Chapter 2-Structural Design For Organizations: Multiple Choice
Chapter 2-Structural Design For Organizations: Multiple Choice
MULTIPLE CHOICE
3. When problems and decisions are funneled to top levels of the hierarchy for resolution, ____ is being
used.
a. centralized decision making
b. functional structure
c. horizontal linkage
d. full-time integration
ANS: A PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Leadership Principles
4. Which of the following is not a structural device used to achieve vertical linkages?
a. Rules and plans
b. Task forces
c. Vertical information systems
d. Hierarchical referral
ANS: B PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
5. ____ means decision making authority is pushed down to lower organizational levels.
a. Centralized decision making
b. Horizontal linkage
c. Decentralized decision making
d. Vertical linkage
ANS: C PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
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6. ____ are used to coordinate activities between the top and bottom of an organization and are designed
primarily for control of the organization.
a. Vertical linkages
b. Functional groupings
c. Horizontal linkages
d. Divisional groupings
ANS: A PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Group Dynamics
7. Which of the following mechanisms does not provide an improved degree of horizontal coordination
and control?
a. Information systems
b. Task forces
c. Hierarchical referral
d. Teams
ANS: C PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
8. Which of the following is another strategy for increasing vertical information capacity and includes
periodic reports, written information, and computer-based communications?
a. Systematic integration of systems
b. Vertical information systems
c. Horizontal linkages
d. Vertical linkages
ANS: B PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Strategy
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from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
achieving coordination with another department.
ANS: D PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Individual Dynamics
12. A ____ is a temporary committee composed of representatives from each organizational unit affected
by a problem.
a. top management team
b. virtual team
c. task force
d. functional team
ANS: C PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
14. If Brian Ramsaur is the Gaterade product manager at Fencelink, then he is:
a. a liaison.
b. a full-time integrator.
c. head of a task force.
d. in charge of all aspects of its production and sales, with full line authority.
ANS: B PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Individual Dynamics
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15. Reference Organization Chart 3.1. Which of the following is correct?
a. The structure is divisional.
b. The structure is primarily functional.
c. The customer accounts section should be dissolved and made to report to marketing.
d. Hierarchical referral is the best means for coordination in this organization.
ANS: B PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Individual Dynamics
16. Which of the following terms would best be linked with "full-time integrator?"
a. Brand manager
b. Task force
c. Direct contact
d. Vertical control
ANS: A PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles
17. Which of the following is made up of organizationally or geographically dispersed members who are
linked primarily through advanced information and communications technologies?
a. Virtual teams
b. Task forces
c. Full-time integrators
d. Information systems
ANS: A PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics
18. The overall design of organization structure indicates all of the following except:
a. work activities.
b. reporting relationships.
c. departmental groupings.
d. information systems.
ANS: D PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
19. The ____ should be an unbroken line of authority that links all persons in an organization and shows
who reports to whom.
a. vertical linkage
b. horizontal linkage
c. chain of command
d. task force
ANS: C PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Creation of Value
20. Which of the following means employees are organized around core work processes, the end-to-end
work, information, and material flows that provide value directly to customers?
a. Departmental grouping
b. Horizontal grouping
c. Divisional grouping
d. Multifocused grouping
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ANS: B PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Communication | AACSB Creation of Value
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Organization Chart 3.2
22. Reference Organization Chart 3.2. The structure would bring strengths such as:
a. product responsibility is clear and simple.
b. economies of scale.
c. suitability for an unstable environment.
d. determining total cost of any given product is a straightforward hierarchical matter.
ANS: B PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
24. Riya is the vice president of marketing for her company. Other officers in the company include the
vice presidents of engineering, production, finance, and human resource management. The structure of
this small company is likely to be:
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a. product.
b. matrix.
c. functional.
d. hybrid.
ANS: C PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB HRM
27. What is likely to be the result if a domestic company that manufactures four different types of products
changes from a functional structure to a divisional structure?
a. Lower fixed costs
b. Better coordination within a product area between different functional areas
c. More technical development within functional areas
d. More centralized decision making
ANS: B PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
28. A company that wishes to maintain the basic functional structure, but is having difficulty coordinating
across departments because of growth:
a. should install horizontal linkages.
b. should realize that the functional structure cannot work and abandon it for a matrix.
c. may find it necessary to abolish liaison roles.
d. can profit most by adding more functional departments.
