chapter 3 and 4

Question 1

Organisational Theory

Answer 1

arifies which organization structure will lead to, or improve,
organizational effectiveness

Question 2

Organizational effectiveness

Answer 2

the degree to which organization attains its short and long-term
goals, the selection of which reflects strategic consistencies, the self-interest of the evaluator and
the life stage of the organization.

Question 3

The goal attainment approach

Answer 3

states that an organization’s effectiveness should be judged
by whether it has achieved what it sets out to achieve

Question 4

For goal attainment approach to be viable measure of effectiveness:

Answer 4

organization must have goals
- goals must be explicit, sufficiently clear and widely known
- goals should be of a manageable number and should reflect areas important to the
organization
- there must be general consensus on these goals
- progress towards goals must be measurable and there should be a time limit
attached to them

Question 5

Drawbacks of the goal attainment approach

Answer 5

in the large company’s goals varies according to the person who is setting them
- the difference between goals that the company sets officially and real ones
- the difference orienting of short-term and long-term goals
- goals that are compatible to each other because of the diversity of interests within
organization

Question 6

System approach

Answer 6

states that an organization’s effectiveness should be judged on its ability
to acquire inputs, process them, distribute the outputs, and maintain stability and balance
between the various subsystems of the organization

Question 7

System approach implies that:

Answer 7

organizations are made up of interrelated subparts
- if any of these subparts performs poorly, it will negatively affect the performance
of the whole system
- management should maintain good relations with all the consistencies
- vacancies created must be filled, outdated technology replaced etc.
- mechanism produces goods and services in the repetitive cycles

Question 8

good relationship with who in the system

Answer 8

with constituencies

Question 9

Drawbacks of the systems approach:

Answer 9

• not all process variables are easy to measure
• hard to understand is the whole system improving or not

Question 10

Strategic-consistencies approach

Answer 10

an organization’s effectiveness is determined by how
successfully it satisfies the demands of those consistencies in its environment from which
it requires support for its continued existence

Question 11

Strategic-consistencies approach implies:

Answer 11

the organization becomes a “political arena” in which vested interests compete for
control over resources in order to satisfy environmental demands

Question 12

Political arena

Answer 12

the organization has a number of important consistencies, each with
different degrees of power and each trying to have its demands satisfied

Question 13

Examples of consistencies:

Answer 13

shareholders, employees, customers, locals, suppliers..

Question 14

Drawbacks of the approach: STRETEGIC CONSTICUENCIES APP

Answer 14

• separating the strategic consistencies from the larger environment is difficult,
  especially in quickly changing world
• approach also assumes that an organization’s basic goal is survival, which may not
  be the case in many situations

Question 15

STRATEGIC CONSTITUENCEIS APP It is important for managers to understand

Answer 15

who it is that survival depends upon. If management
knows whose support it needs if the organization is to maintain its health, it can modify its
preferred ordering of goals as necessary to reflect the changing power relationships with is
strategic consistencies

Question 16

The balanced scorecard approach

Answer 16

technique to evaluate effectiveness which seeks to
balance the various demands in the organization with its capabilities

Question 17

Making the balanced scorecard approach operat

Answer 17

all organizations must have access to finance and hence they have financial
demands and constraints
- it is important how the product or service contributes to creating value for
customers
- concentration on what the company must do internally to meet the customer’s
expectations
- searching for ability to develop and introduce new products of value to customers
and clients

Question 18

Drawbacks of the approach: BALANCED SCORECARD

Answer 18

• the utility may be limited if what is chosen to be measured is not important
• organizations long-term survival depends on having sufficient slack of resources
  in order to avoid crisis

Question 19

BALANCES SCOREHRARD, functions of managers and stakeholders

Answer 19

reasonably wide range of managers and stakeholders in the process of
nominating what is important for their organization

Question 20

VALUE TO MANAGERS:
o Goal attainment approach

Answer 20

managers ensure that goals of the organization are SMART = specific,
measurable, achievable and time-bound
- managers ensure that input is received from all those who have a major influence
on formulating and implementing the official goals
- managers observe the behaviour of organization managers
- managers reduce the degree of incompatibility between goals
- managers ensure the organization pursue both short and long-term goals
- managers realize that goals have to change over time, they are not fixed purpose

Question 21

value to managers in o System approach

Answer 21

focused on continuous improvements
- managers are aware of the interdependence of organizational activities
- approach is applicable where end goals are not clear or measurable
- system is efficient as organization work in repetitive cycle

