Deck 7: Innovation and Change

Question 1

Fully functional change occurs when incremental improvements are made to a dominant technological design. In a fully functional change, the improved version of the technology is fully backward compatible with the older version.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Technological discontinuities are followed by discontinuous change, which is characterized by technological substitution and design competition.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Companies that want to sustain a competitive advantage must understand and protect themselves from the strategic threats of innovation.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Technological innovation not only makes it possible to duplicate the benefits obtained from a company's distinctive advantage but also quickly creates an opportunity to turn a company's competitive advantage into a competitive disadvantage.

Question 5

Innovation streams are patterns of innovation over time that can create sustainable competitive advantage.

Question 6

A creative work environment requires organizational encouragement and supervisory encouragement as well as work group encouragement.

Question 7

Technology cycles for low-tech products follow the typical U-curve pattern cycle of innovation.

Question 8

Declaring victory too soon is one of the mistakes managers often make in the refreezing stage of change.

Question 9

Even though education and communication, participation, negotiation, top management support, and coercion can all be used to manage resistance to change, coercion should be used only in a crisis or as a last resort.

Question 10

The General Electric Workout is a special kind of activity-oriented change.

Question 11

Results-driven change focuses primarily on changing company procedures, management philosophy, or employee behavior.

Question 12

The typical S-curve pattern of innovation indicates that both early and late in the technology cycle, increased effort (i.e., money, research and development) brings only small improvements in technological performance.

Question 13

Organizational innovation is defined as "doing things differently" inside an organization.

Question 14

Milestones are formal review points that tend to lengthen the innovation process.

Question 15

What works well when managing innovation after technological discontinuities also works well when managing innovation during periods of incremental change.

Question 16

Nearly all technology cycles follow a bell-shaped pattern of innovation.

Question 17

An innovation stream begins with a technological discontinuity, which is a scientific advance or a unique combination of existing technologies creating a significant breakthrough in performance or function.

Question 18

According to Kurt Lewin, managing organizational change is a simple process that requires organizational dialogue, change intervention, and reformatting.

Question 19

Resistance to change usually results from organizational factors: such as the absence of promotion guidelines, bonuses, and praise.

Question 20

A technology cycle begins with the birth of a new technology and ends when that technology reaches its limits and dies; it is then replaced by newer, substantially better technology.

Question 21

In _____, the old technology and several different new technologies fight to establish a new technological standard or dominant design.

A)design substitution
B)modular management
C)design competition
D)technological lockout
E)incremental change

Question 22

When significant improvements in performance can only be gained through radical new designs or new performance-enhancing materials, it is likely that a company is _____ in the S-curve pattern of innovation.

A)at its breakeven point
B)at the problem identification stage of the innovation cycle
C)at the end of the innovation cycle
D)at either the beginning f the innovation cycle
E)at the beginning of its maturity stage

Question 23

Feldman Films is a company associated with photography. The development of the digital camera forced Feldman Films into the innovation stream because the new imaging process was a(n) _____.

A)technological subtraction
B)technological discontinuity
C)process obsolescence
D)process addition
E)example of design advantage

Question 24

When an automobile manufacturer learned that it took longer than any other manufacturer to assemble a vehicle, it purchased newer, more flexible manufacturing systems to replace its older ones. Which stage of the technology cycle is illustrated in the scenario?

A)Technological adaptation
B)The era of dominant design
C)The technological growth stage
D)Entropy
E)Discontinuous change

Question 25

Creativity was needed to improve efficiency without raising costs at an automobile maker. Over the last few years, the company has successfully implemented a creative engineering program that allows its plants to produce more than one type of car from the same assembly line. This successful change to a flexible manufacturing system is an example of ____.

A)corporate entropy
B)organizational innovation
C)assembly networking
D)organizational networking
E)reverse engineering

Question 26

_____ is defined as the knowledge, tools, and techniques used to transform inputs into outputs.

A)Deskilling
B)Entropy
C)Synergy
D)Technology
E)Creativity

Question 27

Nearly all technology cycles follow the typical _____ pattern of innovation.

A)W­curve
B)​S­curve
C)contingency
D)lockout
E)bell­shaped

Question 28

Organizational _____ is the successful implementation of creative ideas in organizations.

