Deck 13: Strategic Decision Making: Managing Strategic Change

Question 1

In very broad terms, change can take a number of forms. It can be planned or emergent, and deterministic or

A) voluntaristic
B) evolutionary
C) transformational
D) incremental

Answer 1

voluntaristic

Question 2

Strategic leaders who break with past ways of doing things are commonly called?

A) Creative leaders
B) Inspirational leaders
C) Transformational leaders
D) Emotional leaders

Answer 2

Transformational leaders

Question 3

How do the terms 'voluntarism' and 'determinism' relate to the issue of strategic change in organizations?

Answer 3

In sociology, there has long been debate regarding the extent to which social actors have 'agency' i.e. they are in control of their own destiny. Voluntarism theories of change argue that social actors do have agency and therefore can decide for themselves how the organization should change. Determinism theories of change argue that change 'happens' to individuals in organizations as defined by social and organizational structures. In this sense, change can be seen as following a prescribed pattern.

Question 4

How can continuous improvement potentially harm an organization in the longer term?

Question 5

What characteristics would you expect to find in someone who is 'emotionally intelligent'?

Question 6

List some advantages and disadvantages of using an external change agent to manage strategic change.

Question 7

Briefly describe the Gemini Consulting change methodology.

Question 8

Lewin's freeze/unfreeze process is which type of theory of change?

A) Voluntaristic
B) Evolutionary
C) Dialectic
D) Teological

Question 9

Dialectic theories of change see change as

A) something that organizations can't control
B) being shaped by political tensions
C) an evolutionary process
D) something that is forced on organizations

Question 10

Van de Ven and Poole (1995) identify four main theories of change. These are life-cycle theories, teleogical theories, dialectic theories and

A) systemic theories
B) processual theories
C) evolutionary theories
D) social action theories

Question 11

Life-cycle theories of change see change as being

A) voluntaristic
B) political
C) cultural
D) deterministic

Question 12

Which approach to change management do Nutt et al (2000) consider to give the greatest chance of success?

A) Gap analyses
B) Adaptive approaches
C) Systemic tensions perspective
D) Analytical approaches

Question 13

A practical tool for managing change is the laddering technique. This is a way of communicating which aspects of the context of the change?

A) The 'how' and the 'why'
B) The 'how' and the 'when'
C) The 'what' and the 'who'
D) The 'what' and the 'when'

Question 14

The continuous improvement movement is an example of what kind of change?

A) transformational
B) evolutionary
C) incremental
D) radical

Question 15

It is argued that organizational change occurs because of threatening events that spur people into action. This type of change is known as

A) Evolutionary
B) Punctuated equilibrium
C) Logical incrementalism
D) Double-loop learning

Question 16

Hannan et al (2003) in their study of organizational scale and scope and its effect on change, argue that two factors influence the success of change. These are opacity and

A) austerity
B) affluence
C) asperity
D) prosperity

Question 17

De Geus explained why some environmental signals might be missed by some companies. What is the reason that de Geus suggested?

A) 'memory of the future'
B) 'memory of the past'
C) 'invention of the future'
D) 'invention of the past'

Question 18

When a manager is good at understanding their own mental processes and those of others, they are said to have a high level of

A) Intellectual intelligence
B) Emotional intelligence
C) Rationality
D) Intuition

Question 19

According to Argyris (1992), people avoid emotional engagement in organizations through the deployment of

A) Change agents
B) Cultural norms
C) Defensive routines
D) Formal power

Question 20

Which consulting firm uses metaphors from biology to explain organizational change?

A) Cap Gemini
B) KPMG
C) McKinsey
D) PricewaterhouseCoopers

Question 21

Kanter (1999) argues that creative organizational contexts can be formed and sustained by three major elements. These are concepts, competences and

A) Connections
B) Champions
C) Culture
D) Discontinuities

Question 22

An organizational change method that was popular in the 1990s and involves starting with a blank sheet is called

A) Lewin's force field analysis
B) Continuous improvement
C) Business Process Re-engineering
D) Transactional analysis

Question 23

Adaptive approaches to change argue that strategic change is a process of

A) renewal
B) alignment
C) adjustment
D) re-engineering

Question 24

Which view of strategic leadership acknowledges that strategic leaders' intuitive abilities should be embraced?

A) Planned
B) Emergent
C) Classical
D) Incremental

Question 25

A person or group who effects change in an organization is commonly known as

A) A transformational leader
B) A charismatic leader
C) A consultant
D) A change agent