Chapter 8: Structuring Organizations for Today’s Challenges

Question 1

benchmarking

Answer 1

Comparing an organization’s practices, processes, and products against the world’s best.

Question 2

bureaucracy

Answer 2

An organization with many layers of managers who set rules and regulations and oversee all decisions.

Question 3

centralized authority

Answer 3

An organizational structure in which decision-making authority is maintained at the top level of management at the company’s headquarters.

Question 4

chain of command

Answer 4

The line of authority that moves from the top of a hierarchy to the lowest level.

Question 5

core competencies

Answer 5

Those functions that the organization can do as well as or better than any other organization in the world.

Question 6

cross-functional self-managed teams

Answer 6

Groups of employees from different departments who work together on a long-term basis.

Question 7

decentralized authority

Answer 7

An organizational structure in which decision-making authority is delegated to lower-level managers more familiar with local conditions than headquarters management could be.

Question 8

departmentalization

Answer 8

The dividing of organizational functions into separate units.

Question 9

digital natives

Answer 9

Young people who have grown up using the Internet and social networking.

Question 10

economies of scale

Answer 10

The situation in which companies can reduce their production costs if they can purchase raw materials in bulk; the average cost of goods goes down as production levels increase.

Question 11

flat organizational structure

Answer 11

An organizational structure that has few layers of management and a broad span of control.

Question 12

formal organization

Answer 12

The structure that details lines of responsibility, authority, and position; that is, the structure shown on organization charts.

Question 13

hierarchy

Answer 13

A system in which one person is at the top of the organization and there is a ranked or sequential ordering from the top down of managers who are responsible to that person.

Question 14

informal organization

Answer 14

The system that develops spontaneously as employees meet and form cliques, relationships, and lines of authority outside the formal organization; that is, the human side of the organization that does not appear on any organization chart.

Question 15

inverted organization

Answer 15

An organization that has contact people at the top and the chief executive officer at the bottom of the organization chart.

Question 16

line organization

Answer 16

An organization that has direct two-way lines of responsibility, authority, and communication running from the top to the bottom of the organization, with all people reporting to only one supervisor.

Question 17

line personnel

Answer 17

Employees who are part of the chain of command that is responsible for achieving organizational goals.

Question 18

matrix organization

Answer 18

An organization in which specialists from different parts of the organization are brought together to work on specific projects but still remain part of a line-and-staff structure.

Question 19

networking

Answer 19

The process of establishing and maintaining contacts with key managers in one’s own organization and other organizations and using those contacts to weave strong relationships that serve as informal development systems.

Question 20

organizational (or corporate) culture

Answer 20

Widely shared values within an organization that provide unity and cooperation to achieve common goals.

Question 21

organization chart

Answer 21

A visual device that shows relationships among people and divides the organization’s work; it shows who is accountable for the completion of specific work and who reports to whom.

Question 22

real time

Answer 22

The present moment or the actual time in which something takes place.

Question 23

restructuring

Answer 23

Redesigning an organization so that it can more effectively and efficiently serve its customers.

Question 24

span of control

Answer 24

The optimum number of subordinates a manager supervises or should supervise.

Question 25

staff personnel

Answer 25

Employees who advise and assist line personnel in meeting their goals.

Question 26

tall organizational structure

Answer 26

An organizational structure in which the pyramidal organization chart would be quite tall because of the various levels of management.

Question 27

virtual corporation

Answer 27

A temporary networked organization made up of replaceable firms that join and leave as needed