ANS: A PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
30. All of the following are strengths of a divisional organization structure, except:
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a. it allows units to adapt to differences in products, regions, customers.
b. it involves high coordination across functions.
c. it centralizes decision making.
d. it is best in large organizations with several products.
ANS: C PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
31. The matrix structure is the correct structure when three conditions are met. Which of the following is
one of these three conditions?
a. Pressure exists to share scarce resources across product lines.
b. Technical quality is not very important.
c. The environmental domain of the organization is simple.
d. The environmental domain of the organization is certain and stable.
ANS: A PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
33. In a ____ matrix, the project/product managers have primary authority and functional managers simply
assign technical personnel to projects and provide advisory expertise as needed.
a. functional
b. virtual
c. divisional
d. product
ANS: D PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Leadership Principles
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. This edition is intended for use outside of the U.S. only, with content that may be different
from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
ANS: A PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Leadership Principles
36. ____ means the redesign of a vertical organization along its horizontal workflows and processes.
a. Vertical linkages
b. Vertical network grouping
c. Process
d. Reegineering
ANS: D PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Creation of Value
39. With a ____, the firm subcontracts most of its major functions or processes to separate companies and
coordinates their activities from a small headquarters organization.
a. virtual network structure
b. matrix structure
c. divisional structure
d. functional structure
ANS: A PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Creation of Value
40. Which type of structure tends to be used in rapidly changing environments because they offer the
organization greater flexibility?
a. Divisional structure
b. Functional structure
c. Hybrid structure
d. Matrix structure
ANS: C PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. This edition is intended for use outside of the U.S. only, with content that may be different
from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
41. Two types of hybrid structures are common today. The approaches combine:
a. product and matrix structures; product and horizontal structures.
b. functional and divisional structures; functional and horizontal structures.
c. marketing and sales; marketing and logistics.
d. horizontal and teams; vertical and authority.
ANS: B PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Creation of Value
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from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
42. All of the following, except ____ are symptoms of structural deficiency.
a. decision making is delayed or lacking quality
b. the organization does not respond innovatively to a changing environment
c. too much conflict is evident
d. employees lack motivation
ANS: D PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
43. At Verterans Administration (VA) hospitals around the country, a sophisticated system called Vista
enables people all across the organization to access complete patient information and provide better
care. Vista is an example of which of the following?
a. Integrator
b. Horizontal linkage
c. Information systems
d. Relational coordination
ANS: C PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Technology | AACSB Information Technologies
44. Benjamin is an engineer at ABC Technologies. His office is located in the manufacturing area so that
he is readily available for discussions with manufacturing supervisors about engineering problems
with the manufactured products. Benjamin occupies a(n):
a. liaison role.
b. task role.
c. integrator role.
d. functtional role.
ANS: A PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Individual Dynamics
45. _____ refers to frequent, timely, problem-solving communication carried out through relationships of
shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect.
a. Horizontal linkage
b. Reengineering
c. Relational coordination
d. Functional grouping
ANS: C PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Communication | AACSB Creation of Value
46. All of the following statements regarding relational coordination are true except
a. when relational coordination is low, people share information and coordinate their
activities.
b. building relational coordination into the fabric of the organization requires the active role
of managers.
c. when relational coordination is high, people are given freedom from strict work rules.
d. when relational coordination is high, employees coordinate directly with each other across
units.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. This edition is intended for use outside of the U.S. only, with content that may be different
from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
ANS: A PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Communication | AACSB Creation of Value
47. At an Internet company, all the people associated with maintaining the website are grouped together in
one department. This is an example of _____ grouping.
a. horizontal
b. multi-focused
c. divisional
d. functional
ANS: D PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Creation of Value
48. _____ is the most recent approach to departmental grouping. With this grouping, the organization is a
loosely connected cluster of separate components.
a. Virtual network grouping
b. Divisional grouping
c. Multi-focused grouping
d. Horizontal grouping
ANS: A PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Communication | AACSB Creation of Value
TRUE/FALSE
1. The organization chart is the visual representation of a whole set of underlying activities and processes
in an organization.
2. Centralized decision making means decision-making authority is pushed down to lower organizational
levels.
4. Horizontal linkages are used to coordinate activities between the top and bottom of an organization
and are designed primarily for control of the organization, whereas vertical linkages refers to the
amount of communication and coordination across organizational departments.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. This edition is intended for use outside of the U.S. only, with content that may be different
from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
5. Rules and plans are lower on the ladder of mechanisms for vertical linkage than is adding positions to
the hierarchy.
