Essentials of Contemporary Management 6Th Canadian Edition By Gareth R Jones - Test Bank

Essentials of Contemporary Management 6Th Canadian Edition By Gareth R Jones – Test Bank

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Sample Questions Are Posted Below

Chapter 05

Managing Organizational Structure

True / False Questions

Organizing is the process of establishing the structure of the organization.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-01 Identify the elements involved in designing organizational structures.
Topic: 05-01 Designing Organizational Structure

Organizational design is the process by which managers make specific organizing choices that result in the construction of a particular organizational structure.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-01 Identify the elements involved in designing organizational structures.
Topic: 05-01 Designing Organizational Structure

Organizational structure is the formal system of task and reporting relationships that determines how resources are used to reach organizational goals.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-01 Identify the elements involved in designing organizational structures.
Topic: 05-01 Designing Organizational Structure

The process by which managers make specific organizing choices that result in a specific kind of organizational structure is known as organizational architecture.
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-01 Identify the elements involved in designing organizational structures.
Topic: 05-01 Designing Organizational Structure

The second step in the process of organizational design is to decide how to divide tasks into specific jobs.
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-01 Identify the elements involved in designing organizational structures.
Topic: 05-01 Designing Organizational Structure

The most fundamental step in organizational design is job design.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-02 Explain how managers arrange tasks to create jobs that are motivating and satisfying for employees.
Topic: 05-02 Grouping Tasks into Jobs: Job Design

The result of the job design process is a division of labour among employees.
TRUE

Job simplification involves adding responsibilities and tasks to existing jobs.
FALSE

Because Starbucks offers a much broader variety of specialty coffees, lattes, and teas, each which is customized to satisfy every unique customer, it can be said that an employee at Starbucks has a “larger” job than someone serving coffee at Tim Hortons.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 05-02 Explain how managers arrange tasks to create jobs that are motivating and satisfying for employees.
Topic: 05-02 Grouping Tasks into Jobs: Job Design

Increasing the degree of responsibility a worker has over his or her job is known as job enlargement.
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-02 Explain how managers arrange tasks to create jobs that are motivating and satisfying for employees.
Topic: 05-03 Work Specialization

Job enrichment empowers employees by increasing their responsibilities and giving them more control over decision making.
TRUE

According to the job characteristics model by Hackman and Oldham, every job has three core characteristics that affect employee motivation.
FALSE

The job characteristics model suggests that the strength of the employees’ need for growth, or growth need strength, affects their psychological states and levels of motivation.
TRUE

The extent to which actually doing a job provides a worker with clear and direct information about how well he or she has performed the job is known as autonomy.
FALSE

After designing jobs, managers must decide how to group jobs together to best match the needs of the organization’s environment, strategy, technology, and human resources.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-05 Departmentalization

Most entrepreneurial start-ups adopt a functional structure.
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-06 Simple Structure

Home and gift store, Pier 1 Imports, uses a functional structure.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-07 Functional Structure

A divisional structure is an organizational structure composed of all the departments that an organization requires to produce its goods or services.
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-07 Functional Structure

An advantage for managers in grouping similar jobs together into departments is that organizational goals take second place to departmental goals.
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-07 Functional Structure

There are four forms of divisional structures-product, market, geographic, and national.
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-08 Divisional Structures: Product, Geographic, and Market

Product structures are self-contained separate divisions organized based on one type of good or service.
TRUE

When managers organize divisions according to the region in which they serve, this is known as market structure.
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-08 Divisional Structures: Product, Geographic, and Market

Federal Express uses a geographic structure to serve its customers.
TRUE

A market structure allows managers to be both responsive to the needs of their customers and able to act flexibly to make decisions in response to customers’ changing needs.
TRUE

A market segment division structure is also called a matrix structure
FALSE

To satisfy the needs of diverse customers, TELUS uses a market segment division structure.
TRUE

A product structure allows functional managers to specialize in only one product area, so they can build expertise and fine-tune their skills in this particular area.
TRUE

A product structure requires that corporate managers supervise each division’s day-to-day operations directly; this prevents corporate managers from creating the best corporate-level strategy possible.
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-08 Divisional Structures: Product, Geographic, and Market

In a matrix structure, managers group people and resources by function and by product.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-09 Team-Based Organizational Structures

Matrix and product/project team structures provide managers with more flexibility than divisional structures.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-09 Team-Based Organizational Structures

