Exam 10: Organizational Design

In which of the following organizational structures is empowerment most crucial?

Which of the following accurately describes the relationship between structure and strategy?

The formal arrangement of jobs within an organization is called organizational design.

Sharing knowledge throughout the organization is an important component of a boundaryless organization.

A network organization is a small core organization that outsources major business functions.

The __________ organization structure was developed by General Electric to eliminate internal boundaries and to break down external barriers between the company and its suppliers and customers.

It is possible to carry work specialization too far thus lowering the economic advantages.

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

In highly formalized organizations, employees have more discretion in how they do their work.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Restructuring at Prairie Farm Equipment (Scenario) Jim Johnson is the CEO of Prairie Farm Equipment Corp, a major Canadian manufacturer. Prairie has been in business for more than 100 years and has been very profitable. Today, the company has a tall structure with formalized communication channels and rigid hierarchical relationships. All major decisions are made by Mr. Johnson. This arrangement has worked well until recently, when the company began to encounter some major global competition. Foreign companies have begun to export new, lower-priced products into the Canadian market. At the same time, foreign markets appear to be opening their doors to more Canadian products. A few days ago, one of the vice-presidents presented some exciting news about a major market opportunity overseas. Several managers were now working on an international expansion proposal to be presented at the next board meeting. As the company's strategy was beginning to change, Mr. Johnson realized that its structure would also need to change. But change how? The company was very large and used routine technology to produce its products. What should he do? -Decision-making authority at Prairie is highly __________.

If top managers make key decisions with little input from below, then the organization is ________.

An online wine retailer that sells and ships hundreds of wines to customers all over the world with a payroll of only six employees most likely has what kind of organizational structure?

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Eric the Redd (Scenario) Eric Redd graduated from college and was hired by a Canadian corporation that manufactures parts for the automotive industry. Eric noticed that the employees on the assembly line seemed bored and their motivation was low. Eric's boss decided to reorganize the workers' jobs to try to increase productivity. Eric enjoys his work assignment in the engineering department but hopes to be promoted to a management position within the next few years. -Although Eric's job gives him the right to delegate work to others, if the work performance is unsatisfactory, it is Eric who will have to explain and justify the outcome to his superiors. This is called __________ .

explain the concepts of mechanistic and organic structures; and the benefits and drawbacks of each.

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. -The requirement that Joyce sign off on all decisions in her department specifically relates to which of the following elements of structure?

Pierre has just been promoted to line manager in the manufacturing plan. Which of the following should automatically accompany his new title of manager?

Johnson & Johnson makes many well-known brands, including Band-Aids, Tylenol, and ACUVUE contact lenses. Their structure is organized under three sectors: consumer health, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. They use __________ departmentalization.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Restructuring at Digital Arts (Scenario) Victor Lee is the founder and president of Digital Arts, a Vancouver-based company that makes games for popular electronic game consoles. The company has experienced tremendous growth over the years, but now Victor is concerned that the company's structure has become too tall and rigid. He explains, ''Twenty years ago we started with five people and one product. Today we are a global operation with 500 people employed in six countries producing over 200 game titles.'' Digital Arts is currently organized into five specialized departments: product development, production, marketing, accounting, and human resources. To coordinate the workflow, many rules and regulations have been introduced. Victor now worries that the increased bureaucracy is beginning to stifle innovation. He ponders several restructuring options. -Another option is to establish separate business units for each of the six countries in their global operation. Each regional manager would have strategic and operational authority over his or her unit. Digital Arts would then have a __________ structure.

The appropriate structure for an organization is based on four contingency variables: strategy, size, degree of environmental uncertainty, and __________.

Organizational learning cannot take place without __________.