Mgt3200 Exam 2

Front 1

• Is decision-making a function of management?

Back 1

-No, it’s a part of all functions
-Most closely associated with planning

A: Decision-making is a key activity at all levels of management. Decision-making techniques are applicable and valuable to all management functions.

Front 2

• Why do we make decisions as managers?

Back 2

achieve operational goals and overall organizational goals.

Front 3

• What’s the difference between programmed and non-programmed decisions?

Back 3

A: Programmed decisions are repetitive and routine and have a specific procedure developed for handling them

Nonprogrammed decisions are novel and unique and they are complex and unstructured.

-Programed -- specific procedures developed 4 repetitive & routine problems; 1st-line; rule
or standard operating procedure used in making the decision; different; complex
-Non-programmed-- specific to management problems that are novel (new), unique (different and hard to understand), complex (if you have to think about it), and unstructured; top managers (more important as you go up the management pyramid, conceptual skills very important) ;

Front 4

• Do managers make more programmed or non-programmed decisions, in general?

Back 4

A: managers generally deal with more programmed decisions than nonprogrammed decisions.

-Programmed makes us more efficient
-as you go up management period the non-programmed decisions become more common- conceptual skills are important

Front 5

• What is decision-making under conditions of certainty?

Back 5

A: this means the manager knows all available alternatives and the outcomes associated with each. There is no element of chance that intervenes between the alternative and its income. The outcomes of alternatives are known with 100% probability – absolute certainty

-Managers know all available alternatives and the outcomes associated with each; 100% probability

Front 6

• What is decision-making under conditions of risk?

Back 6

A: This condition involves a lack of complete certainty regarding the outcomes of various alternatives, but an awareness of the probabilities associated with their occurrence. Thus, alternatives are known but outcomes are in doubt.

-Lack of certainty regarding outcomes of various alternatives, but an awareness of probabilities associated with their occurrence; alternatives are known, but outcomes are in doubt

Front 7

• What is decision-making under conditions of uncertainty?

Back 7

A: managers don’t know alternatives, their potential outcomes, or the probability of the outcomes occurrence. Decisions under uncertainty generally occur in cases where there is no historical data available from which to infer probabilities or in instances that are so novel and complex it’s impossible to make comparative judgments.

-Don’t know alternatives, their potential outcomes, or the probability of the outcomes occurrence

Front 8

• Which decision-making condition is most common? Least common? Most difficult?

Back 8

A: Risk Decisions are the most common, Conditions of Certainty are the least common, and Conditions of Uncertainty are the most difficult.

-Most common = risk...probabilities 0-100%

-Least common = certainty…100% probabilities

-Most difficult = uncertainty…no probabilities

In risk, what better be right? The probabilities

What happens even when odds are right in risk? Could lead to bad - gambling

Front 9

• What is the key to making good decisions under risk?

Back 9

A: The key element in decision making under conditions of risk is accurately determining the probabilities associated with each alternative

-Accurately determining the probabilities associated with each alternative

Front 10

• How do programmed/non-programmed decisions and the different decision-making conditions relate?

Back 10

A: Programmed Decisions deal with certainty and risk. Nonprogrammed decisions deal with uncertainty and risk.

-Programmed = certainty and risk
-Non-programmed = risk and uncertainty
** Every programmed decision was at one point or another a non-programmed
decision!

Front 11

• What does the traditional economic model assume about decision-makers? (2 assumptions)

Back 11

A: 1) managers seek to maximize benefits (or minimize costs) (“ECONOMIC MAN”) and 2) managers are completely rational.

Front 12

• Under what decision-making condition do decisions get made in the traditional economic model?

Back 12

A: The traditional economic model assumes that decisions are made under the conditions of certainty

Front 13

• What does the behavioral model assume about decision-makers?

Back 13

A:

BOUNDED RATIONALITY AND SATISFICING
1) The manager has perfect knowledge of all alternatives.
2) The manager has perfect knowledge of all outcomes of all alternatives.
3) The manager has a well-ordered and stable set of preferences.
4) The manager has the necessary ability to evaluate all the consequences of all the alternatives.

Front 14

• What is bounded rationality? What three things bound one’s rationality?

Back 14

A: Managers are unable to grasp the full complexity of managerial decisions due to both their limited mental capacity and emotions, and the uncertainty of future events.

Rationality is bounded by these three things:

limited mental capacity,

emotions,

and unforseeability of future events.

MENTAL CAPACITY = 7 +/- 2 items

Front 15

• What is satisficing? How does it differ from maximizing? Is it irrational?

Back 15

A: managers select the 1st alternative that meets a minimally acceptable standard (this is called the aspiration level which is subjectively defined performance goal that the alternative must meet) rather than going through and evaluating all the alternatives and selecting the best one (Maximizing). No it is very rational.

Front 16

• What is a heuristic? What are the advantages of and disadvantages of heuristics?

Back 16

A: A heuristic is a labor saving device, a short cut, a rule of thumb.

: 1) Time savings and

2) they may produce more good decisions than bad decisions.

Some disadvantages are it can lead to prejudice and discrimination based on non-job related factors such as sex, age, race, and religion.

Front 17

***• What is the availability heuristic? What factors cause you to overestimate the frequency of an event? Underestimate the frequency of an event?

*****

Back 17

A: The availability heuristic is used when managers assess the frequency of an event by the degree to which those instances of that event are easily recalled in memory.

Events that
evoke emotion,
are vivid,
are recent,
are easily imagined,
and are specific will be more available in memory (more easily recalled) than

events that are
unemotional in nature,
are bland,
are in the distant past,
are difficult to imagine,
or are vague.

Front 18

• What is the representativeness heuristic? What’s the problem with this heuristic?

Back 18

A: The representativeness heuristic reflects the tendency of managers to assess the likelihood of an occurrence by matching it with a preexisting category (i.e. stereotype). It can lead to prejudice and discrimination based on non-job related factors such as sex, age, race, and religion

Front 19

• Under what decision-making conditions do decisions get made in the behavioral model?

Back 19

A: Decisions in this model are made under conditions of incomplete information such as risk and uncertainty.

Front 20

• What does the irrational/implicit favorite model of decision-making say about decision-making?

Back 20

A: the decision maker selects a favorite early on in the evaluation of alternatives. Once this “implicit” favorite is chosen the rest of the alternatives are evaluated against it. Basically, the decision maker distorts information and selects decision rules in order to favor their implicit favorite

Front 21

• What types of decisions are made irrationally?

Back 21

A: The irrational model is most applicable to nonprogrammed decisions

Front 22

• What is the basic purpose of a brainstorming session?

Back 22

A: Brainstorming helps with the generation of alternatives. This technique is designed to generate ideas, not evaluate. You are trying to generate quantity of ideas over quality of ideas.

Front 23

• What are the four rules in brainstorming?****

Back 23

1. Criticism is prohibited.
2. “Freewheeling” is welcomed-free association, the more off the wall idea, the better.
3. Quantity is wanted; don’t worry about quality.
4. Combination and improvement are sought.

Front 24

• Can inhibitions be totally eliminated in brainstorming sessions?

Back 24

A: No

Front 25

• What two creativity techniques does synectics use in helping the group to generate better ideas?

Back 25

A: This technique utilizes fantasy and analogy to facilitate creative idea generation and encourages new ways of looking at the problem.

Front 26

• What is the superhero technique?

Back 26

A: fantasizing that you are a superhero and think of ways to solve problems the way your superhero would.

Front 27

• In synectics, what is the job of the facilitator? Technical expert?

Back 27

A: The facilitator’s job is to structure the problem and helps lead the discussion away from the traditional ways of thinking. They help individuals overcome internal inhibitions resulting from traditional ways of perceiving and thinking. Synectics also has a technical expert present to aid the group in the evaluation of the feasibility of ideas

Front 28

• What’s the problem with synectics?

