Chapter 8

Question 1

Organization structure

Answer 1

A framework that enables managers to divide responsibilities, ensure employee accountability, and distribute decision-making authority

Question 2

Organization chart

Answer 2

A diagram that shows how employees and tasks are grouped and where the lines of communication and authority flow

Question 3

Core competencies

Answer 3

Activities that a company considers central and vital to its business

Question 4

Work specialization

Answer 4

Specialization in or responsibility for some portion of an organization’s overall work tasks; also called division of labor

Question 5

Chain command

Answer 5

A pathway for the flow of authority from one management level to the next

Question 6

Span of management

Answer 6

The number of people under one manager’s control; also known as span of control

Question 7

Centralization

Answer 7

Concentration of decision-making authority at the top of an organization

Question 8

Decentralization

Answer 8

Delegation of decision-making authority to employees in lower-level positions

Question 9

Agile organization

Answer 9

A company whose structure, policies, and capabilities allow employees to respond quickly to customer and changes in the business environment

Question 10

Departmentalization

Answer 10

Grouping people within an organization according to function, division, matrix or network

Question 11

Functional structure

Answer 11

Grouping workers according to their similar skills, resource use, and expertise

Question 12

Divisional structure

Answer 12

Grouping departments according to similarities in product, process, customer, or geography

Question 13

Matrix structure

Answer 13

A structure in which employees are assigned to both a functional group and a project team

Question 14

Network structure

Answer 14

A structure in which individual companies are connected through digital communication to perform selected tasks for a small headquarters organization

Question 15

Team

Answer 15

A unit of two or more people who share a mission and collective responsibility as they work together to achieve a goal

Question 16

Problem-solving team

Answer 16

A team that meets to find ways of improving quality, efficiency, and work environment

Question 17

Self-managed team

Answer 17

A team in which members are responsible for an entire process or operation

Question 18

Functional team

Answer 18

A team whose members come from a single functional department and that is based on the organization’s vertical structure

Question 19

Cross-functional team

Answer 19

A team that draws together employees from different functional areas

Question 20

Task force

Answer 20

A team of people from several departments who are temporarily brought together to address a specific issue

Question 21

Committee

Answer 21

A team that may become a permanent part of the organization and is designed to deal with regularly recurring tasks

Question 22

Virtual team

Answer 22

A team that uses communication technology to bring together geographically distant employees to achieve goals

Question 23

Groupthink

Answer 23

Uniformity of thought that occurs when peer pressures cause individual team members to withhold contrary or unpopular opinions

Question 24

Hidden agenda

Answer 24

Private, counterproductive motives in a team setting, such as a desire to take control of the group, to undermine someone else on the team, or to pursue an incompatible goal

Question 25

Norms

Answer 25

Informal standards of conduct that guide team behavior

Question 26

Unstructured organization

Answer 26

An organization that doesn’t have a conventional structure but instead assembles talent as needed from the open market; the virtual and networked organizational concepts taken to the extreme

Question 27

Taskbot

Answer 27

Software agent that can be assigned to complete variety of tasks within an app or business system

Question 28

What are the four basic organizational models?

Answer 28

Functional, divisional, matrix and network

Question 29

What are the five stages that a new team goes through?

Answer 29

Forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning

Question 30

Robotic process automation (RPA)

Answer 30

Software capability that does for knowledge work what mechanical robots do for manufacturing and other physical processes.

Question 31

Line command

Answer 31

Simplest form of chain of command

Question 32

Line-and-staff organization

Answer 32

Chain of command that includes functional groups of people who provide advice and specialized services

Question 33

Constructive

Answer 33

If it brings important issues into the open, increases team involvement and generates ideas to solve the problem

Question 34

Structural conflict

Answer 34

Normal when being in business

Question 35

Situational conflict

Answer 35

Arise from contemporary forces within an industry or a company

Question 36

Interpersonal conflict

Answer 36

Conflict or disagreement between two or more people

Question 37

How do design an effective organization structure?

Answer 37

Identifying core competencies; identifying job responsibilities; defining the chain of command; and rethinking organization in the age of agility