Deck 17: Managing Organizational Change

Question 1

In Change Competency: As a way to understand their suppliers, Target implemented a "creative cabinet" of 12 diverse suppliers who voice their opinion on products.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Global markets now exist for most products and companies successfully compete with few adaptations in their structure and operations.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Thomas Friedman considers the _____ an important global force that leaders faced in the late 20th and early 21st century.

A) Great Depression
B) fall of the Berlin Wall
C) invention of electricity
D) advent of the automobile

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Union contracts and labor negotiations are examples of agreements that can restrain an organization's actions.

Question 5

Much of the information gathered during an organizational diagnosis will reveal symptoms rather than causes of problems.

Question 6

In Learning from Experience: When Mary Barra took over as CEO of General Motors, she knew that _____ needed to be the hallmarks of a new GM culture.

A) entrepreneurship and individualism
B) collectivism and groupthink
C) safety and innovation
D) integrity and benevolence

Question 7

An accurate diagnosis of organizational problems and functioning should only be completed after organizational change has been incorporated.

Question 8

In Learning from Experience: Prior to Mary Barra joining GM as CEO, the company had taken drastic measures to compensate consumers because of a flaw in the ignition systems of some of their cars.

Question 9

In Diversity Competency: According to Jared Larrabee of Deloitte Consulting, Gen Y'ers are tech-savvy, team oriented, and multitaskers.

Question 10

Kotter's model confirms that change occurs quickly when the proper steps are taken.

Question 11

When the warehouse supervisor reorganized the parts area so it was more efficient for the line workers to use, it was an example of a planned organizational change.

Question 12

Shari, who works in Copenhagen; Darnell, who works in Chicago; and Montel, who works in Montreal convene for a teleconference each Tuesday morning to discuss the status of their project for their New York-based employer. These coworkers are part of a(n)

A) localization strategy.
B) groupthink.
C) advising group.
D) virtual team.

Question 13

The organizational development approach focuses on improving technology and manufacturing abilities.

Question 14

Which term refers to many markets that are worldwide and are served by international or multinational corporations?

A) transnational
B) industrialization
C) localization
D) globalization

Question 15

When employees are dissatisfied with their current situation and don't perceive any personal risk from change, they have a high level of readiness for change.

Question 16

The moving stage of Lewin's Model involves reducing those forces that are maintaining the organization's behavior at the present level.

Question 17

Characteristics of a person's personality may make that person resistant to change.

Question 18

In Diversity Competency: One goal of the diversity program at United Technologies is to make all associates feel valued.

Question 19

Lean In circles were inspired by the 2013 book Lean In and are social networks that focus on

A) helping individuals relying less on each other and more on themselves.
B) encouraging women to work their way up into leadership roles.
C) bringing companies together to work toward a better environment.
D) incorporating face-to-face time in the workplace.

Question 20

Initiating change in order to create shareholder value is the essence of the economic approach.

Question 21

Casey lacks self-assurance and when her boss asked her to decide which of the ten products they would sell for the holiday, she constantly asked him questions about the products and tried to gauge his opinions before she gave hers. What is the reason for Casey's resistance to change?

A) habit
B) perceptions
C) threat to power
D) personality

Question 22

Maddie tends to go along with the group instead of voicing her thoughts about how to change things at the company. Maddie demonstrates _____ resistance.

A) covert
B) active
C) passive
D) overt

Question 23

People born between 1965 and 1977 are called

A) Gen X'ers.
B) baby boomers.
C) Gen Y'ers.
D) millennials.

Question 24

Jaxon feels the best way to turn the company around is to provide managers with more opportunities to identify and resolve issues, which will help them feel more emotionally committed to the success of the firm. Which type of organizational change is Jaxon suggesting?

A) organizational development
B) economic
C) political
D) diversity training

Question 25

A successful change approach would

A) accept resistance to change.
B) create a readiness for change.
C) cancel momentum for change.
D) focus only on the future state of change.

Question 26

The organizational development approach empowers _____ to solve problems.

A) customers
B) employees
C) management
D) third parties

Question 27

The CEO asked the entire management team to meet next week to discuss why the existing structure for retaining clients wasn't working. The CEO wanted to show that the opinions of the management team were central to finding the answer to the problem. Which approach to organizational change is the CEO using?

A) political
B) economic
C) diversity training
D) organizational development

Question 28

The ultimate purpose of the economic approach to organizational change is to

A) make a profit.
B) create a team environment.
C) create structure.
D) develop employee competencies.

Question 29

Perceptual _____ is a perceptual error in which people tend to perceive selectively the things that fit most comfortably with their current view of the world.

