USC BUAD 304 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
VERIFIED ANSWERS
How jobs in a company are formally grouped, divided, and coordinated is called
organizational structure
Name the six aspects of organizational structure (hint SF DC WC)
span of control, formalization, departmentalization, chain of command, work specialization,
centralization
How wide or lean a company structure is referred to as its
span of control
How standardized a job is in an organization is called
formalization
Just like how the army has a formal level hierarchy, companies do too. This is called the
chain of command
Instead of having one dude build a car, we have 100 of them work on it at once, each
working on only once part. This is called
work specialization
A company where the decision making is at top-level management is
centralized
A company where the decision making is at low-level management is
decentralized
What are the 5 types of departmentalization methods?
function, product, geography, process, customer
The smallest management structure is the
simple structure
The most standardized management structure is the
bureaucracy
The structure that breaks the unity of command rule that combines function and product
departmentalization is called the
matrix structure
,Give five organizational structure designs
Simple structure, matrix structure, bureaucracy, virtual organization, boundaryless organization
What are the tradeoffs of work specialization?
Increased productivity for worker boredom/dissatisfaction
Unity of command states that
each worker should have one and only one supervisor
Entrepreneurs prefer ____ structure.
simple
As simple structures grow, their inefficiency makes them transform into ______
bureaucracy
What are two pros and two cons of simple structures?
they are inefficient and wholly dependent on the decisions of the owner, but they are cheap and
flexible
What are two pros and cons of bureaucracies?
efficient and low in labor costs, but inflexible/rule bound and has coordination problems
The matrix structure combines what two departmentalization methods?
product and function
Unit of command is broken by what organizational structure?
matrix structure
Give two pros and cons of matrix structures.
They can coordinate across multiple products and efficiently use specialists, but there are power
struggles/confusion and more stress.
This organizational structure places heavy emphasis on negotiation and collaboration in
order to succeed.
matrix structure - in order to mitigate power struggles
Virtual organizations are (organic/mechanistic)
organic
Matrix structures are (organic/mechanistic)
organic
, Simple structures are (organic/mechanistic)
organic
Organic structures have ____ formalization and are (centralized/decentralized)
low, decentralized
Mechanistic structures have ____ formalization and are (centralized/decentralized)
high, centralized
Give two pros and cons of boundaryless structures.
They are highly business focused and flexible which reduces control/coordination costs, but
they're difficult to implement, require new skillsets/methods, and new information technology.
Mechanistic vs organic - contrast.
Mechanistic structures are highly formalized and centralized while organic structures have low
formalization and are decentralized.
What are the four factors that determine organizational structure?
Strategy, size, technology, environment
Strategy is a factor that determines organizational structure - give some examples of what
this means
innovation vs imitation, degree of cost minimization
Describe a boundaryless organization
They're organic and organized around core processes (product development/sales). They use
multidiscipline teams to manage processes and communicate through networked computers.
A conflict (must/sometimes/never) involve(s) more than one individual.
must
The traditional view of conflict believes that
conflict is always bad and dysfunctional
What are the differences between functional and dysfunctional conflict?
Functional supports the goals of the group and improves performance while dysfunctional lowers
performance.
What are the three types of conflicts?
Task, relationship, process
What are the three views of conflict?
VERIFIED ANSWERS
How jobs in a company are formally grouped, divided, and coordinated is called
organizational structure
Name the six aspects of organizational structure (hint SF DC WC)
span of control, formalization, departmentalization, chain of command, work specialization,
centralization
How wide or lean a company structure is referred to as its
span of control
How standardized a job is in an organization is called
formalization
Just like how the army has a formal level hierarchy, companies do too. This is called the
chain of command
Instead of having one dude build a car, we have 100 of them work on it at once, each
working on only once part. This is called
work specialization
A company where the decision making is at top-level management is
centralized
A company where the decision making is at low-level management is
decentralized
What are the 5 types of departmentalization methods?
function, product, geography, process, customer
The smallest management structure is the
simple structure
The most standardized management structure is the
bureaucracy
The structure that breaks the unity of command rule that combines function and product
departmentalization is called the
matrix structure
,Give five organizational structure designs
Simple structure, matrix structure, bureaucracy, virtual organization, boundaryless organization
What are the tradeoffs of work specialization?
Increased productivity for worker boredom/dissatisfaction
Unity of command states that
each worker should have one and only one supervisor
Entrepreneurs prefer ____ structure.
simple
As simple structures grow, their inefficiency makes them transform into ______
bureaucracy
What are two pros and two cons of simple structures?
they are inefficient and wholly dependent on the decisions of the owner, but they are cheap and
flexible
What are two pros and cons of bureaucracies?
efficient and low in labor costs, but inflexible/rule bound and has coordination problems
The matrix structure combines what two departmentalization methods?
product and function
Unit of command is broken by what organizational structure?
matrix structure
Give two pros and cons of matrix structures.
They can coordinate across multiple products and efficiently use specialists, but there are power
struggles/confusion and more stress.
This organizational structure places heavy emphasis on negotiation and collaboration in
order to succeed.
matrix structure - in order to mitigate power struggles
Virtual organizations are (organic/mechanistic)
organic
Matrix structures are (organic/mechanistic)
organic
, Simple structures are (organic/mechanistic)
organic
Organic structures have ____ formalization and are (centralized/decentralized)
low, decentralized
Mechanistic structures have ____ formalization and are (centralized/decentralized)
high, centralized
Give two pros and cons of boundaryless structures.
They are highly business focused and flexible which reduces control/coordination costs, but
they're difficult to implement, require new skillsets/methods, and new information technology.
Mechanistic vs organic - contrast.
Mechanistic structures are highly formalized and centralized while organic structures have low
formalization and are decentralized.
What are the four factors that determine organizational structure?
Strategy, size, technology, environment
Strategy is a factor that determines organizational structure - give some examples of what
this means
innovation vs imitation, degree of cost minimization
Describe a boundaryless organization
They're organic and organized around core processes (product development/sales). They use
multidiscipline teams to manage processes and communicate through networked computers.
A conflict (must/sometimes/never) involve(s) more than one individual.
must
The traditional view of conflict believes that
conflict is always bad and dysfunctional
What are the differences between functional and dysfunctional conflict?
Functional supports the goals of the group and improves performance while dysfunctional lowers
performance.
What are the three types of conflicts?
Task, relationship, process
What are the three views of conflict?