Back 28

A: It also does not separate evaluation from generation. This impairs alternative generation.

Front 29

• What research is NGT based on?

Back 29

A: This technique was inspired by research that discovered more and better ideas are discovered by several persons working alone/separately than by the same persons working in an interacting group. Thus, NGT is a group “in name only”.

Front 30

• How is NGT different from brainstorming and synectics?

Back 30

1. A:
1. It does not rely on free association of ideas.
2. It purposely restricts verbal interaction.

Front 31

• What in NGT does one try to eliminate to improve the decision-making process?

Back 31

A: Its principal benefit is that it minimizes inhibiting effects of group interaction in the initial identification of alternatives

Front 32

• What are the steps in NGT?****

Back 32

A: Step One: 7 to 9 members of varying backgrounds and training are brought together as a group and are familiarized with a problem such as, “What alternatives are available for increasing morale at this company?”

Step Two: Working silently and alone, each group member is asked to prepare a list of ideas in response to the problem.***

Step Three: After a period of ten to fifteen minutes, members share their ideas on at a time, in a round-robin manner. A facilitator records the ideas on a flip chart for all to see.
The round-robin process continues until all the ideas are presented and recorded.

Step Four: A period of structured interaction follows in which members openly discuss and evaluate each recorded idea. At this point, ideas are reworded, deleted, combined, or added.

Step Five: Each group member votes privately by ranking the recorded ideas in order of assessed importance. Following a brief discussion of the vote’s outcome, a final secret ballot is conducted. The group’s preference is the alternative that receives the highest votes. This concludes the meeting.***

Front 33

• What are the defining characteristics of the Delphi technique?

Back 33

A: The unique aspect of the Delphi technique is that experts are not brought together to discuss their ideas/views. Rather the experts are intentionally kept apart so that their initial judgments/ideas will not be influenced by social pressure or other psychological aspects of group behavior. Another characteristic of the Delphi technique is that experts remain anonymous to one another

Front 34

• What is the reasoning behind the Delphi technique?

Back 34

A: The Delphi technique tries to eliminate the group processes in creative problem solving as much as possible. It tries to eliminate, for example, power struggles, undue persuasion, an unwillingness to abandon a publicly expressed idea/alternative, and the bandwagoning effect of majority opinion.

Front 35

• What are some problems that can be encountered when using the Delphi technique?

Back 35

A: the design of the questionnaire can limit the results obtained, it can be extremely time-consuming even more so than the other techniques (several days or weeks may elapse between steps), and member interest and motivation may decline if too much time passes between steps

Front 36

• What is the stepladder technique?

Back 36

OMIT

Front 37

• What is the stepladder technique designed to prevent? Promote?

Back 37

OMIT

Front 38

• What are operations research techniques? What are they designed to do? What kind of data do they usually require? Are they an aid or substitute for managerial decision-making? What do managers need to think critically about when they use these techniques? Are they applicable to all decisions that managers make?

Back 38

A: OR techniques are useful as an aid for evaluating alternatives. However, they cannot replace the need for managers to think independently and to make judgments. They should be viewed as an aid/supplement to less systematic forms of decision making. OR techniques generally require quantitative data. Thus, for many problems where factors can seldom be quantified, OR techniques may not be applicable

-Techniques useful as an aid in evaluating alternatives
-Alternative → outcomes → expected values
-Require quantitative data
-They’re an aid for managerial decision-making; however, they cannot replace the
need for managers to think independently & to make judgments
-Only as good as the data they’re based on
-Most applicable to risk (1st-line)
-Least applicable to decisions made under uncertainty (top managers)

Front 39

• What is meant by the term “confirmatory bias” in decision-making?

Back 39

-Most ppl demonstrate the tendency to look for only confirming evidence rather
than disconfirming evidence after they have made a decision
-Stereotypes of groups persist b/c of this bias
-we look for information that tells us that we make a good decision

Front 40

• What is the gambler’s fallacy?

Back 40

-It is the mistaken belief that an event that has not occurred for some time is
likely to occur in the near future {after 10 bad hands of poker, the poker player
believes that he/she is due for a good hand}

Front 41

• In making decisions, do people pay more attention to descriptive, qualitative information or statistical, quantitative information?

Back 41

-When ppl make judgments they often ignore statistical/relevant data & make
their judgments using qualitative, descriptive data (i.e. vivid case data or
personal experience data)

Front 42

• In making decisions, people often violate the law of large numbers. What does that mean? Why does it occur?

Back 42

-The type of thinking when individuals tend to ignore the implications of sample
size & tend to attribute greater stability to results obtained from small samples
than is reasonable
-Ppl often ignore the judgment advice of others when choosing b/t 2 objects &
substitute their own initial impression as the sole basis for the choice b/c they
don’t recognize the importance of large numbers

Front 43

• How does the framing of a decision affect decision-making? Positive framing? Negative framing?

Back 43

***
-Positively framed [i.e. in terms of a gain] -- risk-averse (avoidant)
-Negatively framed [i.e. in terms of a loss] -- risk-seeking
-Research has shown that positively framed negotiators were more frequent & had
more successful contract than negatively framed

Front 44

(ASSIGNED OUTSIDE READING QUESTIONS #s44-54)

• What is group decision making a function of?

Back 44

A: organizing,

individual contributions + assembly effects = process loss

Front 45

• What is an assembly effect? process loss?

Back 45

A: one group member’s ideas spur another group members ideas. Process losses are the time, energy, and costs to using the group decision making method.

Front 46

• What is the optimal size for a decision making group?

Back 46

A: 5 or 7

Front 47

• What are the advantages of group decision making?

Back 47

A: Decline in social loafing and in this size group assembly effects are their highest while process losses are their lowest

Front 48

• What are the disadvantages of group decision making?

Back 48

A: Social loafing

Front 49

• What is the leveling effect?***

Back 49

A: compromise that takes place in decision making. This effect decreases quality of decision but you also gain acceptance from more people.

Front 50

• When does a manager (under what conditions) use individual decision making rather
than group decision making?

Back 50

A: under short-term conditions the manager will uses individual decision making because it is more efficient

Front 51

• Rank the following in terms of decision making accuracy: group, average individual
in the group, and best member in the group?

Back 51

A: Best member of the group, Group, Average individual

Front 52

• Which is more efficient: group or individual decision making? (consider both short
term and long term efficiency)

Back 52

A: short term= individual, long term= group

Front 53

• Where do you have greater creativity: five individuals generating ideas alone or
those same five individuals generating ideas as a group?

Back 53

A: as a group

Front 54

• Which leads to greater acceptance of the decision and better implementation of the
decision: individual or group decision making?

Back 54

-GDM is better if degree of acceptance by all those involved is the criterion.

Front 55

JOB DESIGN

• What function of management is concerned with job design and organizational design?

Back 55

A: Organizing

Front 56

• What are the three aspects of job design?

Back 56

A: 1) a job’s content, 2) the work methods or procedures to be used in its performance, and 3) how it is related to other jobs in the organization

Front 57

• What is skill variety?

Back 57

A: degree to which a job requires the employees to perform a wide range of operations in their work and/or the degree to which employees must use a variety of equipment and procedures in their work.

Front 58

• What is task identity?

Back 58

A: the extent to which employees do an entire or whole piece of work and clearly identify with the results of their effort

Front 59

• What is task significance?

Back 59

A: the extent to which the job and its performance exert a considerable impact on the lives of others

Front 60

• What is autonomy?

Back 60

A: The extent to which employees have a major say in scheduling their work, selecting the equipment and methods they will use, checking their own work (quality control), and deciding the procedures to be followed. Autonomy is the extent to which they are allowed to make important decisions regarding their jobs. JOB DEPTH!