Dual reporting relationships are the main advantage of the matrix structure.
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-09 Team-Based Organizational Structures

A cross-functional team is a group of individuals brought together from different departments to perform organizational tasks.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-09 Team-Based Organizational Structures

A strategic alliance is an agreement among two or more companies to jointly establish and share the ownership of a new business.
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-10 B2B Network Structures

A network structure is a series of strategic alliances that an organization creates with suppliers, manufacturers, and/or distributors.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-10 B2B Network Structures

A boundaryless organization is also referred to as a virtual organization.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-10 B2B Network Structures

Business-to-business (B2B) networks arose because of organizations pushing for lower costs.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-10 B2B Network Structures

Managers coordinate functions and divisions by creating a hierarchy of authority.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-04 Explain the ways that managers allocate authority and decision-making responsibilities.
Topic: 05-12 Allocating Authority

The number of subordinates who report directly to a manager is known as span of control.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-04 Explain the ways that managers allocate authority and decision-making responsibilities.
Topic: 05-12 Allocating Authority

A flat organization has only seven levels in the authority hierarchy.
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-04 Explain the ways that managers allocate authority and decision-making responsibilities.
Topic: 05-12 Allocating Authority

The minimum chain of command principle states that top managers should always construct a hierarchy with the fewest possible levels of authority.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-04 Explain the ways that managers allocate authority and decision-making responsibilities.
Topic: 05-12 Allocating Authority

Decentralizing authority allows an organization and its employees to behave flexibly even as the organization grows and becomes taller.
TRUE

Decentralized authority is always the best way to achieve organizational goals effectively and efficiently.
FALSE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-04 Explain the ways that managers allocate authority and decision-making responsibilities.
Topic: 05-13 Centralization and Decentralization of Decision Making

The more complex the organizational structure a company uses to group its activities is, the greater the problems of linking and coordinating its different functions and divisions.
TRUE

A liaison role is a manager that has the responsibility to increase coordination and integration across departments or divisions to achieve performance gains.
FALSE

Authority is centralized in a mechanistic structure.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-05 Evaluate the factors that managers consider when deciding on a formal or flexible overall structure.
Topic: 05-16 Mechanistic Structures

Mechanistic structures allow managers to utilize resources effectively and efficiently in a stable environment.
TRUE

Organic structures allow managers to utilize resources effectively and efficiently in a stable environment.
FALSE

Four factors determine the appropriate design of an organizational structure overall.
TRUE

The nature of an organization’s technology is an important determinant of its overall structure.
TRUE

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-05 Evaluate the factors that managers consider when deciding on a formal or flexible overall structure.
Topic: 05-18 Factors Affecting Choice of Overall Organizational Structure

The nature of an organization’s environment is an important determinant of its overall structure.
TRUE

The nature of an organization’s human resources is an important determinant of its overall structure.
TRUE

Multiple Choice Questions

Which of the following characterizes the outcome of job design?
A.Job simplification
B. Job enlargement
C. A division of labour among employees
D. Job enrichment
E. Job reduction

A formal structure is more appropriate when the technology used is:
A.cutting edge
B. routine
C. complicated
D. developed
E. uncertain

________ is the process by which managers establish the structure of working relationships among employees to allow them to achieve organizational goals efficiently and effectively.
A.Planning
B. Leading
C. Controlling
D. Motivating
E. Organizing

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-01 Identify the elements involved in designing organizational structures.
Topic: 05-01 Designing Organizational Structure

An organizational structure composed of all the departments that an organization requires to produce its goods or services is known as a:
A.product structure
B. geographic structure
C. divisional structure
D. functional structure
E. market structure

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-07 Functional Structure

In an organization, departments are created according to the jobs performed with in them. This best represents which type of organizational structure?
A.Product structure
B. Geographic structure
C. Divisional structure
D. Functional structure
E. Market structure

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-07 Functional Structure

Managers tend to move to what type of structure to overcome the problems of a functional structure?
A.Product structure
B. Geographic structure
C. Divisional structure
D. Network structure
E. Market structure

An organizational structure composed of separate business units within which are the functions that together produce a specific product for a specific customer is known as a:
A.Matrix structure
B. Geographic structure
C. Divisional structure
D. Functional structure
E. Team structure

An organizational structure in which each region of a country or area of the world is served by a self-contained division is known as a:
A.Product structure
B. Geographic structure
C. Divisional structure
D. Functional structure
E. Market structure

Which of the following is considered a disadvantage of excessive decentralization?
A.It leads to slow and distorted communication
B. Managers no longer make decisions
C. Divisions and functions may begin to pursue their own goals at the expense of organizational goals
D. Employees are better able to recognize and respond to customer needs
E. It leads to groupthink.

