Deck 12: Sustaining Change

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT one of the "four hard lessons" identified by Robert Reisner based upon stalled change involved with the U.S. Postal Service?

A) Don't miss your moment
B) Connect change initiatives to your core business
C) Don't mistake incremental improvements for strategic transformation
D) Government agencies cannot compete with private enterprise

Answer 1

D

Question 2

____ measures are those that show 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 2

A

Question 3

A problem associated with sustaining change is:

A) Declaring victory too soon
B) De-escalation of commitment
C) Recognizing success
D) Inflated expectations of competitors

Answer 3

A

Question 4

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 people to comply such that the change objective is achieved or planned.

A) Director
B) Navigator
C) Caretaker
D) Coach

Question 5

A focus on progress measurement is important because:

A) It can assist in making important decisions about downsizing
B) It is a means of monitoring change and what gets measured 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 organizational historical perspective and those that do not study history are condemned to repeat it

Question 6

According to the ____ image of managing change, with respect to sustaining change, the change manager plays a central role in the development of an understanding of the meaning of outcomes, in particular with regard to what is taken as a successful resolution of the change process.

A) Caretaker
B) Coach
C) Interpreter
D) Nurturer

Question 7

Fisher refers to ____ as a situation in which people exhibit apparent compliance, but remains deeply resentful of the change and is simply biding their time until the time is right for the "old ways," to which they remain committed, to return.

A) Vicious compliance
B) Two-faced subordinates
C) Covert insubordination
D) The duality of compliance

Question 8

____ measures are directly financial.

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

Question 9

The company that faced the problem of employee cynicism which included comments, such as, "We have a zero-defect program: don't test the product and you'll find zero defects."

A) U.S. Postal Service
B) Proctor and Gamble
C) Falcon Computers
D) McDonald's

Question 10

According to the ____ image of managing change, with respect to sustaining change, to the extent to which intended outcomes are achieved, this is primarily the result of environmental factors, not management intervention.

A) Caretaker
B) Coach
C) Interpreter
D) Nurturer

Question 11

Federal Express abandoned its new aircraft routing system after the implementation caused difficulties with the union, including 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

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT one of Staw and Ross's factors leading to escalation?

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

Question 13

____ measures are those such as financial performance and company image that take some time to become apparent.

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

Question 14

According to the ____ image of managing change, with respect to sustaining change, if intended outcomes are achieved, it is because the change manager has been successful in helping organizational members develop within themselves the capabilities necessary for success.

A) Caretaker
B) Coach
C) Interpreter
D) Nurturer

Question 15

According to the ____ image of managing change, with respect to sustaining change, the change manager designs the change process so as to best fit the conditions faced, recognizing that modifications will almost certainly need to be made en route and that the final outcome may not be as originally envisioned.

A) Director
B) Navigator
C) Caretaker
D) Coach

Question 16

According to the ____ image of managing change, with respect to sustaining change, the change process will have outcomes, but these are in a continual state of flux and are largely out of the hands of managers.

A) Caretaker
B) Coach
C) Interpreter
D) Nurturer

Question 17

According to Staw and Ross, 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) Project determinants
B) Psychological determinants
C) Social determinants
D) Organizational determinants

Question 18

Gordon Bethune, CEO of Continental Airlines, changed the core metric used by the airline to ____.

A) Revenue per seat mile
B) Fuel costs
C) Amount of peanuts consumed
D) On-time performance

Question 19

____ is an action involving the allocation of resources to a project in such a way that to withdraw from the project would involve a real cost to the organization.

A) Credible commitment
B) Stacking
C) Cementing assets
D) Burning the bridges

Question 20

Which of the following was NOT one of the metrics introduced by Sears to assess the organizations "3Cs" strategic intent?

A) Customer satisfaction and retention
B) Trends in government regulation
C) Attitudes about the job and the company
D) Revenue growth and operating margins

Question 21

Which of the following was NOT, a problem that McDonald's experienced when launching hotels in Switzerland was:

A) The interior design of the structures
B) Use of the phrase "golden arches" being translated into German
C) Applying the name "McDonald's" to a four-star hotel
D) Protest in Europe based on alleged ill-health effects of McDonald's food

Question 22

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 with advocated actions

Question 23

According to Staw and Ross, escalation resulting from an attempt to save face by throwing more resources at a project in an attempt to revive it and avoid being associated with a failed project is known as:

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

Question 24

Organization members often wait for the signals from senior management that say "we mean it" (or we don't really mean it).

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT an action that can be taken to help sustain organizational change?

A) Redesigning roles
B) Redesiging reward systems
C) Separating selection decisions from change objectives
D) Acting consistently with advocated actions

Question 26

The benefits of change may result in a J curve, in which the initial impact over time is positive for a period before it becomes negative.

Question 27

According to the text, what was the problem with the accounting measure of performance traditionally used by Sears?

A) The measures failed to identify the existence of declining levels of both employee and customer satisfaction and were also lag, not lead, indicators
B) The methodology used by Sears was no longer permitted after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
C) The printouts were difficult to read and middle-management was seldom able to interpret the data
D) The accounting models and methods traditionally utilized by Sears did not comport with the methods used by K Mart after Sears was acquired

Question 28

Which of the following is NOT one of Keil and Montealegre's practices to reduce 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
D) Prepare your stakeholders

Question 29

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

Question 30

One of the greatest challenges for those involved in managing change is to try to ensure that the change is not just a transitory phenomenon.

Question 31

According to the text, which of the following was NOT a problem facing the U.S. Postal Service in 1999?

A) Senior managers did not believe the Postal Service would be impacted by electronic commerce for another 10 to 15 years
B) Senior managers were skeptical about competitive threats
C) The organization was unable to gain funding support for its new growth initiatives
D) Rapidly rising fuel costs made the operation unprofitable

Question 32

A learning organization sees occasional failure as a natural rather than a deviant state and as an opportunity to develop an enhanced capacity for improved future performance.

Question 33

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

A) The initial impact over time is negative for a period before it becomes positive
B) The initial impact over time is positive for a period before it becomes negative
C) Neither of the above
D) Impossible to tell without additional information

Question 34

____ treat(s) a failed change as something to "own up to" rather than something necessitating a witch hunt so blame can be allocated.

A) Gracious loser organizations
B) Inverted organizational success
C) Learning organizations
D) Birthday club organizations

Question 35

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

Question 36

For change to stick, it must cease being seen as something separate from normal practice; it must become the new normality.

Question 37

According to Kanter, which of the following is NOT a component of his list of helpful metric measures?

A) Results measures
B) Process measures
C) Social measures
D) All other choices are helpful metric measures

Question 38

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 every year thereafter.

Question 39

A key task for those involved in the management of change is to manage the expectations of others so that perceptions of the success of a change are not influenced by unrealistic expectations as to the rate at which the positive effects of the change will become manifest.

Question 40

A possible measurement problem is that of "premature measurement."