Front 61

• What is feedback?

Back 61

A: the degree to which employees, as they are working, receive information that reveals how well they are performing on the job

Front 62

What is job breadth and job depth?

Back 62

A: The breadth/range of a job refers to the number of tasks that a jobholder performs. The depth of a job refers to the amount of discretion that an individual has to decide job activities and job outcomes

Front 63

What task characteristic(s) is job breadth similar to?

Back 63

A: Skill Variety

Front 64

• What task characteristic is job depth similar to?

Back 64

A: Autonomy

Front 65

What job design is least prevalent today? Most prevalent today?

Back 65

A: Craft Jobs, Specialized Jobs

Front 66

• What is a specialized job and how does it load on the five task characteristics?

Back 66

A: This division of labor, in turn, leads to specialists who have a limited area of expertise. Loads, on average, low on every job characteristic except feedback (medium to high).

Front 67

• What are the advantages of specialized jobs?

Back 67

A: Efficiency

Front 68

• What are the disadvantages of specialized jobs?

Back 68

A: 1) low employee motivation
2) low job satisfaction
3) low quality job performance
4) high absenteeism
5) high turnover (quitting jobs)
6) sabotage and strikes
7) alcohol and drug abuse
Performance= Ability (can do) * Motivation (will do) * Role Clarity (know what to do)

Front 69

• What is the purpose of job enlargement?

Back 69

A: its intent is to keep one from getting bored so quickly

Front 70

• What two task characteristics does job enlargement increase?

Back 70

A: broadens job scope/breadth, an improvement over job specialization

Front 71

The motivational benefits of job enlargement are short-lived or long-lived?

Back 71

A: short lived

Front 72

• What is job rotation?

Back 72

A: (shifting workers through a set of jobs in a planned sequence)

Front 73

• What is job enrichment? How is it different from job enlargement?

Back 73

A: Job enrichment necessarily involves job enlargement. However, job enlargement doesn’t necessarily lead to job enrichment. For example, you can give a person twenty more boring things to do (job enlargement) but it will not give the person discretion over his job (job enrichment).

Front 74

• What are the advantages of job enrichment?

Back 74

A: Enriched jobs involve the delegation of authority to the employee. You give the employee the power to make important decisions about his/her job.

Front 75

• What are the different aspects of the job characteristics model?

Back 75

A: 1) job core dimensions, 2) critical psychological states, and 3) personal and work outcomes.

Front 76

• What are the three moderators that influence the effectiveness of job enrichment? How do they influence it?

Back 76

A: the relation between core job dimension and critical psychological states and the relation between critical psychological states and personal and work outcomes)

Front 77

• What are the five steps in redesigning a job so it will be enriched? What happens at each step and what task characteristics are increased?

Back 77

A: 1. Form Natural Work Units
-Individuals are grouped together to produce meaningful work. Forming natural work units should increase task identity and task significance.

2. Combining Tasks
- Combine several tasks into a larger job requiring a broader range of skills. This is an attempt to increase skill variety and task identity.

3. Establishing Client Relationships
-employees are put into contact with people who use their product or service such as customers. This is designed to increase skill variety, task significance, autonomy, and feedback

4. Vertical Loading-Most Important Step
- The employees are given more latitude in and responsibility for their jobs. This step primarily increases autonomy.

5. OPENING FEEDBACK CHANNELS
- Employees are provided with increased feedback on their performances by opening up the communication channels. Primarily it’s an attempt to increase performance feedback. Feedback should be a continuous, on-going process.

Front 78

What step in the redesign process is job enlargement?

Back 78

A: Vertical Loading

Front 79

• What step in the redesign process is most important?

Back 79

A: Vertical Loading

Front 80

• What are the disadvantages of job enrichment?

Back 80

** LSU is playing in Nap Town!...Indianapolis **
-Not everyone wants it; even when they want it they are not able to do it
-Training costs are very expensive
-Efficiency is going down!
-Supervisors don’t like it b/c they are becoming self-managed
-Unions do not like it b/c they see it as a way to get more work out of fewer ppl & they aren’t necessarily wrong; unions do not like any type of re-design efforts, they will resist it b/c see as a way MGT gets more work out of fewer ppl (the original union workers were craftsman & they were afraid of their job becoming specialized…today most crafts workers are specialized & they’re afraid of their job becoming enriched)

Front 81

• How does strategy influence job design?

Back 81

A: The strategy of the organization should drive the design of jobs. Thus, different job design strategies will be needed for different strategies.

For example, if your organization has a prospector strategy (to find and exploit new opportunities-be innovative), then the job design strategy that would best suit this strategy would be enriched jobs which allow for more self-determination and more creativity.

On the other hand, if your organization’s strategy is to be a defender (to hold onto one’s market share through overall cost leadership) you would select a specialized job design because that would allow for the greatest efficiency in producing your product/service and it would allow you to keep your prices down.

Front 82

• What employee factors should be taken into consideration when designing jobs?

Back 82

A: Ability and Motivation

Front 83

• What type of motivation is best suited to specialized jobs? Enriched jobs?

Back 83

A: Specialized: instrumental
Enriched: expressive

Front 84

• What is instrumental motivation? Expressive motivation?

Back 84

A: Instrumental: looking at a job as just a means to an end
Expressive: wants personal satisfaction through work, growing through work, gaining fulfillment through work

Front 85

• What is the Yerkes-Dodson law? (arousal and performance are related in what manner?)

Back 85

-There is an inverted U relationship b/t arousal & performance; NOT LINEAR!;
curve-a-linear
-Too much arousal performance will be poor; performance the highest @
moderate level of arousal (being in “the zone” in athletics)

Front 86

• When someone is hyper-sensitive to their environment, what type of job design should they be given? Why?

Back 86

A: that are hyper-sensitive would be best suited to a specialized job because the environment provides very little stimulation

Front 87

• When someone is hypo-sensitive to their environment, what type of job design should they be given? Why?

Back 87

A: people that are hypo-sensitive would be best suited to an enriched job because it provides them with a lot of stimulation and challenge.

Front 88

• How does technology affect job redesign efforts?

Back 88

A: The more the design of the job is influenced by technological factors or technology the less job design flexibility that exists Thus, job redesign is limited by the technological system in the organization.

Front 89

How do unions feel about any attempt from management to redesign jobs?

Back 89

A: Unions in the U.S. have generally resisted job design efforts. They see job design programs as schemes to get more work out of fewer employees

Front 90

• How do economic factors affect redesigning of jobs?

Back 90

A: Required or necessary resources may not be available to improve or redesign jobs (e.g. may not have the money to buy a new piece of equipment or hire a job design specialist

Front 91

ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN

• What is the relationship between specialization and coordination according to the specialization-coordination dilemma?

Back 91

A: The more you specialize the more difficult it is to coordinate the different work units

Front 92

• Where is it more difficult to coordinate within departments or between departments? Why?

Back 92

A: Coordination across boundaries is where problems occur due to different values, goals, training, etc…. In contrast, coordination within boundaries is easier to achieve due to similar values, goals, training, etc….

Front 93

• What is the primitive/agency organizational design? What are its advantages/disadvantages?

Back 93

A: has one boss and a few employees. All the employees report directly to the boss and he provides the necessary coordination thru personal supervision or informal means. This type of structure is quite flexible but breaks down under conditions of complexity because of the limited information-processing capacity of the boss

Front 94

• What is the functional organizational design? How are activities grouped?

Back 94

A: A functionally designed organization groups its activities into separate units or departments in which each undertakes a distinctive function, e.g. marketing, production, etc…So you have a specialization and a focused concentration of functional activities

Front 95

• What are the advantages of a functional design?

