Deck 9: Organisation Transformation and Change

Question 1

Transformational change is an established part of organisation development (OD), therefore its meaning and definition are well-known throughout the profession.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The behavioural approach, the competing assumptions approach and the deep values approach are three complementary perspectives to diagnosing organisation culture.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Changing organisational membership is not regarded as an effective method for changing corporate culture.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Organisation design can be applied to a stand-alone unit within a large organisation.

Question 5

Organisation culture is the pattern of assumptions, values and norms generally shared by the fragmented subcultures within an organisation.

Question 6

The cultures of many companies are deeply rooted in the firm's history.

Question 7

As a design component, human resource practices have to do with how employees are led and the nature and kinds of information with which they are provided to guide their work.

Question 8

The main elements of organisation culture include artefacts, norms, values and basic assumptions.

Question 9

An organisation's culture affects performance through its influence on employee morale.

Question 10

Three key roles for executive leadership in transformational change include envisioning, energising and enhancing.

Question 11

Organisation transformation may occur in response to sharp changes in legal, political, economic and technological conditions that shift the basis for competition within an industry.

Question 12

Integrated strategic change involves a process where senior management must ensure organisation members comply with directions.

Question 13

Evidence suggests that corporate culture can directly affect organisation performance.

Question 14

Transformational change typically has a delimited time frame.

Question 15

Encouraging input from throughout the organisation in setting cultural values can reduce the chances of ethical and legal problems for practitioners.

Question 16

Organisations are unlikely to undertake transformational change unless significant reasons to do so emerge.

Question 17

Integrated strategic change encapsulates organisation learning and allows for gradual, evolutionary alignments between the internal and the external environments.

Question 18

'Fit', 'congruence' or 'alignment' among organisation elements is a key notion in organisation design.

Question 19

The strategic analysis process of integrated strategic change actively involves organisation members.

Question 20

The first practical guideline for cultural change is to recruit senior managers from outside of the organisation.

Question 21

Discontinuous shifts in mental or organisational frameworks are known as:

A)environmental and internal disruptions
B)systematic and revolutionary change
C)a new organisation paradigm
D)continuous learning and change
E)gamma change

Question 22

'Work design' specifies:

A)how employees are led
B)how tasks are delegated
C)how tasks are performed
D)work patterns
E)how resources are to be used

Question 23

Internal company dynamics that may trigger transformational change include:

A)shortened product life cycles
B)changes to the regulatory framework
C)absenteeism
D)technology changes
E)senior executive turnover

Question 24

Some organisation development (OD) practitioners argue that implementing culture change is difficult, if not impossible, because:

A)members may have vested interests in maintaining the existing culture
B)the culture provides a defence against internal uncertainties and threats
C)cultures are not a source of competitive advantage
D)members are unable to change the norms and artefacts of the organisation
E)values and assumptions are subjective ideas that cannot be changed

Question 25

Organic organisation designs require:

A)members who are recruited to fit the organisation culture
B)members who are recruited to fit the job
C)up-front training to make staff job-ready from the beginning
D)pay based on individual merit to encourage innovation
E)cost minimisation through flat structures

Question 26

Ethical and legal problems can arise for practitioners where:

A)an organisation changes too rapidly
B)cultural change raises significant tensions between organisation and individual interests
C)input is sought throughout the organisation in setting cultural values
D)mechanisms for dissent and diversity are implemented
E)senior managers are overly legalistic in applying guidelines

Question 27

Mechanistic organisation designs support:

A)manufacturing processes
B)innovation and change
C)flexible work practices
D)efficiency and control
E)command and control

Question 28

Organisation culture does NOT include:

A)artefacts
B)norms
C)basic assumptions
D)work patterns
E)values

Question 29

The competing values approach suggests that an organisation's culture:

A)can only be understood at a deep assumptions level
B)is the least useful element of a diagnosis
C)is a pattern of activities that produce business results
D)presents significant risks when changes needed in implementing a new strategy are in competition with the existing patterns of behaviour
E)can be understood in terms of two important and contradictory 'value pairs'

