Deck 15: Organizational Change

Question 1

Which of the following is not a typical reason for planned changes to occur within police organizations?

A) A police chief and/or other high ranking police officials have been indicted for accepting payoffs.
B) A new police chief has been appointed and implements change just to show members of the police department who is boss.
C) The police department has been judged to be generally deficient in its crime fighting capabilities by the local media or important interest groups within the community.
D) Police/minority relations are at an all time low, in part because of repeated alleged misconduct by the police in dealing with members of the minority community.

Answer 1

A new police chief has been appointed and implements change just to show members of the police department who is boss.

Question 2

In the 1990s many police departments changed their vehicle pursuit policies to make them more restrictive as a result of numerous lawsuits. This dramatic change from one set of rules to another is called a:

A) Model change.
B) Model shift.
C) Paradigm shift.
D) Legal change.

Answer 2

Paradigm shift.

Question 3

Which type of individual would not normally be considered a change agent?

A) The mayor.
B) The police chief.
C) Persons designated by the police chief.
D) Professional consultants hired from outside the agency.

Answer 3

The mayor.

Question 4

Which of the following statements is most accurate with regard to the Organizational Development (OD) methodology?

A) It focuses on individuals.
B) It focuses on individual units.
C) It focuses on leaders.
D) It focuses on whole systems.

Question 5

The concept of Organizational Development (OD) is grounded largely in:

A) Business.
B) Mathematics.
C) Behavioral sciences.
D) The study of governmental structures.

Question 6

What is an argument in favor of internal change agents?

A) Their past experience with similar problems enhances the expeditious and efficient completion of the task at hand.
B) They have established credibility because of their experience, knowledge, and reputation.
C) They generally have advanced degrees.
D) They have a working knowledge of the formal and informal organization.

Question 7

A key motivator in the unfreezing phase of change is:

A) Money.
B) poor performance evaluation.
C) Dismissal.
D) A feeling of discomfort with old behavior.

Question 8

The causes of resistance to change in police agencies:

A) Are attributable to the personality characteristics of police officers.
B) May be rooted in a past experience or past reinforcement history of those facing change.
C) Are always calculated by patrol officers to extract concessions from police administrators.
D) Are a total mystery.

Question 9

Which of the following is true concerning directed change? It is:

A) Department wide.
B) Unit by unit.
C) Initiated by first-line supervisors.
D) None of the above.

Question 10

There are several condition that indicate contemplated change should not be made. Which one of the following is not one of those conditions?

A) The skill needed to carry out the change effectively does not exist inside the department.
B) Too much change is already underway.
C) The workers are not supportive of the change.
D) An appropriately experienced external change agent is not available.

Question 11

The heart of unfreezing is making people be receptive to:

A) Change.
B) New leadership.
C) Change agents.
D) None of the above

Question 12

Which of the following might be useful during the assessment step in the traditional action research model?

A) Surveys of personnel.
B) Review of disciplinary records.
C) Training records.
D) All of the above.

Question 13

Which of the following is not an argument commonly made for involving rank-and-file officers in the decision-making process?

A) It identifies who should be considered for promotion.
B) It heightens morale.
C) It develops democratic skills and habits.
D) It makes for better decisions.

Question 14

Which model regarding change examines the influence of officers' ascribed and achieved status attributes?

A) Life experiences model.
B) Officer subculture model.
C) Organizational model.
D) Structural model.

Question 15

Which of the following is a recommendation that can help managers seize opportunities for change in their departments?

A) Have flexibility in priorities.
B) Seize opportunities for change.
C) Create publicity concerning police problems.
D) All of the above.

Question 16

Proponents of radical change argue that when change is ____________, unanticipated events can derail the effort before it can be completed and that it gives opponents time to organize themselves to thwart further implementation.

Question 17

Both Lewin's three-step model and the traditional action research model rely on the use of ____________.

Question 18

In order to assess the situation in an agency, ____________ must be gathered.

Question 19

The larger an organizational change, the ____________ likely politics will inevitably come into play.

Question 20

The wider the scope of the change and the greater the number of people significantly impacted, the more ____________ it is to implement, sustain, and institutionalize it.