Back 95

A: Technical expertise and efficiency

Front 96

• What are the disadvantages of a functional design?

Back 96

A: Problems with Coordination

Front 97

• When does one use the functional design?

Back 97

A: 1. When you have a stable environment.
2. When you have one or a few product lines.
3. When efficiency and quality are your goals.
4. When the organization is small to medium in size.

Front 98

• What is the product design? How are activities grouped?

Back 98

A: each major product line is administered through a separate and semi-autonomous division

Front 99

• What are the advantages of a product design?

Back 99

A: Coordination is more quickly achieved

Front 100

• What are the disadvantages of a product design?

Back 100

A: less efficient, less technical expertise, less specialized

Front 101

When does one use the product design?

Back 101

A: 1) When you have a highly uncertain environment that requires rapid adaptation.
2) When the organization is large.
3) When the organization has multiple product lines.
4) When the goals of the organizations are external effectiveness and adaptation, multiple
products, and client satisfaction.

Front 102

• What is a profit center and what are its benefits?

Back 102

A: Product design allows you to set up profit centers since they have identifiable cash flows consisting of expenses and revenues. Profit centers allow you to pinpoint problems quicker because you get measures of performance in a shorter time. They also allow you to establish responsibility for task completion-responsibility is easily defined

Front 103

• What is a matrix design? How are activities grouped?

Back 103

A: A matrix design is basically a product design overlaid onto a functional design. The matrix design is structured to reap the benefits of both these designs while avoiding the disadvantages associated with each.
So, what you have in a matrix is employees belonging to two groups: a functional group and a product or project group. The functional group is permanent whereas the project group is temporary (once the project is completed the group is disbanded and the members return to their functional group for reassignment to another project group).

Front 104

• What are the advantages of a matrix design?

Back 104

A: Specialization (expertise) and Coordination (adjust to stimuli form external environment quickly)

Front 105

• What are the disadvantages of a matrix design?

Back 105

A: employee allegiance is hard to get so efficiency decreases and project managers have too much stress

Front 106

• When does one use the matrix design?

Back 106

A: same as product but in a more high tech industry

Front 107

• What is the job of a project manager in the matrix design?

Back 107

A: The project manager is responsible for the project-its completion on time, within budget, and according to specifications

Front 108

What is the job of a functional manager in the matrix design?

Back 108

A: The functional manager’s job is to keep the employees in his department technologically up to date with regard to the area of expertise or function.

Front 109

• Which type of manager has no formal authority in the matrix design?

Back 109

A: Project managers

Front 110

• In which organizational design type, is it most difficult to replace the CEO from within the organization? Why is this the case?

Back 110

-Functional design b/c the CEO is the only generally trained manager there; all
the VP’s are functional managers; easier to replace the CEO in a matrix or
product b/c both of those designs you have more generally trained managers

Front 111

• Which organizational design accommodates growth readily?

Back 111

A: Product

Front 112

• What is scalar chain or chain of command? What functions does it serve? What
structural mechanism does one use to bypass the strict chain of command in organization?

Back 112

A: The chain of command refers to vertical authority. The higher the manager’s level in the organization (such as top over middle or first-line), the higher the manager’s formal authority. 1) defines level of authority and 2) it routes directives and information up and down the organization-provides an information/decision network. Functional abides by strict rules, Matrix bypasses strict rule.

Front 113

• What is unity of command? Why does one try not to violate this principle of
organizing?

Back 113

A: subordinates should report to one and only one boss. You try not to violate this principle because it causes employees to experience role conflict and stress.

Front 114

• Where is unity of command violated? In what organizational design type is unity
of command violate to the greatest extent?

Back 114

A: the unity command is violated in all 3 organizational design types (functional, product, and matrix) but it is most violated in matrix

Front 115

• What is delegation of authority? Why do managers delegate authority?

Back 115

A: Authority is the right to exact action from others or to command. Delegation is the process in which authority passes from one level to another. Managers delegate because they can’t do it all themselves.

Front 116

What cannot be delegated when a manager delegates authority?

Back 116

A: responsibility cannot be delegated. A manager can delegate authority but they are still accountable.

Front 117

• Why do managers resist delegating authority?

Back 117

-They feel like they’re the only ones capable of performing a task the right way
-Feel like person…
-Feel like they lack trained subordinates
-They fear of losing control
-Feel if give person task to do, that person will become great performer & take
over their job

Front 118

• What do the terms “centralized” and “decentralized” mean as they pertain to
delegation of authority?

Back 118

A: Centralized is the extent to which authority isn’t delegated, but concentrated at higher levels of management. Decentralized is the extent to which authority is delegated.

Front 119

• What are the signs that one’s organization is becoming decentralized?

Back 119

A: 1. more decisions are made by lower levels of management.
2. more important decisions are made by lower levels of management.
3. more flexibility is allowed for lower level managers in interpreting policies.
4. more autonomy is allowed for lower level managers in decision making

Front 120

What are the benefits of decentralized organizations?

Back 120

-The skill level of a lower level manager increases
-The motivation of a lower level manager increases due to job enrichment &
enlargement
-Managers can deal w/ problems on the spot & adjust to the environment & their
customers quicker
-Spreads out the organizations workloads so top managers are free to strategically
Plan

121. When d

Front 121

• When does an organization need to decentralize?

Back 121

A: A: Decentralization becomes necessary as an organization grows in size because coordination problems force you to make others responsible/accountable for coordination. With decentralization, it allows one to be more responsive to the environment because it provides for quicker coordination

Front 122

• What does span of control mean?

Back 122

A: Span of control refers to the number of subordinates/people who report directly to a supervisor

Front 123

• What is the relationship between span of control and organizational height?

Back 123

A: The narrower the span of control, the taller the organization (e.g. more management levels) and the wider the span of control, the flatter the organization (e.g. fewer management levels).

Front 124

• What is the paradox of managerial control as it relates to span of control?

Back 124

A: The paradox of managerial control with narrow spans of control is that narrow spans of control allow managers tighter control over their subordinates but this loosens overall control from top to bottom in the organization because there are now more managerial levels. The result of narrow spans of control and hence, more levels of management, is a greater distortion of communication traveling up and down the scalar chain in the organization. These successive management levels act as filters in the communication process. Therefore, in an organization where there are narrow spans of control, top management has less control over lower levels of management.

Front 125

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of wide spans of control?

Back 125

-Same as corporate downsizing advantages & disadvantages
-All about becoming more efficient
-Disadvantage: you burn ppl out

Front 126

• What is the optimal span of control?

Back 126

A: There is no optimal span of control

Front 127

• What are the factors that narrow span of control? widen span of control?

Back 127

A: **Chart**

-The manager is inexperienced & has not managed before; should be given fewer
ppl…narrower
-You supervise employees that are well-trained & experience & really know their
jobs causes you to fewer more of them b/c they don’t really need you
-If subordinated inexperienced & not well-trained need a lot of help & you can
only manage a few of them
-Teachers have wider spans of control in college b/c hopefully better trained &
more experienced
-You operate in a stable environment…widens span of control…you don’t need
to make changes quickly; narrow if environment is dynamic & changing quickly
-You have a lot of paperwork to do & a lot of committees to sit in on…will
decrease…narrow your span of control b/c more time doing that then are managing; if given administrative assistant will widen span of control

DYNAMIC narrows span
NEW managers - give very few
MANAGE experienced - wide span b/c they don't need you
ALOT of paperwork and committees - narrow span
WITH secretary - wider span

supervise similar at similar activities -

which of the following will narrow span of control (question on test)?

