Final answer:
The correct answer is option A. Western Boot Co.'s departmental sales structure is an example of product-based departmentalization since it organizes its divisions around different types of products, similar to how major grocery stores are structured.
Step-by-step explanation:
When examining the organizational structure of the Western Boot Co., which is categorized by their departmental sales preferences, determining the type of departmentalization can be linked to how the company categorizes its products or services.
It is clear that if Western Boot Co. is structured similarly to major grocery stores with different departments for various types of products like dairy, meats, and produce, then Western Boot Co.'s departmental sales structure would be an example of (A) product-based departmentalization. This approach to organizing departments is based on organizing the company's divisions around different types of products or product lines.
Now looking at the survey design described in the question, selecting specific departments at random within a department store to measure employee satisfaction refers to a cluster survey design. Here, the entire population is divided into groups, or clusters, and a random sample of these clusters is chosen.
All members of the selected clusters are then surveyed, which in this case applies to all employees in the randomly selected departments. Therefore, the correct answer is (A) Cluster for the type of survey design being implemented to measure employee satisfaction.