Week 12

Question 1

Division of Labour

Answer 1

The subdivision of work into separate jobs assigned to different people. Subdivided work leads to job specialization.

Question 2

Coordinating through informal communication

Answer 2

Sharing information on mutual tasks; forming common mental models to synchronize work activities. Occurs in all organizations.

Question 3

Concurrent Engineering

Answer 3

The organization of employees from several departments into a temporary team for the purpose of developing a product or service.

Question 4

Coordination through formal hierarchy

Answer 4

Assigning legitimate power to individuals who then use this power to direct work processes and allocate resources.

Question 5

Coordination through standardization

Answer 5

Creating routine patterns of behaviour or output.

Question 6

Organizational Structure

Answer 6

The division of labour into distinct tasks as well as the patterns if coordination, communication, work flow and formal power that direct organized activities.

Question 7

Span of Control

Answer 7

1 of 4 elements of organizational structure. The number of people directly reporting to the next level in the hierarchy.

Question 8

Centralization

Answer 8

1 of 4 elements of organizational structure. The degree to which formal decision authority is held by a small group of people, typically those at the top of the organizational hierarchy. The opposite of this (de….) typically happens in larger organizations and is the dispersion of decision authority and power throughout the organization.

Question 9

Formalization

Answer 9

1 of 4 elements of organizational structure. The degree to which organizations standardize behaviour through rules, procedures, formal training and related mechanisms.

Question 10

Mechanistic Structure

Answer 10

An organised structure with a narrow span of control, a high degree of formalization and centralization. Have many rules and procedures, tall hierarchies in specialized roles and vertical communication.

Question 11

Organic Structure

Answer 11

An organization structure with a wide span of control, little formalization and decentralized decision making. Tasks are fluid and adjusted to new situations. Emphasizes information sharing and an empowered workforce.

Question 12

Departmentalization

Answer 12

1 of 4 elements of organizational structure. Specifies how employees and their activities are grouped together. Establishes a chain of command, formal work teams, sharing of resources, common mental models and informal communication. 6 pure types: simple, functional, divisional, team-based, matrix and networks.

Question 13

Simple Structure

Answer 13

Form of departmentalization. Employment of only a few people and offering only 1 product or service. Minimal hierarchy, broadly defined roles and depends on owners direct supervision to coordinate work activities.

Question 14

Functional Structure

Answer 14

Form of departmentalization. Employees are organised around specific knowledge or other resources. Typically centralized to coordinate activities effectively.

Question 15

Divisional Structure

Answer 15

Form of departmentalization. Employees are organised around geographical areas, outputs (products or services) or clients.

Question 16

Globally integrated enterprise

Answer 16

Organizational structure which moves away from geographic structures and organizes around product or client divisions. Distributes process/functions around the world through global centers, rather than developed in a home country and replicated in satellite countries or regions.

Question 17

Team-Based Structure

Answer 17

Form of departmentalization. Built around self-directed teams that complete an entire piece of work. Usually organic - wide span of control due to minimal supervision, highly decentralized as day to day decisions made by team and low formalization as relatively few rules on how to organize work.

Question 18

Matrix Structure

Answer 18

Form of departmentalization. Overlays 2 structures (such as geographical divisional and functional) in order to leverage the benefits of both.

Question 19

Network Structure

Answer 19

Form of departmentalization. An alliance of several organizations for the purpose of creating a product or serving a client.

Question 20

Contingencies of Organisational Design

Answer 20

4 contingencies that recognize that ideas for design in 1 business may not always work in another. External environment, size, technology and strategy.

Question 21

External environment

Answer 21

1 of 4 contingencies of Organisational Design. Organizations are influenced by outside factors such as stakeholders, resources and competitors. Includes dynamic/stable environments (high or low rate of change), complex/simple environments (many elements or few things to monitor), diverse/integrated environments (variety of products/clients/regions as opposed to one) and hostile/munificent environments (resource scarcity and competition vs enough resources).

Question 22

Organisational Size

Answer 22

1 of 4 contingencies of Organisational Design. Large and small organizations should have different structures. Larger should have greater use of standardization, administrative hierarchy, formalization and be more decentralized.

Question 23

Technology

Answer 23

1 of 4 contingencies of Organisational Design. Mechanisms by which and organization turns out it’s product or service. Includes variability (the number or exceptions to standard procedure that tend to occur) and analysability - the predictability or difficulty of the work).

