Ch 9 Organizational Agility

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56 cards   |   Total Attempts: 182
  

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Front Back
What are vital to a firm's survival? (p 308)
Responsiveness, quickness, agility, the ability to adapt to changing demands.
Definition: a form of organization that seeks to maximize internal efficiency.

organic structure | strategic alliance | mechanical organization| high-involvement organization | learning organization
Mechanical organization
Definition: an organizational form that emphasizes flexibility.

organic structure | strategic alliance | mechanical organization| high-involvement organization | learning organization
Organic structure
What are some parts of the organic structure?
-jobholders have broader responsibilities changing as needs arise (i.e. construction business)
-comm through advice and information instead of orders and instructions.
-decision making and influence are decentralized and informal.
-expertise is highly valued (i.e. cooking).
-jobholders rely heavily on judgement of others.
-obedience to authority is less important than committing to a organization's goals
-employees depend on one another and relate information informally and personally.
The perspective on strategies and organization hinges on the concept of ________________.
Core competencies
A well-developed, well-understood core competence can enhance a company's _________________ and ________________.
Responsiveness and competitiveness
Managers desiring to strengthen their firms' competitiveness via core competence should focus on:
Identifying existing core competencies; acquire/build on core competencies for the future; remain invested in competencies for the company to be far superior than the competitor; extend competencies into newer applications and opportunities of the future.
Definition: a formal relationship created among independent organizations with the purpose of joint pursuit of mutual goals.

organic structure | strategic alliance | mechanical organization| high-involvement organization | learning organization
Strategic alliance
Definition: an organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights.
Learning organization
Definition: top management ensures that there is a consensus about the direction in which the business is heading.
High-involvement organization
The best alliances reflecting a true partnership meet the following criteria:
Individual excellence, importance, interdependence, investment, information, integration, institutionalization, integrity.
Fundamental principles to the high-involvement organizations are
Continual feedback to participants regarding how they compare with competition and how effective they are at meeting the strategic goals.
_________ is one of the most important characteristics of an organization and one of the most important factors influencing its ability to respond effectively to its environment.
Size
Large companies tend to be bureaucratic resulting in ____________________.
Rules, procedures, and paperwork.
Size creates scale economies and economies of scope. Define scale economies.
Scale economies: lower costs per unit of production.

economies of scope: economies where markets and processes employed in one product can be used to make other related products.