Deck 12: Organizational Change and Learning

Question 1

The radical change model was developed by professors at the Harvard School of Business.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach that relies heavily on radical change.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Timing has very little to do with the magnitude or results of an organizational change.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Chaos is a symptom of a poorly managed organizational change.

Question 5

A roofing company that receives a large number of water damage claims is experiencing a performance gap.

Question 6

Organizations often hire outside consultants to assist with problem diagnosis because they offer expertise that the organization lacks to conduct and properly analyze employee attitude surveys.

Question 7

Organizational diagnosis is where the need for change is articulated in describing specific measures to be used in progressing toward goals.

Question 8

Managers can effectively use fear tactics to eliminate the effects of vested interests.

Question 9

One way to reduce cynicism is to make changes take place as infrequently as possible.

Question 10

Downsizing is a painful process but it continues to be popular because it has proven to be highly effective as a survival strategy.

Question 11

Job enrichment involves the scientific analysis of tasks performed by employees in order to discover procedures that produce the maximum output for the minimum input.

Question 12

Organizational development is a broad term that refers to several different methods for creating organizational change.

Question 13

Focus groups need to operate in an open, nonthreatening environment where there is no designated leader that can dominate and make people feel inhibited.

Question 14

Team building is more important in tall organizations with narrow spans of control.

Question 15

E-engineering is a reengineering initiative that uses Web-based technology.

Question 16

Innovation is just another name for change.

Question 17

Three basic types of innovation are technical, process, and administrative.

Question 18

Convergence and implementation are basic types of innovation.

Question 19

Learning organizations have the distinction of being customer-focused.

Question 20

As a result of providing a culture of innovation within the organization, Continental Airlines created and was the first to use electronic ticketing in airline travel.

Question 21

Knight-Ridder's long-term perspective led it to successfully enter broadcast journalism.

Question 22

Scanning the environment includes the observation of tacit knowledge or gossip.

Question 23

When Bill Zollars started his survival campaign to make the necessary changes at Yellow Freight, all of the following had recently happened except __________.

A) deregulation of the trucking industry
B) company losses of $30 million
C) two rounds of layoffs
D) a major strike by the teamsters union

Question 24

Yellow Freight employees now have adequate __________ to enable them to solve problems and assess the performance of their company.

A) motivation
B) information
C) incentives
D) all of the above

Question 25

Reactive change can be incremental or radical. What company's share price fell 50 percent in 6 months after the CEO attempted to make a radical reactive change instead of radical incremental change?

A) Prudential
B) Citibank
C) AT&T
D) P&G

Question 26

Davis Owen has just administered questionnaires (like the one in your textbook) to each of his employees concerning how they respond to innovation and change. Over 80% of his employees received a score more than 9. What can Davis conclude from this new information?

A) His employees would be most comfortable in a traditional environment.
B) They will enjoy working in an organization that offers cutting-edge products or services.
C) They are unlikely to create changes in the organization.
D) They do not see how change can improve performance.

Question 27

Ramona Chavez has just completed the self-management competency questionnaire and has determined from her score that she would work well in an organization that makes changes fast. Despite her overall high score however, her supervisor is concerned about a response she gave on one of the questions. Which question and response indicates she may prefer an organization that makes changes more slowly?

A) She seldom follows rules that she think are silly or ineffective
B) She will have a new job in five years that she can't even imagine yet
C) She believes she would prefer a job that she can master and become a real expert at doing
D) She enjoys trying news foods, even if she isn't sure of the ingredients

Question 28

Ed Zander, president of Microsystems, Inc., used __________ to assess the competitive marketplace.

A) performance appraisals
B) customer satisfaction surveys
C) "whack-o-meter" sessions
D) diagnostic methods

Question 29

The HR director at Food Ingredient Specialties used __________ to encourage employees to creatively analyze company problems.

A) motivational speakers
B) videos
C) music
D) all of the above

Question 30

The text mentioned all of the following alternatives to layoffs except __________.

A) reducing hours
B) reducing pay
C) encouraging leaves of absence
D) getting rid of part-time workers

Question 31

As one of the world's largest companies with 101,000 employees and $128 billion in annual revenues, size could not protect Royal Dutch/Shell from __________.

A) the World Trade Organization
B) European hypermarkets
C) price shocks in the oil markets
D) environmental threats

Question 32

Royal Dutch/Shell needed a more fundamental change than downsizing. One of the major challenges that were identified was __________.