Front 128

EXAM 2 OBJECTIVES FROM THE TEXTBOOK (MGMT)

Back 128

EXAM 2 OBJECTIVES FROM THE TEXTBOOK (MGMT)

Front 129

1. What is devil’s advocacy? (p. 93)

Back 129

• An approach that can be used to create c-type conflict (disagreement that focuses on problem- and issue-related differences of opinion) by assigning an individual or a subgroup the role of critic. The following 5 steps establish a devil’s advocacy program:

i. Generate a potential solution
ii. Assign a devil’s advocate to criticize and question the solution
iii. Present the critique of the potential solution to key decision makers
iv. Gather additional relevant information
v. Decide whether to use, change, or not use the originally proposed solution

Front 130

What is electronic brainstorming? (p. 94)

Back 130

• A decision-making method in which group members use computers to build on each others’ ideas and generate many alternative solutions

• Overcomes the disadvantages associated with face-to-face brainstorming

Front 131

1. What has research revealed concerning the effectiveness of electronic brainstorming as compared to face-to-face brainstorming? (p. 94)

Back 131

It overcomes the disadvantages associated with face-to-face brainstorming

Front 132

1. What problems does electronic brainstorming overcome? (p. 94)

Back 132

• Production blocking: occurs when you have an idea but have to wait to share it because someone else is already presenting an idea to the group
i. With electronic brainstorming, all group members are seated at computers, so everyone can type in ideas whenever they occur
• Evaluation apprehension: being afraid of what others will think of your ideas
i. With electronic brainstorming, all ideas are anonymous

Front 133

1. What are the disadvantages of electronic brainstorming? (p. 94)

Back 133

• The expense of computers, networks, software, and other equipment
• The anonymity of ideas may bother people who are used to having their ideas accepted by virtue of their position (i.e. the boss)
• Outgoing individuals who are more comfortable expressing themselves verbally may find it difficult to express themselves in writing
• Participants have to be able to type!

Front 134

1. What is the customer departmentalization? (p. 158)

Back 134

• Organizes work and workers into separate units responsible for particular kinds of customers

Front 135

1. What’s the primary advantage of customer departmentalization? (p. 158)

Back 135

• It focuses the organization on customer needs rather than on products or business functions. Furthermore, creating separate departments to serve specific kinds of customers allows companies to specialize and adapt their products and services to customer needs and problems.

Front 136

What’s the primary disadvantage of customer departmentalization? (p. 158)

Back 136

• It leads to duplication of resources. It can be difficult to achieve coordination across different customer departments. The emphasis on meeting customers’ needs may lead workers to make decisions that please customers but hurt the business.

Front 137

What is the geographic departmentalization? (p. 158)

Back 137

• Organizes workers into separate units responsible for doing business in particular geographic areas

Front 138

1. What’s the primary advantage of geographic departmentalization? (p. 159)

Back 138

• It helps companies respond to the demands of different markets

Front 139

1. What’s the primary disadvantage of geographic departmentalization? (p. 159)

Back 139

• It can lead to duplication of resources
• It can be difficult to coordinate departments that are literally thousands of miles from each other and whose managers have very limited contact with each other

Front 140

1. What is a mechanistic organization? When does it work best? (p. 167)

Back 140

• An organization characterized by specialized jobs and responsibilities; precisely defined, unchanging roles; and a rigid chain of command based on centralized authority and vertical communication
• It works best in stable, unchanging business environments

Front 141

1. What is an organic organization? When does it work best? (p. 167)

Back 141

• An organization characterized by broadly defined jobs and responsibility; loosely defined, frequently changing roles; and decentralized authority and horizontal communication based on task knowledge
• It works best in dynamic, changing business environments

Front 142

1. What is the key difference between mechanistic and organic organizations? (p. 167-168)

Back 142

• The key difference between these approaches is that whereas mechanistic organizational designs focus on organizational structure, organic organizational designs are concerned with organizational process, the collection of activities that transform inputs into outputs valued by customers

Front 143

REPEAT

Back 143

REPEAT

Front 144

Under what decision-making condition do decisions get made in the traditional economic model?

Back 144

-Certainty
-Completely rational
-Maximize

Front 145

What does the behavioral model assume about decision-makers?

Back 145

Decisions are made under “bounded rationality” rather than complete…satisficing (satifying) rather than maximizing
-How decisions are actually mad, pick first choice that is just good enough

Front 146

What does the traditional economic model assume about decision-makers? (2 assumptions)

Back 146

-Decisions are made under conditions of certainty
(a) Managers seek to maximize benefits {or minimize costs}
(b) Managers are completely rational
-You always select the best alternative
-A prescriptive model b/c it’s what you should do!

Front 147

What is bounded rationality? What 3 things bound one’s rationality?

Back 147

-You don’t know everything, try but its limited!
-Managers are unable to grasp the full complexity of managerial decisions b/c their rationality is bounded by limited mental capacity (7+/- 2), emotional state, & unforseeability of future events (probabilities are < 1, less than perfect)

Front 148

What is satisficing? How does it differ from maximizing? Is it irrational?

Back 148

-Managers select the 1st alternative that meets a minimally acceptable standard rather than going through & evaluating all the alternatives & selecting the best one; can lead to a maximizing situation, but must get lucky & you wouldn’t know if occurred
-Satisficing is a heuristic…pick the 1st shortcut…get a good decision w/o a lot of time & effort

Front 149

What is a heuristic? What are the advantages of & disadvantages of heuristics?

Back 149

-A labor saving device, a short cut, a rule of thumb
-Advantages: (a) time savings & (b) they may produce more good decisions than
bad decisions
-Disadvantages: We adopt heuristics often w/o being aware of them; they implicitly guide our judgment which can be a major drawback if we over rely on them b/c they can lead to errors, sometimes severe errors; Heuristics @ times can lead us to faulty conclusions.
-When heuristics lead to errors in judgment, they are called biases.

Front 150

What is the availability heuristic? What factors cause you to overestimate the frequency of an event? Underestimate the frequency of an event?

Back 150

-if something is easily remembered it has got to be frequent, if something is hard to remember its got to be infrequent
-Used when managers assess the frequency of an event by the degree to which those instances of that event are easily recalled in memory; something memorable has to be frequent, not memorable it’s infrequent
-If something is rare, but emotional you will remember it easier; rare, but recent more easily remembered…overestimate frequency of an event(anything causes an event to be remembered…easily imagined, vivid, emotional, specific)
- Underestimate frequency (can’t remember an event)..unemotional, bland, in the distant past, difficult to imagine, vague

Front 151

What is the representativeness heuristic? What’s the problem with this heuristic?

Back 151

-Reflects the tendency of managers to assess the likelihood of an occurrence by matching it w/ a preexisting category (i.e. stereotype); where managers use stereotypes (categories) in making judgments
-Causes us to miss opportunities; we use stereotypes & categories

Front 152

Under what decision-making conditions do decisions get made in the behavioral model?

Back 152

-Most like risk, but also uncertainty
-traditional-descriptive
-behavioral – undescriptive

Front 153

What does the irrational/implicit favorite model of decision-making say about decision-making?

Back 153

-The decision maker select a favorite early on in the evaluation of alternatives &
once this “implicit” favorite is chosen the rest of the alternatives are evaluated against it; the decision maker distorts the information about the implicit favorite & the other alternatives so that the positive features of the implicit favorite are highlighted
-This model assumes that the decision maker simply goes through the motions of generating & evaluating more alternatives as a way to justify their initial choice (favorite)
-decisions made under certainty

Front 154

What types of decisions are made irrationally?

Back 154

-Uncertainty, decisions with little information {1st job; 1st car; 1st spouse}
- Non-programmed decisions (irrational model)

Front 155

What is the basic purpose of a brainstorming session?**

Back 155

-Designed to generate ideas, not evaluate them; generate alternatives
-Involves a group of 7-9 ppl who are presented w/ a problem & are asked to
identify as many potential solutions as possible
-criticism is strictly prohibited, prevents creativity

Front 156

What are the 4 rules in brainstorming?**

Back 156

(a) Criticism is prohibited
(b) “Freewheeling” is welcomed-free association; the more off the wall idea, the
Better
(c) Quantity is wanted; don’t worry about quality
(d) Combination & improvement are sought

Front 157

Can inhibitions be totally eliminated in brainstorming sessions?

