Chapter 12-Implementing Strategy Through Organization

Question 1

Organizational Architecture

Answer 1

The totality of a firm’s organizational arrangements, including its formal organizational structure, control systems, incentive systems, organizational culture, organizational processes, and human capital

Question 2

Organizational Structure

Answer 2

The combination of the location of decision-making responsibilities, the formal division of the organization into subunits, and the establishment of integrating mechanisms to coordinate the activities of the subunits

Question 3

Controls

Answer 3

The metrics used to measure the performance of subunits and make judgments about how well managers are running them.

Question 4

Incentives

Answer 4

The devices used to encourage desired employee behavior.

Question 5

Organizational Processes

Answer 5

The manner in which decisions are made and work is performed within the organization

Question 6

Organizational Culture

Answer 6

The norms and value systems that are shared among the employees of an organization

Question 7

People

Answer 7

The employees of an organization, as well as the strategy used to recruit, compensate, motivate, and retain those individuals; also refers to employees’ skills, values, and orientation.

Question 8

Vertical Differentiation

Answer 8

The location of decision-making responsibilities within a structure, referring to centralization or decentralization, and also the number of layers in a hierarchy, referring to whether organization structure is tall or flat.

Question 9

Horizontal Differentiation

Answer 9

The formal division of the organization into subunits.

Question 10

Integrating Mechanisms

Answer 10

Processes and procedures used for coordination subunits.

Question 11

Centralization

Answer 11

Structure in which decision-making authority is concentrated at a high level in the management hierarchy.

Question 12

Decentralization

Answer 12

Structure in which decision-making authority is distributed to lower-level managers or other employees.

Question 13

Autonomous Subunit

Answer 13

A subunit that has all the resources and decision-making power required to run the operation on a day-to-day basis.

Question 14

Tall Hierarchies

Answer 14

An organizational structure with many layers or management.

Question 15

Flat Hierarchies

Answer 15

An organizational structure with very few layers of management.

Question 16

Span Control

Answer 16

The number of a manager’s direct reports.

Question 17

Influence Costs

Answer 17

The loss of efficiency that arises from deliberate information distortions for personal gain within an organization

Question 18

Delayering

Answer 18

The process of reducing the number of levels in a management hierarchy

Question 19

Functional Structure

Answer 19

The organizational structure is built upon the division of labor within the firm, with different functions focusing on different tasks.

Question 20

Multi-divisional Structure

Answer 20

An organizational structure in which a firm is divided into divisions, each of which is responsible for a distinct business area.

Question 21

Matrix Structure

Answer 21

An organizational structure in which managers try to achieve tight coordination between functions, particularly R&D, production, and marketing.

Question 22

Knowledge Network

Answer 22

A network for transmitting information within an organization that is based not on formal organization structure but on informal contacts between managers within an enterprise and on distributed-information systems.

Question 23

Control

Answer 23

The process through which managers regulate the activities of individuals and units so that they are consistent with the goals and standards of the organization.

Question 24

Goal

Answer 24

A desired future state that an organization attempts to realize.

Question 25

Standard

Answer 25

A performance requirement that the organization is meant to attain on an ongoing basis.

Question 26

Subgoal

Answer 26

An objective, the achievement of which helps the organization attain or exceed its major goals.

Question 27

Personal Control

Answer 27

Control by personal contact with and direct supervision of subordinates.

Question 28

Bureaucratic Control

Answer 28

Control through a formal system of written rules and procedures.

Question 29

Output Controls

Answer 29

Goals that are set for units or individuals and monitoring performance against those goals.

Question 30

Market Controls

Answer 30

The regulation of the behavior of individuals and units within an enterprise by setting up an internal market for valuable resources such as capital.

Question 31

Peer Control

Answer 31

The pressure that employees exert on others within their team or work group to perform up to or in excess of the expectations of the organization.

Question 32

Values

Answer 32

The ideas or shared assumptions about what a group believes to be good, right, and desirable.

Question 33

Norms

Answer 33

Social rules and guidelines that prescribe the appropriate behavior in particular situations.

Question 34

Performance Ambiguity

Answer 34

The difficulty of identifying with precision the reason for the high (or low) performance of a subunit such as a function or team.