Deck 1: Introduction

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT one of the 'stems' of organisation development (OD)?

A)laboratory training
B)environmental analysis
C)action research/survey feedback
D)participative management and quality of work life (QWL)
E)strategic change

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Organisation development (OD) is the system-wide application of behavioural science knowledge to the planned development and reinforcement of organisational strategies, structures and processes for improving an organisation's effectiveness.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT a focus of laboratory or T-group training?

A)interpersonal relations
B)personal growth
C)leadership
D)group dynamics
E)incremental evolution

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Productivity and QWL ideas were originated by Kurt Lewin.

Question 5

A large number of organisations in Australia have been actively involved in formal organisation development (OD) programs in the recent past.

Question 6

Although traditionally much of organisation development (OD) work was considered confidential, today organisations have increasingly gone public with their OD efforts and are interested in sharing their lessons with others.

Question 7

Which of the following affects productivity?

A)reward systems
B)work flows
C)management styles
D)physical work environment
E)all of the above

Question 8

Today, the field of organisation development (OD) is being influenced by globalisation and information technology.

Question 9

Three major trends are shaping change in organisations:

A)globalisation, information technology and managerial innovation
B)globalisation, strategic change and leadership change
C)political, technological and cultural change
D)structural, technical and cultural change
E)political, technical and cultural change

Question 10

Internationally, organisation development (OD) has moved towards designing for revolutionary organisational change with a greater focus on transformational leadership.

Question 11

Organisation development (OD) is not typically associated with new product development or technological innovation.

Question 12

The most distinguishing characteristic of early quality-of-work-life (QWL) programs was:

A)the quality of work performed
B)the development of self-managing work groups
C)the involvement of unions in decision making
D)the use of job-enrichment techniques
E)the development of interesting work settings

Question 13

Organisation development (OD) practice is necessarily focused on face to face interactions in the workplace.

Question 14

Organisation development (OD) often requires a transformational leadership style.

Question 15

It is argued that there is no universal model of change that can be used throughout the world.Rather, for the purposes of sustainability, organisations need to be able to implement both incremental and transformational change.

Question 16

Which of the following is EXCLUDED from the definition of organisation development (OD)?

A)OD is a system-wide process
B)OD focuses on all forms of organisational change
C)OD draws on behavioural science knowledge
D)OD consists of small, incremental steps managed participatively
E)OD impacts on organisational effectiveness

Question 17

The following are key to competing in a mature market:

A)revolutionary vision, new products and services
B)speed, flexibility and stability
C)radical innovation, speed and leadership
D)reinforcement of change, sustainability, and flexibility
E)cost, efficiency and incremental innovation

Question 18

A contingency view of change acknowledges the influence of:

A)consultation and participation
B)available data that can be collected
C)the external environment and technology
D)research that is relevant to the organisation
E)high levels of productivity

Question 19

Conclusions about the first T-group experiment were: (1) feedback about group interaction was a rich learning experience, and (2) the process could be transferred to 'back-home' situations.

Question 20

Organisation development (OD) assumes that transformational change is more important than incremental change.

Question 21

Organisation transformation (OT) often receives considerable coverage in the media because it is:

A)at the cutting-edge of strategic management thinking
B)absolutely necessary for modern organisations to sustain a competitive advantage
C)more important than organisation development (OD) techniques which are only internally focused
D)often perceived as an observable 'quick fix' to rapid changes in the external environment
E)revolutionary and therefore more popular with the general public

Question 22

What is organisation development (OD)?

Question 23

Define and compare three stems of organisation development (OD).

Question 24

Organisation development (OD) 'is a process that applies behavioural science knowledge and practices to help organisations achieve greater effectiveness, including increased financial performance and improved quality of work life.' It differs from organisation transformation (OT).How and why is the distinction important?

Question 25

Identify and discuss current trends in organisational environments that are influencing the practice of organisation development (OD).

Question 26

Many Australian organisations are:

A)actively involved in organisation development programs
B)knowingly applying organisation development techniques
C)using OD techniques without knowing the term 'organisation development'
D)applying organisation development in international contexts
E)discussing organisation development without practicing its principles

Question 27

The human relations approach describes 'benevolent authoritative systems' (System 2) as:

A)managing with autocratic, top-down approaches to leadership
B)allowing limited interaction, communication and decision making within boundaries defined by management
C)consulting employees about problems and decisions, but management making decisions
D)using group methods of decision making and supervision
E)applying systems of lateral and vertical communication

Question 28

Organisational change describes:

A)internally motivated changes in organisations
B)externally mandated changes for organisations
C)any change faced by organisations
D)techniques for developing organisational capabilities
E)processes for reinventing organisational effectiveness

Question 29

Discuss three environmental trends that created pressure on organisations to embrace organisation development (OD) programs in the recent past.

Question 30

Changes in organisations are caused mainly by:

A)globalisation
B)electronic data interchange
C)strategic alliances
D)increasing economic concentration
E)aging workforces

Question 31

With which of the following areas do organisation development (OD) practitioners need to be familiar to implement strategic change?

A)competitive strategy
B)finance
C)economics
D)marketing
E)all of the above

Question 32

Organisation development (OD) is concerned with change that helps organisations to:

A)transfer knowledge and skills
B)solve problems
C)improve quality of work life
D)improve effectiveness
E)all of the above

Question 33

The newest contribution to the quality-of-work-life (QWL) stem is:

A)union-management cooperation
B)sociotechnical systems methods
C)total quality management
D)reward system changes
E)participative management

Question 34

Briefly discuss why many different organisations have undertaken a wide variety of organisation development (OD) efforts.

Question 35

How can organisation development (OD) help managers and staff personnel perform their tasks more effectively?

Question 36

Today the field of organisation development (OD) is expanding due to:

A)globalisation and information technology
B)expansion of the OD network
C)development of new theorists, researchers and practitioners
D)all of the above
E)none of the above

Question 37

Select an Australian organisation which has undergone change recently and/or is implementing a major change program.Identify the type of change and discuss the subsequent impact of the change.

Question 38

As organisations and the environments they operate in have become more complex and uncertain:

A)the need for participative management and industrial democracy have increased
B)the scale and intricacies of organisational change have increased
C)action research has become more necessary than ever
D)transformational leadership is essential
E)planned change is increasingly outmoded

Question 39

Organisation transformation (OT) strategies are often short-term therefore requiring:

A)ongoing change to keep pace with the external environment
B)more of an emphasis on training senior managers in strategic thinking
C)a return to organisation development (OD) methodologies to stabilise the organisation in the long-term
D)more internal OT practitioners
E)all of the above

Question 40

Current practice in organisation development (OD) is strongly influenced by:

A)its background
B)trends that shape organisations
C)trends that shape changes in organisations
D)its background and trends that shape organisations
E)its background and trends that shape change in organisations

Question 41

Discuss the importance of three activities typically practiced in organisation development (OD).