Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure

Question 1

Organizational culture

Answer 1

Sometimes called corporate culture; system of shared beliefs and values that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members

Question 2

Corporate culture

Answer 2

Set of shared taken-for-granted implicit assumptions that group holds and that determines how it perceives, thinks about, and reacts to its various environments. See also Organizational culture

Question 3

Organizational structure

Answer 3

A formal system of task and reporting relationships that coordinates and motivates an organization’s members so that they can work together to achieve the organization’s goals

Question 4

Human resource practices

Answer 4

Consist of all of the activities an organization uses to manage its human capital, including staffing, appraising, training and development, and compensation

Question 5

Person-organization (PO) fit

Answer 5

The extent to which your personality and values match the climate and culture of an organization

Question 6

Espoused values

Answer 6

Explicitly stated values and norms preferred by an organization

Question 7

Enacted values

Answer 7

Values and norms actually exhibited in the organization

Question 8

Symbol

Answer 8

An object, act, quality, or event that conveys meaning to others

Question 9

Story

Answer 9

A narrative based on true events, which is repeated—and sometimes embellished upon—to emphasize a particular value

Question 10

Hero

Answer 10

A person whose accomplishments embody the values of the organization

Question 11

Rites and rituals

Answer 11

The activities and ceremonies, planned and unplanned, that celebrate important occasions and accomplishments in an organization’s life

Question 12

Organizational socialization

Answer 12

The process by which people learn the values, norms, and required behaviors that permit them to participate as members of an organization

Question 13

Clan culture

Answer 13

Type of organizational culture that has an internal focus and values flexibility rather than stability and control

Question 14

Adhocracy culture

Answer 14

Type of organizational culture that has an external focus and values flexibility

Question 15

Market culture

Answer 15

Type of organizational culture that has a strong external focus and values stability and control

Question 16

Hierarchy culture

Answer 16

Type of organizational culture that has an internal focus and values stability and control over flexibility

Question 17

Organization

Answer 17

A group of people who work together to achieve some specific purpose. A system of consciously coordinated activities of two or more people

Question 18

Common purpose

Answer 18

A goal that unifies employees or members and gives everyone an understanding of the organization’s reason for being

Question 19

Division of labor

Answer 19

Also known as work specialization; arrangement of having discrete parts of a task done by different people. The work is divided into particular tasks ­assigned to particular workers

Question 20

Hierarchy of authority

Answer 20

Also known as chain of command; a control mechanism for making sure the right people do the right things at the right time

Question 21

Flat organization

Answer 21

Organizational structure with few or no levels of middle management between top managers and those reporting to them

Question 22

Unity of command

Answer 22

Principle that stresses an employee should report to no more than one manager in order to avoid conflicting priorities and demands

Question 23

Span of control

Answer 23

The number of people reporting directly to a given manager

Question 24

Authority

Answer 24

The right to perform or command; also, the rights inherent in a managerial position to make decisions, give orders, and utilize resources

Question 25

Accountability

Answer 25

Describes expectation that managers must report and justify work results to the managers above them

Question 26

Responsibility

Answer 26

The obligation one has to perform the assigned tasks

Question 27

Delegation

Answer 27

The process of assigning managerial authority and responsibility to managers and employees lower in the hierarchy

Question 28

Centralized authority

Answer 28

Organizational structure in which important decisions are made by upper managers—power is concentrated at the top

Question 29

Decentralized authority

Answer 29

Organizational structure in which important decisions are made by middle-level and supervisory-level managers—power is delegated throughout the organization

Question 30

Organization chart

Answer 30

Box-and-lines illustration of the formal relationships of positions of authority and the organization’s official positions or work specializations

Question 31

Organizational design

Answer 31

Creating the optimal structures of accountability and responsibility that an organization uses to execute its strategies

Question 32

Simple structure

Answer 32

The first type of organizational structure, whereby an organization has authority centralized in a single person, as well as a flat hierarchy, few rules, and low work specialization

Question 33

Functional structure

Answer 33

The second type of organizational structure, whereby people with similar occupational specialties are put together in formal groups

Question 34

Divisional structure

Answer 34

The third type of organizational structure, whereby people with diverse occupational specialties are put ­together in formal groups according to products and/or services, customers and/or clients, or geographic regions

Question 35

Product divisions

Answer 35

Divisional structures in which activities are grouped around similar products or services

Question 36

Customer divisions

Answer 36

Divisional structures in which activities are grouped around common customers or clients

Question 37

Geographic divisions

Answer 37

Divisional structures in which activities are grouped around defined regional locations

Question 38

Matrix structure

Answer 38

Fourth type of organizational structure, which combines functional and divisional chains of command in a grid so that there are two command structures—vertical and horizontal

Question 39

Horizontal structure

Answer 39

Also called a team-based design, teams or workgroups, either temporary or permanent, are used to improve collaboration and work on shared tasks by breaking down internal boundaries

Question 40

Boundaryless organization

Answer 40

A fluid, highly adaptive organization whose members, linked by information technology, come together to collaborate on common tasks; the collaborators may include competitors, suppliers, and customers

Question 41

Hollow structure

Answer 41

Often called network structure, structure in which the organization has a central core of key functions and outsources other functions to vendors who can do them cheaper or faster

Question 42

Modular structure

Answer 42

Seventh type of organizational structure, in which a firm assembles product chunks, or modules, provided by outside contractors

Question 43

Virtual structure

Answer 43

An organization whose members are geographically apart, usually working with e-mail, collaborative computing, and other computer connections

Question 44

Coordinated effort

Answer 44

The coordination of individual efforts into a group or organization-wide effort