2.4 IB Business, wk2

When a company performs delayering it reduces its __?

• Motivation

• Chain of Command

• Centralization

• Flexitime workers

Answer explanation

The chain of command is the route through which authority is passed down an organisation. The chain of command can be reduced by delayering. 

Which of the following is not a feature of the organisational chart?

• Chain of command

• Bureaucracy

• Span of Control

• Levels of Hierarchy

Answer explanation

Bureaucracy cannot be seen in the organisational chart because it is a system with standardised procedure and rules. Although you can guess if a company is bureaucratic by looking at the organisational chart, it cannot provide that information with certainty. 

Different approaches to structuring an organisation can include divisions according to:

• Process, hierarchy, and/or orientation

• Name, age, and/or nationality

• Function, product, and/or region

• Gender, product, and/or years employed

Answer explanation

Typical approaches to creating divisions or departments in organisations include product divisions (soft drinks, juices, mineral water for a beverage company), regional divisions (Europe, South America, North Africa), and functional divisions (finance and accounting, marketing, HR, etc). The other choices may in some cases factor into structural divisions, but none as much as product, function or region. 

Which leadership style is the least convenient for a company with a very large workforce that needs quick decision-making? 

• Autocratic

• Democratic

• Laissez-Fair

• Paternalistic

Answer explanation

Democratic leadership involves employees in the decision-making process. If the company has many employees, democratic leadership would mean that each decision will take a long time.

Which of the following are the key functions of management? 

• Planning, ordering, mentoring, connecting, disrupting

• Commanding, controlling, supporting, surveilling, delegating

• Commandeering, organising, communicating, educating, measuring

• Planning, commanding, controlling, coordinating, organising

Answer explanation

Business management gurus have identified five functions of management within a business: planning, commanding, controlling, coordinating and organising. Disrupting, surveilling and commandeering are not typical management functions.

Which of the following is a hygiene factor according to Herzberg’s theory?

• Personal Growth

• Job Security

• Recognition

• Achievement

Answer explanation

Hygiene factors refer to Maslow’s primary needs: physiological needs and safety needs. According to Herzberg, the absence or inadequacy of these factors causes dissatisfaction, but their presence has little effect on long-term satisfaction. 

If a worker is named ‘employee of the month’, what level of needs from Maslow’s hierarchy is being met?

• Physiological

• Esteem

• Safety

• Self-actualization

Answer explanation

Esteem needs refer to desires for recognition and self-respect. Schemes like ‘employee of the month’ may or may not come with a financial reward, but for many people the recognition is more important than any financial gain. 

Which of the following is a warning sign of poor motivation in the workplace?

• Low labour turnover

• High quality output

• High absenteeism

• Low wastage

Answer explanation

A high rate of absenteeism (the percentage of the workforce that misses work without a valid reason) could be the reason for poor motivation. Workers may not go to work because they are not motivated to do so.

Which of the following theorists had a motivation theory based on hygiene and motivational needs? 

• Frederick Herzberg

• Abraham Maslow

• David McClelland

• Frederick Taylor

Answer explanation

Herzberg’s two-factor theory looked at the factors that motivate workers: hygiene factors, which must be met to prevent dissatisfaction and motivators such as recognition, which meet motivational needs. 

TRUE OR FALSE

In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, security needs describes the combined survival needs of people, such as food, water and shelter.

• True

• False