Deck 11: Sustaining Change Versus Initiative Decay

Question 1

_____ measures are directly financial.

A) Leading
B) Lagging
C) Cost-based
D) Non-cost

Answer 1

C

Question 2

According to the _____ image of managing change, with respect to sustaining change, the change manager's main role is to help others to develop the capabilities necessary to achieve the intended outcomes of the change.

A) caretaker
B) coach
C) interpreter
D) nurturer

Answer 2

B

Question 3

_____ measures are those that reveal the immediate results of a new initiative, such as changes in processing time, or time-to-market for new products.

A) Leading
B) Lagging
C) Internal
D) External

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following was NOT a problem faced by McDonald's when launching hotels in Switzerland?

A) The interior design of the structures
B) The use of the phrase "golden arches" in German
C) The application of the brand name "McDonald's" to a four-star hotel
D) The protests in Europe based on alleged adverse health effects of food at McDonald's

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT one of the "four hard lessons" identified by Robert Reisner for organizations undertaking a major change initiative in a turbulent economic environment?

A) Don't miss your moment
B) Connect change initiatives to your core business
C) Don't mistake incremental improvements for strategic transformation
D) Don't make private enterprises compete with government enterprises

Question 6

According to the _____ image of managing change, with respect to sustaining change, the change manager develops understanding of the meaning and significance of the changes and what will count as successful outcomes.

A) caretaker
B) coach
C) interpreter
D) nurturer

Question 7

According to the _____ image of managing change, with respect to sustaining change, it is the responsibility of the change manager to design the change process and direct others to comply to ensure that planned objectives are achieved.

A) director
B) navigator
C) caretaker
D) coach

Question 8

In the context of praiseworthy and blameworthy failures, Mitchell Marks and Robert Shaw argue that a firm may gain more in the long term from a(n) _____.

A) productive failure
B) non-goal-oriented change
C) unproductive failure
D) unproductive success

Question 9

Gordon Bethune, the chief executive officer of Continental Airlines, changed the core metric used by the airline to _____.

A) off-time performance
B) fuel costs
C) amount of beverage consumed
D) on-time performance

Question 10

The commitment of resources to an initiative in such a way that to withdraw would be extremely costly conveys _____.

A) the act of celebrating en route
B) unambiguous management support
C) fine-tuning of resources
D) burning of bridges

Question 11

A problem associated with sustaining change is:

A) assuming that successful changes will automatically be sustained.
B) de-escalation of commitment.
C) recognizing success.
D) inflated expectations of competitors.

Question 12

_____ measures, such as financial performance and corporate image, can take time to become apparent.

A) Leading
B) Lagging
C) Internal
D) External

Question 13

Which of the following illustrates a praiseworthy failure?

A) Mark chooses to violate a prescribed process or practice.
B) Lia takes seemingly reasonable actions that produce undesirable results due to uncertainty of future events.
C) Paula inadvertently deviates from project specifications.
D) Sam does not have the skills, conditions, or training to execute the task of maintaining customer relations in his organization.

Question 14

A focus on measurement of progress is important because:

A) it can assist in making important decisions about downsizing.
B) it is a means of monitoring change and is likely to have a significant impact on how people act.
C) it can justify managerial decisions and explain failure of managerial efforts.
D) it provides information from an organization's historical perspective.

Question 15

According to the _____ image of managing change, with respect to sustaining change, change outcomes will be determined primarily by contextual factors and not by management intervention.

A) caretaker
B) coach
C) interpreter
D) nurturer

Question 16

_____ treats occasional failure as natural and as an opportunity to develop better understanding and to improve future performance.

A) A gracious organization
B) An inverted organization
C) A learning organization
D) A matrix organization

Question 17

According to the text, which of the following was NOT a problem faced by the U.S. Postal Service in 2001?

A) Senior managers who lacked the conviction that electronic commerce could positively affect Postal Service
B) Low morale and performance of the staff
C) The inability to steer funding through a budget process that favored traditional initiatives over innovations
D) Rapidly rising fuel costs that made operation unprofitable

Question 18

According to the _____ image of managing change, with respect to sustaining change, the change manager designs the change process to fit the context, recognizing that modifications will be required and that the outcome may not be as intended.