A) making its prices more competitive
B) achieving consistent brand recognition internationally
C) boosting retail outlet sales
D) inefficient use of its refinery capabilities

Question 33

Steve Miller, managing director of Royal Dutch/Shell, is convinced that creating change is __________.

A) a top-down task
B) a bottom-up task
C) the most essential activity
D) an unending cycle

Question 34

Mercedes-Benz Credit Corporation set out to restructure its operations in the United States by instituting all of the following except:

A) offered the security of a new job to anyone bold enough to eliminate his or her current position.
B) reminded employees that fear was a normal and essential element of change.
C) eliminated four layers of management as a result of employee recommendations.
D) used financial incentives to convince employees that even cutting their own jobs wouldn't hurt them.

Question 35

Fear often goes hand in hand with __________.

A) misunderstandings
B) cynicism
C) vested interests
D) technological change

Question 36

Prudential communicated the implications of its change policies through the use of a board game similar to Monopoly in order to alleviate negative effects that might be caused by __________.

A) misunderstandings
B) fear
C) vested interests
D) cynicism

Question 37

Jeanine Yates has initiated and implemented many changes in her workplace. Some have been successful, and others have not. Yates must understand that the ability to sustain and make change work depends primarily on ___________.

A) the ability to terminate poor workers after change has been made
B) the skill of the change initiator
C) how well the organization monitors reactions and improvements after the change effort
D) the skills and abilities of the employees involved in the change

Question 38

Carol Bernick believed the best way to change Alberto-Culver's performance was to __________.

A) change its marketing
B) change its culture
C) change its pricing structure
D) change the top management team

Question 39

Alberto-Culver created growth development leaders to take part in all of the following except __________.

A) performance reviews
B) one-on-one mentoring
C) communicating the family friendly benefits
D) meeting and communicating with the CEO

Question 40

All of the following are true regarding job enrichment except:

A) it changes the basic relationship between employees and their work.
B) it changes employee behaviors in ways that gradually lead to more positive attitudes about the organization.
C) it offers opportunities for initiating other types of organizational change.
D) promotes social loafing within the organization.

Question 41

Intel conducted a survey of its 85,000 employees using a(n) __________ method.

A) Web-based
B) ERP
C) pen and paper
D) both a and c

Question 42

___________ is a description of reengineering initiatives that use Web-based technology as the primary method for managing business-to-business processes.

A) E-engineering
B) E-commerce
C) E-generation
D) E-digitalizing

Question 43

Kodak's lack of innovation caused all of the following except __________.

A) profits plummeted
B) 34,000 workers were laid off
C) the CEO was fired
D) all of the above

Question 44

Champion International was a traditional __________ company that followed technical innovations and moved higher in Fortune's listings for six consecutive years.

A) spark plug manufacturing
B) chemical
C) food service
D) paper manufacturing

Question 45

Champion International made all of the following changes as a result of technical innovations except __________.

A) major investments in technical skills training
B) in-house manufacturing of its state-of-the-art equipment
C) restructured 10 of its 11 mills
D) changed management structure from hierarchical to team-based

Question 46

Management of Nantucket Nectars encourages employees to learn by allowing them to make mistakes. Managers believe this will result in __________.

A) lower worker turnover
B) better quality beverages
C) better financial performance in the long run
D) another product breakthrough

Question 47

Which company first implemented an employee's innovative idea of electronic plane tickets?

A) Southwest Airlines
B) Continental
C) People Express
D) British Airways

Question 48

Which of the following is true concerning Knight-Ridder's purchase of Dialog Information Services?

A) The purchase price was attractive so Knight-Ridder decided to make the short-term investment.
B) The new service reaches a newspaper readership audience of primarily 25 to 43 year olds.
C) The acquisition of Dialog transformed the traditional newspaper company to a leader in online business information.
D) The company's acceptance of the need for a short-term perspective was crucial for a learning organization.

Question 49

A design option for learning organizations is to become a network of cooperating units connected by a sense of community among a larger pool of people who share their diverse knowledge and expertise. What is this network design called?

A) strategic alliance
B) team-based
C) measurement-oriented
D) boundaryless

Question 50

Explain the planning process for organizational change.

Question 51

Identify four methods of organizational change.