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Student name:__________
1) Compare mechanistic and organic organizational design.
2) To achieve the maximum benefits of the bureaucratic design, Max Weber believed that
an organization had to have five characteristics. What are they?
3) Identify the choices that must be made in designing an organizational structure.
4) Define what is meant by the term division of labor.
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5) Discuss the role of delegation of authority in design decisions.
6) Describe three forms of departmentalization.
7) How would you describe the “departmentalization” of your university?
8) Identify the major advantages of matrix organizational design.
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9) Why should management be concerned with the concept of span of control?
10) List and define the three dimensions that are often used in research and practice to
describe structure.
11) The president of a movie studio calls you in to consult on its reorganization. In discussing
the various organizational forms that may be suitable you present the virtual organizational
design. Why might this form be suited for the movie industry?
12) What is a virtual organization and what are the form’s primary advantages?
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13) Scientific management largely focused on methods to implement the principle of
________.
A) specialization
B) cooperation
C) coordination
D) totality
14) The ______ organization is flexible to changing environmental demands because its
design encourages greater utilization of human potential.
A) organoleptic
B) organic
C) optimized
D) eco
15) __________ described a type of organization that functions in a machine-like manner to
accomplish the organization’s goals in a highly efficient manner.
A) Fayol
B) Skinner
C) Fielder
D) Herzberg
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16) The organic model seeks to maximize ____________________.
A) satisfaction, flexibility and development
B) efficiency and production
C) expressive and significant communication
D) organizational growth
17) All of the following are structural characteristics of the mechanistic model except:
A) It’s highly complex
B) It’s highly centralized
C) It’s highly geographic
D) It’s highly formalized
18) According to Weber, the bureaucratic structure is superior to any other form in
___________.
A) Precision
B) Stability
C) Reliability
D) All of the above.
19) The _______ chain is the route for all vertical communications in an organization.
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A) secular
B) scalar
C) sanctioned
D) “S”
20) Likert used the terms “System-1” and “System-4” to refer to ________ organizations
respectively.
A) functional and organic
B) functional and matrix
C) centralized and decentralized
D) mechanistic and organic
21) With the _______________ model of organizational design, decision making, control,
and goal setting are decentralized and shared at all levels of the organization.
A) mechanistic
B) geographic
C) organic
D) bureaucratic
22) The _______________ model of organizational design is relatively simple, decentralized,
and informal.
A) mechanistic
B) geographic
C) organic
D) bureaucratic
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23) Thrivent Financial for Lutherans transformed its organization from a mechanistic to an
organic structure to take advantage of the _______________ concept.
A) specialization
B) increased job range
C) delegation of authority
D) self-managed team
24) Division of labor in organizations can occur in ______ different ways.
A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five
25) _______________ is the right to make decisions without approval by a higher manager
and to extract obedience from other people.
A) Specialization
B) Authority
C) Span of control
D) Division of labor
26) Subaru’s Indiana manufacturing plant was the first auto assembly plant in the world to:
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A) Use biodegradable bumpers
B) Use eco-friendly paint
C) Use all American-made parts
D) Send nothing to the landfill
27) Manufacturing plants often divide work into fabricating and assembly, with individuals
assigned to one of these two activities. This division of work is called _______________
differentiation.
A) specialty
B) horizontal
C) sequence
D) vertical
28) Organizations that decentralize (delegate) authority enable managers to:
A) Make significant decisions
B) Gain skills
C) Advance in the company
D) All of the choices are correct
29) The principal advantage of the functional basis is its _______________.
A) efficiency
B) responsiveness
C) manageability
D) flexibility
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30) In practical terms, the matrix design combines functional and ________________
departmental bases.
A) geographical
B) customer
C) product
D) retail
31) Loan officers are often associated with industrial, commercial, or agricultural loans. This
is an example of a(n) _______ form of departmentalization.
A) process
B) customer
C) impact
D) segmented
32) In practical terms, the __________ design combines functional and product departmental
bases.
A) Manix®
B) mixed
C) matrix
D) multiple channel
33) Matrix organizations achieve the desired balance by superimposing a horizontal structure
of _______________ on the vertical structure.
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A) authority
B) influence
C) communication
D) All of the choices are correct.
34) A dual authority system is a distinguishing characteristic of a(n) _______________
organization.
A) organic
B) matrix
C) mechanistic
D) geopolitical
35) The potential conflict between allegiance to one’s functional manager and one’s project
manager must be recognized and dealt with in _______________ organizations.
