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Organizational Behavior, 17e (Robbins)
Chapter 15 Foundations of Organization Structure
1) The term used to describe the degree to which tasks in an organization are subdivided into
separate jobs is called ________.
A) social clustering
B) bureaucracy
C) work specialization
D) centralization
E) departmentalization
2) Which of the following statements is true regarding work specialization?
A) Work specialization indicates to what degree will there be rules and formalized regulations to
direct employees and managers.
B) Work specialization decreases the time spent in changing tasks.
C) Work specialization increases the cost of finding and training workers to do specific and
repetitive tasks.
D) Work specialization decreases efficiency and productivity.
E) Work specialization hinders efficient use of employee skills.
3) For much of the first half of the twentieth century, managers viewed work specialization as
________.
A) a means to encourage employee satisfaction
B) an effective solution to overcentralization
C) an unending source of increased productivity
D) difficult to implement without automation technology
E) a frustrating cause of reduced efficiency
4) The basis by which jobs are grouped is called ________.
A) social clustering
B) span of control
C) work specialization
D) centralization
E) departmentalization
5) A plant manager organizes a plant by separating engineering, accounting, manufacturing,
personnel, and purchasing into departments. The plant is departmentalized on the basis of
________.
A) target customer
B) product
C) function
D) geography
E) service
6) AgriProducers has customers all over the United States that need their soil and crops tested in
their labs. The crops and soil are different in the various large areas of the nation, such as the
West Coast and the Midwest. Which type of departmentalization would be best for
AgriProducers?
A) functional
B) process
C) product
D) geographic
E) temporal
7) Procter & Gamble has separate departments for Tide, Pampers, Charmin, and Pringles. This is
an example of departmentalization by ________.
A) function
B) process
C) geography
D) product
E) interest
8) Wiper Inc., a parts supplier, has separate departments for government aircraft and contracts,
large commercial aircraft clients, and small personal aircraft clients. This is an example of
departmentalization on the basis of ________.
A) product
B) function
C) geography
D) customer
E) service
9) The unbroken line of authority that extends from the top of the organization to the lowest
echelon and clarifies who reports to whom is termed ________.
A) chain of command
B) path of power
C) span of control
D) line of responsibility
E) web of authority
10) Chain of command is a key element of an organization's structure. Which of the following
key questions is addressed by this element?
A) How many individuals can a manager efficiently and effectively direct?
B) To whom do individuals and groups report?
C) On what basis will jobs be grouped together?
D) To what degree are activities subdivided into separate jobs?
E) To what degree will there be rules and regulations to direct employees and managers?
11) Span of control is a key element of an organization's structure. Which of the following key
questions is addressed by this element?
A) On what basis will jobs be grouped together?
B) To whom do individuals and groups report?
C) To what degree will there be rules and regulations to direct employees and managers?
D) How many individuals can a manager efficiently and effectively direct?
E) To what degree are activities subdivided into separate jobs?
12) Which of the following terms refers to the rights inherent in a managerial position to give
orders and expect them to be obeyed?
A) chain of command
B) authority
C) power
D) span of control
E) leadership
13) The principle of ________ helps preserve the concept of an unbroken line of authority.
A) span of control
B) departmentalization
C) cross-functionality
D) centralization
E) unity of command
14) According to the principle of unity of command, ________.
A) managers should limit their oversight to a maximum of 12 employees
B) managers should oversee 1-4 employees on average
C) an individual should be directly responsible to only one supervisor
D) an organization should be departmentalized on the basis of functions
E) employees should report directly to two supervisors to maintain task balance
Mike Morrell is a production supervisor in Porco Rosso, an aircraft manufacturing firm. After
evaluating Mike's managerial capabilities, some members of the senior management feel that
average productivity would improve if more workers were assigned to him. However, some
managers are skeptical about Mike's ability to handle more workers.
15) Which of the following statements, if true, would support the argument favoring increased
span of control?
