In which structure and organization has multiple reporting lines of authority for employees quizlet?

What is a Flat Organizational Structure?

A flat organizational structure means that an organization has few (if any) levels of management between the workforce and the highest-level managers. The absence of middle managers places more authority, such as decision-making functions, at the worker level.

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How does a Flat Organization Structure Work?

A company's organizational structure concerns the authority, control, and reporting structure for employees. For example, in a hierarchical structure, workers report to a front-line manager. These front-line managers report to middle managers. These managers report to top-level managers. This structure generally creates a pyramid to represent authority, control, and communication. 

In a flat organizational structure, there are few levels of management. Thus workers will report directly to higher-level managers. This means that the role of middle-managers is shared between the workers and the higher-level managers. It generally means greater autonomy and authority for the worker. It can also be more efficient for the organization to not have various levels of bureaucracy. This structure can serve to motivate employees who are more autonomous. 

The flat structure generally employs collaborative work teams as a method of employee oversight. 

For many organizations, the flat organizational structure is not optimal. This is particularly true for larger organizations. The flat structure can cause a lack of clarity on who is responsible and accountable for specific activities. 

It can also be difficult for outsiders to determine who is the appropriate point of contact for any communication. Without managers who have final decision-making authority, employees may conflict on specific decisions. Competitive individuals may attempt to establish greater power or more authority than their peers.

You would study a business’s ________ chart to see a visual representation of its vertical structure, including the chain of command.

Your manager has ________ when he has the right to tell you what work to do and to hold you accountable for doing it.

When your manager assigns you a task, you have the responsibility to carry out that task.

The cost of renting one large blanket-selling stand at the market is less than the combined cost of renting five small stands.

The workers may focus on their own needs and not understand or be concerned with the needs of the four workers doing different jobs.

By selling the five pieces of equipment each man used to perform all five steps, each worker can buy more advanced equipment necessary for his unique task.

When managers meet to discuss _________ , topics on the agenda include how tasks will be assigned, reporting relationships, and how to coordinate effort across departments.

A human resource generalist has the ________ to advise supervisors on how to handle employee disciplinary actions.

_____________ is involved when your manager reviews your performance and evaluates your outcomes.

Jake becomes extremely bored with hauling blankets to market over and over, and he misses getting to herd and shear the sheep.

Each worker will become more productive, because he will develop a high level of expertise in his task.

If it used to take each man 4 hours to monitor one fifth of the sheep, it now takes Brian less than 20 hours to monitor all the sheep.

A manager with many direct subordinates has a wider _________ than does a manager with only a few subordinates.

During a time of crisis, an organization may become , placing more decision-making authority near the top of the organization.

Bricks ‘n’ Bats makes children’s toys. The CEO is reorganizing the company to adjust to several changes in the environment. One is the increasing sales of toys online instead of in brick-and-mortar stores. Another is a trend toward less gender orientation in the marketing of toys, as evidenced by Target’s decision to stop labeling many children’s products as for boys or for girls. Yet another change is parents’ growing preference for toys that allow their children to build or make unique creations as well as for educational toys that teach science, math, and other topics. As the CEO considers various organizational structures, he hires you as an expert consultant. “Where would it make sense for managers to have wide spans of control?” Check all that apply.

-In shipping, where most employees are very experienced and highly trained -In manufacturing, where most employees perform similar tasks that don’t change much over time

If you are looking at the organization chart of a ________, you see more hierarchical levels and managers with relatively narrow spans of control.

Employees make greater use of their skills and enjoy more opportunities for professional development in a __________ organization.

Bricks ‘n’ Bats makes children’s toys. The CEO is reorganizing the company to adjust to several changes in the environment. One is the increasing sales of toys online instead of in brick-and-mortar stores. Another is a trend toward less gender orientation in the marketing of toys, as evidenced by Target’s decision to stop labeling many children’s products as for boys or for girls. Yet another change is parents’ growing preference for toys that allow their children to build or make unique creations as well as for educational toys that teach science, math, and other topics. As the CEO considers various organizational structures, he hires you as an expert consultant. “Under what circumstances should I hire more managers so each can have a narrower span of control?”

-When tasks are new and few procedures are in place to guide how work should be done -When few management support resources, such as technology or people, are in place

What type of structure does this organization have? -Virtual network -Functional -Matrix -Divisional

Employees doing different kinds of work, such as research and development, manufacturing, and sales, tend to communicate with one another more and coordinate their activities.

Employees who do a particular type of work, such as sales or accounting, have more opportunity to develop in-depth expertise.

When the unit focusing on business-to-business (B2B) customers develops a new, highly effective customer-tracking system, this system is not shared with the unit focusing on individual retail customers.

Employees in each unit tend to be focused on their work specialty rather than on the customer, so the organization can be slow to respond to changes in the business environment.

Imagine that you have just accepted a job at a company with a matrix structure. The company is a consulting firm that provides business strategy advice to its corporate clients. Employees are assigned to both a functional area and to a customer group division. You are working in the Marketing and Sales department, and you are assigned to the Small Business Accounts division.In your new job, which of the following should you be prepared for? Check all that apply.

-The ability to bring up issues with the people who can help resolve them -A relatively high level of conflict, meaning a lot of time spent in meetings to resolve differences

An organization with a ____________ has a small core of direct employees and contracts with other organizations to perform much of the work, thus having the ability to respond quickly to a changing environment.

virtual network structure

Which of the following characteristics would you expect Alfredo’s Sausage to have?

-Decision making in this company is decentralized, with responsibility pushed to lower levels. -Employee specialization leads to increased efficiency.

The CEO of Alfredo’s Sausage is considering moving to a functional structure. What would be the best reason to make such a move?