A) economics
B) primacy
C) defense
D) myopia

Question 30

Which of these characteristics is typical of a Gen Y'er?

A) act independently
B) value discretion
C) able to multitask
D) demonstrate patience

Question 31

All of these are practices that can help reduce resistance to change within a company EXCEPT

A) engaging employees in the change program.
B) encouraging management to constantly foster change.
C) creating new organizational designs and cultures to empower employees.
D) helping employees reframe change program to benefit them.

Question 32

Planned organizational change means that the change is

A) constant.
B) intentional.
C) inevitable.
D) resistant.

Question 33

Nathan was not interested in listening to the vendors' ideas about switching to environmentally-friendly paint at his car production facility because he knew the current product he used worked just fine. What is the reason behind Nathan's resistance to change?

A) perceptions
B) personality
C) threat to power
D) economic reasons

Question 34

Isabella is organizing an online blog where members of her production team can work in tandem to determine the best way to fix the issues with the company's new line of spark plugs. Which generational cohort will respond best to this type of work assignment?

A) baby boomers
B) Gen Y'ers
C) Gen Z'ers
D) Gen X'ers

Question 35

The management team decided the best way to increase profits was to stop production of room air conditioners and concentrate on whole-house systems. Which approach to organizational change does this represent?

A) economic
B) organizational development
C) political
D) relationship processes

Question 36

Which of these scenarios is an example of overt resistance?

A) Charles noticed that his new employee was habitually late for work.
B) The construction workers decided to strike when they didn't receive a pay increase.
C) After the profit loss last quarter, many members of the sales staff were no longer motivated to find new customers.
D) Corinne told her supervisor that shipping errors had increased by 44% since last quarter.

Question 37

In Diversity Competency: One thing that Jared Larrabee of Deloitte Consulting says that Gen Y'ers bring to an organization a great connection to others, including their parents, and they often need more direction because of this. In other words, they lack

A) work/life balance.
B) diversity.
C) compatability.
D) independence.

Question 38

The key source of energy in an effective change program must come from

A) the organization's members.
B) a third party.
C) customers.
D) competitive forces.

Question 39

In the economic approach to organizational change, the change is driven

A) from the bottom-up.
B) along parallel lines.
C) from within.
D) from the top-down.

Question 40

When using the economic approach to organizational change, what motivates employees?

A) volunteer opportunities
B) teamwork
C) financial incentives
D) shorter work hours

Question 41

Marel knew she should hire more people for the holiday rush, but she didn't have the financial backing to do it. What type of organizational resistance is Marel facing?

A) organization design
B) organizational culture
C) interorganizational agreements
D) resource limitations

Question 42

When Sergio Marchionne took over Fiat, he faced an emphasis on the authority hierarchy that caused employees to use only specific channels of communication. What type of organizational resistance did he encounter?

A) resource limitations
B) organization design
C) organizational culture
D) interorganizational agreements

Question 43

When a new NBA team approached the city to build a venue for them to play in, the city agreed but with the requirement that the team stay in the city for at least 25 years and pay $1 million in rent each year for the entirety of the contract. The NBA team declined the contract and found another city who agreed to a 15-year deal. What type of organizational resistance did the team encounter?

A) interorganizational agreements
B) organizational culture
C) organization design
D) resource limitations

Question 44

Organizational behavior is the product of

A) many things.
B) individual behavior.
C) hierarchy.
D) outside sources.

Question 45

In Change Competency: According to Gregg Steinhafel, former CEO of Target, the company wants to be known as the king that delivers

A) logistics with enough muscle to force vendors to lower their prices.
B) a great experience and exciting, unique products.
C) cost savings above all else.
D) a fun shopping environment.

Question 46

Cameron was surprised when the head of the company announced that his division would soon have another department head. Cameron had always been the only one in charge of the department and he wondered if the company didn't like how he ran things. What is the reason for Cameron's resistance to change?

A) threat to power
B) perceptions
C) economic reasons
D) personality

Question 47

The _____ stage of force field analysis involves reducing forces that are maintaining the organization's behavior at its present level.

A) moving
B) refreezing
C) holding
D) unfreezing

Question 48

Last month there were eight injuries in the warehouse where Stefan works. The company has installed safety reminder cards throughout the warehouse to prevent this from continuing. Which part of Lewin's model does this demonstrate?

A) holding
B) unfreezing
C) moving
D) refreezing

Question 49

Fifteen people have left Kent's company in the last three months; he decides to send out an employee satisfaction survey to learn more about his employees' feelings toward their jobs. Which aspect of organizational diagnosis is Kent using?

