Deck 14: Strategy Development Processes

Question 1

In which of the following situations would you expect an organisation to adopt transformational change over incremental change?

A) Following the launch of a new product
B) In a stable environment which changes little
C) Following excellent annual profit results
D) Following a major crisis

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following might be a disadvantage of using external change agents?

A) They do not understand the culture and so cannot properly understand why things happen as they do.
B) Their experience and expertise is from a different organisation.
C) They bring new ideas which contradict the status quo.
D) They symbolise the importance of the change process because their fees are so high.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which three of the following are useful categories when carrying out forcefield analysis?

A) Culture
B) Pushing
C) Resisting
D) Additional
E) Style

Answer 3

B, C, D

Question 4

What term is used for the process by which an attempted change is reinterpreted according to the old culture?

A) Hijacking
B) Behavioural compliance
C) Disconnectedness
D) Reinvention

Question 5

When assessing the context of a strategic change programme, management ask how much change is required? Which type of contextual feature of strategic change does this relate to?

A) Timing
B) Capacity
C) Capability
D) Scope
E) Capability

Question 6

Which three of the following political mechanisms are most likely to be useful in overcoming resistance?

A) Divide the existing elites
B) Building a team
C) Question the existing symbols
D) Create association with a respected outsider

Question 7

What term is used for the process in which people overtly agree to change without actually 'buying in' to it?

A) Reinvention
B) Disconnectedness
C) Hijacking
D) Behavioural compliance

Question 8

Which of the following is a tool for diagnosing organisational context?

A) PEST analysis
B) Cultural Web
C) Porter's 5 forces
D) Porter's Diamond

Question 9

Which of the following ways of using the cultural web is appropriate when managing change?

A) To analyse the current culture of an organisation and consider the differences that are need to implement future strategy
B) To consider the problems and requirements of strategic change
C) To highlight to staff the incompatibility of the current culture with the future strategy
D) To map the detailed changes required in business processes to implement the future strategy

Question 10

Which of the following does not feature in Balogun and Hope Hailey's list of contextual features, which influence the management of change?

A) Symbols
B) Preservation
C) Diversity
D) Capability
E) Time

Question 11

Which of the following is often the most important challenge to achieving strategic change?

A) Changing the paradigm
B) Finding a suitable change agent
C) Identifying the key symbols
D) Making effective plans

Question 12

Which of the following items is not an example of how culture can negatively affect strategy implementation?

A) Where culture is not aligned with the needs of the strategy the desired behaviours may not be present and it will be necessary to change the culture.
B) The existence of a fragmented culture (i.e. several sub- cultures) will make a single cohesive implementation strategy hard to enact.
C) Culture generates inertia and so can lead to resistance to change.
D) A conservative and risk- averse culture is likely to be resistant to change, as change will be viewed as a threat.
E) Culture plays a boundary defining role between one organisation and another.

Question 13

One- off change may not be possible. How did change occur in hospitals, according the Denis et al's research summarised in the textbook?

A) A number of initiatives had to be carried out at the same time.
B) One initiative had to be completed before another could be started.
C) One initiative made limited progress, stalled, and then another made further advances.
D) A maximum of three initiatives made limited progress, were then postponed and re- started some months later.

Question 14

Which of the following organisations do you think is more likely to engage in transformational change rather than incremental change?

A) A company in crisis
B) A local council
C) A company operating in a stable environment
D) A well established incumbent

Question 15

Which of the following is not a lever for managing strategic change?

A) Symbolic processes
B) Reinforcing the taken- for- granted assumptions
C) Turnaround strategy for firms in crisis
D) Challenging the taken- for- granted assumptions
E) Changing organisational routines

Question 16

Which of the following is most likely to be a problem when trying to overcome resistance?

A) Highlighting that change is needed
B) Striking from too low a power base
C) Being associated with a respected outsider
D) Being part of a team

Question 17

When managing change, managers may use their personal authority to establish a clear strategy and how the change will occur. What name is used for this style?

A) Direction
B) Participation
C) Education
D) Intervention
E) Coercion

Question 18

Which of the following statements accurately apply to Beer and Nohria's theory of change? Choose all that apply.

A) Theory O approaches are based on the development of organisational capability.
B) Theory E approaches are based on the pursuit of economic value.
C) Theory E approaches are based on the pursuit of efficiency.
D) Theory O approaches are based on the development of the whole organisation.

Question 19

Which of the following is not a political mechanism for bringing about change?

A) Changing symbols
B) Building the power base
C) Achieving compliance
D) Overcoming resistance

Question 20

What three questions can be asked using forcefield analysis?

A) What aspects of the current situation would block change, and how can they be overcome?
B) What needs to be introduced or developed to aid change?
C) What type of change agent will be facilitate this change?
D) What aspects of the current situation would aid change, and how can they be reinforced?
E) What leadership style is required in this situation?