Question 21

A(n) ____________ threat to change initiatives can present itself as opposition by a newly elected politically powerful official.

Question 22

Once an administrator has made a decision to implement a change and has moved into an action stage, carefully selected ____________ who support the change process should work with potentially resistant individuals as they move through the change process.

Question 23

The ____________ in a police department can collectively offer not only richer and more nuanced answers to the central problems of policing, but also distinctive and important questions different than, and complementary to, the ones typically posed by police executives and typically pursued by police scholars.

Question 24

State five reasons when change should not be made.

Question 25

What are the three steps in Kurt Lewin's model for organizational change?

Question 26

What are the most common overlapping arguments commonly made for involving employees in workplace decision making?

Question 27

What are ways to make organizational change succeed?

Question 28

There are many organizational development models, but most of them approximate the traditional action research model with five steps. Match the activity/action from Column 1 to its corresponding step in Column 2. Each item in Column 2 will may be used more than once.

-Five high-speed chases in the last 16 months has resulted in one police officer and two civilian deaths.

A) Recognizing the need for change
B) Assessing/diagnosing the situation
C) Action planning
D) Change intervention
E) Evaluation

Question 29

There are many organizational development models, but most of them approximate the traditional action research model with five steps. Match the activity/action from Column 1 to its corresponding step in Column 2. Each item in Column 2 will may be used more than once.

-Annual written test on policy one year and departmental skill certification on pursuits the next.

A) Recognizing the need for change
B) Assessing/diagnosing the situation
C) Action planning
D) Change intervention
E) Evaluation

Question 30

There are many organizational development models, but most of them approximate the traditional action research model with five steps. Match the activity/action from Column 1 to its corresponding step in Column 2. Each item in Column 2 will may be used more than once.

-Implement changes per planning.

A) Recognizing the need for change
B) Assessing/diagnosing the situation
C) Action planning
D) Change intervention
E) Evaluation

Question 31

There are many organizational development models, but most of them approximate the traditional action research model with five steps. Match the activity/action from Column 1 to its corresponding step in Column 2. Each item in Column 2 will may be used more than once.

-Officers receive no pursuit training after the academy.

A) Recognizing the need for change
B) Assessing/diagnosing the situation
C) Action planning
D) Change intervention
E) Evaluation

Question 32

There are many organizational development models, but most of them approximate the traditional action research model with five steps. Match the activity/action from Column 1 to its corresponding step in Column 2. Each item in Column 2 will may be used more than once.

-Agency sub-culture regards officers who break off chases as not being aggressive enough in catching "bad guys."

A) Recognizing the need for change
B) Assessing/diagnosing the situation
C) Action planning
D) Change intervention
E) Evaluation

Question 33

There are many organizational development models, but most of them approximate the traditional action research model with five steps. Match the activity/action from Column 1 to its corresponding step in Column 2. Each item in Column 2 will may be used more than once.

-Observe data gathered to assess impact.

A) Recognizing the need for change
B) Assessing/diagnosing the situation
C) Action planning
D) Change intervention
E) Evaluation

Question 34

There are many organizational development models, but most of them approximate the traditional action research model with five steps. Match the activity/action from Column 1 to its corresponding step in Column 2. Each item in Column 2 will may be used more than once.

-Monitor implementation of programs.

A) Recognizing the need for change
B) Assessing/diagnosing the situation
C) Action planning
D) Change intervention
E) Evaluation

Question 35

There are many organizational development models, but most of them approximate the traditional action research model with five steps. Match the activity/action from Column 1 to its corresponding step in Column 2. Each item in Column 2 will may be used more than once.

-Cover chases in roll call training twice each year.

A) Recognizing the need for change
B) Assessing/diagnosing the situation
C) Action planning
D) Change intervention
E) Evaluation

Question 36

Why is it difficult for police chiefs to bring about paradigm shifts within their own police organizations?

Question 37

Whether in professional organizations or in a personal matter, why do you think people are so resistant to change?

Question 38

If you were a chief and wanted to bring change to your organization's operating philosophy, how would you attempt to involve the rank and file?

Question 39

As a police chief, how would you involve the local political leadership in bringing about organizational change?