MBA 704 Exam 2; Chapter 3 UPDATED
ACTUAL Questions and CORRECT
Answers
what are the roots of the organizational theory foundation? - CORRECT ANSWER - the
hierarchical bureaucracy from the beginning emphasized the need to adapt environmental
change. Until recently, modern organizations were largely self-contained and a vertical chain of
command with high degrees of control.
how did Chester barnard define the formal organization? - CORRECT ANSWER - it is a
system of consciously coordinated activities of two or more persons. there is an emphasis on
system and persons. people make up a formal organization.
what was Chester's problem with the OG traditional organizational theory - CORRECT
ANSWER - it was too descriptive and superficial. he was dissatisfied with the classical
bureaucratic view that authority should come from the top down; authority should come from the
bottom up
barnard stress the cooperative aspects of organizations. how? - CORRECT ANSWER - it
reflects the importance he attached to the human element in organization structure and analysis.
the existence of a cooperative system is contingent on the human participants' ability to
communicate and their willingness to serve and strive toward a common purpose. the human
plays the most important role in the creation and perpetuation of formal organizations
what was the first major development in organization theory? - CORRECT ANSWER -
viewing the organization as a system made up of interacting parts. the open systems concept,
which stresses the input of the external environment, has had a tremendous impact on modern
organization theory.
this development was followed by an analysis of organizations in terms of their ability to process
information in organization theory is the contingency approach. the premise of the contingency
approach is that there is no single best way to organize. the organizational design must be fitted
to the existing environmental conditions
, what is the more modern natural selection/ecological view of organizations? - CORRECT
ANSWER - challenges the contingency approach. whereas the contingency approach
suggests that organizations change through internal transformation and adaptation, the eco
approach says that it is more a process of the survival of the fittest; there is a process of
organizational selection and replacement
what are the information processing and organizational learning? - CORRECT ANSWER -
these approaches to organization theory are based largely on systems theory and emphasize the
importance of generative over adaptive learning in fast-changing external environments
Chris Argyris x learning organization: what is the single-loop and double-loop? - CORRECT
ANSWER - single-loop learning involves improving the organization's capacity to achieve
known objectives. it is associated with routine and behavioral learning. the organization is
learning without significant change in its basic assumptions
double-loop learning reevaluates the nature of the organization's objectives and the values and
beliefs surrounding them. this type of learning involves changing the organizations culture. it
consists of the organization's learning how to learn
generative learning vs adaptive learning - CORRECT ANSWER - Peter senge portrayed
this type of organization from a systems theory perspective and made the important distinction
between adaptive and generative learning. adaptive learning is simple and is the first stage of the
learning organization, adapting to environmental changes
to adapt to changing customer expectations for quality and service, organizations have still
struggled with their basic assumptions, cultural values, and structure. they haven't gone beyond
mere adaptive learning. the more important generative learning was needed
generative learning involves creativity and innovation, going beyond just adapting to change to
being ahead of and anticipating change. the gnerative process leads to a total reframing of an
organization's experiences and learning from that process
learning organization
- presence of tension
ACTUAL Questions and CORRECT
Answers
what are the roots of the organizational theory foundation? - CORRECT ANSWER - the
hierarchical bureaucracy from the beginning emphasized the need to adapt environmental
change. Until recently, modern organizations were largely self-contained and a vertical chain of
command with high degrees of control.
how did Chester barnard define the formal organization? - CORRECT ANSWER - it is a
system of consciously coordinated activities of two or more persons. there is an emphasis on
system and persons. people make up a formal organization.
what was Chester's problem with the OG traditional organizational theory - CORRECT
ANSWER - it was too descriptive and superficial. he was dissatisfied with the classical
bureaucratic view that authority should come from the top down; authority should come from the
bottom up
barnard stress the cooperative aspects of organizations. how? - CORRECT ANSWER - it
reflects the importance he attached to the human element in organization structure and analysis.
the existence of a cooperative system is contingent on the human participants' ability to
communicate and their willingness to serve and strive toward a common purpose. the human
plays the most important role in the creation and perpetuation of formal organizations
what was the first major development in organization theory? - CORRECT ANSWER -
viewing the organization as a system made up of interacting parts. the open systems concept,
which stresses the input of the external environment, has had a tremendous impact on modern
organization theory.
this development was followed by an analysis of organizations in terms of their ability to process
information in organization theory is the contingency approach. the premise of the contingency
approach is that there is no single best way to organize. the organizational design must be fitted
to the existing environmental conditions
, what is the more modern natural selection/ecological view of organizations? - CORRECT
ANSWER - challenges the contingency approach. whereas the contingency approach
suggests that organizations change through internal transformation and adaptation, the eco
approach says that it is more a process of the survival of the fittest; there is a process of
organizational selection and replacement
what are the information processing and organizational learning? - CORRECT ANSWER -
these approaches to organization theory are based largely on systems theory and emphasize the
importance of generative over adaptive learning in fast-changing external environments
Chris Argyris x learning organization: what is the single-loop and double-loop? - CORRECT
ANSWER - single-loop learning involves improving the organization's capacity to achieve
known objectives. it is associated with routine and behavioral learning. the organization is
learning without significant change in its basic assumptions
double-loop learning reevaluates the nature of the organization's objectives and the values and
beliefs surrounding them. this type of learning involves changing the organizations culture. it
consists of the organization's learning how to learn
generative learning vs adaptive learning - CORRECT ANSWER - Peter senge portrayed
this type of organization from a systems theory perspective and made the important distinction
between adaptive and generative learning. adaptive learning is simple and is the first stage of the
learning organization, adapting to environmental changes
to adapt to changing customer expectations for quality and service, organizations have still
struggled with their basic assumptions, cultural values, and structure. they haven't gone beyond
mere adaptive learning. the more important generative learning was needed
generative learning involves creativity and innovation, going beyond just adapting to change to
being ahead of and anticipating change. the gnerative process leads to a total reframing of an
organization's experiences and learning from that process
learning organization
- presence of tension