To gain more control over how the organization operates and centralize decision making

What problem might the CEO expect if the company switches to a functional structure?

The new structure will be slower to respond to changes in the environment.

Federated Investors has a ___________, with each mutual fund being managed by several portfolio managers who together take responsibility for the fund’s performance.

AL's Autos has a _____ structure.

Which of the following characteristics would you expect Al’s Autos to have? Check all that apply.

-Employees receive extensive training in specific areas, leading to the development of in-depth expertise. -Employee specialization leads to increased efficiency.
-Decision making in this company is centralized, with the CEO ultimately responsible for problem solving.

The CEO of Al’s Autos is considering moving to a matrix structure. What would be the best reason to make such a move?

-To improve communication across functions

What problem might the CEO expect if the company switches to a matrix structure?

-Organizational politics and the number of meetings will increase.

When organizations achieve _______, they make ongoing horizontal communication and problem solving part of the culture of the organization.

Layla is applying for a __________ position, in which she will coordinate the activities of the engineering and manufacturing departments to achieve a 5% reduction in defect rate.

Nat Windom is the chief operating officer (COO) of your company. He has been reading about relational coordination and has learned that it is a “powerful driver of performance when work is interdependent, uncertain and time constrained.” He has also read that improving the quality of coordination in this way can improve “quality, safety, efficiency, engagement, learning and innovation.” With these benefits in mind, he is very excited about implementing relationship coordination at your company. Nat knows that you have been studying how organizations coordinate the activities of people and departments, and he calls you into his office to ask for your advice.
“Recently, our managers have suggested making a variety of changes. Which of the following changes should not be implemented if we want to achieve a high level of relational coordination?” Check all that apply.

-Redesign office floorplans to include more private offices so employees have quiet time for strategic thinking. -Write job descriptions so they outline very specific tasks and reward each employee based on how well they achieve their designated tasks. -Provide employees with training on the technical aspects of their jobs and in negotiating skills so they can win in conflict situations.

In a ____________ effort, Hallmark reimagined and redesigned the way in which it brought new cards to market, cutting the time from three years to less than one year.

After several incidents in which the company’s computer systems were not ready to support new products, the CEO established a __________ consisting of employees from different departments who would work together on future product rollouts.

Nat Windom is the chief operating officer (COO) of your company. He has been reading about relational coordination and has learned that it is a “powerful driver of performance when work is interdependent, uncertain and time constrained.” He has also read that improving the quality of coordination in this way can improve “quality, safety, efficiency, engagement, learning and innovation.” With these benefits in mind, he is very excited about implementing relationship coordination at your company. Nat knows that you have been studying how organizations coordinate the activities of people and departments, and he calls you into his office to ask for your advice.
“If our company achieves a high level of relational coordination, what can we expect in terms of employee behavior?” Check all that apply.

-Employees will be empowered to collaborate directly with each other across organizational boundaries. -Information will flow across a network of informal relationships rather than primarily through a formal chain of command. -Employees in different departments or divisions will share information easily.

____________ is important if people from different departments are going to work together to produce better outcomes than they could individually.

To solve a problem, a manager might establish and lead a temporary _______ of people from different departments. This group would disband once the problem was solved.

Nat Windom is the chief operating officer (COO) of your company. He has been reading about relational coordination and has learned that it is a “powerful driver of performance when work is interdependent, uncertain and time constrained.” He has also read that improving the quality of coordination in this way can improve “quality, safety, efficiency, engagement, learning and innovation.” With these benefits in mind, he is very excited about implementing relationship coordination at your company. Nat knows that you have been studying how organizations coordinate the activities of people and departments, and he calls you into his office to ask for your advice.
“Which of the following are often used by organizations to promote relational coordination?” Check all that apply.

-Training in how to resolve conflicts by focusing on shared goals -Relaxation of work rules so employees have the freedom to contribute however they can
-Open office plans with few walls and small spaces where people can hold impromptu meetings

As an organization becomes more mechanistic, its communication flow becomes _______

Sequoia Hospital uses a differentiation strategy. Its doctors provide extremely high levels of care, and it was awarded a Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ in 2011. Sequoia Hospital will be more effective if it has  _________ structure. Which of the following reasons explain this? Check all that apply.

-an organic
-Because doctors and medical staff are already highly trained, they need less supervision and therefore operate more effectively with broad spans of management. -Team-based structures are particularly useful for developing innovative patient care plans.

When a company’s output is consumed immediately and employees and customers interact directly, the firm uses ____________      and will tend to be flexible, informal, and decentralized.

According to Joan Woodward, __________ is classified as a small-batch production company.

Source: Based on Joan Woodward. (1965). Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice. London: Oxford University Press) According to the information in the table, which of the following conclusions is most likely to be true?

A mass production design is likely to be effective if your bakery is operating in a stable environment without a lot of competition.

Andy says he wants his managers to “self-start” and tells new employees, “When people walk in the door, I don’t want them looking for me. I want them looking for you.” You can infer from this statement that Andy:

Prefers to delegate to subordinates

If Barcelona has a core staff of restaurant managers and head chefs and contracts with staffing agencies to fill all other positions, from accountants to dishwashers, then the company has a _______ structure.

Advantages of this structure include: Check all that apply. -High flexibility with regard to labor costs -High ability to hold workers accountable -Adaptability with regard to workers’ skills -High worker loyalty

-High flexibility with regard to labor costs -Adaptability with regard to workers’ skills

For the front of the house, where employees interact directly with customers to produce a dining experience, which structure is the best fit?

An organic, decentralized structure 

When the matrix structure is used employees report to more than one supervisor quizlet?

Which type of structure is characterized by employees having two bosses at the same time?

What kind of an organizational structure has both line as well as staff managers reporting to the Head of Department administratively?

What is organizational structure in principle of management?