Exam 10: Organizational Design

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Departmentalization at Art & Craft Depot (Scenario) John is president of a chain of stores called Art & Craft Depot. He is aware that the structure of his organization must change in order to compete more effectively in today's global marketplace. However, he is not sure which structure would work best for his company. His company is currently organized under the following departments: accounting, human resources, sales, purchasing, and distribution. However, there are other choices available. He has considered reorganizing around their primary product groups: silk flowers, art supplies, craft supplies, pottery, and fabric. However, equally important are the different types of clients they serve, including homemakers, artists, interior decorators, industrial display contractors, and art schools. The business is growing, and they now have stores in six provinces across Canada. Furthermore, his customers seldom shop for just one type of item. For example, a customer who buys flowers will frequently purchase a vase and other supplies that are required to create a full floral arrangement. This means that individual customers often shop in several merchandise areas of the store. -If John organizes the new structure based on homemakers, artists, interior decorators, industrial display contractors, and art schools, they would be using __________ departmentalization.

A company is planning to revise its organizational structure and one of the managers suggests increasing employee empowerment by giving them more decision-making authority. Which of the following, if true, would support his stand?

According to studies, organic structures are best for organizations with which types of production?

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Metro General Hospital (Scenario) Joyce is the chief administrator in charge of a department at Metro General Hospital. When she worked as a registered nurse at a smaller community hospital, Joyce enjoyed the flexible structure, minimal rules, and team approach to decision making by nurses, administrators, and doctors. However, the situation at Metro is different. Metro has a tall, rigid structure with many rules and procedures designed to standardize jobs and guide employee behaviour. One such rule requires that all decisions in Joyce's department must be signed off by her alone) As a result, Joyce seems to spend most of her time filling out forms and signing documents. She also feels that the numerous levels of hierarchy are unnecessary and place barriers between herself and her staff. Joyce is not exactly sure why things have to be so "organized" and is planning to talk to her boss about making some changes to increase flexibility and reduce the number of rules and procedures. -Joyce wants to convince her boss to adopt a more decentralized structure. Which of the following factors will support her argument?

__________ departmentalization groups jobs on the basis of product flow through the organization.

The __________ structure is an advanced version of the matrix organization, where employees continuously work on assignments that are oriented to completion of a task.

GlaxoSmithKline would become more ________ if it starts allowing its lab scientists to set the priorities and allocate the resources.

Which type of structure tends to work best with an innovation strategy?

Work specialization is __________.

The trend in recent years has been toward __________ spans of control to help reduce costs and speed up decision making.

Today's organizations mostly rely on strict rules and standardization to guide and regulate employee behavior.

A mechanistic organization is characterized by rigid departmentalization, a clear chain of command, and high formalization.

Which of the following is most characteristic of mechanistic organizations?

Organizations that are highly flexible and adaptive are described as ________.

At Manitoba Manufacturing (MM), the vice-presidents of marketing, finance, production, and human resources each report directly to the company's president. MM has a __________ structure.

Which type of structure tends to work best with a cost minimization strategy?

A-1 Autobody is a small owner-operated car repair shop that employs three collision repair technicians. A-1 has a __________ structure.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Departmentalization at Art & Craft Depot (Scenario) John is president of a chain of stores called Art & Craft Depot. He is aware that the structure of his organization must change in order to compete more effectively in today's global marketplace. However, he is not sure which structure would work best for his company. His company is currently organized under the following departments: accounting, human resources, sales, purchasing, and distribution. However, there are other choices available. He has considered reorganizing around their primary product groups: silk flowers, art supplies, craft supplies, pottery, and fabric. However, equally important are the different types of clients they serve, including homemakers, artists, interior decorators, industrial display contractors, and art schools. The business is growing, and they now have stores in six provinces across Canada. Furthermore, his customers seldom shop for just one type of item. For example, a customer who buys flowers will frequently purchase a vase and other supplies that are required to create a full floral arrangement. This means that individual customers often shop in several merchandise areas of the store. -If John organizes the new structure based on the provinces served across Canada they would be using __________ departmentalization.

Under which of the following circumstances should an organization use more decentralization?

The acceptance theory of authority states that it is the right of the manager to expect employees to accept his/her authority.