Deck 11: Performance Excellence and Organizational Change

Question 1

A company will generally have more difficulty gaining support for change when not facing a crisis.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A flexible organization, according to Peter Senge, is "… an organization that is continually expanding its capacity to create its future."

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Adaptive learning is defined as learning that enhances our capacity to create.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

A knowledge management system allows intangible information to be managed as an organizational asset in a manner similar to tangible assets.

Question 5

At the Status Quo stage of the Baldrige journey, organizations opt to wait for mandates and regulations, and they implement change when required to maintain compliance.

Question 6

Survival learning is also termed generative learning.

Question 7

The Traction stage marks the transition from the singular focus on change through projects, however well executed, to systematic evaluation and improvement of leadership approaches.

Question 8

Organizations at the Integration stage of the Baldrige journey typically reach a plateau.

Question 9

Explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge represent the "know how" that an organization has available to use, invest, and grow.

Question 10

Strategic changes are the ones that impact culture the most.

Question 11

One of the indicators of a true learning organization is its implementation of external benchmarking.

Question 12

Reaction to competition that poses a threat to its profitable survival is one of the reasons why firms adopt a performance excellence philosophy.

Question 13

Organizational change is needed to initiate performance excellence initiatives and constantly thereafter.

Question 14

The human resource model of quality management is the best model of performance excellence.

Question 15

The energizing stage of the quality life cycle is the implementation stage of a new quality initiative.

Question 16

The False Starts stage can result in two outcomes: continued improvement or decline as organizations lose focus or become distracted.

Question 17

Process changes are what an organization must implement to remain or become competitive.

Question 18

Information management is focused on data whereas knowledge management is focused on information.

Question 19

The workforce has been viewed by many as a direct obstacle to creating a supportive environment for performance excellence.

Question 20

The decline stage of the quality life cycle refers to the situation when quality has not been strategically driven or aligned.

Question 21

With respect to the six stages of a quality life cycle, _____ is the stage at which an existing quality initiative is refocused and given new resources.

A) energizing
B) limitation
C) regeneration
D) maturation

Question 22

Few things in organizations - for example, jobs or technology -can be changed without affecting other things-structures or processes.

Question 23

With respect to the six stages of a quality life cycle, in the _____ stage a new quality initiative is used in conjunction with an existing one to generate new energy and impact.

A) maturation
B) regeneration
C) adoption
D) limitation

Question 24

Organizational changes resulting from operational assessment activities are referred to as _____ changes.

A) strategic
B) process
C) cyclic
D) system

Question 25

With respect to the six stages of a quality life cycle, in the _____ stage quality is strategically aligned and deployed across the organization.

A) maturation
B) regeneration
C) adoption
D) limitation

Question 26

Double-loop learning is the most common level of learning.

Question 27

Unlike other theories of change, teleological theory of change suggests the environment as the dominant change force.

Question 28

Deming's theory posits that problems with organizational change are more often related to worker inability or lack of motivation than to system imperfections.

Question 29

The source of most change considered in organizational theory is top management.

Question 30

Most diagnostic management control systems exhibit double-loop learning characteristics.

Question 31

With respect to the six stages of a quality life cycle, _____ is the implementation stage of a new quality initiative.

A) adoption
B) regeneration
C) maturation
D) energizing

Question 32

_____ are often seen as feeding territorial competition, stifling information flow, and feeling threatened by continuous improvement efforts.

A) Production workers
B) Senior managers
C) Middle managers
D) Third party vendors

Question 33

With respect to organizational changes, a health care organization that discovered weaknesses in the organization's ability to collect and analyze information, followed by a $50 million information system upgrade is an example of a _____ change.

A) system
B) process
C) strategic
D) cyclic

Question 34

Who among the following suggests that transforming middle managers into change agents requires a systematic process that dissolves traditional management boundaries and replaces them with an empowered and team-oriented state of accountability for organizational performance?

A) Mark Samuel
B) Joseph Juran
C) Philips B. Crosby
D) Edwards Deming

Question 35

Which of the following is a frequent error during the implementation of a performance excellence initiative within an organization?

A) Structural elements in the organization block change
B) Goals are set too high
C) The effort is regarded as a long-term program
D) The focus is mainly on processes, not products

Question 36

Thomas Bennett was one of the early proponents of the view that change can only succeed with effective leadership.

Question 37

The reason behind TQ-oriented change is quality improvement for customer satisfaction.

Question 38

An overreliance on transmitting "explicit" rather than "tacit" information is one of the leading hurdles to overcome toward becoming a true learning organization.

Question 39

From the ecological perspective, change in a set of similar organizations often comes about by ineffective organizations going out of business and being replaced by new ones.

Question 40

_____ suggest that understanding the quality life cycle "provides a strategic mechanism to chart and sustain quality while proactively countering shortcomings of its implementation, such as stagnation and limited application, which can ultimately result in failure."

A) Leonard and McAdam
B) Deming and Crosby
C) Leonard and Juran
D) Juran and Deming

Question 41

Stage 1 of the Baldrige roadmap to performance excellence is called the _____ stage.

A) integration
B) false starts
C) traction
D) status quo

Question 42

In the Baldrige Roadmap to Performance Excellence, the _____ stage features 'project mentality, characterized by various tactical improvement activities.'

A) integration
B) sustaining
C) false starts
D) traction

Question 43

In the _____ stage of the Baldrige roadmap to performance excellence, approaches and processes of leadership, such as values deployment and culture building, begin to link and align with strategic planning and action planning, scorecards and dashboards, job descriptions and performance review methods, and other operational processes.

A) status quo
B) traction
C) integration
D) false starts

Question 44

In the _____ stage of the Baldrige Roadmap to Performance Excellence, organizations opt to wait for mandates and regulations, and they implement change when required to maintain compliance.

