QUAL 556 Human Aspects Continuous Improvement - Eastern Michigan University. CHAPTER 07—Designing Or

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CHAPTER 07—Designing Organizations for Performance Excellence TRUE/FALSE 1. The most common type of organizational structure is the functional structure.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Organizational Structure KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 2. Functional structures allow people to specialize in the aspect of the work for which they are best suited.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: The Functional Structure KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 3. A drawback of functional structures is that they make it difficult to evaluate people based on a narrow set of responsibilities.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: The Functional Structure KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 4. A distinct characteristic of the functional structure is that all employees in the organization communicate directly with customers.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: The Functional Structure KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 5. The primary focus of functional structures is to provide high-quality service to customers.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: The Functional Structure KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 6. In a functional structure, none of the organizational units have control over whole processes.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: The Functional Structure KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 7. Functional structures prevent complex and wasteful processes and promote process improvement.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: The Functional Structure KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

8. Design and production/delivery are examples of value-creation processes.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 9. Support processes are most important to “running the business” and maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 10. Production processes must be designed in a way that ensures products conform to specifications.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 11. Recognizing the existence of internal customers is one way that organizations can promote quality and teamwork.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 12. In coordination mapping, each coordinating conversation between the agents moves through eight phases.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 13. Project teams are fundamental to Six Sigma.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 14. A drawback of flatter organizations is the widening of the communication gap between top managers and frontline employees.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic

TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 15. An advantage of “flatter” organizations is that it creates additional supervisory and coordinating tasks for managers.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 16. Steering committees are a striking contrast of quality councils.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 17. Performance refers to the extent to which an individual contributes to achieving the goals and objectives of an organization.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 18. At the individual level of an organization, work systems must focus exclusively on cooperation and cross-functional communication.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 19. Interdependence and integration characterize Boeing Airlift and Tanker’s organizational structure and its approaches to performance improvement.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Organizational Design for Quality in Action

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

20. The organic structure is characterized by a large number of rules.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

21. The structural contingency model holds that there is no “one best way” to organize.

ANS: T

DIF: Difficulty: Easy

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic

STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

22. According to the structural contingency model, mechanistic structures are better able to process the information necessary to deal with a complex environment.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

23. The organic organization compromises reliability for flexibility.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

24. According to the contingency model, organizations facing uncertainty should adopt a mechanistic structure.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

25. The structural contingency theory is based on the assumption that organizations choose structures to help them perform better — provide high quality, low costs, and so forth.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

26. The structural contingency theory states that organizations strive to succeed by creating structures that will be seen as appropriate by important external constituencies.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

27. According to the institutional theory, an aspect of organizational structure need not contribute to organizational performance in order to be worthwhile.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

28. A fashion is defined as the pursuit of novelty for its own sake.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

29. A fashion is a permanent phase in an organization.

ANS: F DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

30. Fashion in a company cannot achieve its purpose unless it is entrenched in the organization.

ANS: T DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. Which of the following is most likely to be a characteristic of a traditional organization? a. It has very few written rules. b. It has a flat structure. c. It adapts to changes with ease. d. It is highly structured.

ANS: D DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Organizational Structure KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 2. Which of the following is true about the functional structure? a. It allows employees to have direct contact with customers. b. It facilitates communication that takes place horizontally across functions. c. It provides organizations with a clear chain of command. d. It focuses primarily on helping employees meet customer expectations.

ANS: C DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: The Functional Structure KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 3. An organization is divided into functions such as operations and maintenance, each of which is headed by a manager. In small organizations, which of the following is most likely to be the title of such managers? a. Director b. Analyst c. Executive d. Coordinator ANS: A DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: The Functional Structure KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 4. A drawback of the functional structure is that it: a. focuses excessively on providing high-quality service to customers. b. is designed primarily for the administrative convenience of the organization. c. does not allow people to specialize in the aspect of work for which they are best suited. d. makes it extremely difficult to evaluate people based on the existing set of responsibilities.

