Deck 17: Organizational Change

Question 1

Direct costs,fear of the unknown,and incongruent organizational systems are all sources of resistance to change.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

By creating an urgency for change,change agents are motivating employees to change towards the new conditions.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Communication should be applied to reduce resistance to change where the change must occur quickly with little financial cost.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

In force field analysis,stability occurs when the driving forces and restraining forces are roughly of equal strength in opposite directions.

Question 5

In Lewin's force field analysis model,refreezing occurs when the organization's systems and structures are aligned with the desired behaviors.

Question 6

Force field analysis determines the level of psychological compatibility among participants in team-building programs.

Question 7

Training reduces resistance to change mainly by helping employees to break previous routines and develop new role patterns.

Question 8

To bring about effective change,leaders must create an urgency to change rather than rely on forces outside the organization to create that urgency

Question 9

People sometimes resist change to prove that the change agent is incompetent.

Question 10

Customer feedback provides a human element that energizes employees to change their current behavior patterns.

Question 11

Unfreezing occurs by making the driving forces stronger,weakening the restraining forces,or a combination of both.

Question 12

In Lewin's force field analysis model,refreezing involves producing disequilibrium between the current and future state.

Question 13

One reason why employees resist change is that they dislike predictable role patterns.

Question 14

To minimize resistance to change,change agents need to reduce the restraining forces rather than pushing harder on the driving forces.

Question 15

Employee 'resistance to change' represents symptoms of underlying restraining forces that need to be removed.

Question 16

Fear of the unknown usually motivates employees to support organizational change.

Question 17

Future search events minimize resistance to change with little or no involvement from employees.

Question 18

The preferred strategy for unfreezing the current situation is to increase the restraining forces and reduce or remove the driving forces.

Question 19

Resistance to change occurs when employees are worried about the consequences of change,not with the change process itself.

Question 20

Noncompliance,complaints,and absenteeism are examples of resistance to change.

Question 21

Future search conferences are meetings among a small task force of senior executives who have been given the mandate to look for a change agent on a particular corporate strategy.

Question 22

One problem with negotiation is that it tends to produce compliance rather than commitment to the change process.

Question 23

Action research takes the view that organizational change is all about bringing about real change,not testing theory.

Question 24

Coercion should never be used to manage change in organizations.

Question 25

Refreezing requires the establishment of organizational systems that are compatible with the desired change.

Question 26

Action research embraces the concept of knowledge management as part of the change process.

Question 27

Action research is the process of determining whether the change process is ethical or not.

Question 28

Organizational change is more successful if the change agent prevents its diffusion from one part of the organization to other parts.

Question 29

Successful change requires a well-articulated and appealing vision of the desired future state.

Question 30

Future search events minimize resistance to change mainly as a form of employee involvement.

Question 31

Pilot projects are usually more flexible and less risky than centralized,organization-wide programs.

Question 32

Action research is a problem-oriented process of organizational change.

Question 33

Future search conferences are large group sessions,usually lasting a few days,in which participants identify the environmental trends and establish strategic solutions for those conditions.

Question 34

Most change agents are external consultants rather than corporate executives.

Question 35

Diffusion of change is more likely to succeed if some people who have worked under the new system are moved to other areas of the organization.

Question 36

The best way to manage resistance to change among those who will clearly lose out from the change is to introduce coercion practices.

Question 37

Transformational leaders are effective change agents.

Question 38

Information systems and reward systems help to refreeze the desired conditions in organizational change.

Question 39

Action research adopts the emerging philosophy of positive organizational behavior.

Question 40

Negotiation is the highest priority and first strategy required for any organizational change.

Question 41

Organizational change consultants occupy 'marginal' positions with clients by meeting with them less than once each month.

Question 42

An ethical problem with many organizational change programs is that management tends to lose power in the process.

Question 43

Discovery,dreaming,and delivering are the first three stages of appreciative inquiry.

Question 44

Organizational diagnosis involves collecting and interpreting data about an ongoing system and feeding this data back to the client.

Question 45

Change experts recommend introducing quantum change when the organization wants to overhaul the system quickly and decisively.