Back 157

-No (e.g. especially when ideas are 1st expressed)
-It is very difficult to totally eliminate the evaluation of ideas when they are
generated…non-verbal communication & power differences!

Front 158

What 2 creativity techniques does synectics use in helping the group to generate better ideas?**

Back 158

-Fantasy & analogy

Front 159

What is the superhero technique?

Back 159

-Used to stimulate creativity
-To help individuals overcome internal inhibitions resulting from traditional ways
of perceiving & thinking
-If you think you’re like a superhero, it makes you more creative & you fantasize

Front 160

. In synectics, what is the job of the facilitator? Technical support?

Back 160

Facilitator = (generate ideas) structure the problem & helps lead the discussion away from the traditional ways of thinking
-Technical support = aid the group in the evaluation of the feasibility of ideas

Front 161

What’s the problem with synectics?**

Back 161

-As soon as you generate ideas, you gotta evaluate them!
-Evaluation is not separated from idea generation

Front 162

What research is NGT based on? (Nominal Group Techniques)

Back 162

-Research that discovered more & better ideas are discovered by several persons working alone/separately than by the same persons working in an interacting group; thus, NGT is a group “in name only”

Front 163

How is NGT different from brainstorming & synectics

Back 163

(a) It does not rely on free association of ideas
(b) It purposely restricts verbal interaction

Front 164

What in NGT does one try to eliminate to improve the decision-making process?

Back 164

-The negative aspect of the group process

Front 165

What are the steps in NGT?**

Back 165

(1) 7-9 members of varying backgrounds & training are brought together as a
group & are familiarized w/ a problem
(2) Working silently & alone, each group member is asked to prepare a list of
ideas in response to the problem
(3) After a period of 10-15 minutes, members share their ideas one at a time, in a
round-robin manner. {no one dominates…improves quality & commitment}
(4) A period of structured interaction follows in which members openly discuss
& evaluate each recorded idea.
(5) Each group member votes privately by ranking the recorded ideas in order of
assessed importance. Following a brief discussion of the vote’s outcome, a
final secret ballot is conducted. The group’s preference is the alternative that
receives the highest votes. This concludes the meeting.
- 2 & 5 act as individuals rather than a group; vote privately rather than publicly

Front 166

What are the defining characteristics of the Delphi technique?**

Back 166

-Delphi got his name from technological forecasting!!
-A structured approach to creating problem solving using a group of experts.
-Allows for no face-to-face interaction b/t members
-Experts are not brought together to discuss their ideas/views
-Experts remain anonymous to one another (members never meet either)
-Questionnaires are used to obtain:
a) the alternatives generated by the experts
b) the evaluation of the alternatives by the experts
c) the final vote on the alternatives

Front 167

What is the reasoning behind the Delphi technique?

Back 167

-Tries to eliminate the group processes in creative problem solving as much as
possible

Front 168

What are some problems that can be encountered when using the Delphi
Technique?

Back 168

-The design of the questionnaire can limit the results obtained
-It can be extremely time-consuming even more so than the other techniques
-Member interest & motivation may decline if too much time passes b/t steps

Front 169

What is group decision making a function of?

Back 169

-GDM = Individual Efforts/Contributions + Assembly Effect - Process Losses

Front 170

What is an assembly effect? Process loss?

Back 170

-Assembly Effect - the positive consequences of bringing a group together such as
synergy, more information, diverse viewpoints, checking errors
-Process Losses - the negative consequences of bringing a group together such as
interpersonal conflict, domination by a few, more time & expense

Front 171

What is the optimal size for a decision making group?**

Back 171

-5 or 7 people make the best decisions; odd-numbered
-upper limit to group decision making is 12

Front 172

What are the advantages of group decision making?

Back 172

-More information available to help solve the problem; Evaluation is superior b/c
have wide range of viewpoints; Individuals who participate in decisions are more satisfied w/ the decision & are more likely to support it; Individuals get a better understanding of the decision that is made & it is easier for them to communicate the decision to their subordinates; Fulfills need for personal growth for some employees; Helps individuals learn new skills; Perceived as being more fair than decisions made by sole individuals; Participation in decision making reduces stress by lowering role ambiguity.

Front 173

What are the disadvantages of group decision making?

Back 173

-Considered process losses of the negatives that come from GDM.
-Takes longer than individual decision making so costlier; indecisiveness
-Domination by a few powerful members or by a leader can negate the many virtues of group processes; Leveling effect may occur; Free-riders are a problem in groups; With corporate power & personal pride @ stake, disagreements over important matters that occur in groups can often lead to bad feelings, ill-will, & destructive conflict b/c group members; Escalation of demands (ppl may want to participate in things that are inappropriate for them to participate in); Social motives may prevail over hard-headed task orientation.

Front 174

What is the leveling effect?**

Back 174

. -The compromise that takes place in GDM that can lower the quality of the
decision, but increase the acceptance of it.
- process loss and an assembly effect.

Front 175

When does a manager (under what conditions) use individual decision making rather than group decision making?

Back 175

-When time is limited/short
-When decision maker has all relevant knowledge & expertise to solve problem
-When subordinate acceptance of the decision is not an issue
-When subordinates that would make up the group do not get along well
-When subordinates do not share the organization’s goals

Front 176

Rank the following in terms of decision making accuracy: group, average
individual in the group, & best member in the group?**

Back 176

-Group’s decisions will tend to be more accurate; Better than the average individual in the group; Seldom better than the performance of the best individual.
-group has better implementing, many hands make for light work
-in the short-run individual is better, in the long-run group is more efficient.

Front 177

Which is more efficient: group of individual decision making? (consider both short term & long term efficiency)**

Back 177

-long term = GDP better
-short term = individual better

Front 178

Where do you have greater creativity: 5 individuals generating ideas alone or those same 5 individuals generating ideas as a group?**

Back 178

-5 individuals generating ideas/working alone has the most creativity!

Front 179

What function of management is concerned with job design & organization design?

Back 179

Organizing function

Front 180

What are the 3 aspects of job design?

Back 180

-Specify major duties & responsibilities
-Specify work methods & procedures
-Specify how this job works w/ other jobs; how does it coordinate w/ other jobs on the same level, below, & above

Front 181

What is skill variety?

Back 181

The extent to which a job gives you a wide variety of tasks to do, thereby requiring a wide variety of skills (perform many tasks, SV high)-

Front 182

What is task identity?

Back 182

-The extent to which you do a whole piece of work from beginning to end & you can identify your efforts; take pride in your work

Front 183

What is task significance?

Back 183

The extent to which your job & its performance exerts a big impact on the lives of people

Front 184

What is autonomy?

Back 184

-Self ruled; self governed
-The extent to which a job makes you make important decisions about a job
-The more autonomy given, more becoming your own boss/self-managed
-Top managers have greatest; 1st-line have least; 1st-line have more than laborers
-Increases in strength as you go up mgt period

Front 185

What is feedback?

Back 185

-Knowledge about how well you are doing on your job
-Can come from everywhere; 360 feedback {supervisors, co-workers, subordinates, you…feedback from the task itself or you is most valid}

Front 186

What is job breadth & job depth?

Back 186

-Job Breadth = how many different tasks you perform (narrow to wide…1 task
over & over, narrow JB; many different tasks, wide JB)
-Job Depth = (shallow to deep) how much discretion you have over your jobs
-Enlarged jobs [wide & shallow]
-Specialized jobs [narrow & shallow]
-Enriched [wide & deep]
-Craft [widest & deepest]

Front 187

What task characteristic(s) is job breadth similar to?