ANS: B DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: The Functional Structure KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 5. _____ states that if a problem has been bothering a company and its customers for years and won’t yield, that problem is the result of a cross-functional dispute, where nobody has total control of the whole process. a. Palermo’s law b. Moore’s law c. Deming’s 14 points d. Newberg’s law ANS: A DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: The Functional Structure KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 6. “People who work in different functions hate each other.” This is the corollary to _____. a. Moore’s law b. Newberg’s philosophy c. Palermo’s law d. Deming’s 14 points ANS: C DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: The Functional Structure KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 7. Value-creation processes are also called _____ processes of a business. a. subsidiary b. core c. support d. key-result ANS: B DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 8. In the value-creation process, _____ processes involve all activities that are performed to incorporate customer requirements, new technology, and past learning into the functional specifications of a manufactured good or service. a. design b. facilities management c. public relations d. sales and marketing ANS: A DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 9. With respect to value-creation processes, _____ processes create or deliver the actual product. a. marketing b. public relations

c. production d. sales ANS: C DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 10. Which of the following is an advantage that a team-based organization has over a functional organization? a. It does away with cross-functional teams. b. It identifies processes that compromise on quality. c. It is designed primarily for the administrative convenience of the organization. d. It replaces horizontal coordination with vertical reporting relationships.

ANS: B DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 11. In the value-creation process, manufacturing, assembly, dispensing medications, and teaching a class are examples of which of the following processes? a. Facilities management b. Sales c. Advertising d. Production ANS: D DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 12. Which of the following is a difference between core and support processes? a. Support processes are those that are more important to “running the business” than core processes. b. Support processes are those that are critical to customer satisfaction while core processes are not. c. Core processes are driven by external customer needs while support processes are not. d. The ultimate value of products depends on support processes and not on core processes.

ANS: C DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 13. In an organization, _____ processes are driven by internal customer needs. a. value-creation b. support c. primary d. principal ANS: B DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic

TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 14. Which of the following is true of a process focus? a. It is identical to a functional structure. b. It can help define the organization design. c. It encourages primarily internal functional cooperation. d. It helps managers recognize that problems arise from people.

ANS: B DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 15. In an organization, each major process consists of many subprocesses that are managed by _____. a. functional managers b. directors c. chief operating officers d. chief executive officers ANS: A DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 16. In a restaurant, which of the following is most likely to be an internal customer of the kitchen staff? a. The kitchen staff of rival restaurants b. Customers who visit the restaurant to try out the food c. Food critics who write reviews about the restaurant d. The servers at the restaurant ANS: D DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 17. An effective way to understand internal customer-supplier relationships is through _____. a. cartograms b. critical path diagrams c. process mapping d. Pareto diagrams ANS: C DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 18. _____ is a new approach to process mapping and is based on the premise that each process activity includes two players, a customer and a provider. a. Thematic mapping b. Coordination mapping c. Competency mapping d. Perpetual mapping

ANS: B DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 19. Which of the following is true of coordination mapping? a. The approach starts with the preparation of a request. b. The approach replaces providers with customers. c. The approach consists of eight different phases. d. Each process activity consists of five different players.

ANS: A DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 20. In coordination mapping,: a. there are four different customers and providers. b. only a selected few conversations between agents go through all its phases. c. the preparation stage involves reporting that work is complete. d. the last phase involves declaring satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

ANS: D DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 21. Which of the following is a result of the creation of process teams and the focus on internal customers? a. A substantial increase in the number of hierarchical layers in the organization b. Creation of non–value-added activities c. Empowerment of frontline workers to improve processes d. More supervision and coordination for managers to do ANS: C DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 22. An advantage of flatter organizations is that they: a. tencourage non–value-added activities. b. promote the micromanagement of frontline workers. c. create more supervisory tasks and responsibilities for managers. d. improve communication between top managers and frontline employees.

ANS: D DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 23. One type of structural change associated with total quality (TQ) is the creation of a high-level planning group. Such groups used to be known as _____. a. project teams

b. steering committees c. coalitions d. benchmarking teams ANS: B DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 24. Traditionally, steering committees were known as _____. a. strategic planning groups b. benchmarking teams c. quality councils d. performance management teams ANS: C DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 25. Today, steering committees are most commonly known as _____ in organizations. a. leadership teams b. performance management councils c. power teams d. benchmarking councils ANS: A DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 26. One of the four elements of leadership teams involves developing long-term goals and near-term priorities. Which of the following elements of leadership teams does this represent? a. Planning b. Implementation c. Review d. Monitoring ANS: A DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 27. Which of the following does planning, one of the four elements of leadership teams, involve? a. Tracking progress through internal measures of quality b. Celebrating and offering recognition to employees for achievements c. Creating key business process teams d. Understanding basic customer needs ANS: D DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension

28. One of the four elements of leadership teams involves forming key business process teams. Which of the following elements of leadership teams does this refer to? a. Analysis b. Implementation c. Review d. Planning ANS: B DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 29. Which of the following does implementation, one of the four elements of leadership teams, involve? a. Setting long-term objectives b. Understanding employees’ perceptions about quality standards c. Formulating milestones for the company to achieve d. Providing resources for improvement ANS: D DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 30. The _____ element of leadership teams refers to tracking improvement through customer satisfaction and internal measures of quality. a. forecasting b. implementation c. review d. planning ANS: C DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 31. Review is one of the four elements of leadership teams and involves: a. formulating human resource goals. b. monitoring progress in attaining objectives. c. ensuring that all employees have the skills to participate. d. aligning reward systems to support the quality approach.

ANS: B DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 32. Organizations can be viewed at three levels. At the individual job level, work systems should: a. facilitate the micromanagement of employees. b. promote primarily cooperation and cross-functional teamwork. c. offer flexibility in managing work processes. d. replace individual initiative with group collaboration.

ANS: C DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 33. Job _____ is the process in which workers’ jobs are expanded to include several tasks rather than one single, low-level task. a. sampling b. analysis c. sharing d. enlargement ANS: D DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 34. Job _____ is a technique by which individual workers learn several tasks by moving from one task to another. a. sharing b. rotation c. analysis d. evaluation ANS: B DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 35. The purpose of job _____ is to renew interest or motivation of the individual and to increase his or her complement of skills. a. evaluation b. enlargement c. rotation d. sampling ANS: C DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 36. Job _____ entails “vertical job loading” in which workers are given more authority, responsibility, and autonomy rather than simply more or different work to do. a. rotation b. enlargement c. enrichment d. sampling ANS: C DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

37. According to the structural contingency view, the two principal types of organization structures are _____. a. single and clustered b. mechanistic and organic c. simple and complex d. hierarchical and flat ANS: B DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

38. Which of the following is a characteristic of a mechanistic organization? a. Strict division of labor b. Decentralization c. Few rules d. Informal coordination across departments ANS: A DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

39. Which of the following is a characteristic of an organic organization? a. Centralized b. Strict division of labor c. Informal coordination across departments d. A large number of rules and regulations ANS: C DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

40. According to the contingency model: a. organizations facing uncertainty should adopt a mechanistic structure. b. organic organizations are better able to deal with a complex environment. c. organizations that experience little uncertainty have volatile environments. d. mechanistic organizations are better able to change rapidly and adapt themselves.

ANS: B DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

ESSAY 1. Describe the functional structure of organizations.

ANS: In the functional structure, the organization is divided into functions such as operations and maintenance, each of which is headed by a manager. In such organizations, communication occurs vertically up or down the chain of command, rather than horizontally across functions.

Functional structures provide organizations with a clear chain of command and allow people to specialize in the aspect of the work for which they are best suited. They also make it easy to evaluate people based on a narrow but clear set of responsibilities. For these reasons, functional structures are common in both manufacturing and service organizations at plant and business unit levels.

DIF: Difficulty: Easy STA: DISC: Operations Management KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic TOP: A-Head: The Functional Structure

2. List some of the challenges of a functional structure.

ANS: There are several challenges that the functional structure faces. These are as follows: 1) The functional structure separates employees from customers: The structure tends to insulate employees from learning about customer expectations and their degree of satisfaction with the service or product the firm is providing.

2) The functional structure inhibits process improvement: This is because the breakup of the organization into functions is usually unrelated to the processes used to deliver a product to the customer. This structure is likely to create complex, wasteful processes, as people do things in one area that must be redone or undone in another.

3) Functional organizations often have a separate function for quality, called quality control or quality assurance: This may send a message to the rest of the organization that there is a group dedicated to quality, so it’s not their responsibility. Furthermore, it breaks the feedback loop that informs employees that their work needs to be improved.

DIF: Difficulty: Moderate STA: DISC: Operations Management KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension

NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic TOP: A-Head: The Functional Structure

3. How does a process focus help managers in defining the organization design? Explain.

ANS: A process focus can help define the organization design. For example, processes often create a natural hierarchy. At the top level, an organization must identify the major value-creation and support processes that require attention by senior managers. Each major process consists of many subprocesses that are managed by functional managers or cross-functional teams. Finally, each subprocess consists of many specific work steps performed by individuals at the performer level. A process perspective helps managers recognize that problems arise from processes, not people. By aligning the structure of an organization with the actual work processes that the organization performs, customers may be served more effectively.

DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 4. Discuss the concept of an internal customer.

ANS:

An internal customer is another person or group within the organization who depends on others in the organization to get their own work done. One way that organizations can promote quality and teamwork is to recognize the existence of internal customers. By linking customers and suppliers together at the individual level, the nature of cross-functional processes becomes clearer. Eventually, everyone can better understand their role in satisfying not only their internal customers, but also the external customers. Promoting the idea of internal customers does not change the organization’s structure as much as it changes the way that people think about the structure. Rather than focusing on satisfying their immediate supervisor (vertical), people begin to think about satisfying the next person in the process (horizontal), who is one step closer to the ultimate customer.

DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 5. What are process maps? What is the new approach to process mapping?

ANS: Process maps are generally standard flowcharts that describe a process as a sequence of steps. A new approach to process mapping is “coordination mapping” developed by Fernando Flores. This approach is based on the premise that each process activity includes two players, a customer and a provider.

DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 6. Describe the process of “coordinating mapping.”

ANS: Coordination mapping is based on the premise that each process activity includes two players, a customer and a provider. Each coordinating conversation between these agents moves through four phases: (1) preparation and the making of a request or offer; (2) negotiation and agreement (or failure to reach agreement); (3) performance and a report that the work is complete; and (4) assessment of the work and a declaration of satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 7. Explain how coordinating mapping can help discover possible breakdowns in a process.

ANS: The cyclic process of coordinating mapping is represented graphically by a loop. The mapping process involves identifying each conversation, its customer and provider, the customer’s conditions of satisfaction, and how each of the moves is taken, as well as interdependencies among conversations.

Working through and analyzing the interactions one by one often reveals hidden or implicit assumptions and discoveries of breakdowns in the process. Such maps can provide the basis for reengineering or other types of process improvement efforts.

DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 8. What are the benefits of a flat organization?

ANS: A type of structural change that can result from a focus on internal customers and the creation of process teams is a reduction in the number of hierarchical layers in the organization. With the elimination of non–value-added activities and the empowerment of frontline workers to improve processes, there is less supervision and coordination for managers to do. An additional benefit of such “flatter” organizations is improved communication between top managers and frontline employees, as well as between customers and the decision makers.

DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 9. Explain the concept of high-performance work.

ANS: High-performance work is characterized by flexibility, innovation, knowledge and skill sharing, alignment with organizational directions, customer focus, and rapid response to changing business needs and marketplace requirements. Teams often provide the infrastructure for high performance work systems. A culture for high-performance work leads to successful results. Employees in such cultures, however, need to understand the importance of customer satisfaction, to be given the training and responsibilities to achieve it, and to feel that they do indeed make a difference.

DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 10. Discuss the common approaches to job redesign.

ANS: Some common approaches to work design are: 1) Job enlargement, in which workers’ jobs are expanded to include several tasks rather than one single, low-level task.

2) Job rotation is a technique by which individual workers learn several tasks by rotating from one to another.

3) Job enrichment entails “vertical job loading” in which workers are given more authority, responsibility, and autonomy rather than simply more or different work to do.

DIF: Difficulty: Easy NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Redesigning Organizations for Performance Excellence

KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge 11. What is the difference between an institutional and a structural contingency theory?

ANS: Structural contingency theory, like most organizational design theories, is based on the assumption that organizations choose structures to help them perform better— provide high quality, low costs, and so forth. Institutional theory, by contrast, holds that organizations try to succeed by creating structures that will be seen as appropriate by important external constituencies—customers, other organizations in the industry, government agencies, and so on.

DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension 12. What does the institutional theory state?

ANS: According to the institutional theory, an aspect of organizational structure need not contribute to organizational performance to be worthwhile. If the adoption of a certain structure helps the organization to be seen as legitimate in the eyes of those who have power to determine the organization’s fate, then it is worthwhile. From an institutional theory standpoint, it is important to ask whether quality-oriented organization designs that include steering committees and extensive use of teams are actually intended to promote quality or are merely a means of legitimizing the organization as a progressive, quality-conscious organization.

DIF: Difficulty: Moderate NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Operations Management TOP: A-Head: Comparison to Organizational Design Theory KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension