Fundamentals of Management, 10e (Robbins)
Chapter 6 Organizational Structure and Design
1) Organizational design requires a manager to ________.
A) decide who leads a group within an organization
B) change the culture of an organization
C) change or develop the structure of an organization
D) change the logo of an organization
2) All of the following are part of the process of organizational design EXCEPT ________.
A) deciding how specialized jobs should be
B) determining rules for employee behavior
C) determining the level at which decisions are made
D) determining goals for the organization
3) Which of the following are NOT basic elements of organizational design?
A) work specialization, span of control
B) chain of command, line authority
C) centralization, decentralization
D) departmentalization, formalization
4) Which of the following is synonymous with work specialization?
A) division of labor
B) job discrimination
C) chain of command
D) job preference
5) Which statement accurately defines work specialization?
A) It is the degree to which tasks are grouped together.
B) Individual employees specialize in doing part of an activity rather than the entire activity.
C) Jobs are ranked relative only to their worth or value to the businesses.
D) Work specialization clarifies who reports to whom.
6) Early supporters of work specialization saw it as ________.
A) a reliable way to increase productivity
B) a good way to increase employee morale
C) a source of innovation
D) an immoral way to coerce workers into greater productivity
7) Early users of work specialization in the early twentieth century found that the practice
ultimately resulted in ________.
A) higher profits and better employee morale
B) bored workers with low morale
C) huge and permanent productivity gains
D) better communication among employees
8) Today, managers favor this approach with regard to work specialization.
A) All tasks are performed by all employees to promote fairness.
B) Partners switch jobs every half hour to overcome boredom.
C) Employees specialize to maintain efficiency.
D) Monotonous tasks are shared by all employees to prevent perceived favoritism.
9) Functional departmentalization groups jobs by ________.
A) tasks they perform
B) territories they serve
C) products or services they manufacture or produce
D) type of customer they serve
10) ________ departmentalization is based on territory or the physical location of employees or
customers.
A) Functional
B) Product
C) Geographic
D) Matrix
11) A soap company that features a bath soap department, a laundry detergent department, and a
dish soap department is using which of the following?
A) process departmentalization
B) functional departmentalization
C) product departmentalization
D) customer departmentalization
12) What kind of departmentalization would be in place in a government agency in which there
are separate departments that provide services for employers, employed workers, unemployed
workers, and the disabled?
A) product
B) geographic
C) outcome
D) customer
13) State motor vehicle offices usually use this kind of departmentalization.
A) product
B) functional
C) customer
D) process
14) The line of authority that extends from the upper levels of management to the lowest levels
of the organization is termed the ________.
A) chain of responsibility
B) unity of command
C) staff authority
D) chain of command
15) The chain of command answers this question.
A) Where do I go for help?
B) How do I know when the task is complete?
C) What are the rules?
D) Who reports to whom?
16) Authority gives an individual the right to do this.
A) give orders
B) reprimand employees
C) command respect
D) obey orders
17) In the chain of command, each person above you ________.
A) has special privileges
B) receives higher pay
C) has line authority
D) has no right to give you orders
18) Staff managers have authority over ________.
A) special support employees only
B) line managers
C) middle managers
D) the person above them in the chain of command
19) Line authority gives a manager the ability to direct the work of ________.
A) any employee in the firm
B) any subordinate
C) any subordinate, after consulting with the next higher level
D) only subordinates one level down
20) ________ prevents a single employee from getting conflicting orders from two different
superiors.
A) Line authority
B) Unity of command
C) Staff authority
D) Chain of command
21) The importance of unity of command has diminished in today’s workplace because of its
tendency to be ________.
A) inflexible and inefficient
B) ethically questionable
C) chauvinistic and dictatorial
D) too decisive
22) Which of the following statements is true?
A) Power is a right.
B) Authority is one’s ability to influence decisions.
C) Authority is a right.
D) Both power and authority are rights.
23) ________ is the obligation or expectation to perform a duty.
A) Responsibility
B) Unity of command
C) Chain of command
D) Span of control
24) The personal secretary of a top manager may have ________.
A) power but not authority
B) authority but not power
C) power and authority
D) line authority but not staff authority
25) Which of the following statements is true?
A) Power is a type of authority.
B) Authority and power are identical.
C) Authority is a type of power.
D) Power is determined by horizontal position in an organization.
26) As represented in a power cone, power is based on ________.
A) vertical position only
B) horizontal position only
C) distance from the center only
D) vertical position and distance from the center
27) As represented in a hierarchical organization diagram, authority is based on ________.