A) organic
B) matrix
C) mechanistic
D) lateral
36) Which of the following is a condition that may lead to organizational benefit through the
application of a matrix structure?
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A) Organizations that must deal with financial and human resources constraints
B) Organizations that require responses to rapid change in two or more environments,
such as technology and markets
C) Organizations that face uncertainties that generate high information-processing
requirement
D) All of the above are correct.
37) All of the following were presented as suggestions for enhancing individual success
within a matrix organization except:
A) Communicate clearly, but as seldom as possible
B) Get to know others in the organization before you need their assistance
C) Be aware of deadlines and manage your time been projects appropriately
D) Keep management abreast of your activities
38) In a matrix organization, top management is _______________ with day-to-day
operations.
A) less involved
B) never involved
C) always involved
D) more involved
39) A(n) _______________ structure encourages constant interaction among project unit and
functional department members.
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A) organic
B) matrix
C) mechanistic
D) All of the choices are correct.
40) Ordinarily, the process of moving to matrix organization is:
A) evolutionary
B) revolutionary
C) immediate
D) motivational
41) Generally, the issue of span of control comes down to how many _______________ a
manager can oversee.
A) products
B) customers
C) facilities
D) people
42) Once a task force achieves its objective, the task force _______________.
A) dissolves
B) transitions into a standing project team
C) becomes permanent work group
D) splits into smaller groups
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43) Management can typically combine ________ specialized and similar jobs into relatively
_______ departments.
A) highly; large
B) minimally; small
C) highly; small
D) minimally; large
44) Which of the following is one of the design decisions that management must consider in
determining the structure of the organization?
A) Span of control
B) Delegation of authority
C) Departmentalization
D) All of the above are correct.
45) Managers need to consider how the four design decisions influence the structure of their
organizations. In a similar vein, there are three dimensions of organizational structure that
interact with these design decisions, namely ______________.
A) formalization, centralization, and complexity
B) division of labor, delegation of authority, departmentalization, and span of control
C) centralization, complexity, and span of control
D) formalization, centralization, and delegation of authority
46) High delegation of authority creates the need for _______________.
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A) corresponding higher salaries
B) updated management titles
C) checks on its use
D) larger spans of control
47) At present, all of the following dimensions are used in research and practice to describe
organizational structure except:
A) Formalization
B) Centralization
C) Complexity
D) Desirability
48) The dimension of _______________ refers to the extent to which expectations regarding
the means and ends of work are specified, written, and enforced.
A) formalization
B) centralization
C) complexity
D) mechanism
49) Wide spans of control ___________ one-on-one supervision.
A) necessitate
B) discourage
C) promote
D) None of the above, there is no established relation between the two.
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50) The greater the use of the _______________ basis, the greater the complexity.
A) geographic
B) customer
C) product
D) All of the choices are correct.
51) The concept of organizational complexity refers to:
A) The number of distinctly different job titles
B) Occupational groupings
C) The number of distinctly different units or departments
D) All of the choices are correct.
52) It has become standard practice to use the term _________ differentiation to refer to the
number of different units at the same level and _______ differentiation to refer to the number of
levels in the organization.
A) horizontal; vertical
B) vertical; horizontal
C) horizontal; status
D) job; rank
53) The _______ the specialization of labor, the _________ the complexity.
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A) greater; greater
B) greater; less
C) less; greater
D) None of the above; the two constructs are not related.
54) The greater the use of ________ departments the _________ the centralization.
A) customer; greater
B) functional; greater
C) functional; less
D) geographic; greater
55) With _____________, the same organizational structure and operating policies and
procedures that exist in the existing domestic organization are used when setting up a foreign
subsidiary.
A) replication
B) projection
C) duplication
D) nationalizing
56) Thrivent Financial implemented a form of employee compensation termed
______________ to encourage employees to adopt a new work system.
A) pay for knowledge
B) pay for productivity
C) incentive pay
D) gainsharing
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57) The Federal Express structure, with regional presidents and their “armies,” is modeled
after a system made popular by the:
A) Romans
B) Greeks
C) Roman Catholic Church
D) United States Postal Service
58) Departments in Japanese firms are most often based on _______________.
A) products
B) customers
C) function
D) location
59) The typical Japanese manufacturing job has _______________ the typical Western
manufacturing job.