Question 46

Change agents should apply the action research model if they want to help people to break out of a problem-solving mentality and,instead,reframe relationships around the positive and possible.

Question 47

The main objective of force field analysis is to help change agents to:

A) identify ways to force employees to change their behavior.
B) find ways to increase the driving forces for change.
C) diagnose the situation better by understanding the driving and constraining forces for change.
D) determine whether change is necessary at all.
E) do none of these things.

Question 48

An important feature of parallel learning structures is that they operate within the existing organizational hierarchy.

Question 49

Parallel learning structures are structures that primarily help employees learn on the job rather than in the classroom.

Question 50

The concepts of unfreezing and refreezing the system are mainly represented in:

A) action research.
B) Lewin's force field model.
C) appreciative inquiry.
D) customer-driven change.
E) the diffusion of change process.

Question 51

One of the main advantages of quantum change is that it is less risky than incremental change.

Question 52

Which model of organization change explicitly refers to unfreezing the current situation and refreezing the desired state?

A) Parallel learning structures
B) Future search
C) Appreciative inquiry
D) Quantum change
E) Force field analysis

Question 53

Compared with quantum change,incremental change interventions involve less risk to the organization and tend to produce less resistance among affected employees.

Question 54

Quantum change is most commonly applied in conjunction with employee involvement.

Question 55

Consultants involved in organizational change should first determine the client's readiness for change.

Question 56

A unique feature of appreciative inquiry is that it breaks away from the problem-solving mentality by reframing relationships around what is positive and possible.

Question 57

A parallel learning structure is an organizational change intervention in which a social structure is constructed alongside the formal hierarchy to increase the organization's learning.

Question 58

One ethical concern with some organizational change programs is that they may threaten the employee's self-esteem.

Question 59

The first step in appreciative inquiry is dreaming,in which participants envision what might be possible in an ideal organization.

Question 60

The force field analysis model includes all of the following EXCEPT:

A) process forces.
B) driving forces.
C) unfreezing.
D) refreezing.
E) restraining forces.

Question 61

According to force field analysis,organizational change is more likely to occur by:

A) increasing the driving forces and decreasing the restraining forces
B) decreasing the process forces and increasing the driving forces.
C) increasing the driving forces and increasing the restraining forces.
D) increasing both the driving forces and the restraining forces.
E) Force field analysis says that none of these will assist organizational change.

Question 62

Which of the following is NOT an effective strategy to unfreeze the status quo?

A) Educating employees about the change effort.
B) Strengthening existing team norms and organizational systems.
C) Encouraging employees to participate in the change process.
D) Providing formal stress management programs to help employees to cope with the change.
E) Negotiating alternative benefits for employees who will clearly lose out by the change.

Question 63

Senior executives at a large retail organization want employees to become more customer-friendly.Employees think they are serving customers well enough and the company is the dominant player in the market.What should the executives do in this situation?

A) Stop trying to convince employees that they should change.
B) Keep pushing employees to change even though they don't see the need to change.
C) Threaten to fire employees who do not become more customer-friendly.
D) Find information in the external environment indicating that the company's dominant position will be threatened unless they become more customer-friendly.
E) Do none of these things.

Question 64

To reduce the restraining forces,which of the following should be applied in the order presented?

A) Communicate, negotiate, involve
B) Coerce, negotiate, manage stress
C) Learning, involve, communicate
D) Communicate, learning, involve
E) Involve, negotiate, coerce

Question 65

According to force field analysis,the preferred strategy for unfreezing the status quo is to:

A) remove the driving forces for change.
B) introduce parallel learning structures.
C) increase the driving forces and reduce or remove the restraining forces.
D) increase the driving and restraining forces.
E) strengthen existing system and team dynamics.

Question 66

Creating an urgency to change is most closely associated with:

A) the delivering stage of appreciative inquiry.
B) the final stage of a search conference.
C) the process of reducing the restraining forces.
D) the process of increasing the driving forces.
E) refreezing the desired conditions.

Question 67

Unfreezing refers to:

A) getting one's own way in organizational politics.
B) a management practice used to discourage newcomers from staying with the organization.
C) ensuring that the change effort is diffused to others within the organization.
D) improving organizational communication.
E) producing disequilibrium between the driving and restraining forces of change.

