Exam 11: Organizational Design: Structure, Culture, and Control

ABX Inc. is an electronic appliances manufacturer that has many strategic business units (SBUs), among which, television and computers share a close relationship. These SBUs have to fight each other for R&D funding because there is a combined amount set aside for these two units. However, they share technological findings with each other and work together to ensure that their combined output is better that of the other SBUs. Such a relationship between SBUs in a business is referred to as

A change in company culture is most commonly accompanied by a change in leadership.

________ refers to the degree to which decision making is concentrated at the top of the organization.

To effectively implement a differentiation strategy, managers rely on a functional structure that resembles an organization that is highly

Which of the following real-world scenarios best exemplifies formalization?

Burnley and Co., a graphic design firm, has offices in New York, Texas, California, New Mexico, and New Jersey. Each of these offices is headed by a president who reports directly to Emma Burnley, the CEO. The heads of the centralized HR, Finance, and Marketing teams report to Emma Burnley as well. Managers in the various offices also report to the CEO directly. Based on this information, which of the following statements is most likely to be true?

What is most likely to happen if a firm relies too long on a competency without honing, refining, and upgrading as the firm and the environment change?

Firms that pursue a closed approach to innovation typically enjoy first-mover advantages.

Which of the following is a disadvantage of a functional strategy?

Spiderweb Inc. is an apparel manufacturer. The management at Spiderweb prefers moderate control over the operations of the different departments such as R&D, design, marketing, and sales. It allocates a budget to each function at the beginning of each quarter. This is an example of implementing control through

Avalanche operates as a strategic business unit (SBU) under Snowfall Inc., a home-furnishings manufacturer. From this information, it may be reasonable to infer that

GM's insistence on sticking to a bureaucratic culture combined with its M-form structure and its subsequent failure to adapt to changing customer preferences for more fuel-efficient cars, produce higher quality, and create innovative designs best exemplifies

How do results-only-work-environments differ from output controls that depend on extrinsic motivation?

What is organizational inertia?

What are the key elements of organizational structure? Define each element.

Which of the following organizational structures matches best with an international strategy?

Sunset Foods relies on a highly centralized functional structure to ensure consistency in the quality and taste of its products and to drive down costs via process innovations. However, as a consequence of its highly compartmentalized structure, the firm has found it difficult to transfer information and ideas from one department to the next. With the launch of its new line of breakfast foods coming up, how can Sunset improve its ability to collaborate without sacrificing the benefits of its current structure?

Which of the following statements best describes groupthink?

Successful ________ requires managers to design and shape structure, culture, and control mechanisms.

________ describes the collectively shared values and norms of an organization's members.