Chapter 14

Question 1

Organizational structure

Answer 1

Formally dictates how jobs and tasks are divided and coordinated between individuals and groups within the company.

Question 2

Organizational chart

Answer 2

A drawing that represents every job in the organization and the formal reporting relationships between those jobs.

Question 3

Work specialization

Answer 3

The degree to which tasks in an organization are divided into separate jobs.

Question 4

Chain of command

Answer 4

Specifies who reports to whom; signifies formal authority relationships.

Question 5

Span of control

Answer 5

Represents how many employees each manager in the organization has responsibility for.

Question 6

Centralization

Answer 6

Aspect of structure that dictates where decisions are formally made in organizations.
- When only the top managers within a company can make decisions, the company is highly centralized.

Question 7

Formalization

Answer 7

The degree to which rules and procedures are used to standardize behaviours and decisions in an organization.

Question 8

Mechanistic organizations

Answer 8

Efficient, rigid, predictable, and standardized organizations that thrive in stable environments.

Question 9

Organic organizations

Answer 9

Flexible, adaptive, outward-focused organizations that thrive in dynamic environments.

Question 10

Organizational design

Answer 10

The process of creating, selecting, or changing the structure of an organization.

Question 11

Business environment

Answer 11

The outside environment, including customers, competitors, suppliers, distributors, and other factors external to the firm, which all affect organizational design.

Question 12

Company strategy

Answer 12

An organization’s objectives and goals and how it tries to capitalize on its assets to make money.

Question 13

Technology

Answer 13

The method by which an organization transforms inputs to outputs.

Question 14

Company size

Answer 14

The number of employees in a company.

Question 15

Simple structure

Answer 15

An organizational form that features one person as the central decision-making figure.
- Small accounting firms, family-owned grocery stores, and landscaping services are likely to use this structure.

Question 16

Bureaucratic structure

Answer 16

An organizational form that exhibits many of the facets of a mechanistic organization.

Question 17

Functional structure

Answer 17

An organizational form in which employees are grouped by the functions they perform for the organization.

Question 18

Multi-divisional structure

Answer 18

An organizational form in which employees are grouped by product, geography, or client.

Question 19

Product structure

Answer 19

An organizational form in which employees are grouped around different products that the company produces.

Question 20

Geographic structure

Answer 20

An organizational form in which employees are grouped around the different locations where the company does business.

Question 21

Client structure

Answer 21

An organizational form in which employees are organized around serving customers.

Question 22

Matrix structure

Answer 22

A complex form of organizational structure that combines a functional and multi-divisional grouping.

Question 23

Restructuring

Answer 23

The process of changing an organization’s structure.

Question 24

Relationship between restructuring and job performance and organizational commitment

Answer 24

Restructuring has a weak negative effect on job performance.

Restructuring has a moderate negative effect on organizational commitment.