CS Organizational Design & Strategy Execution 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to Galbraith's Star Model of organizational design, which five elements must be aligned for effective strategy execution?
- Strategy, Structure, Processes, Rewards, People (Correct answer)
- Vision, Mission, Goals, Culture, Leadership
- Planning, Organizing, Leading, Controlling, Evaluating
- Resources, Capabilities, Competencies, Assets, Culture
Correct answer: Strategy, Structure, Processes, Rewards, People
Galbraith's Star Model holds that Strategy, Structure, Processes, Rewards, and People must all be mutually aligned for an organization to execute effectively.
Question 2: When a company transitions from a geographic structure to a global matrix structure, the primary trade-off is:
- Gaining cost efficiency at the expense of local responsiveness
- Gaining dual accountability at the expense of role clarity (Correct answer)
- Gaining innovation speed at the expense of risk management
- Gaining customer focus at the expense of financial control
Correct answer: Gaining dual accountability at the expense of role clarity
Matrix structures create dual reporting lines (e.g., product and geography) which improve cross-functional integration but introduce ambiguity about authority and accountability.
Question 3: A 'centers of excellence' (CoE) model is typically used in organizational design to:
- Centralize specialized expertise that can be shared across business units (Correct answer)
- Create independent profit centers for each product line
- Decentralize decision-making to regional managers
- Standardize HR processes across all geographies
Correct answer: Centralize specialized expertise that can be shared across business units
A Center of Excellence pools specialized knowledge and best practices in one unit that provides services or expertise to the rest of the organization, avoiding duplication.
Question 4: The 'strategy-structure' hypothesis, originally proposed by Alfred Chandler, states that:
- Structure determines what strategies are feasible for a firm
- A firm should design its structure to follow and support its strategy (Correct answer)
- Strategy and structure are independent variables in organizational design
- Large firms should use functional structures regardless of their strategy
Correct answer: A firm should design its structure to follow and support its strategy
Chandler's landmark study of U.S. corporations concluded that organizational structure should follow strategy — companies that diversified without restructuring experienced inefficiency.
Question 5: Which change management model involves unfreezing existing behaviors, implementing change, and refreezing new behaviors?
- Kotter's 8-Step Model
- Lewin's Three-Stage Model (Correct answer)
- ADKAR Model
- Prosci Change Triangle
Correct answer: Lewin's Three-Stage Model
Kurt Lewin's Three-Stage Model describes change as a sequence of Unfreeze (creating readiness), Change (implementing new processes), and Refreeze (embedding new behaviors).
Question 6: In a decentralized organizational structure, the primary benefit for strategy execution is:
- Stronger brand consistency across business units
- Faster local decision-making and increased responsiveness (Correct answer)
- Lower overall administrative costs
- Easier performance monitoring by corporate headquarters
Correct answer: Faster local decision-making and increased responsiveness
Decentralization pushes decision authority closer to the customer or market, enabling faster responses to local conditions and reducing bottlenecks at corporate levels.
Question 7: A strategist conducting an organizational capability assessment is primarily trying to determine:
- Whether the company has enough cash to fund its strategy
- Which competitors the company should benchmark against
- Whether internal strengths can execute the intended strategy (Correct answer)
- How customers perceive the company's brand position
Correct answer: Whether internal strengths can execute the intended strategy
An organizational capability assessment evaluates whether the firm's people, processes, culture, and resources are sufficient to deliver on the chosen strategic direction.
CS Organizational Design & Strategy Execution 2
According to Galbraith's Star Model of organizational design, which five elements must be aligned for effective strategy execution?