Question 21

The most effective way to communicate complex change is:

A) Personal email
B) In an email circular
C) In a brown envelope
D) Face to face

Question 22

Change agents may be the creator of the strategy, key managers within the organisation or may be brought in as a consultant for the duration of the process.

Question 23

One style when managing change is based on involving those who will be affected by the change agenda. What name is used for this style?

A) Coercion
B) Direction
C) Participation
D) Intervention
E) Education

Question 24

What is the purpose of the feedback and control processes that accompany the implementation of strategy?

A) To provide a chain of command by which senior management can control the actions of middle managers
B) To provide an appraisal system to inform staff how well they have done in implementing the strategy
C) To check whether targets are being met and other desired outcomes are being achieved

Question 25

Which of the following is not a styles of managing strategic change?

A) Education and communication
B) Intervention
C) Reward and punishment
D) Direction
E) Coercion/edict

Question 26

Which of the following features might be appropriate to preserve when undertaking strategic change?

A) Expertise and motivation of key technical specialists
B) Blame culture
C) Outdated heritage systems
D) Rigid views that there is only one way to do things

Question 27

Strong leadership guarantees the success of change management programmes.

Question 28

Which three of the following may highlight ways in which change programmes may go wrong?

A) Disconnectedness
B) Programme overload
C) Visible commitment to change
D) Hijacked processes
E) High integrity

Question 29

Change levers may involve objects, events, acts or people that convey, maintain or create meaning over and above their functional purpose. What term is used for this type of lever?

A) Degraders
B) Operations
C) Rites
D) Symbols

Question 30

Which of the following does not apply to charismatic leaders?

A) Of particular benefit in the face of uncertainty
B) Concerned with building a vision for the organisation
C) Focus on designing systems and controlling the organisation's activities
D) Energise people to achieve the vision

Question 31

Which of the following aspects of an organisation do you think would be most difficult to change?

A) Culture
B) Systems
C) Structure
D) Technology

Question 32

Managers assessing the context of a strategic change know they have to consider preservation. Which of the following questions should they ask?

A) What is the managerial capability to implement change?
B) How quickly is change needed?
C) What power does the change leader have to impose change?
D) What organisational resources need to be maintained?

Question 33

Which of the following is likely to be a positive force for change in an organisation?

A) A strong culture
B) Legislative changes
C) Poor employee relations
D) A record of success

Question 34

Which of the following is not an example of the 'education and communication' style of managing strategic change?

A) Explaining the reasons for and means of strategic change
B) Involvement of those who will be affected by strategic change in the change agenda
C) Investing time in persuading people and giving them time to assimilate the information
D) Group briefings

Question 35

Which of the following circumstances do you think is most likely to lead to transformational change in an organisation?

A) Launch of a new product
B) Acquisition by a rival
C) Sale of a subsidiary
D) Arrival of a new chief executive

Question 36

Which of the following groups of attributes is most desirable in a change agent?

A) Honesty, loyalty and experience in the industry in question
B) Communication skills, technical expertise and sensitivity to organisational politics
C) An insider from the organisation, politically neutral and fresh ideas
D) An outsider with experience of change programmes

Question 37

Which of the following would you not associate with incremental change?

A) Enables management to gain acceptance before and during the change process
B) Is divided into a number of distinct phases and there may be periods of 'rest' between the phases
C) Has the advantage of implementing change a bit at time (can be less painful)
D) Tends to be more inclusive (because it requires less coercion and 'bullying')
E) Enables the organisation to respond quickly to changes in its environment

Question 38

Which of the following represents evolutionary change in Balogun and Hope Hailey's framework?

A) Scope of change is realignment and nature of change is incremental.
B) Scope of change is transformation and nature of change is big bang.
C) Scope of change is realignment and nature of change is big bang.
D) Scope of change is transformation and nature of change is incremental.

Question 39

What is meant by the term force field analysis?

A) It is a measure of the resistance staff have to a proposed change.
B) It is a technique for refreezing an organisation following a change.
C) It is a technique for evaluating the positive and negative forces for change.
D) It is one of Porter's 5 forces.

Question 40

Which of the following questions are not relevant to forcefield analysis?

A) How should change be communicated?
B) What aspects might block change?
C) What aspects might aid change?
D) What needs to be developed to aid change?

Question 41

Beer and Nohria suggest that the use of change levers that combine Theory E and Theory O approaches may be both required and beneficial.

Question 42

Drawing up a cultural web often highlights important blockages and facilitators to change.

Question 43

Using an external change agent has the major advantage that they do not inherit the cultural baggage of the organisation and therefore bring a dispassionate view to the process.

Question 44

Transformational change is a stage in a broader programme of incremental change.

Question 45

A forcefield analysis provides a view of change problems that focuses on forces reacting against change.

Question 46

The best way to manage strategic change is to use authority to set direction and means of change.

Question 47

In transformational change it is important to destroy all aspects of the old culture and create a new one.

Question 48

Typically change is transformational in nature with only occasional incremental changes.