A differentiation strategy that focuses on increasing the value that customers perceive in an organization’s goods and services succeeds best in which type of structure?
A.Formal
B. Hierarchical
C. Flexible
D. Stable
E. Mechanistic

Highly skilled human resources are better suited to work in _______________ organizational structures.
A.formal
B. hierarchical
C. flexible
D. stable
E. mechanistic

The criteria on which to answer design questions include:
A.The most efficient way to make the product or service
B. Matching the firm’s organizational environment, HR, technology, and strategy with its size and resources
C. Following the principle of the minimum chain of command
D. The degree of change in the organizational environment
E. All of these criteria impact questions of designing an organizational structure.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-01 Identify the elements involved in designing organizational structures.
Topic: 05-01 Designing Organizational Structure

Which of the following is NOT an advantage of organizing using a product structure?
A.Allows functional managers to become familiar with a wide variety of products
B. Helps managers choose business level strategies to differentiate their products
C. Frees up corporate managers from the need to supervise the daily activities of the division
D. Allows corporate managers to choose corporate level strategies
E. Increases customer responsiveness by divisional managers

As an organization grows and changes its strategy, all of the following can occur with a functional structure, except:
A. Communication between managers of different departments becomes difficult
B. Efficiency is enhanced
C. Functional managers can lose sight of organizational goals
D. Functional managers become less effective because they perceive problems only from the narrow perspective of their department
E. Coordination becomes difficult when managers are responsible for several different products

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-07 Functional Structure

If the external environment of an organization is stable and if uncertainly is ________, then ________ coordination among workers is needed to obtain resources, and managers can bring ________ formality to the design of the organizational structure.
A.low; more; more
B. low; less; more
C. high; less; more
D. high; less; less
E. high; maximum; enhanced

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 05-05 Evaluate the factors that managers consider when deciding on a formal or flexible overall structure.
Topic: 05-16 Mechanistic Structures

In order to create an organizational structure, managers must make a decision about all of the following, except:
A.How to group tasks into jobs
B. How to group jobs into functions and divisions
C. How to coordinate jobs, functions, and divisions by allocating authority
D. How to appraise employee performance
E. Whether to pursue a formal or flexible structure

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 05-01 Identify the elements involved in designing organizational structures.
Topic: 05-01 Designing Organizational Structure

All of the following accurately describe matrix structures, except?
A.It is useful when technology is rapidly changing
B. It is useful when customer needs are rapidly changing
C. It is useful in environments of uncertainty
D. It is useful in environments of certainty
E. It is useful because it is flexible

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-09 Team-Based Organizational Structures

The initial process by which managers decide how to divide tasks into specific jobs is known as:
A.job simplification
B. job enlargement
C. job design
D. job enrichment
E. job reduction

When McDonald’s Corporation made a basic decision as to how to divide the tasks of the jobs of “chefs” and “food servers” in its restaurants, this was an example of:
A.job simplification
B. job enlargement
C. job design
D. job enrichment
E. job reduction

When Subway Corporation made the basic decision that it would group the jobs of “chef” and “food server” into a single job description, this was an example of:
A.job simplification
B. job enlargement
C. job design
D. job enrichment
E. job reduction

Reducing the number of tasks that each worker performs is known as:
A.job simplification
B. job enlargement
C. job design
D. job enrichment
E. job reduction

Increasing the number of different tasks in each job by changing the division of labour is known as:
A.job simplification
B. job enlargement
C. job design
D. job enrichment
E. job reduction

A formal agreement that commits two or more companies to exchange or share their resources in order to produce and market a product is known as a:
A.B2B network structure
B. boundaryless organization
C. joint venture
D. strategic alliance
E. permanent venture

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-10 B2B Network Structures

According to the text, Nike formed a ________ with suppliers of designs and manufacturers.
A.B2B network structure
B. boundaryless organization
C. joint venture
D. strategic alliance
E. permanent venture

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-10 B2B Network Structures

A series of strategic alliances that an organization creates with suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors to produce and market a product is known as a:
A.B2B network structure
B. boundaryless organization
C. joint venture
D. strategic alliance
E. permanent venture

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-10 B2B Network Structures

An organizational structure where the owner is the general manager responsible for the activities in all the functions is known as:
A.departmentalization
B. functional structure
C. matrix structure
D. network structure
E. simple structure

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-05 Departmentalization

The process by which managers make specific organizing choices that result in a particular kind of organizational structure is known as:
A.organizational architecture
B. organizational design
C. organizational structure
D. span of control
E. organizational analyzability

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-01 Identify the elements involved in designing organizational structures.
Topic: 05-01 Designing Organizational Structure

A formal system of task and reporting relationships that coordinates and motivates organizational members so that they work to achieve organizational goals is known as:
A.organizational architecture
B. organizational design
C. organizational structure
D. the span of control
E. organizational levelling

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-01 Identify the elements involved in designing organizational structures.
Topic: 05-01 Designing Organizational Structure

All of the following describe potential problems associated with decentralizing decision-making authority, except:
A.Divisions, functions, or teams may lose sight of organizational goals
B. Lack of communication among functional managers might occur
C. Possible synergies might be missed
D. Organizational performance might suffer
E. Greater flexibility results

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 05-04 Explain the ways that managers allocate authority and decision-making responsibilities.
Topic: 05-13 Centralization and Decentralization of Decision Making

An organizational structure in which employees are permanently assigned to a team and report only to the product manager or to one of his or her subordinates is known as a:
A.cross-functional team
B. homogenous structure
C. product/project team structure
D. market team structure
E. B2B network structures

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-09 Team-Based Organizational Structures

A group of individuals from different departments brought together to perform organizational tasks is known as a:
A.cross-functional team
B. homogenous structure
C. product/project team structure
D. market team structure
E. B2B network structures

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-09 Team-Based Organizational Structures

A group of organizations that join together and use IT to link their supply and distribution chains is known as:
A.cross-functional team
B. homogenous structure
C. product/project team structure
D. market team structure
E. B2B network structures

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-10 B2B Network Structures

All of the following are characteristics of the job characteristics model except:
A.skill variety
B. task identity
C. task variety
D. task significance
E. autonomy

A carpenter who transforms a piece of wood into a custom-made desk has higher ____________ than does a worker who performs only one of the numerous operations required to assemble a flat-screen TV.
A.skill variety
B. task identity
C. task variety
D. task significance
E. autonomy

A teacher who sees the effect of his or her efforts in a well-educated and well-adjusted student enjoys high ____________ compared to a dishwasher who monotonously washes dishes as they come to the kitchen.
A.skill variety
B. task identity
C. task variety
D. task significance
E. autonomy

Which of the following is true of mechanistic organizational structures?
A.They have decentralized authority
B. They have high cross-departmental cooperation
C. They have horizontal communication flows
D. They are appropriate in stable environments
E. They are appropriate in dynamic environments

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of an organic organizational structure?
A.They have decentralized authority
B. They have high cross-departmental cooperation
C. They have horizontal communication flows
D. They are appropriate in stable environments
E. They are appropriate in dynamic environments

Which of the following is true of an organic organizational structure?
A.They have centralized authority
B. They are appropriate in dynamic environments
C. They have vertical communication flows
D. They have strict rules and procedures
E. They are hierarchical

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a mechanistic organizational structure?
A.They have centralized authority
B. They are appropriate in dynamic environments
C. They have vertical communication flows
D. They have strict rules and procedures
E. They are hierarchical

Which of the following structures is described as one where authority is centralized at the top of the managerial hierarchy, and the vertical hierarchy of authority is the main means used to control subordinates’ behaviour?
A.Organic structure
B. Matrix structure
C. Sustainable structure
D. Mechanistic structure
E. Integrating structure

Which of the following organizations is most likely to use a mechanistic structure?
A.Google
B. Apple
C. McDonalds
D. The University of Toronto
E. The Royal Ontario Museum

Which of the following is defined as the degree to which programmed solutions are available to people or functions to solve the problems they encounter?
A.Task significance
B. Task variety
C. Task analyzability
D. Task scrutiny
E. Task sustainability

Which of the following has the responsibility to increase coordination and integration across departments or divisions to achieve performance gains?
A.Liaison role
B. Leadership role
C. Top management role
D. Integrating role
E. Coordinator role

