Chapter 8: Structuring Organizations for Today's Challenges

Question 1

division of labor

Answer 1

splitting up the workload of a company

Question 2

job specialization

Answer 2

dividing tasks into smaller jobs

Question 3

departmentalization

Answer 3

separating workers by their jobs in order to complete tasks within a (smaller democratic organization)

Question 4

organization chart

Answer 4

a way to organize worker’s tasks and see who is every person within a company reports to.

Question 5

Advantages of departmentalization

Answer 5

-workers can master the skills in their area
-centralizing resources can help to easily locate various experts in particular areas (economies of scale=company maximizes profits and creates production efficiency)

Question 6

Disadvantages of departmentalization

Answer 6

-department may start to act on its own, not communicate effectively (isolation)
-employees may identify with the department’s goals rather than the entire corporation’s
-companies response to external change could be slow (communication and specialization of jobs)
-become narrow specialists
-members of the group mainly share the same opinions (groupthink)

Question 7

economies of scale

Answer 7

companies reduce their production costs if they purchase their materials in bulk: average cost of goods decreases as the production level increases

Question 8

bureaucracy

Answer 8

system of organization where ultimate decisions are made by the highest level of authority (state officials choose rather than elected officials)

Question 9

Fayol’s Principles of Organization

Answer 9

-unity of command: report of a boss
-hierarchy of authority: who responds to who
-division of labor
-subordination of individual interest to the general interest (working as a unit and compromising for the group)
-authority: respect and authority are related
-degree of centralization: more of a flat (decentralized) or steep decision making system
-clear communication channels
-order: how materials and people are maintained in a proper location
-equity: is it just and respectful to people?
-espirt de corps: spirit of pride and loyalty among workers (managers can enfore their orders)

Question 10

Max Weber

Answer 10

-German sociologist and economist
-proposed that there should be a triangle organizational system for the workplace
-believed that managers should be at the brute of the decision-making assuming that employees were underskilled and uneducated
-principle resmebled Fayol’s

Question 11

What did Max Weber emphasize for workplace organization

Answer 11

-job descriptions
-written rules, decision guidelines, and detailed records
-consistent procedures, regulations, and policies
-staffing and promotion based on qualifications

Question 12

chain of command

Answer 12

line of authority moving in descending order (highest to lowest) -buracrat=middle manager whose function=implement top manager’s orders

Question 13

span of control

Answer 13

optimal number of employees a manager supervises or should supervise

Question 14

tall organizational structures

Answer 14

more of a centralized system of decision making due to the variety of management levels

Question 15

flat organizational structures

Answer 15

has few layers and there is a broad span of control (less official managements over people)

Question 16

4 ways to structure an organization

Answer 16

-line organization
-line-and-staff organizations
-matrix-style organizations
-cross-functional self-managed teams

Question 17

line organization

Answer 17

-direct bureaucratic authority over said people, follows Fayol’s management rules, and it pretty it’s inflexible

Question 18

line personnel

Answer 18

responsible for achieving the corporation’s organizational goals (distributional, production, and marketing workers)

Question 19

staff personnel

Answer 19

responsible for helping line personnel to achieve their goals. (assists through legal advising, information technology and human resources management)

Question 20

matrix-style organization

Answer 20

a temporary work relationship of specialists from departments to complete a specific project, still use a line-and-staff organization structure

Question 21

Advantages and Disadvantages of Matrix-style organizations

Answer 21

A:
-task assignment flexibility
-encourages inter-organizational cooperation and teamwork
-produce creative solutions to product development problems
-efficient use of organizational resources
D:
-costly and complex
-confusion among employees about where to draw the line for authority
-the need for strong interpersonal skills to avoid communication problems
-temporary to solutions to a long-term problem

Question 22

cross-functional self-managed team

Answer 22

groups of employees from different departments who work permanently together
-if it includes suppliers, customers, and distributors=it goes beyond the organization boundaries

Question 23

virtual corporation

Answer 23

-temporary networked organized made up of replaceable firms that join and leave and needed (form of communication)

Question 24

benchmarking

Answer 24

comparing an organization’s practices, processes, and products against the world’s best (company’s competitiveness)

Question 25

core competencies

Answer 25

what functions that a company can do well or the best in the world

Question 26

digital natives

Answer 26

those who grew up utilizing the internet and newer forms of technology who may not be susceptible to a learning curve

Question 27

inverted organization

Answer 27

-employees lead the decision making of a company and feel empowered to do so by management
-executive officer is at the bottom of the pyramid and will only intervene when it is necessary

Question 28

organizational culture

Answer 28

widely shared values of an organization that creates unity and cooperation

Question 29

formal organization

Answer 29

system that details the lines of authority, responsibility, and position

Question 30

informal organization

Answer 30

system that develops spontaneously as employees form relationships and authority separates from a formal organization

Question 31

networking

Answer 31

establishing connections (ex: via technology) between personnel and organizations to allow them to work towards a common objective

Question 32

extra information to know

Answer 32

-regardless of the size of an organization, the principles are similar
-important decisions to be made in developing a business: degree of centralization, departmentalization, and span of control (increase this)
-hybrid organization: combines departmentalization techniques/marketing department organized geographically and a production process organized by function
-real time is the present moment or the actual time when something takes place
-corporations should have mutual trust