ADM 1100 UPDATED KEY EXAM QUESTIONS
AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Contrast mechanistic and organic organizations. - CORRECT ANSWERS Organizations don't
have the same structures. companies of similar size do not necessarily have similar structures. A
mechanistic organization has high specialization, departmentalization, formalization, and
narrow spans of control, has a limited information network, little participation in decision-
making by low-level employees.
An organic organization is adaptive and flexible with little specialization, and formalization, and
less direct supervision of employees.
Contrast the three traditional organizational designs. - CORRECT ANSWERS A simple
structure is an organizational design with low departmentalization, wide spans of control,
authority centralized in a single person, and little formalization. Its strengths are its flexibility,
speed, and low cost to maintain. Its major drawback is that it is most effective in small
organizations.
As an organization grows, the structure tends to become more specialized and formalized.
When contingency factors favour a bureaucratic or mechanistic design, one of two options is
likely to be used.
One option expands functional departmentalization into the functional structure, which is an
organizational design that groups similar or related occupational specialties together.
The other option is the divisional structure, which is an organizational structure made up of
autonomous, self-contained units.
With the availability of advanced information technology that allows an organization's work to
be done anywhere at any time, is organizing still an important managerial function? Why or why
not? - CORRECT ANSWERS Although an organization's work may be done anywhere at any
time, organizing is still an important managerial function because the work still has to be
divided, grouped, and coordinated.
, Researchers are now saying that efforts to simplify work tasks actually have negative results for
both companies and their employees. Do you agree? Why or why not? - CORRECT
ANSWERS Agree. Simplifying work tasks could have the negative effect of becoming too
monotonous for employees, resulting in employee dissatisfaction, which in turn could result in a
higher level of employee turnover than the organization would prefer
Can an organization's structure be changed quickly? Why or why not? Should it be changed
quickly? Explain. - CORRECT ANSWERS The larger an organization is, the more difficult it
will be to effectively implement the change its overall structure. The basic structure can be
changed by doing nothing more than putting out a new organizational chart and giving people
new titles, but changes to work specialization, departmentalization and the overall chain of
command can be a challenge - especially if the organization is fairly large. An example would an
organization that is acquires another organization and wants to integrate some of its structure.
This can, and often is, complicated and time consuming.
Explain the contingency factors that affect organizational design. - CORRECT ANSWERS An
organization's strategy, size, technology and degree of environmental uncertainty are constantly
changing, and although they are independent, there are interdependent in a successful
organizational design. Goals are part of the organization's strategies, so it important that
strategy and structure are linked. Organizational size will influence structure. Large
organizations will have more processes, specialization, centralization and regulation than small
organizations. If the organization grows past a certain size, it can potentially have less influence
on structure. Some form of technology will be used by an organization to convert its inputs into
outputs. This is all about efficiency and working toward dealing with constant change. Finally, an
organization can be in a relatively simply external working environment, others in very dynamic
ones. Because uncertainly can be either very minimal or very dynamic and complex, a way to
reduce uncertainty is through adjustments in the organizational structure.
Describe the four contemporary organizational designs. How are they similar? Different? -
CORRECT ANSWERS Many of today's organizations are finding that the traditional
hierarchical organizational designs aren't appropriate for the increasingly dynamic and complex
environments they face. The contemporary structures all de-emphasize chain of command.
They each have some unique features as described below.
AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Contrast mechanistic and organic organizations. - CORRECT ANSWERS Organizations don't
have the same structures. companies of similar size do not necessarily have similar structures. A
mechanistic organization has high specialization, departmentalization, formalization, and
narrow spans of control, has a limited information network, little participation in decision-
making by low-level employees.
An organic organization is adaptive and flexible with little specialization, and formalization, and
less direct supervision of employees.
Contrast the three traditional organizational designs. - CORRECT ANSWERS A simple
structure is an organizational design with low departmentalization, wide spans of control,
authority centralized in a single person, and little formalization. Its strengths are its flexibility,
speed, and low cost to maintain. Its major drawback is that it is most effective in small
organizations.
As an organization grows, the structure tends to become more specialized and formalized.
When contingency factors favour a bureaucratic or mechanistic design, one of two options is
likely to be used.
One option expands functional departmentalization into the functional structure, which is an
organizational design that groups similar or related occupational specialties together.
The other option is the divisional structure, which is an organizational structure made up of
autonomous, self-contained units.
With the availability of advanced information technology that allows an organization's work to
be done anywhere at any time, is organizing still an important managerial function? Why or why
not? - CORRECT ANSWERS Although an organization's work may be done anywhere at any
time, organizing is still an important managerial function because the work still has to be
divided, grouped, and coordinated.
, Researchers are now saying that efforts to simplify work tasks actually have negative results for
both companies and their employees. Do you agree? Why or why not? - CORRECT
ANSWERS Agree. Simplifying work tasks could have the negative effect of becoming too
monotonous for employees, resulting in employee dissatisfaction, which in turn could result in a
higher level of employee turnover than the organization would prefer
Can an organization's structure be changed quickly? Why or why not? Should it be changed
quickly? Explain. - CORRECT ANSWERS The larger an organization is, the more difficult it
will be to effectively implement the change its overall structure. The basic structure can be
changed by doing nothing more than putting out a new organizational chart and giving people
new titles, but changes to work specialization, departmentalization and the overall chain of
command can be a challenge - especially if the organization is fairly large. An example would an
organization that is acquires another organization and wants to integrate some of its structure.
This can, and often is, complicated and time consuming.
Explain the contingency factors that affect organizational design. - CORRECT ANSWERS An
organization's strategy, size, technology and degree of environmental uncertainty are constantly
changing, and although they are independent, there are interdependent in a successful
organizational design. Goals are part of the organization's strategies, so it important that
strategy and structure are linked. Organizational size will influence structure. Large
organizations will have more processes, specialization, centralization and regulation than small
organizations. If the organization grows past a certain size, it can potentially have less influence
on structure. Some form of technology will be used by an organization to convert its inputs into
outputs. This is all about efficiency and working toward dealing with constant change. Finally, an
organization can be in a relatively simply external working environment, others in very dynamic
ones. Because uncertainly can be either very minimal or very dynamic and complex, a way to
reduce uncertainty is through adjustments in the organizational structure.
Describe the four contemporary organizational designs. How are they similar? Different? -
CORRECT ANSWERS Many of today's organizations are finding that the traditional
hierarchical organizational designs aren't appropriate for the increasingly dynamic and complex
environments they face. The contemporary structures all de-emphasize chain of command.
They each have some unique features as described below.