Back 187

Skill Variety

Front 188

What task characteristic is job depth similar to?

Back 188

-Autonomy

Front 189

What job design is least prevalent today? Most prevalent today?

Back 189

-Craft = least prevalent
-Specialized = most prevalent

Front 190

What is a specialized job & how does it load on the five task characteristics?

Back 190

A result of a division of labor; took a crafts job & broke down into smaller & smaller elements where 1 person would do 1 task over & over again w/ little discretion (narrow breadth & shallow depth) low on SV, TI, TS, autonomy, high on performance feedback b/c the job is so simple you can tell right then & there whether you are doing it correctly

Front 191

67. What are the advantages of specialized jobs?

Back 191

-Primary = efficiency! [productivity went way up…quantity of production; skill level of workers are low, so costs are low; find replacement quite easily b/c job simple to learn]

Front 192

What are the disadvantages of specialized jobs?

Back 192

-Boring & monotonous so ppl can become careless, depersonalized
-Motivation & satisfaction can go low, performance (quality will go down, quantity remains high b/c human has no control over); absentee & turnover high
-They don’t always have to occur if right fit b/t a person & their job.
-Ability * motivation * role clarity =performance

Front 193

What is the purpose of job enlargement?

Back 193

-To make a specialized job into more of a job; to provide more challenge, arousal
so performance will improve
-Wide breadth but shallow depth

Front 194

What 2 task characteristics does job enlargement increase?

Back 194

-If given more things to do – skill variety & task identity

Front 195

The motivational benefits of job enlargement are short-lived or long-lived?

Back 195

-Short lived b/c once you learn other tasks, they become boring
-Increased breadth, but not depth

Front 196

What is job rotation?

Back 196

-A special case of job enlargement; when given more things to do, we’re rotated
through a bunch of jobs increasing SV & TI by getting rid of
monotony…eventually these jobs will become boring as well so when you rotate through the most boring ppl start getting sick & absentee increases
-Benefits of job rotation are short-lived; increasing breadth but not depth

Front 197

. What is job enrichment? How is it different from job enlargement?

Back 197

-We are given interesting, meaningful, challenging work over which you have
control; increasing breadth as well as depth
-The depth/autonomy separates enrichment from enlargement!
-Job enrichment is a movement back to a crafts job (more work & more control
over that work)
-If I enrich job, I enlarge it.
-If I enlarge, don’t enrich.
* enrichment always leads to enlargement NOT vice versa!

Front 198

What are the advantages of job enrichment?

Back 198

-We take the disadvantages of specialization & flip them
-Motivation & satisfaction is high, absentee & turnover is low, quality
performance is high, quantity will be relatively low

Front 199

What are the different aspects of the job characteristics model?

Back 199

-The work itself can be motivational!...the work can make you feel a certain way
& those feelings cause you to become an outstanding performer

Front 200

What are the 3 moderators that influence the effectiveness of job enrichment?
How do they influence it? (ALL OF THE ABOVE)

Back 200

-Little box @ bottom of job characteristic model!!
(a) Knowledge & skill of the employee
(b) Growth need strength of employee..motivational thing, does the employee
have a need to grow through the job?
(c) Context satisfaction…if a person is dissatisfied (supervision, co-workers) that
will reduce the effectiveness of job enrichment

Front 201

What are the 5 steps in redesigning a job so it will be enriched? What happens
at each step & what task characteristics are increased?

Back 201

(1) Form natural work units…put together w/ a group of ppl & make them
responsible for the work; we are “herd” animals
(2) Combine tasks…give # specialized jobs to put together
(3) Establish client relationships
(4) Vertical loading…given autonomy to do your job; adding depth to the job; most important step! b/c w/o we’ll have job enlargement
(5) Open feedback channels…360 feedback

Front 202

What step in the redesign process is job enlargement?

Back 202

-Combine Tasks

Front 203

What step in the redesign process is most important?

Back 203

-Vertical loading

Front 204

How does strategy influence job design

Back 204

-Defender strategy...lower costs & be maximally efficient should employ
specialized job
-Prospector…development new & different products, be creative, innovative =
enriched or craft job design; have to give ppl freedom

Front 205

What employee factors should be taken in consideration when designing jobs?

Back 205

-Ability & motivation

Front 206

What type of motivation is best suited to specialized jobs? Enriched jobs?

Back 206

-Specialized job = someone w/ a high school degree; instrumental motivation
-Enriched job = someone w/ a college degree; higher skill level can beat the
higher demand for an enriched job; expressive motivation

Front 207

What is instrumental motivations? Expressive motivation?

Back 207

-Instrumental = you see the job as a means to an end; the reason why you work is
for a paycheck, b/c you have to work
-Expressive = you see the job as an end itself; you work b/c you like to work; you
express yourself through your work ; you grow & develop through your work
{artists}

Front 208

When someone is hyper-sensitive to their environment, what type of job design should they be given? Why?

Back 208

-Specialized job b/c they are very sensitive to their environment & a little
stimulation will create a moderate level of arousal
-Introverts b/c they withdraw from stimulation b/c it’s too much for them
-Put someone hypo-sensitive on a specialized job will have too little arousal &
full boredom!

Front 209

When someone is hypo-sensitive to their environment, what type of job design should they be given? Why?

Back 209

they be given? Why?
-Enriched or craft job b/c they’re relatively insensitive to their environment so
they need a lot of stimulation/more challenge to create a moderate level of arousal
-Extraverts
-Someone hyper-sensitive on an enriched job experience too much arousal = full
freakage!

Front 210

How does technology affect job redesign efforts?

Back 210

-Easiest to redesign @ Sally’s Crafts Shop b/c could turn into an assembly line &
put the artists out of work
-GM Shreveport assembly line
-Exxon plastics is the most difficult to redesign
-The more the technology determines how it’s gonna be done, when it’s gonna be
done, the harder it is to re-design a job

Front 211

How do unions feel about any attempt from management to redesign jobs?

Back 211

-They resist it; they don’t like it no matter what the re-design is b/c they don’t
trust management

Front 212

How do economic factors affect redesigning jobs?

Back 212

-If you don’t have the $, you can’t redesign the job; its expensive; if you change one, have to change them all

Front 213

ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN

91. What is the relationship between specialization & coordination according to the specialization-coordination dilemma?

Back 213

-The more you divide up the labor & create specialists the more difficult
coordination becomes
-Coordination is easier to achieve w/ the craftsman as opposed to w/ the assembly
line

Front 214

Where is it more difficult to coordinate within departments or between departments? Why?

Back 214

-Between departments b/c b/t the departments have different goals, backgrounds,
training, so they see the world as different so sometimes pulling in opposite
directions; production wants stability while R & D want change
-As divide up labor, creating more & more coordination tasks
** Want to be specialized so you can be more efficient & develop technical
expertise! Want coordination b/c that gives you the ability to work well together
& to change quickly & respond to the environment; the more you focus on
efficiency & technical expertise the harder it is to change quickly; the more you
focus on changing quickly, efficiency & technical expertise goes down!
** More coordination, less specialization & vice versa

Front 215

What is the primitive/agency organization design? What are its advantages/disadvantages?

Back 215

-P/A = where you have a manger & a # of employees report directly to that boss
& they do w/e the boss tells them to do; they’re agents/extensions of the boss;
really flexible & simple; as you add more employees, products, the bosses job \
will become impossible @ some point b/c he won’t be able to keep it all straight
b/c of his/her mental capacity; during the 1st part of the Industrial Revolution
when the factories were small size it was the predominant form of organizational
design; most small businesses are primitive/agency design
** 7 +/- 2…anywhere from 5-9!