A) more range than
B) less range than
C) the same range as
D) There is no range in manufacturing jobs.
60) Work in e-commerce, consulting, marketing, and job searching seems best suited for
_______________ organizations.
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A) virtual
B) mechanistic
C) geographic
D) organic
61) The concept of virtual organizations originated in or at:
A) NASA
B) Major universities
C) Microsoft
D) Japan
62) Which of the following statements about boundaryless organizations is false?
A) Chains of command are eliminated
B) Spans of control are unlimited
C) Rigid departments are replaced with empowered teams
D) Participative decision making is eliminated
63) What are the most distinct differences between the organic and the mechanistic
organizational models?
64) Are the right to “extract obedience” and the “right to make decisions” associated with a
particular type or class of job?
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65) What is the principal historical reason for the creation of organizations?
66) Why may a manager believe that delegating authority will lead to lower levels of
effectiveness?
67) Why may decentralization lead to duplication of effort?
68) Why may the cost of a divisional structure sometimes exorbitant?
69) What is the most essential feature of a matrix organization?
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70) It is generally accepted that a manager at a lower organizational level can oversee more
subordinates a manager at a higher level. Why is this the case?
71) What are the dimensions of organizational structure?
72) In the context of organizational design, what does replication refer to?
73) Identify three consequences of a virtual organization structure.
74) Virtual-style organizations have both proponents and critics. Identify some of the
advantages and disadvantages cited by each.
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75) The viability of a virtual organization as the proper design approach is centered on two
major issues. The first is the conclusion that the virtual arrangement results in economic gains of
acquiring goals and services from specialized firms. What is the second issue?
76) In layman’s terms, bureaucracy refers to the negative consequences of large
organizations, such as excessive red tape and procedural delays.
⊚ true
⊚ false
77) All jobs contain some degree of the right to exact obedience from others.
⊚ true
⊚ false
78) Some organizations have eliminated the hierarchy through which authority flows from
the highest-level manager to the lowest-level manager.
⊚ true
⊚ false
79) Delegation of authority refers specifically to doing work.
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⊚ true
⊚ false
80) A relatively high delegation of authority discourages the development of management.
⊚ true
⊚ false
81) Span of labor concerns the extent to which jobs are specialized.
⊚ true
⊚ false
82) The cost of formal management training programs is always offset by the benefits.
⊚ true
⊚ false
83) As the number of employees with specialized jobs increases within an organization, it
becomes easier for a single manager to coordinate their efforts.
⊚ true
⊚ false
84) A major disadvantage of the departmental basis is that organizational goals may be
sacrificed in favor of departmental goals.
⊚ true
⊚ false
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85) A divisional structure has a notable advantage over other structures in its efficiency.
⊚ true
⊚ false
86) Clients or customers should never be a basis for grouping jobs.
⊚ true
⊚ false
87) The following reporting relationship may best indicate a functional form of organization.
The manager of the Lexington, Kentucky, retail store of a national chain reports to the president,
Midwest Division. The Midwest Division reports to the headquarters unit.
⊚ true
⊚ false
88) A fully-developed matrix organization has product management departments along with
the usual functional departments.
⊚ true
⊚ false
89) The number of jobs to be included in a specific group is an issue of span of control.
⊚ true
⊚ false
90) The critical issue in determining a manager’s span of control is the number of potential
relationships in the unit.
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⊚ true
⊚ false
91) In general, the greater the inherent ambiguity in an individual’s job, the greater the need
for supervision to avoid conflict and stress.
⊚ true
⊚ false
92) The individual who can clearly and concisely communicate with subordinates is able to
manage more people than one who can’t.
⊚ true
⊚ false
93) “Flattening” an organization decreases the average span of control of each manager.
⊚ true
⊚ false
94) High delegation of authority creates the need for checks on its use.
⊚ true
⊚ false
95) Functional departments are made up of jobs with great differences.
⊚ true
⊚ false
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96) Wide spans of control encourage one-on-one supervision.
⊚ true
⊚ false
97) Rules and procedures that are not enforced will not affect behavior.
⊚ true
⊚ false
98) Specialization of labor contributes primarily to horizontal differentiation.
⊚ true
⊚ false
99) Delegation of authority contributes to vertical differentiation.
⊚ true
⊚ false
100) Departments in Japanese firms are more often based on function and process than on
product, customer, or location.
⊚ true
⊚ false
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Answer Key
Test name: chapter 16
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