Chapter 10 Flashcards
Formal organization
The order and design of relationships within a company; consists of two or more people working together with a common objective and clarity of purpose
Division of labour
The process of dividing work into separate jobs and assigning tasks to workers
Specialization
The degree to which tasks are subdivided into smaller jobs
Departmentalization
The process of grouping jobs together so that similar or associated tasks and activities can be grouped together
Functional departmentalization
Departmentalization that is based on the primary functions performed within an organizational unit
Product departmentalization
Departmentalization that is based on the goods or services produced or sold by the organizational unit
Process departmentalization
Departmentalization that is based on the production process used by the organizational unit
Customer departmentalization
Departmentalization that is based on the primary type of customer served by the organizational unit
Geographic departmentalization
Departmentalization that is based on the geographic segmentation of the organizational units
Organization chart
A visual representation of the structured relationships among tasks and the people given the authority to do those tasks
Managerial hierarchy
The levels of management within an organization; typically includes top, middle, and supervisory management
Chain of command
The line of authority that extends from one level of an organization’s hierarchy to the next, from top to bottom, and make clear who reports to whom
Authority
Legitimate power, granted by the organization and acknowledge by employees, that allows an individual to request action and expect compliance
Delegation of authority
The assignment of some degree of authority and responsibility to persons lower in the chain of command
Span of control
The number of employees a manager directly supervises; also called span of management
Centralization
The degree to which formal authority is concentrated in one area or level of an organization
Decentralization
The process of pushing decision-making authority down the organizational hierarchy
Mechanistic organization
An organizational structure that is characterized by relatively high degree of job specialization, rigid departmentalization, many layers of management, narrow spans of control, centralized decision making, and a long chain of command
Organic organization
An organizational structure that is characterized by a relatively low degree of job specialization, loose departmentalization, few levels of management, wide spans of control, decentralized decision making, and a short chain of command
Line organization
An organizational structure with direct, clear lines of authority and communication flowing from the top managers downward
Line-and-staff organization
An organizational structure that includes both line and staff positions
Line positions
All positions in the organization directly concerned with producing goods and services and directly connected from top to bottom
Staff positions
Positions in an organization held by individuals who provide the administrative and support services that line employees need to achieve the company’s goals
Matrix structure (project management)
An organizational structure that combines functional and product departmentalization by bringing together people from different functional areas of the organization to work on a special project
Committee structure
An organizational structure in which authority and responsibility are held by a group rather than an individual
Group cohesiveness
The degree to which group members want to stay in the group and tend to resist outside influences
Work groups
The groups that share resources and coordinate efforts to help members better perform their individual jobs
Work teams
Like a work group, but also requires the pooling of knowledge, skills, abilities, and resources to achieve a common goal
Problem-solving teams
Usually members of the same department who meet regularly to suggest ways to improve operations and solve specific problems
Self-managed work teams
Teams without formal supervision that plan, select alternatives, and evaluate their own performance
Cross-functional team
Members from the same organizational level, but from different functional areas
Informal organization
The network of connections and channels of communication based on the informal relationships of individuals inside an organization
Re-engineering
The complete redesign of business structures and processes to improve operations
Virtual corporation
A network of independent companies linked by information technology to share skills, costs, and access to one another’s markets; allows the companies to come together quickly to exploit rapidly changing opportunities