Front 216

. What is the functional organizational design? What are its advantages/disadvantages?

Back 216

-We ask ourselves how do we group jobs into departments; jobs are grouped
according to function {everyone doing MKT tasks are grouped MKT,
production/production}
-We have divided up the labor {MKT only does MKT}; they become experts in
their one area; they are good @ specialization
-Disadvantages:

Front 217

What are the advantages of a functional design?

Back 217

-Specialization which gives you technical expertise & efficiency
-KISS (keep it simple stupid) so we can make the CEO’s job & coordination
Easier

Front 218

What are the disadvantages of a functional design?

Back 218

-Coordination…so will change slowly b/c so focused on departments they forget
about the organization, the customer & customer satisfaction goes down

Front 219

When does one use the functional design?

Back 219

-Use in smaller organizations b/c they have fewer departments which leads to
fewer coordination problems
-1 or a few product line [ideally 1 so coordination problems will be minimized]; ---Better for a stable environment
-Defender strategy b/c they tend to be efficient

Front 220

What is the product design? How are activities grouped?

Back 220

-We group jobs according to products (we take specialists from MKT,
production…& bring them together for the sole purpose of producing 1 product
-We can have many products
-Just the opposite of functional design!!

Front 221

What are the advantages of a product design?

Back 221

-They all know they are there to produce 1 product giving them a common goal
making coordination easier to achieve/better; many ppl doing coordination instead
of just the CEOs so it will be quicker & faster
-COORDINATION! Which allows for you to change quicker & respond to
environment & make customer happier

Front 222

What are the disadvantages of a product design?

Back 222

-SPECIALIZATION…less efficiency & technical expertise b/c can’t afford to
duplicate an entire department so are only given 1 or 2 ppl per department; so
specialists are now generalists & they’re expertise goes down [a jack of all trades & a master of none]
-Costly to have many departments

Front 223

When does one use the product design?

Back 223

-Larger organizations {GM}
-Many product lines {multiple divisions}
-Better for a dynamic environment…rapidly changing & we’re good @
Coordination
-Prospector strategy…develop new & different products (create a new division
when you create a new product)
** B/t the different products, NO day-2-day coordination is required **

Front 224

What is a profit center & what are its benefits?

Back 224

-Each product in the product design is a profit center; each has expenses &
revenues so you can see which ones are profitable
-It gives you feedback on the product’s performance & also establishes
accountability for the success of the product w/ the VP (when you hold ppl
accountable they work harder to make sure the product is successful)

Front 225

What is matrix design? How are activities grouped?

Back 225

-A combination of functional & product design
-Activities are grouped by function & product
-Each employee belongs to a functional home as well as 1 or more project homes

Front 226

What are the advantages of a matrix design?

Back 226

-High technical expertise & efficiency
-Get specialization & coordination @ the same time!

Front 227

What are the disadvantages of a matrix design?

Back 227

-Human meat grinder
-Creates a lot of stress for the employees b/c they have 2 or more bosses; a
functional as well as 1 or more project bosses…violates the principle of unity of
command

Front 228

When does one use the matrix design?

Back 228

-Big in size, many products, dynamic environments, prospector strategy (same as
product)
-Found in high-tech environments & product is found in low-tech environments

Front 229

What is the job of a project manager in the matrix design?

Back 229

-The project home makes sure you’re coordinated
-Responsible for coordination

Front 230

What is the job of a functional manager in the matrix design?

Back 230

-Functional home is what their expertise is in {Mechanical Engineering} & it
makes sure the person is kept technically up-to-date (specialized)
-Responsible for specialization & making sure products have well-qualified ppl
-Decides what personnel goes w/ different products; who goes where!

Front 231

Which type of manager has no formal authority in the matrix design?

Back 231

-Project manager b/c they’re responsible for completing the project but have no
formal authority to get it done; have to rely on their powers of persuasion; that job
violates the ? of authority; very difficult jobs

Front 232

Which organization design accommodates growth readily?

Back 232

-Product & matrix

Front 233

What is the scalar chain or chain of command? What functions does it serve?

Back 233

-When 1 person reports to another in an organization (1st-line report to middle,
middle report to top, laborers to 1st-line…)
-It’s the formal communication network & it also defines your level of authority
in your organization (the higher you go on the chain of command, the more
authority you have…top have most authority & 1st-line have least)
-If we follow a strict chain of command the communication process can be very
slow so many times we bypass it, cut out the middle man & go directly to the
person we need to talk to [quicker, more accurate]
-We’re most likely to violate/bypass the strict chain of command at the matrix design b/c we need to make decisions quicker
-Most likely to follow the strict chain of command at functional design b/c it’s slower, more stable, so we can follow it & take more time

Front 234

What is unity of command? Why does one try not to violate this principle of organizing?

Back 234

-The fact that every employee should report to 1 boss
-If you violate this principle it can be very confusing to the employee thereby
lowering their productivity & performance

Front 235

Where is unity of command violated? In what organization design type is unity of command violate to the greatest extent?

Back 235

-Everywhere; violated in every organization b/c managers & their managers will
give you directions; in every organization you will have 2 or more bosses
-The matrix violates it to the greatest extent

Front 236

What is delegation of authority? Why do managers delegate authority?

Back 236

-Where power is passed from 1 level of management to the next; the power to
make decisions
-B/c managers can’t do it all themselves & nothing would get done if they did it
all themselves
-Industrial Revolution owner had all authority in beginning then hired
professional managers & delegated authority to them (power over the production
process)

Front 237

What cannot be delegated when a manager delegates authority?

Back 237

-Accountability, responsibility

Front 238

What do the terms “centralized” & “decentralized” mean as they pertain to
delegation of authority?

Back 238

-Centralized = the extent to which authority is not delegated; it’s kept @ the top
of the organization
-Decentralized = the extent to which authority is delegated; you’re giving more
power to lower level managers; never have a totally decentralized organization
where a 1st-line manager does everything
-In terms of coordination decisions functional is more centralized w/ CEO doing
all of it; the matrix is most decentralized b/c the project manager does the
coordination & they are on the 3rd level
-1st & functional most centralized
-3rd & matrix most decentralized
-Product is somewhere in b/t…the VP does on the 2nd level!; product is more
decentralized than functional & more centralized than matrix! It’s all relative &
there are not absolutes!

Front 239

What are the signs that one’s organization is becoming decentralized?

Back 239

-Lower level managers make more decisions, make more important decisions,
they’re given more flexibility & autonomy in making decisions
-Lower level manager’s breadth is wide & their depth is getting deeper
-When we decentralize we enrich the lower level managers job; give them more
to do...

Front 240

What are the benefits of decentralized organizations?
oes an organization need to decentralize?

Back 240

-As you grow larger in size & the organization becomes more dynamic

Front 241

What does span of control mean?

Back 241

-How many employees report directly to a manager
-How many ppl do you supervise as a manager; can go from narrow to wide
(supervise many ppl)

Front 242

What is the relationship between span of control & organizational height?

Back 242

-You narrow spans of control & organizational height increases
-You manager fewer ppl have more mgt levels
-Widen spans of control, decreases organizational height/mgt levels
-When you downsize, it widens spans of control; asks managers remain to
supervise more; When you upsize ask manager to manage fewer ppl

Front 243

What is the paradox of managerial control as it relates to span of control?

Back 243

-Narrow spans of control give an individual manager a lot of control over their
ppl; they can watch them more closely but it creates more mgt levels so it makes
it harder for top level to watch 1st-line; creates less control from top to bottom b/c
more mgt levels

Front 244

What is the optimal span of control?

Back 244

-We use to believe 5 + or – 2…from 3-7 but there’s not one
-The # of ppl you manage should depend on your individual situation