Chapter 6 Flashcards
what are the 5 basic elements of organization
- job specialization
- departmentalization
- reporting relationships
- distribution of authority
- coordination
the degree to which the overall task of the organization is broken down and divided into smaller component parts
job specialization
What are the positive and negatives of Job specialization
Positives
- Workers can become proficient at a task
- Transfer time between tasks is decreased
- Specializes equipment can be more easily developed
- Employee replacement becomes easier
Negatives
- Employee boredom and dissatisfaction with mundane tasks
- Absenteeism rises and the quality of work suffers
- Anticipated benefits specialization does not always occur
What are 5 alternative approaches to job specialization?
- job rotation
- job enlargement
- job enrichment
- job characteristics approach
- work teams
an alternative to job specialization that involves systematically moving employees from one job to another
job rotation
an alternative to job specialization that increases the total number of tasks that workers perform
job enlargement
what are the disadvantages of job enlargement?
- Training costs usually increase
- Unions have argued that pay should increase because the worker is doing more tasks
- In many cases the work remains boring and routine even after job enlargement
an alternative to a job specialization that attempts to increase both the number of tasks a worker does and the control the worker has over the job
job enrichment
an alternative to job specialization that suggests that jobs should be diagnosed and improved along five core dimensions, taking into account both the work system and employee preferences
job characteristics approach
what are the 5 core dimensions of the job characteristics approach
Skill variety: the number of things a person does in one job
Task identity: the extent to which the worker does a complete or identifiable portion of the total job
Task significance: the perceived importance of the task
Autonomy: the degree of control the worker has over how the work is performed
Feedback: the extent to which the worker knows how well the job is being performed
an alternative to job specialization that allows an entire group to design the work system it will use to perform an interrelated set of tasks
work teams
the process of grouping jobs according to some logical arrangement
departmentalization
4 types of departmentalization
- functional
- product
- customer
- location
grouping jobs involving the same or similar activities
functional departmentalization
grouping activities around products or product groups
product departmentalization
grouping activities to respond and interact with specific customers or customer groups
customer departmentalization
grouping jobs on the basic of defined geographic sites or areas
location departmentalization
a clear and distinct line of authority among the positions in an organizations
chain of command
two components of chain of command
unity of command
scalar principle
suggest that each person with an organization must have a clear reporting relationship to only one boss
unity of command
suggests that there must be a clear and unbroken line of authority that extends from the lowest to the highest position in the organization
scalar principle
the number of people who report to a particular manager
span of management
power that has been legitimized by the organization
authority
two main issues addresses in authority
delegation
decentralization/decentralization
the process by which a manager assigns a portion of his or her total workload to others
delegation
the process of systematically retaining power and authority throughout the organization to middle and lower level managers
decentralization
the process of systematically retaining power and authority in the hands of higher level managers
centralization
the process of linking the activities of the various departments of the organization
coordination
three forms of interdependence
pooled
sequential
reciprocal
when units operate with little interaction; their output is pooled at the organizational level
pooled interdependence
when the output of one unit becomes the input for another in a sequential fashion
sequential interdependence
when activities flow both ways between units
reciprocal interdependence
a model of organization design based on a legitimate and formal system of authority
bureaucracy
based on the assumption that the optimal design for any given organization depends on a set of relevant situational factors
situational view of organizational design
4 basic factors of the situational view of organizational design
technology
environment
organizational size
organizational life cycle
conversion process used to transform inputs into outputs
technology
form of technology where the product is custom-made to customer specifications or produced in small quantities
Unit or Small Batch Technology
form of technology where the product is manufactured in assembly line fashion by combining component parts into another part or finished product
Large batch or mass production technology
form of technology where raw materials are transformed to a finished product by a series of machine or process transformations
Continuous process technology
similar to the bureaucratic model most frequently found in stable environments
mechanistic organization
very flexible and informal model of organization design, most often found in unstable and unpredictable environments
organic organization
extent to which the organization is broken down into subunits
differentiation
degree to which the various subunits must work together in a coordinated fashion
integration
total number of full time or full time equivalent employees
organizational size
progression through which organizations evolve as they grow and mature
organizational life cycle
based on the functional approach to departmentalization
Also known as U form (unitary)
functional design
used by an organization made up of a set of unrelated businesses
Also known as H form (holding)
conglomerate design
based on multiple businesses in related areas operating within a larger organizational framework
Also known as M form (multidivisional)
divisional design
based on two overlapping bases of departmentalization
matrix design
an approach to organization design that relies almost exclusively on project type teams with little or no underlying hierarchy
team organization
one that has little or no formal structure
virtual organization
one that works to facilitate the lifelong learning and personal development of all its employees while continually transforming itself to respond to changing demands and needs
learning organization
