Deck 4: Setting Strategic Direction

Question 1

The events of the last 20 years has taught us all of the following EXCEPT:

A) the world is changing rapidly
B) law enforcement organizations are struggling to become more adaptive
C) operational strategies currently developing are not very different than those created in the past
D) concerned administrators are consistently seeking better ways to manage their organizations

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Learning organizations:

A) are constantly concerned with arrest and conviction statistics
B) maintain control through limited span of control
C) systematically analyze the driving forces affecting them
D) maintain the status quo

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Effective organizations have a shared sense of direction that is:

A) the basis for employee discipline
B) shared and supported throughout the organization
C) the basis for setting performance quotas
D) not accepted by street-level patrol officers

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The first step in aligning an organization to support its mission is to:

A) create a realistic strategic vision for the department to follow
B) establish response times
C) develop policy and procedures
D) set command levels

Question 5

Organizational strategy is the basis for all of the following EXCEPT:

A) integration of organizational mission and people into a cohesive whole
B) performance outcomes
C) translating organizational vision into action
D) how the organization should be controlled

Question 6

The first rule of strategy development is to:

A) hire a talented workforce
B) develop a budget
C) identify and analyze the driving factors affecting the public safety needs of the community
D) identify the type of training needed for the department

Question 7

When police managers consistently solve new problems only with what has worked in the past and do not create new solutions, they have developed:

A) paradigm paralysis
B) critical thinking
C) double-loop learning
D) strategic analysis

Question 8

Creating strategy is dependent upon ___________ because a part of strategy development is the planned use of internal resources and organizational strengths.

A) external capacity
B) community surveys
C) external threat assessment
D) inside-out thinking

Question 9

Department-wide strategy meetings are conducted for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

A) to ensure that operational commanders are paying attention to crime and public safety issues
B) to ensure that strategies and tactics designed to resolve problems are as creative and varied as possible
C) to ensure the legal and procedural consistency of community outreach programs
D) to ensure that all departmental and eternal resources needed to respond to the problem are available and coordinated

Question 10

When crime strategy meetings focus on and address problems in ways that involve the modification of a department's underlying norms, policies, strategic assumptions, and objectives, _____________ learning occurs.

A) single-loop
B) double-loop
C) strategic
D) critical

Question 11

________ evolved out of NYPD's crime strategy meetings.

A) Intelligence-Led Policing
B) Neighborhood team policing
C) Compstat policing
D) Evidence-Based Policing

Question 12

_________________ is/are responsible for holding strategy meetings, sharing intelligence, developing teamwork, accountability, unity of command, and strategy implementation.

A) The executive leadership team
B) Subdivision commanders
C) Unit commanders
D) Line supervisors

Question 13

Strategy institutionalization occurs when it is incorporated into all of the following EXCEPT:

A) organizational policy and procedures
B) decision-making and problem-solving processes
C) community process systems
D) measurement and follow-up systems

Question 14

Skogan identified all of the following categories of resistance to organizational transformation EXCEPT:

A) resistance by mid-level and top managers
B) resistance by police unions
C) resistance by rank-and-file officers
D) resistance by community leaders

Question 15

Police departments that respond to complaints after they have occurred are ________________ organizations.

A) proactive
B) reactive
C) strategic
D) professional

Question 16

At the core of internal resistence to change is the desire:

A) to improve the organization
B) to achieve community support
C) to maintain the status quo
D) to maintain power

Question 17

Skogan identified all of the following areas of resistance to police transformation EXCEPT:

A) rank-and-file officers
B) front-line supervisors
C) competing demands and expectations
D) leadership stability

Question 18

In place of just providing data on performace failures, a(n) _____________________ what is happening as opposed to what should be.

A) announcement must take place about
B) real discussion must be had about
C) department memo should describe
D) group discussion should happen about

Question 19

Kotter (1996) identifies individuals who need to work together as a team to make the change happen as:

A) guiding coalition
B) team leaders
C) line supervisors
D) stakeholders

Question 20

When output measures replace desired strategy outcomes such as enhancing community safety and reduction of residents' fear levels, __________________ occurs.

A) resistance
B) goal displacement
C) resource alignment
D) transformation

Question 21

Effective police organizations are ones that initiate and reshape their operational services in ways that fulfill their primary mission and increase their value and legitimacy to the public they serve.

Question 22

It is appropriate to think of strategy as a reactive (adaptive) response to environmental pressure.

Question 23

McDonald's (2002) statement "What is counted is what is performed" means that mangers will use their initiative to excel in their work.

Question 24

Proactive police departments seek to prevent wrongdoings before they take place.

Question 25

Intelligence is the basis upon which organizational managers plan, initiate, reshape, and evaluate their operational strategies.

Question 26

Learning organizations systematically control the driving forces that are affecting them.

Question 27

Organizational effectiveness requires a shared sense of direction, a positive organizational culture, accountability, and a desire for continuous improvement.

Question 28

Developing a shared sense of direction requires fixing managerial accountability for discipline.

Question 29

The purpose of an organizational strategy is to shape in a coordinated manner the way by which an organization responds to the environmental demands challenging it.

Question 30

Managers who create their strategy based upon crime and public safety threats are engaging in outside-in strategic thinking.

Question 31

Identify the activities associated with setting organizational strategic direction.

Question 32

Describe how to create an organizational strategy.

Question 33

Identify and describe the steps required to implement an organizational strategy.

Question 34

Identify the issues relating to measuring the effectiveness of a strategy.

Question 35

Define what constitutes an effective strategic police organization.