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chap 8
Adapting organizations to todays markets
29
Business
Undergraduate 1
02/18/2007

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Term
Economies of Scale
Definition
Companies can reduce their production costs if they can purchase raw material in bulk; the average cost of goods goes down as production levels increase.
Term
Hierarchy
Definition
A system in which one person is at the top of the organization and there is ranked or sequential ordering from the top of managers and others who are responsible to that person.
Term
Chain of Command
Definition
The line of authority that moves from the top of the hierarchy to the lowest level.
Term
Bureaucracy
Definition
An organization with many layers of managers who set rules and regulations and oversee all decisions.
Term
Centralized Authority
Definition
When decision making authority is maintained at the top level of management at the company's headquarters.
Term
Decentralized authority
Definition
When decision making authority is delegated to lower level managers and employees who are more familiar with local conditions than headquarter's management could be.
Term
Span of control
Definition
The optimum number of subordinates a manager supervises or should supervise.
Term
Tall organization structure
Definition
A structure in which the pyramidal organization chart would be quite tall because of te various levels of management.
Term
Flat organization structure
Definition
A structure that has few layers of management and a broad span of control (Many people reporting to each manager).
Term
Departmentalization
Definition
The dividing of organizational functions (design, marketing, etc.) into separate units.
Term
Line organizations
Definition
An organization that has direct 2-way lines of responsibility, authority, and communication running from the top to the bottom of the organization, with all people reporting to only one supervisor.
Term
Line personell
Definition
Part of the chain of command that is responsible for achieving organizational goals.
Term
Staff Personnel
Definition
Personnel that advise and assist line personnel in meeting their goals (e.g., marketing research, legal advising, information technology, and human research management.)
Term
Matrix organization
Definition
An organization where specialists from different parts of the organization are brought together to work on specific projects, but still remain part of a line and staff structure.
Term
Cross functional self managed teams
Definition
Groups of employees from different departments who work together on a long term basis (as opposed to the temporary teams established in matrix style organizations.)
Term
Cross functional self managed teams
Definition
Groups of employees from different departments who work together on a long term basis (as opposed to the temporary teams established in matrix style organizations.)
Term
Networking
Definition
Using communications technology and other means oto link organizations and allow them to work together on common objectives.
Term
Real Time
Definition
The present moment or the actual time in which something takes place.
Term
Transparency
Definition
When a company is so open to other companies working with it that the once solid barriers between them become seethrough and electronic information is shared as if the companies were one.
Term
Virtual Corporation
Definition
A temorary networked organization, made up of replaceable firms that join and leave as needed.
Term
Benchmarking
Definition
Comparing an organizations practices, processes, and products against the worlds best.
Term
Outsourcing
Definition
Assigning various functions, such as accounting, production, security, mmaintenance, and legal work, to outside organizations.
Term
Core competencies
Definition
Functions that the organization can do as well as or better than any other organization in the world.
Term
Restructuring
Definition
Redesigning an organization so that it can more effectively and efficiently serve it's customers.
Term
Inverted Organization
Definition
An organization that has contact people at the top and the chief executive officer at the bottom.
Term
Reengineering
Definition
The fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of organizational processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical measures of performance.
Term
Organizational (or corporate) culture
Definition
Defined as widely shared values within an organization that provide unity and cooperation to achieve common goals.
Term
Formal organization
Definition
An organization that details lines of responsibility, authority, and position.
Term
Informal Organization
Definition
An organization of relationships that deelop spontaneously as employees meet and form power centers.
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