88) The principal advantage of a decentralized organizational structure is that it can
A) reduce the layers of management and encourage lower-level managers and rank-and-file
employees to exercise initiative and act responsibly.
B) make it easy to fix accountability when company performance targets are not met.
C) generate higher productivity on the part of the workforce and a greater ability to become an
industry low-cost leader.
D) enhance cross-unit coordination and the capture of strategic fits.
E) establish the emergence of a collegial, collaborative culture where teamwork is a core value
and decisions are made on the basis of consensus.
89) Delegating greater authority to subordinate managers and employees
A) creates a more horizontal or flatter organizational structure with fewer management layers
and usually acts to shorten organizational response times.
B) usually slows down decision-making because so many more people are involved and it takes
longer to reach a consensus on what to do and when to do it.
C) can be a demotivating factor because it requires people to take responsibility for their
decisions and actions.
D) is very risky because it usually results in lots of “bad” decisions on the part of employees, as
well as lower levels of financial performance.
E) enhances greater cross-unit coordination and aids the capture of strategic fit benefits across
related businesses.
90) The organizing challenge of a decentralized structure that stresses employee empowerment is
A) how to keep empowered employees from making lots of stupid decisions.
B) establishing a collegial, collaborative culture so that decisions can be made by gaining a quick
consensus on what to do and when to do it.
C) how to avoid demotivating employees (because empowered employees are expected to take
responsibility for their actions and decisions).
D) how to exercise control over the actions and decisions of empowered employees so that the
business is not put at risk while trying to capture the benefits of empowerment.
E) how to convince lower-level managers and employees that they are empowered.
91) Coordinating the work efforts of internal organization units is best accomplished by
A) establishing a corporate culture where teamwork is a core value and decisions are made by
general consensus among team leaders in the affected work units.
B) having closely related activities report to a single executive who has the authority and
organizational clout to coordinate, integrate, and arrange for the cooperation of units under their
supervision.
C) having the heads of support activities report to the heads of primary, strategy-critical
activities.
D) establishing monetary incentives that reward people for being cooperative team players.
E) having frequent meetings among the heads of closely related activities and work units to
establish mutually agreeable deadlines.
92) One of the big weaknesses of organization structures that do not have cross-business
collaboration is
A) making it hard to effectively empower employees.
B) making it difficult to have closely related activities report to a single executive.
C) that pieces of strategically relevant activities and capabilities often end up scattered across
many departments, with each pursuing its own priorities, projects, and agendas.
D) impeding the use of outsourcing.
E) making it hard to fix managerial accountability for poor results.
93) Diversified companies striving to capture the benefits of synergy between separate
businesses have to be aware of all of the following challenges EXCEPT
A) giving business-unit heads full rein to operate independently.
B) having pieces of strategically relevant activities and capabilities scattered across many
departments, with each pursuing its own priorities, projects, and agendas.
C) centralizing performance of functions requiring close coordination at the functional level.
D) serving the interests of individual businesses and not the company as a whole.
E) forming cross-business strategic fit by enforcing close collaboration.
94) Building organizational bridges with external allies is aided by
A) appointing “relationship managers” and giving them responsibility for making particular
strategic partnerships or alliances generate the intended benefits.
B) agreeing with allies to meet frequently and make all decisions pertaining to the alliance on the
basis of mutual agreement and consensus.
C) getting each strategic ally to agree to appoint someone as head of the collaborative effort and
to give that person the authority to enforce tight coordination of joint activities.
D) forming a 50-50 joint venture with each strategic partner, and then assigning people to the
joint venture that has the authority and responsibility to enforce tight coordination.
E) entering into a written agreement detailing the roles and responsibilities of the company and
the ally/partner, setting forth the results that are expected, establishing deadlines for achieving
these results, and designating the people who are to be responsible for making the collaborative
effort work successfully.
95) A network structure is likely to be poorly managed if
A) it ensures that the right partners are included and the activities are coordinated.
B) it encourages more effective collaboration and cooperation among partners.
C) it includes a hand-picked, integrated network of suppliers.
D) the arrangement of independent organizations is involved in a common undertaking.
E) no one firm has a central control over the others.
96) A company must do all of the following to match structure to strategy EXCEPT
A) choose a basic organizational design and modify it to fit the company’s particular business.
B) supplement the design structure with coordinating mechanisms.
C) institute networking and communication arrangements to support strategy execution.
D) set up “ideal” organizational arrangements despite having to disturb existing relationships.
E) knit the efforts of outsourced groups together.
97) Does Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc., have sole responsibility for strategy execution and for
making sure that the task of implementing and executing the strategy for that company goes
well?
98) Does the need to tailor a company’s strategy-executing approaches to the particulars of the
situation at hand necessarily alter the principal managerial components of the strategy-
implementing/strategy-executing process?
99) How has Zara gone about building an organization capable of proficient strategy execution?
100) Identify and briefly discuss/explain three components of structuring a company’s work
effort to promote successful strategy execution.
101) Which recommended practices has Deloitte used to recruit and retain the best employees to
make its rank-and-file employees a genuine competitive asset?
102) Imagine that you have been retained as a consultant to REI, a diversified U.S. retailer of
outdoor adventure outerwear, gear, and travel expeditions. What might be some common
approaches that you would recommend to REI for improving its core competencies and
competitive capabilities?
103) Explain what is involved in building capabilities internally. What steps are required? How
much time does it take? How hard is it? Support your answer.
104) What are the advantages of outsourcing non-critical and sometimes even critical value
chain activities?
105) Identify and briefly discuss the four types of organizational structures that can be aligned
with strategy execution.
106) In choosing between a centralized and a decentralized organizational structure, which of the
two is more likely to further the cause of good strategy execution? Why?
107) A decentralized organizational structure is more likely to further the cause of good strategy
execution than is a centralized organization structure. True or false? Justify your answer.
108) Identify and discuss the basic tenets, the chief advantages, and the chief disadvantages of
centralized organizational structures.
109) Identify and discuss the basic tenets, the chief advantages, and the chief disadvantages of
decentralized organizational structures.
110) What business case could you make to Costco to empower its employees?
111) How do companies like Alphabet and Salesforce.com go about developing employee talent
and a building a top-caliber management team?
112) A centralized organization structure is more likely to further the cause of good strategy
execution than is a decentralized organization structure. True or false? Explain.
113) What is meant by empowerment of employees? How does it differ from delegation of
authority? In what ways can empowerment of employees aid the cause of good strategy
execution?