Class 9 - BU398

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from Chapter 8 on organization size, life-cycle stages, bureaucracy, control strategies, and decline.

Small Organization ("Bruce Banner")

A lean, quick-thinking firm with regional focus, flat structure, simple design, niche finding, and entrepreneur-driven culture.

Responsiveness & Flexibility

The capacity of a small or nimble company to pivot rapidly when conditions change.

Large Organization ("Hulk")

A big, powerful firm that benefits from economies of scale, global reach, vertical hierarchy, and mechanistic routines.

Economies of Scale

Cost advantages that arise when a large organization produces more units, lowering cost per unit.

Vertical Hierarchy

A multilayered chain of command characteristic of large organizations with clear authority levels.

Mechanistic Structure

An organizational design based on formal rules, routines, and specialization to ensure consistency.

Hybrid Organization (Big/Small Hybrid)

A design that blends the resources of a large firm with the simplicity and agility of a small one.

Organizational Life Cycle

The sequence of developmental stages an organization passes through from start-up to maturity.

Entrepreneurial Stage

The non-bureaucratic start-up phase marked by informal structure/one-person show, single product focus, and survival goals with innovation by owner/manager

Collectivity Stage

The pre-bureaucratic growth phase with major product and service with variations, informal teamwork, focusing on growth, with innovation by employees and managers

Formalization Stage

bureaucratic maturity phase with line of products and services, formal procedures, with focus on internal stability/market expansion, and innovation by a separate group

Elaboration Stage

very bureaucratic phase featuring teamwork within bureaucracy, multiple product lines, with goal of reputation/become a complete organization, and innovation by institutionalized r&d

Bureaucracy

A system of rules, standard procedures, and hierarchy designed to ensure predictable, controlled operations.

Bureaucratic Control

Formal control through rules, standards, hierarchy, and legitimate authority.

Market Control

Control based on prices, competition, and performance comparisons among units or firms.

Clan Control

Informal control that relies on shared values, culture, trust, and tradition.

Rules and Standard Procedures

Documented guidelines that enable tasks to be performed in a routine, predictable manner.

Employee Longevity

Career length and growth opportunities offered by large organizations with established promotion paths.

Organizational Decline

A substantial, sustained decrease in an organization’s resource base over time.

Organizational Atrophy

Internal inefficiencies and inertia that erode performance and contribute to decline.

Vulnerability (Decline Context)

A state in which an organization lacks the capacity to respond to competitive or environmental threats.

Environmental Decline

External deterioration—such as market contraction or increased competition—that reduces available resources.

Model of Decline Stages

A five-stage framework showing how unmanaged decline can progress to organizational dissolution.