Intro. to Organizational Management: CH9 Questions

Managers usually opt for downsizing only

Managers usually opt for downsizing only

in response to some kind of pressure.

A business leader seeks input from all levels of the company in a(n) ______ organization.

high-involvement

Concurrent engineering, logistics, and just-in-time (JIT) are elements of

time-based competition.

Large-batch technologies are characterized by

higher spans of control.

Advanced Communications, a leading mobile communication service provider, has a deal with On-the-Go, a chain of several thousand convenience stores nationwide. Users of Advanced Communications simply have to punch in their phone number at an On-the-Go gas pump to get 20 percent off on up to 20 gallons of gas for the next 90 days. This scenario describes a

strategic alliance.

Among the components of the strategic triangle are

the company, the customers, and the competitors.

A design approach in which all relevant functions cooperate jointly and continually in a maximum effort aimed at producing high-quality products that meet customers' needs is known as

concurrent engineering.

Josephine is a highly successful manager, with a strong ability to adjust, and sometimes even proactively shape, situations as they arise. Josephine is demonstrating

dynamic capabilities.

A business structure in which employees depend more on one another and relate more informally and personally is a(n) ______ organization.

organic

An organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights is a(n) ______ organization.

learning

An organization can increase its competitive advantage by building on its ______, or the knowledge, expertise, or skill that underlies its ability to be a leader in providing a range of goods or services.

core capabilities

When a product or process is defect-free 99.99966 percent of the time, it is said to have met ______ standards.

six sigma

Materials and processes employed in one product can be used to make other, related products in

economies of scope.

Research and development, inbound logistics, and operations are just three of the six steps in the

value chain.

The type of organization most similar to a bureaucratic structure is a(n) ______ one.

mechanistic

The term "diseconomies of scale" refers to the

varied costs associated with an organization being too big.

Rightsizing refers to

arriving at the size at which a company performs most effectively.

Belinda's job at the corporate offices of Mobility Car Rental requires her to analyze large amounts of data in order to identify patterns regarding what people are looking for in a car rental experience. This is an example of

customer relationship management.

Armand is a manager for Interscope Machinery, which produces parts for a variety of industrial machines. One day, Melinda, who works on the production line, asks if she can speak with him in confidence. Armand agrees, and she tells him that problems with one of the line managers are preventing her team from meeting its monthly production goals. Armand listens and takes appropriate action. Which of Deming's "14 points" is this most clearly an example of?

Drive out fear so that people believe it is safe to report problems or ask for help.

The advantages of a small organization include

greater employee involvement.

An effective option for employers considering downsizing is

replacing full-time employees with less expensive part-time or temporary workers.

An important component of time-based competition is

concurrent engineering.

A _____ gives value to customers, makes the company's products different from—and better than—those of competitors, and helps in creating new products.

core capability

Decision making in a small batch organization is best described as

decentralized.

A system that calls for subassemblies and components to be manufactured in very small lots and delivered to the next stage in the production process as they are needed is known as a ______ operation.

just-in-time (JIT)

The top management team at Universal Manufacturing Co., Inc., has decided that it needs to close one of its divisions and eliminate a level of middle management in the surviving divisions. This is an example of

downsizing.

A form of organization that is similar to Max Weber's description of a bureaucracy is a(n) ______ organization.

mechanistic

As operations manager for Osan Electronics, Jun is seeking to enhance the company's core capabilities in order to make it more competitive in an ever-changing market. To that end, the company should concentrate on

revamping their system for developing new electronics.

Top management at Bachman Audio, a stereo equipment manufacturer, has been working with a consultant to implement ISO 9001. Together, they have been developing methods to meld manufacturing and other processes into efficient and effective systems. Thus, they have been addressing the principle of ISO 9001 known as the

system approach to management.

Leo's company produces a high volume of bicycle helmets, yet they come in a high variety of distinctive styles. The company is engaging in

mass customization.

Strategies aimed at reducing the total duration it takes to deliver a product or service are known as

time-based competition.

In flexible factories, scheduling decisions are made by

the people on the shop floor doing the work.

One World Dynamic Industries pursues activities such as solving problems, experimenting with new approaches, learning from their own experiences, learning from other organizations, and spreading knowledge quickly and efficiently. It would therefore be described as a ______ organization.

learning

The factor that differentiates flexible factories from traditional factories is that flexible factories

organize work flow around products.

Rightsizing refers to

achieving the size at which the company performs most effectively.

Assuming the situation is unlikely to change in the near future, a company is most likely to downsize when

demand for their product falls.

The formal structure of an organization is primarily put in place to

control people, decisions, and actions.

A company that is exceptional at providing quality goods and services to targeted market niches is likely to be

small.

Scenario A. Leng, the chairman at Hanover Chemical Engineering, is meeting with Connie, the human resources manager. The company is going through difficult times, Leng explains, and they will need to lay off some employees. Leng must estimate the appropriate size at which the company can perform, and he tasks Connie to enable efficient downsizing.

Leng's task of successfully determining an appropriate size at which the company can perform most effectively is known as ___________.

rightsizing.