A) collecting data
B) drawing conclusions
C) analyzing data
D) implementing change

Question 50

The first step in organizational diagnosis is to

A) collect data about current operations.
B) make a diagnosis about the problem.
C) analyze data about current operations.
D) draw conclusions about potential change.

Question 51

Of the following, which would be at the center of all organizational change?

A) reward system
B) teams
C) organization design
D) culture

Question 52

Lewin's force field analysis model suggests that a balance of opposing forces creates a

A) state of equilibrium.
B) deterioration of agreement.
C) fortress that cannot be attacked.
D) need for an outside party to create harmony.

Question 53

Trevor's company announced that starting next month, all employees would be required to wear an ID tag while in the office and that ID tag would be scanned as employees entered and exited the building. Which part of Lewin's model is the company demonstrating?

A) unfreezing
B) holding
C) moving
D) refreezing

Question 54

Lewin's three-stage model and Kotter's eight-stage model are used by organizations to

A) demonstrate organizational resistance.
B) create an organizational hierarchy.
C) implement planned change.
D) collect raw data.

Question 55

How did Lewin view change?

A) as a dramatic event
B) as a dynamic balance of forces working for and against change
C) as a demonstration of opposing views
D) as opposing forces moving further and further apart

Question 56

The management team felt that the product development team was working too slowly so they hired more people. Three months later, the management team was frustrated because product development was still slow. That's when they realized that the team was slow because manufacturing wasn't able to produce prototypes. What did the management team fail to recognize in the organizational diagnosis?

A) ethical considerations should be taken into account
B) outside vendors should be taken into consideration
C) organizational diagnosis requires rewards
D) a diagnosis represents the symptoms

Question 57

Individual readiness for change should be assessed by understanding the degree of employee satisfaction with the status quo and

A) the potential resistance from outside sources.
B) the organization's policy for employee development.
C) the perceived personal risk involved in changing it.
D) the financial impact of change.

Question 58

Taylor is pleased with the way the company develops individual talent and doesn't think he can find another company with the same ideals. Taylor's readiness for change is BEST characterized as

A) radical.
B) low.
C) inevitable.
D) high.

Question 59

Even though it would be less expensive for the company to ship products in bulk, the manager continued to ship items individually because that's the way it had always been done. Why is the manager resistant to change?

A) threat to power
B) personality
C) habit
D) threat to top management

Question 60

Jake's company supplies the local sports stadium with snack bags of chips to sell during games. Jake requires the stadium to buy a minimum of ten pallets of snacks each season. The stadium would like to switch to a new vendor but signed an agreement for the next five seasons with Jake's company. Which type of organizational resistance does the stadium face?

A) resource limitations
B) organizational culture
C) interorganizational agreements
D) organization design

Question 61

During the employee presentation, the chairman of the company said that if production continued to decline he would be forced to lay off nearly 20% of the staff and it was imperative that each and every employee do everything in their power to avoid this. Which step in Kotter's model does this represent?

A) form a powerful guiding coalition
B) establish a sense of urgency
C) plan for and create short-term wins
D) consolidate improvements

Question 62

Explain how organizational culture can create organizational resistance.

Question 63

Explain why behavior should be the primary target of planned organizational change.

Question 64

Sarah has suggested that the company reward employees who report safety discrepancies on the warehouse floor because this will help reinforce the new safety program. Which aspect of Lewin's model is Sarah suggesting?

A) refreezing
B) unfreezing
C) moving
D) holding

Question 65

Identify three practices that can help reduce resistance to change and provide an example that demonstrates one of these practices.

Question 66

In Diversity Competency: Leaders at United Technologies aim to create an environment of diversity. Which of the following is NOT one of the goals of its diversity program?

A) promote from within
B) provide an inclusive environment
C) build community
D) remove attitudinal barriers

Question 67

List the eight steps in Kotter's Model of Change.

Question 68

Kotter's model suggests a stage of empowering others to act on the vision. This is comparable to the ____ stage in Lewin's model.

A) refreezing
B) holding
C) unfreezing
D) moving

Question 69

Describe the various generational cohorts and how these cohorts create pressure for change.

Question 70

Identify characteristics of an effective change program and provide an example that demonstrates one of these characteristics.

Question 71

Describe Lewin's Model of Change and provide an example of each stage within the model.

Question 72

Explain the purpose, leadership, focus, and motivation for the economic approach and organizational development approach to planned organizational change.

Question 73

According to Kotter's model, the _____ clarifies the change effort by describing the direction in which the organization needs to move.

A) mission
B) production
C) vision
D) coalition

Question 74

Describe the factors leaders and employees should consider when conducting an organizational diagnosis.

Question 75

Explain how globalization has created pressure for change.