A)change
B)innovation
C)creativity
D)development
E)deployment

Question 29

In the typical S-curve pattern of innovation, increased effort (i.e., money, research and development) brings only small improvements in technological performance _____.

A)early in the cycle
B)throughout the cycle
C)halfway through the cycle
D)at both the beginning and end of the cycle
E)in the maturity stage of the cycle

Question 30

The development of the DVD player was a source of _____ to companies in the movie industry just as VHS tapes had once been.

A)a sustainable competitive advantage
B)creativity reengineering
C)technological discontinuity
D)planned shrinkage
E)reverse engineering

Question 31

A technology cycle occurs whenever there are major advances or changes in the _____ in a field or discipline.

A)human, technical, and conceptual skills needed
B)structure or personnel requirements
C)internal resource environment
D)knowledge, tools, and techniques
E)way information is retrieved

Question 32

A technology _____ begins with the birth of a new technology and ends when that technology reaches its limits and dies as it is replaced by a newer, substantially better technology.

A)process
B)lockout
C)cycle
D)hierarchy
E)continuum

Question 33

During the last decade, there was an increase in sales in CDs, DVDs, pen drives, and portable hard discs, as people sought to replace their obsolete floppy discs. In terms of the technology cycle, this is an example of _____.

A)adaptive change
B)design iteration
C)discontinuous change
D)dominant design
E)innovative lockout

Question 34

Over the long run, the best way for a company to sustain competitive advantage is to create _____ year after year.

A)entropies
B)innovation maps
C)slack resources
D)​innovation streams
E)cognitive dissonances

Question 35

In terms of innovation streams, what occurred when customers purchased flat-screen computer monitors to replace the older, bulkier monitors?

A)Technological substitution
B)Technological expansion
C)Reengineering
D)Demarketing
E)Deskilling

Question 36

Parkline is a popular brand of formal wear. The company decided on a new marketing strategy that actually involved its target audience participating in the campaign. This included an online virtual reality game that was highly popular among the audience, bringing the brand mass attention. Following this, their sales skyrocketed. This is an example of _____.

A)corporate entropy
B)organizational innovation
C)assembly networking
D)organizational networking
E)reverse engineering

Question 37

In the typical S-curve pattern of innovation, small amounts of effort will result in significant increases in performance _____.

A)during the lockout stage of the cycle
B)at the midpoint of the cycle
C)only at the end of the cycle
D)throughout the cycle
E)only at the beginning of the cycle

Question 38

____ is the phase of a technology cycle characterized by technological substitution and design competition.

A)Technological adaptation
B)Technological lockout
C)The technological growth stage
D)Change substitution
E)Discontinuous change

Question 39

Stellar Mobiles was a popular mobile phone brand. However, when its competitors began switching to smartphones, Stellar realized that it too needed to change in order to survive in the market, and it quickly started developing smartphones. In other words, Stellar Mobiles entered the _____ stage of the technology cycle.

A)technological entropy
B)decline
C)the technological maturity stage
D)change substitution
E)discontinuous change

Question 40

_____ occurs when customers purchase new technologies to replace older technologies.

A)Technological substitution
B)Entropy
C)Incremental environmental change
D)Organizational synergy
E)Transition management

Question 41

When the first cell phone was released, only a few people could afford to buy it. Over the years, mobile manufacturers improved the phone designs and features and also reduced their cost to make them more affordable. This signaled the shift to the _____ stage of the technology cycle.

A)technological discontinuity
B)discontinuous change
C)dominant design
D)incremental change
E)technological continuity

Question 42

The _____ approach to managing innovation assumes that innovation is a predictable process made up of a series of steps and that reducing the time it takes to complete those steps can speed up innovation.

A)compression
B)milestones
C)dialectical
D)generational
E)prototypical

Question 43

Which of the following is a characteristic of discontinuous change?

A)Synergy
B)Design competition
C)Incremental change
D)Entropy
E)Innovative reciprocity

Question 44

The _____ approach to innovation assumes that innovation is occurring within a highly uncertain environment.

A)compression
B)experiential
C)technological substitution
D)generational change
E)technological disruption

Question 45

The _____ approach to innovation asserts that the key to fast product innovation is to use intuition, flexible options, and hands-on experience to reduce uncertainty and accelerate learning and understanding.