Question 24

Organisational Strategy

Answer 24

1 of 4 contingencies of Organisational Design. The way an organization positions itself in its setting in relation to its stakeholders, given the organization’s resources, capabilities and mission.

Question 25

Organizational Strategy

Answer 25

The values and assumptions shared within an organization.

Question 26

Organizational Culture Values, Assumptions and Artifacts.

Answer 26

Observable/Artifacts: physical structures, language, rituals and ceremonies, stories and legends.

Shared Values: conscious beliefs, evaluates what is good/bad, right/wrong.

Shared Assumptions: non-conscious taken for granted beliefs, implicit mental models or ideal prototypes of behaviour.

Question 27

Espoused Values

Answer 27

The values corporate leaders want others to believe guide the organisations decisions and actions. Usually socially desirable to present a positive public image.

Question 28

Dominant and Subcultures

Answer 28

Dominant: values and assumptions shared most consistently and widely by an organisation’s members.

Subculture: enhance dominant culture by espousing parallel assumptions and beliefs. Prevent employees from blindly following one set of values, critically review, spawn emerging values.

Question 29

Counterculture

Answer 29

Embracing values or assumptions that directly oppose the organisation’s dominant culture.

Question 30

Artifacts

Answer 30

The observable symbols and signs of an organisation’s culture; customer and visitor interaction, physical layout, employee rewards. Culture is cognitive - artifacts are the observable manifestations of this.

Question 31

Organizational stories and legends

Answer 31

Powerful social prescriptions of the way things should (or should not) be done.

Question 32

Rituals

Answer 32

Programmed routines of daily organizational life that dramatize and organisation’s culture. Repetitive, predictable events that symbolize underlying cultural values and assumptions.

Question 33

Ceremonies

Answer 33

Planned displays of organizational culture, conducted for the benefit of an audience; public reward or punishment, public launch of a new product.

Question 34

Organizational Language

Answer 34

How employees talk to each other, describe customers, express anger and greet stakeholders are all verbal signs of cultural values.

Question 35

Physical Structures and Symbols

Answer 35

Location/age of building/office layout can indicate how an organization works - individually, in teams, environmental priority, hierarchy, etc.

Question 36

Adaptive Culture

Answer 36

An organizational culture in which employees are receptive to change, including the ongoing alignment of the organisation to its environment and continuous improvement of internal processes.

Question 37

Bicultural Audit

Answer 37

A process of diagnosing cultural relations between companies and determining the extent to which a cultural clash is likely to occur.

Question 38

Assimilation

Answer 38

Occurs when employees at an acquired company willingly embrace the cultural values of the acquired organisation.

Question 39

Deculturation

Answer 39

Acquiring companies impose their culture and business practices on the acquired organisation. Acquiring company takes away artifacts and reward systems that support the old culture.

Question 40

Integration

Answer 40

Combination of 2 or more cultures into a new, composite culture that preserves the best features of the previous cultures. Slow and risky process because there are many forces preserving the existing culture.

Question 41

Separation

Answer 41

Merging companies agree to remain distinct entities with minimal exchange of culture or organizational practices.

Question 42

Attraction-Selection-Attrition Theory

Answer 42

States that organisations have a natural tendency to attract, select and retain people with values and personality characteristics that are consistent with the organisation’s character, resulting in a more homogenous organisation and a stronger culture.

Question 43

Organizational Socialisation

Answer 43

The process by which individuals learn the values, expected behaviour a and social knowledge necessary to assume their roles in the organisation.

Question 44

Psychological Contract

Answer 44

A person’s beliefs about the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement between that person and another party (the employer in most work situations).

Question 45

Stages of Organisational Socialisation

Answer 45

Pre-employment Socialisation (outsider), Encounter (newcomer), Role Management (insider), Results in Socialisation Outcomes of higher motivation, loyalty, satisfaction, lower stress and turnover.

Question 46

Reality Shock

Answer 46

The stress that results when employees perceive discrepancies between their pre-employment expectations and on-the-job reality.

Question 47

Realistic Job Preview

Answer 47

A method of improving Organisational Socialisation in which job applicants are given a balance of positive and negative information about the job and the work context.