Question 22

o Strategic consistency approach to managers

Answer 22

managers understand who it is that’s why all depends upon
- ghosts are ordered to make sure supports from the consistencies will be received
- the system is efficient

Question 23

The effectiveness of an organization structure is contingent upon the fit between the structure
and various contingency variables

Answer 23

strategy, size, environment and technology

Question 24

idea of effectiveness changed acc to

Answer 24

government, investor preferences,, government, management paradigm

Question 25

the timeline 1950 and 1960

Answer 25

1950- focus on reaching goal as effectiveness, then in 1960 30 different criteria on org effectiveness

Question 26

some examples of the top 30 criteria of effectiveness

Answer 26

productivity, profit, motivation, efficiency, growth, control, flexibility, stability

Question 27

what does ends and means shorts

Answer 27

ends- short time
means- long

Question 28

4 scorecard approach

Answer 28

financial perpective, customer perspective, internal perspective, innovation and learning perpective

Question 29

what does the org structure define

Answer 29

roles, responsibility, supervision, how tasks are allocated, areas of responsibility, authority, who reports to who

Question 30

4 DIMENSION of structure

Answer 30

complexity
formalisation
centralisation
coronation

Question 31

why is structure good

Answer 31

decision making, promote specialisation, adaptability and flexibility, strategic focus

Question 32

COMPLEXITY

Answer 32

DEGREE of horizontal, vertical and spatial differentiation in an organisation

Question 33

Horizontal differentiation

Answer 33

the degree of differentiation among units based on the
orientation of members, the nature of the tasks, their education and training (refer to
the number of departments of the organisation)

Question 34

types if horizontal structure

Answer 34

location
process
customer
task or function
product or service

Question 35

task or function

Answer 35

jobs grouped by function:
engineering, accounting, manufacturing
+ common skills, knowledge
- poor communication across

Question 36

by production or service

Answer 36

jobs grouped by product line
+specialisaiton
-duplication of function

Question 37

location

Answer 37

different regions in a. country, continent or globally
+effective handling of specific regional issues
-duplication of function

Question 38

customer/client

Answer 38

personal/ private customers

Question 39

vertical

Answer 39

• the number of layers of management

Question 40

Many layers of hierarchy

Answer 40

tall org

Question 41

The span of contro

Answer 41

the number of subordinates that a manager can supervise effectively

Question 42

Layers of management:

Answer 42

1. Top management - sets the strategic direction of the organisation
2. Middle management - implements the plants of senior management + supervise lover
   level management
3. Lower level management - completes day-to-day tasks of supervising the production of
   goods and services

Question 43

Spatial dispersion

Answer 43

the extent to which the organisation facilities and personnel are spread over
a wide geographical area

Question 44

FORMALIZATION

Answer 44

the degree to which jobs and procedures within the organisation are
standardized
Formalized organizations are plenty of rules and procedures which determine:
- what is to be done
- when it is to be done
- how it should be done

Question 45

Formalisation techniques:

Answer 45

Selection (choosing employees that will fit into the organisation)
* Role requirements (task requirements are explicit and defined in great detail)
* Rules, procedures and policies
* Rules state a particular and specific required behaviour pattern
* Procedures - a series of interrelated sequential steps that employees follow to
accomplish tasks
* Policies - guide employees in decision making in order to show a direction to the
goals
* Socialisation (adaptation process by which individuals learn the values, norms,
expected behaviour patterns for the job and the organisation)
* Training (the program used to teach employees preferred job skills, knowledge
and attitudes, as well as to introduce employees into organisation’s objectives,
history, rules and policies)
* Rituals (essentially communal activities like informal lunches, drinks, sports
activities. Rituals can extend to the style of clothes and company songs

Question 46

CENTRALISATION

Answer 46

he degree to which decision-making authority is centralised at the top

Question 47

COORDINATION

Answer 47

the process of integrating the objectives and activities of the separate units of
the organisation in order to achieve organisational goals efficiently

Question 48

3 types of coordiantationn

Answer 48

Programmed coordination includes planning, goal setting, scheduling,
timetabling, sequencing, developing various types of standard operating
procedures
* Individual coordination includes coordinating the work of others, especially
when unusual circumstances demand a unique solution to a problem
* Informal coordination - coordination of employees among themselves on a day-
to-day basis, which includes discussions, formal/informal meetings, emails,
telephone calls, casual talks