Chapter 6
Organizing
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
6-1. Q: You have begun a small but growing business. What advantages and disadvantages
should you consider before changing it from a sole proprietorship to a corporation?
A: The advantages of keeping it a sole proprietorship include simplicity, lack of legal
6-2. Q: Select four different businesses and identify some of their “key activities” by posing
Drucker’s three questions
A: Drucker’s questions were: (1) In what area is excellence required to obtain the
6-3. Q: Under what conditions might each of the following logics of departmentation be
desirable: functional, geographical, customer, product, and process?
A: Functional departmentation is common in the small organization, where only one
manager skilled in each function is affordable, and is also used at various levels in almost
6-4. Q: Chart an organization with which you are familiar that has at least three organizational
levels, and identify the number of people reporting to each manager at each level. How do
the spans of control at the lowest level compare with those at higher level(s)?
A: While organizations differ, it is common to find the largest spans of control at the
6-5. Q: From question 6-4, select a particular manager and his or her group. Analyze the
difficulty of the manager’s job based on the criteria (subordinate training, nature of jobs
supervised, etc.) provided in the text. In your opinion, does the manager’s actual span of
control reflect the difficulty of that position?
6-6. Q: Distinguish between functional (specialized) staff authority and traditional line authority
A: Both functional and line authority are delegated by upper management. Functional
6-7. Q: According to the Woodward and Aston studies, what conditions lead to a formalized,
standardized organizational environment?
6-8. Q: Describe from your experience or reading a temporary organization or task force
formed to accomplish some specific purpose. How was it formed, organized, and ultimately
disbanded?
6-9. Q: What changes in organization structure might you expect as a result of the information
revolution?
6-10. Q: If the development of the information-based organization continues to have the effect
on management predicted by Drucker, what will be the impact on career expectations of
engineers and other specialist professionals?
A: Drucker’s 1988 prediction that the typical business would have “half the levels of
6-11. Q: Choose an enterprise with which you are familiar that has undergone significant recent
reorganization. Compare the new and old organizations with regard to (a) size and
influence of specialized staff, (b) management levels, (c) typical spans of control, and (d)
responsibility delegated to nonmanagerial professionals. What other changes occurred in
the reorganization?
6-12. Q: Discuss the strategy you will use in your career to assure you will remain in demand in
a changing, competitive world.