When designing the structure of an organization, creating roles and units yields the benefits of specialization but creates problems of _____?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: When designing the structure of an organization, creating roles and units yields the benefits of specialization but creates problems of _____?

Options:
A. Where to locate the different units
B. How to motivate the employees in each unit
C. Pay scales for the various roles
D. Coordination and control

Analysis of each option:
A. Where to locate the different units: This is a practical logistical consideration in organizational design, focusing on physical or geographic placement. While important, it is not the core problem introduced by specialization; it relates more to layout and geography than to the fundamental management challenge created by arranging specialized roles and units.

B. How to motivate the employees in each unit: Motivation is influenced by leadership, culture, and individual incentives, but it is not the primary structural problem caused by division into specialized units. Motivation issues can arise in any structure, but they are not the central design trade-off of creating specialized roles.

C. Pay scales for the various roles: Compensation design is an HR and rewards issue that follows from job design, market rates, and internal equity. Although pay structures interact with organizational design, pay scales themselves are not the principal problem created by specialization and departmentalization.

D. Coordination and control: The hallmark challenge associated with creating specialized roles and units is ensuring that all parts of the organization work together toward common goals. Specialization can lead to silos, miscommunication, conflicting objectives, and difficulty in monitoring performance across units, which directly implicates coordination and control mechanisms. This aligns with classic organizational design theory about the trade-off between specialization (which improves efficiency within units) and the need for integration (to coordinate efforts across units).

Summary: Among the given options, coordination and control best captures the primary problem introduced by structuring an organization into specialized roles and units. The other options describe important considerations in organizational design, but they do not represent the central coordination-related drawback that specialization often creates.

Dashboard Quiz 1 Structural Frame Quiz

When designing the structure of an organization, creating roles and units yields the benefits of specialization but creates problems of _____?

View Explanation

Log in for full answers

Similar Questions

Which of the following is a characteristic of mechanistic organizations?

Harald is opening a manufacturing plant with a mechanistic and centralized structure. Employees from which of the following countries will be least comfortable with this type of a structure?

All of the following are characteristics of the organic model except ________.

If you have a narrow span of control, you have a(n) ________ organization.

When top managers design an organization's structure and establish a chain of command, they are essentially creating self-managed work teams.

Question at position 8 W.L. GORE & Associates follow No traditional organizational charts and no chains of command.TrueFalse

Which of the following statements about international division structure is NOT true?

The worldwide product divisional structure

More Practical Tools for Students Powered by AI Study Helper

Homework AI Solver

Stylized AI Paper Writer

Plagiarism Checker Assistant

Citation AI Academic Writing Tool

In-Class Translation Assistant

AI Note Generator

AI Quiz Answers

Past Exam Questions from University Test Bank

Smart Practice Assistant

Adaptive Practice

Making Your Study Simpler