A) director
B) navigator
C) caretaker
D) coach

Question 19

According to the _____ image of managing change, with respect to sustaining change, change outcomes are in constant flux and are largely beyond management control.

A) caretaker
B) coach
C) interpreter
D) nurturer

Question 20

According to David Buchanan et al., which of the following is the main threat to the sustainability of change in an organization?

A) Accountability for development being unclear
B) The effective replacement of knowledge during staff turnover
C) Appointment of sustainable managers by organizations
D) The visibility of issues and pressures that triggered an initiative

Question 21

Staff selection, and promotion processes, can be subtle but powerful ways to change and to maintain an organization's culture.

Question 22

According to Barry Staw and Jerry Ross, the factor that leads to escalation resulting from self-justification biases in which having been personally responsible for a decision can lead to continued commitment in order to try to avoid being associated with losses is known as a(n):

A) project determinant.
B) psychological determinant.
C) social determinant.
D) organizational determinant.

Question 23

Anne Fisher uses the term _____ to describe those who display support in public but are resentful of the change and are waiting for the opportunity to return to the "old ways" of working to which they remain committed.

A) "vicious compliance"
B) "two-faced subordinates"
C) "covert insubordination"
D) "duality of compliance"

Question 24

Changes tend to "stick" to an organization when new structures, processes, and working practices are no longer seen as "change".

Question 25

According to Kanter et al., which of the following is NOT a component of helpful metric measures?

A) Results measures
B) Process measures
C) Social measures
D) All of these

Question 26

Unanticipated outcomes are not a sign of management failure; in complex change processes, the unexpected is to be expected.

Question 27

Preventive maintenance involves action to sustain the status quo, to keep new working practices operating as intended, and to meet predetermined targets and objectives.

Question 28

According to Barry Staw and Jerry Ross, _____ leads to escalation of commitment where the lack of progress is considered to be due to a temporary problem, or where additional funding is considered likely to be effective.

A) organizational determinants
B) psychological determinants
C) project determinants
D) social determinants

Question 29

Which of the following is NOT one of Mark Keil and Ramiro Montealegre's practices to avoid escalation of commitment?

A) Don't ignore negative feedback or external pressure.
B) Hire an internal assessor to provide an independent view on progress.
C) Manage impressions by framing de-escalations in a way that saves face.
D) Prepare stakeholders to avoid resistance.

Question 30

According to Barry Staw and Jerry Ross, the factor that leads to escalation resulting from an attempt to save face by committing more resources at a project in an attempt to revive it and avoid being associated with failure is known as a(n):

A) project determinant.
B) psychological determinant.
C) social determinant.
D) organizational determinant.

Question 31

The benefits of change may result in the J-curve, in which:

A) the initial performance may deteriorate before it improves.
B) the initial performance may increase before it becomes negative.
C) it is impossible to tell about a company's success without additional information.
D) None of these

Question 32

David Nadler argues that at the very least, an organization should conduct a full-scale assessment within twenty-four months of the initiation of major change activities, and then bi-annually thereafter.

Question 33

Measuring the overall success of a change initiative should be related to the timescale over which benefits are expected to be delivered.

Question 34

Which of the following is NOT an action employed to sustain change?

A) Redesigning roles
B) Redesigning reward systems
C) Linking selection decisions to change objectives
D) Avoiding consistency in advocated actions

Question 35

Sustainability implies that new practices and processes are routinized until they become obsolete.

Question 36

There is likely to be nothing more damaging to the credibility of a change program than for the actions of the change advocates to be consistent with what they espouse.

Question 37

Even in the best-managed situation, not all change outcomes are controllable or predictable.

Question 38

The J-curve does not help in managing the expectations of others with regard to justifying a deterioration in performance.

Question 39

Which of the following is NOT one of Barry Staw and Jerry Ross's factors that lead to escalation?

A) Project determinants
B) Psychological determinants
C) Economic determinants
D) Social determinants

Question 40

Federal Express abandoned its new aircraft routing system after the implementation caused difficulties with the union. The difficulties included all of the following EXCEPT:

A) a wage increase.
B) a demand for fewer flying hours.
C) a demand for improved retirement benefits.
D) a wildcat strike.