Question 68

Increasing the restraining forces and reducing the driving forces tends to:

A) reduce the likelihood of change.
B) unfreeze the status quo.
C) create an urgency to change.
D) decrease environmental stability.
E) have none of these effects.

Question 69

Increasing the driving forces and reducing the restraining forces tends to:

A) reduce the need for change.
B) unfreeze the status quo.
C) refreeze the status quo.
D) increase environmental stability.
E) cause none of these outcomes.

Question 70

The chief executive of a large telecommunications company wanted to restructure the organization so product leaders would have more power than the executives in charge of each region.The regional executives tried to prevent this restructuring because it would weaken their power and possibly reduce their salaries in the long term.This action by the regional executives is mainly an example of resistance due to:

A) direct costs.
B) saving face.
C) fear of the unknown.
D) breaking routines.
E) incongruent organizational systems.

Question 71

In organizational change,unfreezing may occur by:

A) increasing the restraining forces.
B) increasing the driving forces.
C) reducing the urgency to change.
D) reducing the restraining forces.
E) both increasing the driving forces AND reducing the restraining forces.

Question 72

The highest priority and first strategy required for any organizational change is to:

A) fire several senior executives in the organization.
B) introduce stress management counseling.
C) train employees who do not possess the skills required under the new conditions.
D) communicate the need for change and keep employees informed about what they can expect from the change effort.
E) negotiate a new set of relations among those who will clearly lose out from the change.

Question 73

Which of these statements about managing change is FALSE?

A) Employees are less likely to resist change when change agents mainly increase the driving forces for change.
B) Employees who develop an urgency for change tend to increase their motivation to change.
C) Change is more successful when the restraining forces are reduced.
D) Unfreezing the status quo occurs when change agents create a disequilibrium between the driving and restraining forces.
E) Force field analysis includes the ideas of unfreezing the status quo and refreezing the desired conditions.

Question 74

The textbook describes several strategies to minimize change.Which two of these strategies should be applied LAST?

A) Communication and negotiation
B) Coercion and negotiation
C) Stress management and employee involvement
D) Coercion and stress management
E) Learning and communication

Question 75

Resistance to organizational change may be caused by:

A) employee perceptions that the new conditions have higher costs and fewer benefits for them.
B) the psychological cost of uncertainty about the personal risks involved in the change.
C) employees wanting to prove that change effort won't work because they dislike the change agent or the action is contrary to their recommendations.
D) All of these may cause resistance to change.
E) None of these causes resistance to change.

Question 76

Decreasing the driving forces and increasing the restraining forces:

A) is the main recommendation of appreciative inquiry.
B) make the change process easier to implement.
C) represents the first step in the change process.
D) give the change agent more power in the change process.
E) is related to none of these statements.

Question 77

Which of these statements about driving forces is FALSE?

A) Many driving forces are unknown to employees beyond the top ranks of the organization.
B) Some driving forces, such as the existence of a competitor, are well known to employees.
C) Driving forces should be created by leaders if there are no reasons for change.
D) Customer expectations represent a powerful driver for change.
E) Organizational change is more likely to occur if employees experience reasonably strong driving forces.

Question 78

Increasing the restraining forces and reducing or removing the driving forces would:

A) make the change process more difficult to implement.
B) remove any resistance to change.
C) have no effect on the change process.
D) give the change agent more power in the change process.
E) make the change process easier to implement.

Question 79

Which of the following types of resistance to change is often a deliberate strategy to 'prove' that the decision is wrong or that the change agent is incompetent?

A) Direct costs
B) Saving face
C) Fear of the unknown
D) Breaking routines
E) Incongruent organizational systems

Question 80

Employees tend to resist change when:

A) they work in a place where rewards and other control systems are incongruent with the new state of affairs.
B) they perceive that the new state of affairs will have higher direct costs or lower benefits than the existing situation.
C) they perceive that they lack the necessary skills required in the new state of affairs.
D) All of these may cause resistance to change.
E) None of these causes resistance to change.