A)compression
B)experiential
C)technological substitution
D)generational change
E)technological disruption

Question 46

Levio is a company that makes mobile apps and has decided to become a market leader in the field. Levio can encourage the development of a culture where workers perceive that new ideas are welcomed by offering challenging work and supervisory encouragement. In other words, the company can create a(n) ____.

A)creative work environment
B)closed system
C)bureaucratic envvironment
D)culture of change
E)tall structure

Question 47

Which of the following is an aspect of the experiential approach to innovation?

A)Design iteration
B)Centralization
C)Organizational impediments
D)Design lockout
E)Process duplication

Question 48

Formal project review points used to assess progress and performance are called _____.

A)prototypes
B)milestones
C)dominant designs
D)change forces
E)change agents

Question 49

Which of the following is an aspect of the experiential approach to learning?

A)Technological lockout
B)Product duplication
C)Multifunctional teams
D)Centralization
E)Micromanagement

Question 50

During the latter half of the last decade, flat-screen television sets were gradually replaced by LED television sets; the LED televisions became the new market standard. The latter is an example of a _____.

A)dichotomous product
B)​dominant design
C)design dichotomy
D)design iteration
E)differential design

Question 51

_____ are defined as workplace cultures in which workers perceive that new ideas are welcomed, valued, and encouraged.

A)Creative work environments
B)Centralized work envvironments
C)Homogeneous work environments
D)Bureaucratic work teams
E)Hierarchical work stations

Question 52

Which of the following is a component of a creative work environment?

A)Homogeneity
B)Job specialization
C)Centralization
D)Freedom
E)Micromanagement

Question 53

Which of the following is a component of a creative work environment that encourages creativity?

A)Easy work
B)Micromanagement
C)Absence of organizational impediments
D)Absence of heterogenous work groups
E)Absence of supervisors

Question 54

Before TREX Mobiles launched its latest smartphone, it built a prototype of the phone and tested its performance repeatedly, improving the model each time. This process is called _____.

A)serve development
B)process duplication
C)design iteration
D)design compliance
E)process reengineering

Question 55

Which of the following is NOT one of the components of creative work environments?

A)Challenging work
B)Organizational impediments
C)Freedom
D)Supervisory encouragement
E)Organizational encouragement

Question 56

Which of the following is NOT an organizational impediment to creativity in a work environment?

A)Internal conflict
B)Rigid management structures
C)Bias toward the status quo
D)Power struggles
E)Challenging work

Question 57

Which of the following is NOT a part of the experiential approach to innovation?

A)Hands­on experience to reduce uncertainty
B)Testing
C)Multifunctional teams
D)Design iterations
E)Design lockout

Question 58

The phases of a technology cycle within an innovation stream begins with:

A)incremental change.
B)discontinuous change.
C)dominant design.
D)technological discontinuity.
E)design iteration.

Question 59

A technology can become a dominant design if:

A)it resembles an old technology.
B)it is extensively used by a small number of people.
C)it is the most expensive technology in the market.
D)it solves a practical problem.
E)it is not considered as a market standard.

Question 60

How can companies foster the generation of new ideas?

A)By building a creative work environment
B)By using micromanagement techniques
C)By adopting a centralized organizational structure
D)By making tasks less challenging for employees
E)By incorporating organizational impediments

Question 61

The first step in the compression approach to innovation is _____.

A)overlapping of the individual steps
B)planning
C)supplier involvement
D)granting autonomy
E)creating multifunctional teams

Question 62

Which of the following statements is true about the compression approach to managing innovation?

A)It is used during periods of uncertainty.
B)It aims at developing a new dominant design.
C)It involves the general strategy of building something new.
D)It is used during periods of incremental change.
E)It is used during periods of discontinuous change.

Question 63

The three steps in the basic process of managing organizational change outlined by Kurt Lewin are ____.

A)organizational change, departmental change, and individual change
B)​unfreezing, change intervention, and refreezing
C)change definition, change motivation, and change
D)synthesizing, motivating, and rewarding
E)change control, change mobilization, and change acceptance

Question 64

Which of the following is one of the sources of resistance to change?

A)Multifunctional teams
B)​Self­interest
C)A dynamic organizational culture
D)Discontinuous innovation
E)Change forces

Question 65

In the context of managing change, _____ forces support the status quo.