A) vertical position only
B) horizontal position only
C) distance from the center only
D) horizontal and vertical position
28) A construction site supervisor who sees an impending thunderstorm and tells workers to go
home is demonstrating ________.
A) line authority
B) staff delegation
C) provisional accountability
D) responsibility
29) ________ is the power that rests on the leader’s ability to punish or control.
A) Reward power
B) Coercive power
C) Expert power
D) Referent power
30) A bank manager who passes out bonuses at the end of the year is exercising this.
A) reward power
B) coercive power
C) expert power
D) referent power
31) Your firm’s attorney has ________ power when giving legal advice.
A) legitimate
B) status
C) expert
D) coercive
32) ________ is the power that arises when a person is close to another person who has great
power and authority.
A) Expert power
B) Referent power
C) Reward power
D) Legitimate power
33) When a top manager decides to hire an individual over the objections of her staff, she is
exercising which kind of power?
A) referent
B) expert
C) coercive
D) legitimate
34) The traditional view holds that managers should directly supervise ________ subordinates.
A) no more than three
B) no more than six
C) around twelve
D) around twenty
35) Modern managers find that they can ________ if their employees are experienced, well-
trained, and motivated.
A) increase their span of control
B) decrease their span of control
C) eliminate their span of control
D) fluctuate their span of control
36) A traditional “top down” organization is ________ organization.
A) a largely centralized
B) a largely decentralized
C) an absolutely decentralized
D) an absolutely centralized
37) ________ reflects the degree to which decision making is distributed throughout the
hierarchy rather than concentrated at the top.
A) Centralization
B) Span of control
C) Concentration
D) Decentralization
38) In recent years, organizations have become more ________ to be responsive to a dynamic
business environment.
A) centralized
B) decentralized
C) structured
D) mechanistic
39) In today’s decentralized business world, ________ the most important strategic decisions.
A) top managers still primarily make
B) middle managers make
C) lower-level managers make
D) nonmanagerial employees make
40) All of the following are characteristics of a highly formalized organization EXCEPT
________.
A) explicit job descriptions
B) little discretion for employees
C) minimum number of rules
D) a standardized way of doing things
41) Today’s managers are moving away from formalization and trying to be this.
A) more rigorous
B) more flexible
C) more strict
D) less permissive
42) Today’s managers expect employees to ________.
A) ignore rules for the most part
B) use discretion when it comes to following rules
C) faithfully follow rules even when it may harm the organization
D) make their own rules
Eric the Redd (Scenario)
Eric Redd graduated from college and was hired by a corporation that manufactured parts for the
automotive industry. The employees on the assembly line seemed bored, and their motivation
was low. Eric’s employer decided to try to reorganize to increase productivity. During his career,
Eric will see his job change from an engineer to a more complex job assignment.
43) The jobs of assembly-line employees are to be changed to allow more tasks to be done by
individual workers. This is a reduction in ________.
A) work specialization
B) departmentalization
C) chain of command
D) centralization
44) Eric is offered a chance to help direct the efforts of some employees assigned to his work
group. This is a chance for Eric to experience ________.
A) functional structure
B) divisional structure
C) responsibility
D) authority
45) Eric sees this new assignment as an increase in ________, or an obligation or expectation for
him to perform at a new level.
A) functional structure
B) divisional structure
C) responsibility
D) authority
46) Organizational design is the process in which managers change or develop an organization’s
structure.
47) There are four basic elements in organizational design.
48) The original ideas about organizational design formulated by Fayol and Weber are now
largely obsolete.
49) When work specialization originally began to be implemented early in the twentieth century,
employee productivity initially rose.
50) Today, most managers see work specialization as a source of ever-increasing productivity.
51) The advantage of work specialization is that it always results in high employee motivation
and high productivity.
52) Departmentalization is how jobs are grouped.
53) Staff authority is the ability to direct the work of any employee who does not have a higher
rank in the organization.
54) Grouping jobs on the basis of major product areas is termed customer departmentalization.
55) Line authority can be exerted only after a manager checks with his or her superior.
56) Unity of command prevents an employee from trying to follow two conflicting commands at
once.
57) Power is a right that a manager has when he or she has a higher rank in an organization.
58) When decisions tend to be made at lower levels in an organization, the organization is said to
be centralized.
59) Traditional organizations are structured in a pyramid, with the power and authority located in
the pyramid’s broad base.
60) In a short essay, list and explain three key elements in designing an organization’s structure.
61) In a short essay, list and discuss three common forms of departmentalization.
62) A(n) ________ organization has a high degree of specialization, formalization, and
centralization.
A) organic
B) horizontal
C) learning
D) mechanistic