UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE
FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT
MGT3360 MIDTERM EXAM OVERVIEW
1.
2.
20 Multiple Choice Questions................................ 20 x 1........................ 20
3 Essay Questions from choice of 5..................... 3 x 15........................ 45
65
Space available for each essay will be one side of one page. Think through your answers
ahead of time and be concise. Group discussion of questions is encouraged, but the formulation
of answers must be an individual effort. The objective of this method of testing is to encourage
you to give more sustained thought to the application of a conceptual framework than might
normally be the case in a standard time-limited exam. Be sure that your answers strive to apply
and illustrate the theories we have discussed.
Numbers in parentheses following each question give a breakdown of marks where applicable.
This is not an “open book” exam. No papers will be permitted into the exam. Time available
for the exam: 75 minutes.
The five essay questions you will see on your exam (from which you must choose three) will
be taken from the following eight:
Essay Questions
1.
The President of your firm has just read an article in Business Week magazine about how
all the best companies are adopting modular / virtual network structures and is considering
reorganizing the company in that form. The firm is quite large with substantial investments in
production and distribution facilities. In the 20 years since it came into being, the company has
always had a functional structure and has been very successful with its three standardized
products and its reputation for the on-time delivery and high quality that are critical in your
industry. During the last few years, however, the business has been losing ground to competitors
offering a broader product line and has been showing poor earnings. The President wonders if
the firm hasn’t maybe lost touch with its customers. (1) Is going to a modular / virtual network
structure a good idea? Do its strengths and weaknesses suit your situation? (2) Is there something
about the company’s current functional structure that might explain recent losses? (3) If the
functional structure isn’t working, can you argue that the strengths and weaknesses of another
structure are a better fit for your firm?
(5+5+5)
2.
Examine the Organizational Design Outcomes of Strategy in Exhibit 2.5. (1) Describe
how a restaurant might operate using the organization design elements for the Prospector
strategy. (2) Describe how a restaurant might operate using the organization design elements for
the Defender strategy. (3) Describe how a restaurant might operate using the organization design
elements for the Analyzer strategy. NOTE: Do not simply re-use the terms in Ex. 2.5… illustrate
them! Also: Use the names of local restaurants as examples where you can.
(5+5+5)
3.
The larger culture of universities is built primarily on individual achievement and
assessment and yet the reality of the emerging organizational workplace is that collaboration and
team outcomes are increasingly the norm. (1) Work through the characteristics on each side of
Ex. 5-3 one at a time and provide an example to illustrate for each characteristic whether you
believe the relationship between the university and its students is primarily adversarial or
primarily a partnership. (2) What is your overall conclusion?
(7+7+1)
4.
Your firm has been very successful domestically with its product, Iron Laces – a virtually
indestructible shoelace that lasts for longer than most shoes. Now you are ready to take on the
world and have already lined up some great advertising where you show some children (always
rough on laces) breaking your competitors’ laces but not yours. (1) Because your product is
pretty basic, you figure that you’ll organize using a globalization strategy. Draw a chart of what
such an organization might look like. (2) Given that you might want to expand into other
personal care products, do you have any reason to believe that the globalization strategy might
not be your best approach? Why? (3) Is there an alternative strategy that you would suggest to go
international? Draw a chart of what this organization might look like. NOTE: It is important that
you have read the text carefully and make the effort to apply what you learn from the text to this
particular product and its industry segment.
(5+5+5)
5.
For each of the five organizational phenomena below, tell me which of the perspectives
from the Interorganizational Relationships Framework (Ex. 5.2 as amended in class) you feel
would be most suited to understand it and use it to briefly explain what is going on. (Each is
from a different quadrant. There is 1 mark for right quadrant / theory, 1 mark for specific aspect
of theory illustrated, 1 mark to tie in question situation.)
(3 x 5)
1. Man, this Blood Diamond movie is really kicking our butts. All of us diamond
producers need to get together and demonstrate to the public that the industry is making
sure that no diamonds enter the market from corrupt countries.
2. I’m worried that with the price of oil being so volatile, we won’t be able to afford to
run our power plant in the future. Let’s take steps to guarantee our sources of supply.
3. I sure don’t understand why our not-for-profit has to be so formally structured for such
a small operation but the funding agency seems to prefer it that way.
4. Here we go again. Take on extra workers at Christmas and lay them off again after the
peak. I wonder if I talked to Joe, my supplier and Estelle, my distributor, whether we
couldn’t work out a better way. I think we all trust each other.
5. Back in the 1970’s when the market for car repair changed dramatically, gasoline
stations tried out a lot of new ideas for what else to do besides pump gas. Of all the
alternatives, it seems like the convenience store has caught on the best.
6.
Choose any two real organizations (not used in the text) that you believe typify the
mechanistic and organic structural types. Use actual aspects of these two organizations to
illustrate the 5 differences between the two types. NOTE: your chances of getting full marks on
this question increase with real details from organizations that you have been a part of yourself.
(5 x 3)
7.
Your text argues that the amounts of environmental complexity and instability faced by
an organization have a large impact on its structure. Categorize, with supporting argument, the
environmental uncertainty faced by each of the following organizations. (1 mark for right
quadrant; 2 marks for why simple/complex, i.e. detail on critical segments; 2 marks for why
stable/unstable, i.e. detail on change in critical segments).
(5 x 3)
(1) Telus
(2) Small, family-run hardware store
(3) Much Music
8.
You own and operate a local clothing store. Consider what you want to be known for in
this community (Think Porter) and come up with a short mission statement.
(3)
Given your mission statement, tell me how you plan to evaluate the effectiveness of your
organization by developing 6 measures of effectiveness as follows:
(1) Two measurements based on the Resource-based approach
(4)
(2) Two measurements based on the Internal process approach
(4)
(3) Two measurements based on the Goal approach
(4)
NOTE: Your measurements should relate specifically to the clothing industry and be clearly
linked to the achievement of your organizational mission. (1 mark for right approach, 1 mark
for applied link to mission.)