Competitive advantage is the ability of one company to outperform another because its
managers are able to create more value from the resources at their disposal.
All stakeholder groups are equally important for an organization.
A divisional structure is a design that groups people into separate functions or
departments because they share common skills and expertise because they make use of
the same resources.
TQM is a quick fix that can turn an organization around overnight.
According to the principle of minimum chain of command, an organization should
choose the minimum number of hierarchical levels consistent with its goals and the
environment in which it operates.
Most organizations have a pyramid-like structure with fewer and fewer managers at
each level up in the hierarchy.
Organizations with a strategy of unrelated diversification are likely to use a
conglomerate structure.
An institutionalized role orientation results when individuals are allowed and
encouraged to be creative and to experiment with changing norms and values so an
organization can better achieve its values.
An organization’s brand name is considered to be a functional resource.
Copyrights last for much smaller periods than patents.
Organizations that are doing badly in an economic sense and are struggling to survive
are the ones most likely to commit unethical and illegal acts.
For the process of reengineering to be successful, it is important to centralize
decision-making.
The simplest integrating mechanism is to establish direct contact between people in
different subunits.
An organization with an accommodative approach to corporate social responsibility
agrees that organizational members should behave legally and ethically.
Ethics and law change as time passes.
At the manifest conflict stage in Pondy’s model, each subunit begins to define why the
conflict is emerging and to analyze the events that have led up to it.
The chief operating officer, functional managers, and divisional managers form a
company’s top management team.
Global supply chain management is the process of coordinating the flow of raw
materials, components, semifinished goods, and finished products around the world.
A problem in determining managerial accountability that arises when delegating
authority to managers is known as an agency problem.
According to the population ecology theory, which of the following strategies advocates
entering an environment late, after the uncertainty in that environment is reduced and
the correct way to compete is apparent?
A) r-strategy
B) generalist strategy
C) K-strategy
D) specialist strategy
If an organization is using the technical approach to measure organizational
effectiveness then it will attempt to ________ to increase the effectiveness of the
organization.
A) increase product quality
B) lower costs of inputs
C) increase coordination and motivation of employees
D) increase stock price
Which of the following statements is true regarding an organization following a
differentiation strategy?
A) Differentiators generally use simple organizational structures.
B) A speedy response to market changes is not vital to the competitive success of a
differentiator.
C) An organic structure is more suitable for a differentiator than a mechanistic structure.
D) The organizational structure used by differentiators generally has lower integration
than that used by a low cost organization.
The reputation effect ________.
A) solves the agency problem
B) leads to equal distribution of resources among all the stakeholders
C) increases the problems of self-dealing
D) reduces transaction costs
“Gatekeepers” have power stemming from ________.
A) authority
B) expertise
C) nonsubstitutability
D) control over information
In the case of related diversification, when the coordination problems become very
severe, which of the following organizational structures is most likely to be used to
increase integration?
A) functional structure
B) conglomerate structure
C) multidivisional matrix structure
D) product team structure
A defense company decided to sell the services of its scientists to commercial clients.
This company is changing its ________.
A) organizational domain
B) symbiotic interdependencies
C) competitive interdependencies
D) core competences
According to the population ecology theory, the number of organizational births in a
new environment is rapid at first because ________.
A) the organizations have very few external stakeholders
B) there is an increase in the knowledge and skills available to generate similar new
organizations
C) the environment of the organizations is highly stable
D) the bargaining power of the suppliers of the organizations is high
An organization operating in the computer industry has to quickly respond to the
changes in the technology. In this case, the environment of the organization is said to be
________.
A) complex
B) dynamic
C) rich
D) broad
Which of the following structures is characterized by a small corporate headquarters
staff?
A) mechanistic structure
B) conglomerate structure
C) matrix structure
D) functional structure
Senge has argued that for organizational learning to occur, each of its members needs to
develop a sense of personal mastery, by which he means that organizations should
________.
A) use centralized decision-making and ensure that only the top-management team has
the decision-making authority
B) increase the extent of division of labor so that all employees become efficient at the
tasks allocated to them
C) encourage managers to set ambitious goals for their subordinates
D) empower all employees and allow them to experiment and create and explore what
they want
An organization is employing more and more managers but profitability is not
increasing. The managers of the organization are not willing to accept that the lack of
increase in profitability is the result of their inefficiency. Rather, the managers argue
that they are positioning the organization for future growth by putting in place the
infrastructures to support future development. Which of the following cognitive biases
is being experienced by these managers?
A) representativeness
B) halo effect
C) frequency
D) ego-defensiveness
Which of the following functions will most likely have the tallest hierarchy?
A) Manufacturing
B) Sales
C) R&D
D) Accounting
According to Woodward’s research, which of the following is a main factor that
determines the design of organizational structure?
A) technology
B) size of the organization
C) organizational culture
D) external environment of the organization
Artists and writers in Hallmark are organized around categories of greeting cards such
as Mother’s Day cards and Christmas cards. Which of the following types of
organizational structures is being used by Hallmark?
A) geographic structure
B) functional structure
C) product team structure
D) transactional structure
Which of the following is most likely to be done by an organization to improve its
ability to control its members and influence their behavior?
A) increase the use of self-managed team
B) increase employee empowerment
C) increase the number of levels in its managerial hierarchy
D) increase the extent of decentralization
Bureaucracy ________.
A) hinders integration within the organization
B) increases transaction costs
C) separates the position from the person
D) hinders a company’s ability to compete in the marketplace against other
organizations for scarce resources
What is a patent?
What are the four levels of strategy?
What are the various sources of core competences?
What is cooptation?
What are the four sources of organizational culture?
Define task variability and task analyzability.
What are the advantages of vertical integration?
Describe the characteristics of a product team structure.
Explain the difference between a lightweight team leader and a heavyweight team
leader.