6. A task force is located in one department but has the responsibility for communicating and achieving
coordination with another department.
ANS: F PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Communication | AACSB Group Dynamics
ANS: T PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Communication | AACSB Individual Dynamics
9. A full-time integrator such as a project manager has the various functional managers--finance,
engineering, marketing--reporting to him or her.
ANS: T PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Group Dynamics
11. Grouping by output means that people are organized by similar functions or work processes with
similar knowledge and skills.
12. Functional grouping places employees together who perform similar work processes and typically
have similar knowledge and skills.
ANS: T PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Group Dynamics
13. A weakness of the functional structure is that it results in a slow response time to environmental
change.
ANS: T PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Environmental Influence
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from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
14. Divisional structure may be organized by product, services, major projects or programs, or profit
centers.
ANS: T PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Creation of Value
15. An advantage of the divisional structure is that coordination of functional matters relative to any one
given product is maximized.
ANS: T PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Creation of Value
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. This edition is intended for use outside of the U.S. only, with content that may be different
from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
16. A strength of the divisional structure compared to the functional structure is that it tends to
decentralize decision making.
18. Pressure for innovation is sufficient cause for adopting the matrix structure.
19. There are two variations of matrix structure: the functional matrix and the divisional matrix.
20. The matrix structure is best when environmental change is high and when goals reflect a dual
requirement.
ANS: T PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Environmental Influence
ANS: T PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Group Dynamics
23. Most companies combine characteristics of multiple structures to take advantage of the strengths and
avoid some of the weaknesses.
24. A hybrid structure is rarely preferred over the pure functional, divisional, horizontal, and virtual
network structure.
25. Vertical control is appropriate when the organization has a high need for coordination among functions
to achieve innovation and promote learning.
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from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
26. The concept of the organization chart has been around for approximately 25 years.
27. The use of the organization chart for business stems largely from the Industrial Revolution.
ANS: T PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Communication | AACSB Creation of Value
30. A weakness of the divisional organization structure is that the organization loses economies of scale.
31. Exporting means to contract out certain tasks or functions, such as manufacturing, human resources, or
credit processing, to other companies.
32. The primary weakness of the virtual network structure is a lack of control.
ESSAY
1. Explain in a general sense what about structure we can and cannot learn from an organization's flow
chart. What structural and contextual variables that we study in organization theory appear on the
organization chart?
ANS:
Answer not provided.
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from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
3. Explain the information processing perspective relative to the study of organizational structure.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
4. Explain when a horizontal structure is dominant and when a vertical structure is dominant.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
6. How can rules and plans serve as an information linking mechanism in organizations?
ANS:
Answer not provided.
7. Contrast the following structural alternatives to achieving horizontal integration: task force, liaison,
and full-time integrator.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
8. What qualifications would be expected for the position of full-time integrator? Why?
ANS:
Answer not provided.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. This edition is intended for use outside of the U.S. only, with content that may be different
from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Individual Dynamics
ANS:
Answer not provided.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
11. Draw and label a functional structure. Then draw a divisional structure, and take the same job titles
you placed in the previous structure and label where they would be in the divisional structure. The
resulting two diagrams should illustrate differences between the functional and divisional structure.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
12. What are the similarities and differences between a functional structure with horizontal linkages and a
divisional structure?
ANS:
Answer not provided.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. This edition is intended for use outside of the U.S. only, with content that may be different
from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
15. Would you personally rather join an organization structured by function matrix or product matrix?
Why?
ANS:
Answer not provided.
16. Contrast the similarities and differences between a matrix organization and a functional structure with
horizontal linkages. Explain about a situation or an organization in which you would actually prefer to
utilize the functional structure with horizontal linkages over the matrix.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
18. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the horizontal structure?
ANS:
Answer not provided.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
20. What are the two types of hybrid structure? Discuss each type.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
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from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
21. List and give examples of two symptoms of structural deficiency provided in the text. Explain how an
organization might cope with those two symptoms of structural deficiency.
ANS:
Answer not provided.
22. What symptoms of structural deficiency would make a firm consider changing its structure?
ANS:
Answer not provided.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. This edition is intended for use outside of the U.S. only, with content that may be different
from the U.S. Edition. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.