Exam 1: Organizations and Organizational Theory

What is meant by saying that an organization is a system?

Which of the following refer(s) to the deployment of people to various functions and departments?

An organization's culture is usually contained in the written policy manual.

Compare and contrast traditional organizations and learning organizations.

The classical perspective of organizational design sought to make organizations run like learning organizations in a turbulent environment.

What is demonstrated in the comparison of EllisDon and Tim Hortons in the textbook's "In Practice" activity?

Why is shared information so important in a learning organization as compared to an efficient performance organization? Discuss how an organization's approach to information sharing might be related to other elements of organizational design, such as structure, tasks, strategy, and culture.

Which of the following is the subsystem responsible for directing and coordinating other parts of the organization?

Describe the difference between formalization and specialization. Is it possible for an organization to be high in one and low in the other or vice versa?

John Black, a management consultant, successfully implemented an MBO program on his first consulting job. He now recommends MBO to all his clients. In so doing, what aspect of organizational design would the textbook say he is ignoring?

What did scientific management, pioneered by Frederick Taylor, claim decisions about organizations and job design should be based on?

In the learning organization, everyone knows how the organization works and how everything fits together.

Which of the following goals drives organizations?

A key element of an organization is a building or set of policies and procedures, not the people and their relationships.

Which of the following refers to how the organization actually produces the products and services it provides for customers and includes flexible manufacturing, advanced information systems, and the Internet?

Which of the following is a component of organizational subsystems?

Organizations today have rigid boundaries separating them from other organizations.

The amount of written documentation in the organization is called formalization.

Which of the following structural dimensions is best represented by the 385-page book McDonald's uses to describe all rules and procedures in each of its stores?

Which one of Mintzberg's basic parts of an organization deals with functions such as human resources, organizational development, the employee cafeteria, and maintenance staff?