Self-Assesment 9 - Prof. Robby Roberts PDF

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Prof. Robby Roberts...

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MGMT Self-Assessment Chapter 9 Designing Adaptive Organizations Flexibility and Structure Every organization needs some degree of flexibility and standardization. In other words, companies need to have enough flexibility in their organizations to respond to changes in their business environment, but firms also must have certain structures in place to ensure smooth operations. For example, if someone gets hurt on company property, clear procedures about what to do in the case of an accident help managers respond quickly and confidently. But being overly committed to following rules can hamstring an organization and keep it from growing. As a manager, you will probably encounter both types of situations, and to respond appropriately you will need to have an idea of how comfortable you are in a formal environment versus a more loosely structured workplace. Every organization needs some degree of flexibility to adapt to new situations and some degree of standardization to make routine tasks and decisions as efficient and effective as possible. In this assessment, indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements. Use this scale for your responses: 1. Strongly disagree 2. Disagree 3. Slightly disagree 4. Neutral 5. Slightly agree 6. Agree 7. Strongly agree 1. If a written rule does not cover some situation, we make up informal rules for doing things as we go along. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2. I feel that I am my own boss in most matters. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 3. There are many things in my business that are not covered by some formal procedure. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 4. A person can make his or her own decisions without checking with somebody else. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 5. Usually, my contact with my company and its representatives involves doing things “by the rule book.” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

6. How things are done here is left up to the person doing the work. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7. Contacts with my company and its representatives are on a formal, preplanned basis. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. People here are allowed to do almost anything as they please. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9. I ignore the rules and reach informal agreements to handle some situations. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10. Most people here make their own rules on the job. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11. When rules and procedures exist in my company, they are usually written agreements. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12. The employees are constantly being checked on for rule violations. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 13. People here feel as though they are constantly being watched, to see that they obey all the rules. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Scoring Determine your score by entering your response to each survey item below, as follows. In blanks that say regular score, simply enter your response for that item. If your response was a 6, place a 6 in the regular score blank. In blanks that say reverse score, subtract your response from 8 and enter the result. So if your response was a 6, place a 2 (8 – 6 = 2) in the reverse score blank. 1. reverse score _______4_______ 2. reverse score _______5_______ 3. reverse score _______3_______ 4. reverse score _______5_______ 5. regular score _______6_______ 6. reverse score _______2_______ 7. regular score _______5_______ 8. reverse score _______6_______ 9. reverse score _______5_______ 10. reverse score ______5________ 11. regular score ______6________ 12. regular score ______5________ 13. regular score ______3________

TOTAL = _______60_______ Source: G. Bruner, K. James, P. Hensel, Marketing Scales Handbook (Chicago: American Marketing Association, 2001), vol. 3 931–934. Interpreting the Score Here is what your score means.

For this exercise, lower scores indicate a rather informal organization where rules and regulations are rare or rarely enforced, and higher scores indicate that set rules and procedures are frequently used and applied in your organization. One research study found that the degree of formality in an organization correlated with the ethical behavior of its employees. In other words, employees reported more ethical behavior in formal organizations than in organizations with a high degree of behavior informality. Use this continuum to plot your score: 0 13 Extremely Casual

26

39

52

65

78 Extremely Formal...