A) Mike's team consists of highly experienced and skilled labor.
B) Porco Rosso recently became the world's leading aircraft manufacturer.
C) Mike is receiving increasing complaints about interpersonal conflicts within the team.
D) Mike's team is highly dependent on his guidance, even on minor issues.
E) When additional workers were assigned to Mike on a previous occasion, it led to unfavorable
results.
16) Which of the following statements, if true, would weaken the argument favoring increased
span of control?
A) Mike has a reputation of handling interpersonal conflicts effectively.
B) Performance reports from the last few years show that teams that were monitored closely had
higher productivity.
C) Porco Rosso recently launched its latest engine model, the PR-4.
D) Market trends indicate that the demand for aircraft is expected to increase substantially over
the next few years.
E) When additional workers were assigned to Mike on a previous occasion, it led to favorable
and productive results.
17) The ________ refers to the number of subordinates that a manager directs.
A) span of control
B) unity of command
C) chain of command
D) line of responsibility
E) leadership web
18) A ________ is consistent with recent efforts by companies to reduce costs, cut overhead,
speed up decision making, increase flexibility, get closer to customers, and empower employees.
A) wider span of control
B) high degree of formalization
C) longer chain of command
D) lack of work specialization
E) high degree of centralization
19) A narrow span of control ________.
A) encourages employee autonomy
B) is expensive because it adds levels of management
C) simplifies vertical communication
D) increases the speed of decision making
E) discourages overly tight supervision
20) Anna's company needs to dramatically cut costs, speed decision making, and increase
flexibility. Which of the following structural decisions will help her achieve the desired
objectives?
A) increasing the span of control
B) decreasing the unity of command
C) increasing the degree of formalization
D) decentralizing management decisions
E) departmentalizing the company on the basis of products
21) Which of the following is a drawback of a narrow span of control?
A) It increases effectiveness.
B) It is more expensive.
C) It encourages employee autonomy.
D) It decreases the number levels in the organizational hierarchy.
E) It increases participatory decision making.
Gordon is a new divisional manager at AskSocrates.com. In reorganizing his division, he must
make some decisions regarding the span of control for management within his division.
22) The question of span of control determines ________.
A) the employee grievance policy of the organization
B) the number of levels and managers in an organization
C) where decisions are made
D) how jobs will be grouped
E) how employees will be compensated
23) While observing the departments in his division, Gordon notices that some managers with
wide spans of control seem to perform more effectively than other managers with similarly sized
spans of control. Which of the following statements is most likely to be true regarding the high-
performing managers?
A) These managers are paid higher salaries than the low-performing managers.
B) These managers have external locus of control.
C) The employees within their departments tend to compete to reach productivity goals, which
boosts performance.
D) The employees within their departments score high on agreeableness.
E) The employees within their departments are highly skilled and very knowledgeable about
their jobs.
24) In an organization, top managers make all the decisions and lower-level managers merely
carry out their directives. This organization is most likely to be characterized by ________.
A) a narrower span of control
B) a low degree of formalization
C) a high degree of centralization
D) a high degree of departmentalization
E) a low degree of work specialization
25) ________ refers to the degree to which decision making is concentrated at a single point in
the organization.
A) Formalization
B) Departmentalization
C) Centralization
D) Work specialization
E) Line of command
26) According to a 2011 survey, many workers in Qtopia Inc. are dissatisfied with their jobs. The
survey revealed that most of the dissatisfied workers believe that they have very little control
over their job assignments. Therefore, to increase workers' job satisfaction, Boris, a production
manager, feels they need to only concentrate on changing the dissatisfied workers' beliefs
regarding the degree of control they have over their job assignments. Which of the following, if
true, would weaken the conclusion made by Boris?
A) Many dissatisfied workers feel that their wages are too low and working conditions are
unsatisfactory.