A) integration
B) false starts
C) status quo
D) traction

Question 45

With respect to the six stages of a quality life cycle, in the _____ stage quality has not been strategically driven or aligned.

A) maturation
B) limitation
C) regeneration
D) adoption

Question 46

In the Baldrige Roadmap to Performance Excellence, the _____ stage features 'alignment of projects to strategy, attention to leadership and management processes.'

A) traction
B) integration
C) false starts
D) status quo

Question 47

With respect to the six stages of a quality life cycle, limitation stage is also called _____ stage.

A) decline
B) stagnation
C) regeneration
D) maturation

Question 48

In the _____ stage of the Baldrige Roadmap to Performance Excellence, continued improvement as methodologies are embedded into the organization's culture.

A) false starts
B) sustaining
C) integration
D) traction

Question 49

_____ knowledge is information that is formed around intangible factors resulting from an individual's experience, and is personal and content-specific.

A) Explicit
B) Procedural
C) Tacit
D) Experiential

Question 50

_____ refer to the accumulated intellectual resources that an organization possesses, including information, ideas, learning, understanding, memory, insights, cognitive and technical skills, and capabilities.

A) System intelligence
B) Knowledge assets
C) Database
D) Intellectual property

Question 51

Stage 4 of the Baldrige roadmap to performance excellence is called the _____ stage.

A) sustaining
B) integration
C) traction
D) status quo

Question 52

With respect to the stages in Baldrige roadmap to performance excellence, _____ is a project-focused phase which brings new capabilities to execute initiatives that change routine practices and processes for the better.

A) status quo
B) false starts
C) traction
D) integration

Question 53

Stage 0 of the Baldrige roadmap to performance excellence is called the _____ stage.

A) traction
B) status quo
C) false starts
D) sustaining

Question 54

A learning organization's ability to identify and transfer best practices within the organization is called _____ benchmarking.

A) internal
B) generic
C) process
D) competitive

Question 55

_____ knowledge includes information stored in documents or other forms of media.

A) Archival
B) Explicit
C) Data
D) Tacit

Question 56

In the Baldrige Roadmap to Performance Excellence, the _____ stage features 'clear linkage of process management and improvement to operational results.'

A) traction
B) integration
C) false starts
D) status quo

Question 57

Stage 3 of the Baldrige roadmap to performance excellence is called the _____ stage.

A) integration
B) sustaining
C) status quo
D) false starts

Question 58

The _____ phase of the Baldrige roadmap to performance excellence is characterized by action on the feedback, usually by incorporating it into the strategic planning process.

A) false starts
B) status quo
C) integration
D) traction

Question 59

Stage 2 of the Baldrige roadmap to performance excellence is called the _____ stage.

A) status quo
B) traction
C) sustaining
D) integration

Question 60

With respect to the six stages of a quality life cycle, in the _____ stage quality initiative has had a limited impact, is failing and the initiative is awaiting termination.

A) stagnation
B) decline
C) limitation
D) energizing

Question 61

Managers detecting a problem in implementing a specific strategic initiative and then taking action to correct the deviation is an example of:

A) single-loop learning.
B) a cybernetic model.
C) double-loop learning.
D) organized anarchy model.

Question 62

_____ is defined as a sustained collective inquiry into the processes, assumptions, and certainties that compose everyday experience.

A) Cluster analysis
B) Dialog
C) Focus group analysis
D) Deployment

Question 63

The source of most change considered in organizational theory is:

A) customers.
B) environmental changes.
C) top management.
D) quality metrics.

Question 64

_____ change theory posits that organizations change through an iterative process of goal setting, implementation, evaluation, and revision.

A) Ecological
B) Traditional
C) Teleological
D) Structural

Question 65

In _____, the organization must review the underlying assumptions that created the problem to be "fixed" in the first place, and adapt a better set of assumptions to support future performance.

A) the deutoro learning model
B) single-loop learning
C) the cybernetic model
D) double-loop learning

Question 66

From the _____ perspective, worker resistance is not to blame for the difficulty of change; rather, the structures and systems that management has created are at fault.

A) population ecology
B) traditional
C) system management
D) agile organization

Question 67

What must be included in an effective knowledge management system?

Question 68

Compare organizational culture and organizational climate.

Question 69

How can a company change its culture to be more consistent with quality?

Question 70

Describe the roles of various levels in change management.

Question 71

What are the reasons why companies adopt a performance excellence philosophy?

Question 72

_____ suggested that teleology was one of four categories of change process theory.

A) Joseph Juran and Poole
B) Van de Ven and Poole
C) Philips Crosby and Juran
D) Edwards Deming and Van de Ven

Question 73

_____ encompasses the organization's ability to perceive deviations from perceived performance and "fix" them.

A) Deutero learning
B) Single-loop learning
C) Double-loop learning
D) Latent class analysis

Question 74

Describe the Baldrige journey.

Question 75

Briefly describe the stages of a quality life cycle.

Question 76

The study on organizational change conducted by Goch and French found that the change was more successful in the group:

A) in which representatives devised the change.
B) in which the change was imposed by the management.
C) that the workers themselves devised the change.
D) that was assisted by third-party vendors.

Question 77

Differentiate between strategic change and process change.

Question 78

What is the role of dialog in the change process?

Question 79

In the context of organizational learning, _____ are policies, practices, or actions that prevent people involved in a group activity from being embarrassed or threatened, and, at the same time, prevent people from learning how to reduce the causes of embarrassment or threat.

A) culture traps
B) defensive routines
C) comfort zones
D) embedded rituals

Question 80

How is knowledge management different from information management?