Accounting Multiple Choice Question – 11 July 2024

Lucy works for a training company, Alex plc, as a lecturer.

The company has been established for over 30 years.

She specialises in training bankers.

In terms of organisational structure, Alex plc has a large operating core within which all the well-qualified lecturing staff are employed.

They need to ensure their teaching material is constantly updated so that it reflects the current issues in the complex banking industry and to ensure that the company’s courses remain competitive.

The lecturers are supported by a large administrative team who follow set procedures to ensure the smooth delivery of courses.

From these details, it is clear that Alex plc has which of the following organisational structures?

Select ONE answer:

1. Entrepreneurial
2. Machine bureaucracy
3. Professional bureaucracy
4. Divisionalised

Show your workings to arrive at your answer, and explain and justify your reasons:

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

This multiple-choice question is suitable for Accounting KS5 classes.

The answer is 3

1. Not correct
2. Not correct
3. Correct –> A professional bureaucracy (3) will hire trained specialists who are all imbued with the skills and values of the profession. The operating core is the key part because it will have an elaborate support staff to service it and the work is too complex to be standardised by a technostructure. The entrepreneurial structure (1) is characteristic of small, young organisations revolving round a single entrepreneur or small management team. A machine bureaucracy (2)works on a sophisticated and well-tuned set of rules and procedures. The technostructure is the key part of this structure and the management philosophy is often that of scientific management. There is strong emphasis on the division of labour and authority is hierarchical. A divisional structure (4) is where the middle line seeks as much autonomy for itself as possible. It exerts a pull to split into small self-managed units with autonomy given to managers lower down the line.
4. Not correct

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