Question 30

The application stage of organisation design relies on:

A)the skills of the OD practitioner
B)every organisation member
C)patience and deliberation
D)the methods for leading and managing change
E)employee initiative

Question 31

Organisation design interventions typically occur in response to:

A)deregulation
B)a major change in the organisation's strategy
C)changes in technology
D)mergers
E)gamma change

Question 32

When faced with the competing values of internal versus external focus, organisations must choose between:

A)emphasis on the external environment and addressing internal inefficiencies
B)adopting a hierarchical or a built-to-change structure
C)adjusting structures or processes as a strategic priority
D)attending to integration problems of internal operations and the competitive issues in the external environment
E)the deep assumptions and the behavioural approach

Question 33

Organisation culture can be used to improve an organisation's ability to implement new business strategies and achieve high levels of performance.The process of culture change should NOT consider the following step:

A)creating clear strategic vision
B)getting top management commitment and symbolic leadership
C)adjusting structures and processes
D)supporting organisational changes
E)selecting and socialising newcomers while terminating those with different views

Question 34

Large-scale corporate change may be necessary where:

A)senior managers are unable to communicate a clear strategic vision
B)the organisation's culture does not fit a changing environment
C)the business needs to downsize
D)the norms and artefacts need to be changed
E)the level of competition in the industry is low

Question 35

The deep assumptions approach to diagnosis views culture as:

A)only capable of being understood at a deep assumptions level
B)the generally unexamined but tacit and shared assumptions that guide member behaviour
C)a pattern of activities that produce business results
D)the conflicting demands between two value pairs at the heart of the organisation
E)a number of implicit norms

Question 36

Integrated strategic change (ISC) extends traditional organisation development (OD) processes into the content-oriented discipline of:

A)change management
B)organisation learning
C)intervention management
D)strategic management
E)knowledge management

Question 37

The key roles of leaders in transformational change are:

A)envisioning, energising and enabling
B)diagnosis, changing and enabling
C)envisioning, changing and refreezing
D)enabling, creating and energising
E)energising, changing and enabling

Question 38

The application stages of integrated strategic change (ISC) do not include:

A)implementing the plan
B)exercising strategic choice
C)performing the strategic analysis
D)energising organisation members
E)designing the strategic change plan

Question 39

The values and behaviours being sought in organisational change must be communicated through:

A)regular updates to staff such as emails or staff bulletins
B)getting top management commitment and symbolic leadership
C)through the actions of senior executives
D)symbolic gestures targeted at junior workers
E)rigorous 360-degree performance appraisals

Question 40

Which of the approaches to diagnosing culture is the most difficult to interpret?

A)The competing values approach
B)The deep assumptions approach
C)The behavioural approach
D)The competing values and deep assumptions approaches
E)The competing values and behavioural approaches

Question 41

'Committed leadership is a significant ingredient in transformational change.' Discuss.

Question 42

What is organisation transformation and under what conditions are transformational changes necessary?

Question 43

What are the key elements in the conceptual framework of organisation design? Why are these important?

Question 44

To what extent does organisational culture improve organisational performance? Use examples to support your argument.

Question 45

How might an OD consultant help organisation members discover the underlying assumptions of the organisation's values, norms and artefacts?

Question 46

Identify two of the four major elements of organisation culture in an organisation you have worked for (or use a particular firm as a case study).Discuss how the particular elements facilitated or hindered organisation transformation.

Question 47

Identify two organisations that have adopted a participative approach in undertaking deliberate strategic change in recent times (these may be organisations you are personally familiar with).Using the integrated strategic change (ISC) process steps as an analytical framework for your essay, discuss how each organisation approached the strategic change and then compare the positives and negatives of each approach.To what extent was the ISC process adopted by these two organisations (this can be either deliberate or unintentional) and how successful were the respective changes?

Question 48

Discuss organisation culture and how it can influence attempts to transform organisations.How important is the diagnosis of organisation culture in facilitating organisation transformation?

Question 49

Explain how strategy determines how an organisation might use its resources to gain a competitive advantage.