A)Dialectical
B)Generational
C)Resistance
D)Experiential
E)Autonomous

Question 66

At which stage of organizational decline does the decline become irreversible?

A)Crisis stage
B)Faulty action stage
C)Dissolution stage
D)​Inaction stage
E)Blinded stage

Question 67

Which of the following is a characteristic of the inaction stage of organizational decline?

A)Management announce belt­tightening plans designed to cut costs, increase efficiency, and restore profits.
B)Managers wrongly assume that they can easily correct the problems, so they don't feel the situation is urgent.
C)Key managers fail to recognize the internal or external changes that will harm their organizations.
D)Cutbacks and layoffs will have reduced the level of talent among employees.
E)The company is dissolved through bankruptcy proceedings or by selling assets in order to pay suppliers, banks, and creditors.

Question 68

When companies don't anticipate, recognize, neutralize, or adapt to the internal or external pressures that threaten their survival, it results in _____.

A)design competition
B)resistance to change
C)discontinuous change
D)organizational decline
E)generational change

Question 69

Touchstone Hardware was a popular company that specialized in making floppy disks. At the start of the 21st century, when people began switching to CDs and DVDs to store their information, it was brought to the notice of senior managers that the company needed to switch its focus to the new storage devices. However, managers did not feel it was important to switch. They dismissed CDs and DVDs as just a passing phase. At this point, which stage of organizational decline is the company in?

A)Dissolution stage
B)Crisis stage
C)Proactive stage
D)Faulty action stage
E)Blinded stage

Question 70

Which of the following statements about resistance to change is true?

A)It increases when those affected by the change participate in its planning and implementation.
B)It increases when employees are educated about the need for change.
C)It increases when change efforts receive significant managerial support.
D)It is minimal in conditions of certainty.
E)It is caused by misunderstanding and distrust.

Question 71

In the _____ stage of organizational decline, a new CEO may be brought in to oversee the closing of stores, offices, and manufacturing facilities, the final layoff of managers and employees, and the sale of assets.

A)crisis
B)blinded
C)inaction
D)faulty action
E)dissolution

Question 72

According to social psychologist Kurt Lewin, _____ lead to differences in the form, quality, or condition of an organization over time.

A)freezing forces
B)​change forces
C)resistance forces
D)generational changes
E)inertia forces

Question 73

In the _____ stage of organizational decline, cutbacks and layoffs will have reduced the level of talent among employees.

A)faulty action
B)inaction
C)crisis
D)dissolution
E)blinded

Question 74

It is appropriate to use a(n) _____ approach to manage innovation in more certain environments, in which the goals are lower costs and incremental improvements in the performance and function of an existing technological design.

A)experiential
B)compression
C)prototypical
D)milestones
E)reinforcement

Question 75

In the _____ stage of organizational decline, managers typically assume that if they just run a tighter ship, company performance will return to previous levels.

A)blinded
B)dissolution
C)faulty action
D)inaction
E)crisis

Question 76

Which of the following is one of the three steps in the basic process of managing organizational change outlined by Kurt Lewin?

A)organizational dialogue
B)​unfreezing
C)change definition
D)incremental change
E)change mentoring

Question 77

Backward compatibility is an important consideration for software users who are using an accounting program to facilitate their tax preparation and who want to use a newer version that has greater capacity. Therefore, many software manufacturers engage in _____.

A)corrective change
B)dominant design manipulation
C)generational change
D)technological lockout
E)design duplication

Question 78

Which of the following is an aspect of the compression approach to innovation?

A)Supplier involvement
B)Design iterations
C)Heavy budgets
D)Development of a dominant design
E)Groupthink

Question 79

When Red Arc Enterprises, a shipping company was merged with a larger shipping company, there was a strong resistance to change among the employees of Red Arc. When the CEO of Red Arc came to know of this, he met everyone and explained why the change was necessary and how it could serve to benefit all of them. Kurt Lewin would say that the company is in the _____ stage of managing organizational change.

A)change intervention
B)change mobilization
C)refreezing
D)freezing
E)​unfreezing

Question 80

When incremental improvements are made to a dominant technological design such that the improved version of the technology is fully backward compatible with the older version, _____ is said to have occurred.

A)a milestone
B)discontinuous innovation
C)intuitive change
D)​generational change
E)coercive change