Deck 4: What Changes in Organizations

Question 1

A ____ transformation involves the revitalization of already established companies.

A) Type 1
B) Type 2
C) Type 3
D) None of the above

Answer 1

B

Question 2

____ occurs where incremental changes are made in anticipation to changes in the external environment.

A) Fine-tuning
B) Adaptive change
C) Reorientation
D) Re-creation

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Major modification of the organization building on past strengths and history is known as:

A) Frame breaking
B) Frame bending
C) Frame shifting
D) Framing

Answer 3

B

Question 4

____ changes are incremental but reactive to changes made by other organizations.

A) Fine-tuning
B) Adaptive
C) Reorientation
D) Re-creation

Question 5

____ is when people are contracted to the organization for a short period of time to work on specific issues/tasks.

A) Delayering
B) Outsourcing
C) Disaggregation
D) Short-term staffing

Question 6

A ____ transformation occurs when an organization moves from an entrepreneurial to a professional management structure.

A) Type 1
B) Type 2
C) Type 3
D) Type 4

Question 7

____ is breaking the organization into smaller business units.

A) Delayering
B) Outsourcing
C) Disaggregation
D) Empowerment

Question 8

____ is reducing the number of vertical levels of the organization.

A) Delayering
B) Outsourcing
C) Disaggregation
D) Short-term staffing

Question 9

____ organizations discourage individual initiative by requiring conformity to the team rather than to the work itself.

A) Autocratic
B) Meritocratic
C) Social Club
D) Modern

Question 10

____ is second-order change that is reactive and involves "frame breaking".

A) Fine-tuning
B) Adapting
C) Reorientation
D) Re-creation

Question 11

____ is when employees are provided with authority, resources and encouraged to take action.

A) Delayering
B) Outsourcing
C) Disaggregation
D) Empowerment

Question 12

Change that is revolutionary and discontinuous is known as:

A) First-order change
B) Second-order change
C) Natural change
D) Contrived change

Question 13

According to Palmer and Dunford, which of the following is NOT one of the commonly occurring recommendations for organizational change when coping with the hypercompetitive business environment?

A) Empowerment
B) Flexible work groups
C) Reduction of internal and external boundaries
D) Long-term staffing

Question 14

Major upheaval where the organization breaks with past practice and directions is known as:

A) Frame breaking
B) Frame bending
C) Frame shifting
D) Framing

Question 15

A ____ transformation involves visionary change in which the organization fundamentally changes the business in which it is involved.

A) Type 1
B) Type 2
C) Type 3
D) None of the above

Question 16

____ organizations discourage initiative by removing responsibility.

A) Autocratic
B) Meritocratic
C) Social Club
D) Modern

Question 17

____ is anticipatory, discontinuous change, which involves "frame bending".

A) Fine-tuning
B) Adapting
C) Reorientation
D) Re-creation

Question 18

____ organizations constrain individual initiative and action by tightly regulating controls and procedures throughout the company.

A) Autocratic
B) Meritocratic
C) Social Club
D) Antiquated

Question 19

Change that is incremental and continuous is known as:

A) First-order change
B) Second-order change
C) Natural change
D) Contrived change

Question 20

____ change is one that is large enough to overcome the inertia that plagues large organizations while avoiding the cataclysmic side effects of massive revolutions.

A) Tectonic
B) Punctuated
C) Gradual
D) Mimetic

Question 21

____ is the intentional process of permanently reducing the staff numbers in an organization.

A) Downsizing
B) Offshoring
C) Staff enhancing
D) Aggregating

Question 22

Cost savings is a challenge confronting managers involved in mergers and acquisitions.

Question 23

___ are where new conditions emerge which are permanent and requires organizations to move from one position to another in order to achieve a better fit with the environment.

A) Jolts
B) Step functions
C) Oscillations
D) Tremors

Question 24

_____ is done by centralizing or specializing a firm's operations to sustain or improve productivity.

A) Retrenchment
B) Retreating
C) Downscaling
D) Downscoping

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT a form of downsizing discussed in the text?

A) Retrenchment
B) Retreating
C) Downscaling
D) Downscoping

Question 26

____ is constituted by permanent alterations to employment and tangible resource capacity.

A) Retrenchment
B) Retreating
C) Downscaling
D) Downscoping

Question 27

Adaptive changes are incremental but reactive to changes made by other organizations.

Question 28

____ can result when the change is perceived as unnecessary, there being little gap between the current identity and the one that is implied in the change.

A) High inertia
B) High stress
C) High disorder
D) High confusion

Question 29

____ are where cycles of discontinuity occur, including expansion and contraction of an organization's market or operating environment.

A) Jolts
B) Step functions
C) Oscillations
D) Tremors

Question 30

Which of the following is NOT viewed as a challenge of downsizing?

A) Employee retention
B) Survivor Syndrome
C) Cultural adjustment
D) Lower payroll taxes

Question 31

"Hard landings" is the syndrome where employees remaining after downsizing question why the change occurred, feel guilty that they remain while other colleagues are unemployed and suffer from low morale.

Question 32

____ can result when the change is perceived as unattainable and the gap is too wide between the current organizational identity and the one that will occur as a result of the change.

A) High inertia
B) High stress
C) High disorder
D) High confusion

Question 33

Contingency planning enables "what if" questions to be asked that can anticipate possible scenarios that might emerge and how they could be handled.

Question 34

____ is when the firm divests activities or markets in which it operates.

A) Retrenchment
B) Retreating
C) Downscaling
D) Downscoping

Question 35

Downsizing may lead to the loss of important and skilled employees.

Question 36

Goal synthesis and identifying political barriers are challenges faced by managers introducing new technologies.

Question 37

Not all transformational changes are of the same order of magnitude.

Question 38

Mergers and acquisitions have been a popular form of organizational growth since the 1790s.

Question 39

First-order change is radical and fundamentally alters the organization at its core.

Question 40

____ are passing shocks that can temporarily disrupt organizations but then eventually subside.

A) Jolts
B) Step functions
C) Oscillations
D) Tremors

Question 41

High inertia can result when the change is perceived as unattainable and the gap is too wide between the current organizational identity and the one that will occur as a result of change.