Organizational Differentiation and Integration Quiz

Questions and Answers

Why do organizations commonly adopt a divisional structure?

To solve control problems arising from many products, regions, or customers

What does a matrix structure primarily emphasize?

Cross-functional teams and product focus

What is a disadvantage of a matrix structure?

Lack of a control structure leading to conflict over resource use

What does a divisional structure depend on?

Control problem to be solved Signup and view all the answers

What is the main advantage of a multidivisional structure?

Clear division of labor between corporate and divisional managers Signup and view all the answers

What is vertical differentiation in organizational design?

The way an organization designs its hierarchy of authority and creates reporting relationships Signup and view all the answers

What is horizontal differentiation in organizational design?

The way an organization groups tasks into roles and roles into subunits Signup and view all the answers

What does vertical differentiation establish in an organization?

The distribution of authority between levels Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of horizontal differentiation?

Grouping organizational tasks into roles and subunits Signup and view all the answers

How are roles differentiated in horizontal differentiation?

According to their main task responsibilities Signup and view all the answers

What are the disadvantages of vertical differentiation in organizations?

High coordination costs and limited flexibility Signup and view all the answers

What is the challenge that managers face in balancing differentiation and integration?

Guiding the development of core competences and choosing appropriate integrating mechanisms Signup and view all the answers

What does centralization in organizations bring?

Clear and unified decision-making but limits autonomy and flexibility Signup and view all the answers

What does balancing standardization and mutual adjustment involve?

Using rules and norms for standardizing behavior while allowing for mutual adjustment to discover new and better ways to achieve goals Signup and view all the answers

What happens in the transition from functional structure to divisional structure?

Modifications to the organizational design, moving from a purely functional approach to a divisional one Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Balancing Organizational Differentiation and Integration

Differentiation in organizations can be vertical or horizontal, with advantages including control, supervision, feedback, and career management, but also disadvantages such as less autonomy, distorted communication, slow decision-making, and high bureaucratic costs.
Vertical differentiation offers economies of scale and specialization but comes with high coordination costs, while horizontal differentiation leads to divergent sub-unit orientation and low flexibility.
Managers face the challenge of balancing differentiation and integration by guiding the development of core competences and choosing appropriate integrating mechanisms for subunits to cooperate effectively.
Centralization brings clear and unified decision-making but limits autonomy and flexibility, while decentralization enables lower managers to make important decisions and allows top managers to focus on long-term strategy.
Balancing standardization and mutual adjustment involves finding a way to use rules and norms for standardizing behavior while allowing for mutual adjustment to discover new and better ways to achieve goals.
Functional structure groups people based on common skills, expertise, or resources, serving as the foundation of horizontal differentiation and allowing for increased effectiveness in achieving organizational goals.
Advantages of functional structure include learning from one another, specialized productivity, and the development of norms and values, but it also brings communication, measurement, location, customer, and strategic problems.
Integration can involve modifying functional structure by adding full-time integrators with or without authority, with support conditions including characteristics of the integrator and the units to be integrated.
Pathological situations in integration arise when high differentiation and interdependency require complex coordination mechanisms, leading to the need for support conditions for implementation.
Characteristics of the integrator and the units to be integrated, such as physical and cognitive proximity, play a crucial role in successful integration.
The transition from functional structure to divisional structure involves modifications to the organizational design, moving from a purely functional approach to a divisional one.
The text is part of a course on Organization and Information Systems, taught by Professors Diego Campagnolo and Massimiliano Oleotto in the academic year 2023-2024.