Integrating roles are most important in which of the following situations?
A.Organizations that following the simple structure of organizational architecture
B. The fewer the members in the channel of distribution
C. The more complex an organization and the greater the number of its divisions
D. When transmitting information across organizational departments
E. When splitting resources among departments

Which of the following has the responsibility for coordinating with other functional departments or divisions?
A.Liaison role
B. Leadership role
C. Top management role
D. Integrating role
E. Coordinator role

Boundaryless organizations are also called _______ because members rarely see one another face-to-face.
A.network organizations
B. learning organizations
C. virtual organizations
D. organic organizations
E. mechanistic organizations

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-10 B2B Network Structures

When coordinating functions and divisions, managers must decide all of the following, except:
A.How to enlarge the jobs of first line managers
B. How to determine the optimal span of control
C. Whether the organization should be tall or flat
D. What the minimum chain of command should be
E. To what degree authority should be decentralized

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-01 Identify the elements involved in designing organizational structures.
Topic: 05-01 Designing Organizational Structure

Short Answer Questions

Explain the decisions that managers make when grouping tasks into jobs.

The first step in organizing is grouping tasks into jobs, called job design. Managers must decide what needs to be done by whom to accomplish organizational goals effectively and efficiently. They must make decisions on the optimal degree of work specialization and division of labour among employees. When the number and variety of tasks are reduced in a given job, this is called job simplification and creates higher job specialization. When the number and variety of tasks is increased, this is called job enlargement. Job enrichment involves redesigning a job such that the employee has more responsibilities, is empowered to make more decisions, is allowed more discretion in doing their tasks, develops more skills and is allowed to evaluate their own performance. Job enrichment motivates employees to put forth high levels of effort and commitment to accomplishing organizational goals. The decision of how to group tasks into jobs is based on the most efficient way to produce the product or service and serve the customer.

List the five characteristics that every job has, according to Hackman and Oldham.

Skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback.

Compare job simplification to job enlargement.

Job simplification refers to the process of reducing the number of tasks that each employee performs.
Job enlargement increases the number of different tasks in a given job by changing the division of labour.

Describe the purpose of job enrichment and give three examples of how this may be accomplished.

Job enrichment increases the degree of responsibility a worker has over his or her job. The idea behind job enrichment is that increasing employees’ responsibility increases their involvement in their jobs and thus increases their interest in the quality of the goods they make or the services they provide.
Some examples provided in the text include: (1) empowering employees to experiment to find new or better ways of doing the job, (2) encouraging employees to develop new skills, (3) allowing employees to decide how to do the work and giving them responsibility for deciding how to respond to unexpected situations, and (4) allowing employees to monitor and measure their own performance.

Four factors are important determinants of whether a formal or flexible overall organizational structure is appropriate. Discuss any two of these factors.

Burns and Stalker proposed two ways to organize to respond to the external environment.

1. A formal mechanistic structure
2. A flexible organic structure

The factors are the nature of the organization’s environment, the type of strategy being pursued by the organization, the technology used by the organization, and the characteristics of the organization’s human resources. The more quickly the external environment is changing and the greater the uncertainty within it, the greater are the problems managers face in trying to gain access to scarce resources. To speed decision making and communication, managers typically decentralize authority and empower lower-level employees. If the external environment is stable, managers can make decisions within a clearly defined hierarchy of authority and use extensive rules and standard operating procedures. Due to rapid change in the marketplace and increasing competition, managers are finding ways to structure organizations to allow people and departments to behave flexibly. Different strategies often call for the use of different organizational structures. A differentiation strategy usually succeeds best in a flexible structure. A low-cost strategy aimed at driving down costs fares best in a more formal structure, which gives managers greater control. When using vertical integration or diversification, managers need to design a flexible structure to provide sufficient coordination among divisions. Managers are also challenged to create organizational structures that allow organizations to be flexible on a global level. Technology is the combination of skills, knowledge, tools, machines, computers, and equipment that are used in the design, production, and distribution of goods and services. The more complicated the technology, the more difficult it is for managers and workers to impose strict control on technology. The more routine the technology, the more appropriate is a formal structure, because tasks are simple. The movement today is toward computer-controlled production and self-managed teams to promote innovation and reduce costs, prompting companies to make their structures more flexible. The more highly skilled a workforce is and the more people are required to work together in groups, the more likely is the organization to use a flexible, decentralized structure. Flexible structures, characterized by decentralized authority and empowered employees, are well suited to the needs of highly skilled people.

Discuss two important changes in organizational architectural that have swept across North America as a result of increased globalization and the use of IT in today’s organizations.

Recently, increasing globalization and the use of new IT have brought about changes in organizational architecture that are sweeping through North American and European companies. They are business-to-business (B2B) network structures and strategic alliances. A strategic alliance is a formal agreement that commits two or more companies to exchange or share their resources to produce and market a product.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-10 B2B Network Structures

Characterize a boundaryless organization.

A boundaryless organization is composed of people who are linked by computers, computer-aided design systems, and video teleconferencing, and who rarely, if ever, see one another face to face.

People are used when their services are needed, much as in a matrix structure, but they are not formal members of an organization.

They are functional experts who form an alliance with an organization, fulfill their contractual obligations, and then move on to the next project.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-10 B2B Network Structures

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a functional organizational structure.

Advantages: First, grouping people together who perform similar jobs increases their learning, as they can observe each other. Second, it encourages cooperation between people performing similar or closely related jobs. Third, it is easier for managers to monitor and control their performance when similar jobs are grouped together. Fourth, the specialization fostered by a functional structure makes it easier for the organization to scan specific segments of its task and general environments.
Disadvantages: First, communication between managers in different functions is more difficult. Second, managers of functional areas may lose track of the organization’s objectives as a whole.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-07 Functional Structure

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of grouping functions into “divisions” that focus their efforts on the production and marketing of specific product lines.

Advantages: First, it allows managers and units to focus on particular products, customer groups, or geographic regions. Second, people in a divisional structure have a greater likelihood of developing expertise in their particular industry or region. Third, corporate level managers are more likely to take a corporate-wide view. Corporate managers are freed from having to supervise the daily work of divisional managers and focus on corporate level strategies.
Disadvantages: There is less opportunity for cross training and cooperation between functional specialists; more complex to measure and control individual performance; less focus on task elements of environment.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a matrix structure of organizational design.

Advantages: A matrix structure is the most flexible of organizational structures. It can maximize the use of human resources as members are assigned on and off teams as needs change. It can be intrinsically motivating for employees, who have a high degree of empowerment.
Disadvantages: A matrix structure can be complex, sometimes stressful for employees and managers. Conflict may be a problem. It needs to be supported by a culture that supports collaboration and flexibility. Reporting to two bosses with overlapping authority may cause conflict.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-09 Team-Based Organizational Structures

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of “decentralization” in terms of organizational design.

Advantages: Decentralization can support flat organizations, which is likely to increase decision speed, smooth communication, and require fewer managers. It can keep organization flexible and responsiveness to environmental change and complexity.
Disadvantage: Decentralization may imply a loss of control. Decentralized units may pursue their own goals at the expense of total organizational goals. There is a danger of lack of communication among decentralized units.

Strategic alliances and B2B network structures are two recent innovations in organizational design. What advantages do they bring to the organization? Describe how changes in information technology have impacted their growing popularity.

Strategic Alliances and B2B network structures are both ways that organizations can share the risk of new ventures (particularly global enterprises) by forming partnerships with other organizations. Also, organizations in alliances can share skills and the knowledge base. IT and teleconferencing has made it easier to manage these alliances because it allows managers to share information and cooperate more quickly and easily.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-10 B2B Network Structures

What types of organizational structures are available to managers to make the best use of organizational resources?

Managers can choose from many kinds of organizational structures to make the best use of organizational resources. Depending on the specific organizing problems they face, managers can choose from simple structures, functional, divisional (based on product, geography, or market segment), matrix, product/project team, B2B network structures, and hybrid structures which combine several forms of organizing.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-03 Describe how managers cluster jobs into departments and units.
Topic: 05-05 Departmentalization
Topic: 05-06 Simple Structure
Topic: 05-07 Functional Structure
Topic: 05-08 Divisional Structures: Product, Geographic, and Market
Topic: 05-09 Team-Based Organizational Structures
Topic: 05-10 B2B Network Structures

Identify the elements managers have to consider in designing organizational structures.

Managers design organizational structure with four important elements in mind:

1. how to group tasks into jobs; 2. how to group jobs into departments and divisions; 3. how to allocate authority among departments to ensure integration, and 4. whether to pursue a more formal or flexible structure.

Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 05-01 Identify the elements involved in designing organizational structures.
Topic: 05-01 Designing Organizational Structure

Essentials of Contemporary Management 6Th Canadian Edition By Gareth R Jones - Test Bank

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