B) The number of workers in Qtopia Inc. who are satisfied with their jobs is greater than the
number of workers who are dissatisfied.
C) The workers in Qtopia Inc. are more dissatisfied than workers in other companies.
D) The 2008 edition of a popular magazine included Qtopia Inc. on its list of 100 best companies
to work for.
E) The workers in the company who are satisfied with their jobs believe that they have sufficient
control over their job assignments.
27) The more the lower-level personnel provide input or are actually given the discretion to
make decisions, the ________ within that organization.
A) higher is the degree of formalization
B) lower is the level of empowerment
C) lower is the degree of work specialization
D) higher is the degree of departmentalization
E) higher is the degree of decentralization
28) ________ refers to the degree to which jobs within the organization are standardized.
A) Formalization
B) Empowerment
C) Work specialization
D) Departmentalization
E) Decentralization
29) Publishing representatives who call on college professors to inform them of their company's
new publications have a great deal of freedom in their jobs. They have only a general sales pitch,
which they tailor as needed. Based on this information, we can say that the job of these
publishing representatives ________.
A) scores low on the degree of work specialization
B) scores low on the degree of decentralization
C) scores high on the degree of departmentalization
D) scores high on the degree of centralization
E) scores low on the degree of formalization
30) The clerical and editorial employees in a publishing house need to be at their desks by 8:00
AM and follow a set of precise procedures dictated by management. The jobs of these clerical
and editorial employees ________.
A) have a wide span of control
B) score high on the degree of departmentalization
C) score high on the degree of formalization
D) lack a unity of command
E) score low on the degree of work specialization
31) One way to overcome too much division within an organization and retain the positive
elements of structure is to encourage or build in boundary-spanning roles.
32) The chain of command is an unbroken line of authority that extends from the top of the
organization to the lowest echelon and clarifies who reports to whom.
33) Narrow spans of control make vertical communication in the organization more complex.
34) The organization's structure will determine what relationships form, the formality of those
relationships, and many work outcomes.
35) In centralized organizations, top managers make all the decisions, and lower-level managers
merely carry out their directives.
36) As compared to a decentralized organization, a centralized organization can act more quickly
to solve problems.
37) Departmentalization refers to the degree to which jobs within the organization are
standardized.
38) Describe the five common ways of departmentalization. Give an example of each.
39) Explain the approaches successful companies have taken to structuring themselves during
growth.
40) Why is span of control important within an organization, and which common organizational
design would most likely have the widest span of control? Explain your answer.
41) Compare and contrast centralized and decentralized organizations.
42) Formalization is a key element of organizational structure. What is indicated by
formalization? Describe the characteristics of a highly formalized organization.
43) What is a virtual organization? What elements of organizational structure are important to
create and sustain a successful virtual organization? Explain your answer.
44) Organizations do not always stay with the basis of departmentalization they first adopt, as is
the case with Microsoft, explain.
45) Elena is the senior manager of a scientific operations team at a well-known clinical research
organization. The organization delivers more than 4,000 solutions across more than 18
therapeutic areas. Being a perfectionist, Elena has reached her present position through hard
work and dedication. Given that she has also worked effectively with teams in the past, she has
recently been assigned to lead a team working on a new project which is critical to the company.
Elena refuses to allocate any tasks to her team and decides to put in extra hours and weekends to
complete the groundwork herself. Based on the information presented here, which of the
following would best explain this contradiction?
A) Elena feels she will not be able to guide her team well on the project.
B) Elena is not very sociable with her colleagues.
C) Elena feels that by delegating work, she will complicate her working relationship with the
team.
D) Elena feels that this project is vital to the team's success.
E) Elena is reluctant to delegate work as she lacks confidence in her team's abilities.
46) A ________ is characterized by a low degree of departmentalization, wide spans of control,
authority centralized in a single person, and little formalization.
A) bureaucracy
B) matrix organization
C) simple structure
D) networked organizational structure
E) hierarchical organization
