation means that decision-making power and authority is concentrated at the top of the organisation. Therefore, top managers make all the decisions and lower level managers merely carry out top management's directions. This can lead to a lack of decision-making autonomy for lower level employees and a slow response time to problems that require input from multiple levels of the organisation.

Question 17

Work specialisation and division of labour are synonymous.

Accepted Answer

Work specialisation and division of labour are interchangeable terms and refer to the same concept where tasks are broken down into smaller, specialized tasks for increased efficiency and productivity.

Question 18

The more that lower-level personnel provide input or are actually given the discretion to make decisions,the more ________ there is.

Accepted Answer

Decentralisation refers to the delegation of decision-making authority to lower-level employees or units within an organization. Therefore, the more lower-level personnel provide input or are actually given the discretion to make decisions, the more decentralisation there is. A, B, and D are not applicable as they do not address the specific concept of delegation of decision-making authority.

Question 19

If you have a narrow span of control,you have a ________ organisation.

Accepted Answer

A narrow span of control means each manager supervises a small number of employees, leading to a multi-level organization with more hierarchical layers.

Question 20

Explicit job descriptions,lots of rules,and clearly defined procedures concerning work processes are consistent with:

Accepted Answer

High formalisation refers to the degree to which an organisation has explicit job descriptions, lots of rules, and clearly defined procedures concerning work processes. This is often associated with a bureaucratic approach to management, which emphasises structure, standardisation, and control. Therefore, option B is the best choice as it describes the given scenario.

Quiz 14: Foundations of Organisational Structure