Chapter 7

_____ are forces that produce differences in the form, quality, or condition of an organization over time.

Change forces

In the context of organizational decline, which of the following is true of the crisis stage?

Companies lack the resources to fully change how they run their businesses.

Curtab, a company that manufactures digital watches, implements marketing strategies to attempt to eliminate analog watches from the market and thereby increase the market share of the company. To counter this, analog watch manufacturers introduce new advertising campaigns. In the context of innovation streams, which of the following concepts does this scenario best illustrate?

Design competition

In the context of managing resistance to change, an error in the refreezing stage is not systematically planning for and creating short-term wins.

False

Organizational development takes a short-range approach to change.

False

In the context of the stages of organizational decline, which of the following is a difference between the faulty action stage and the crisis stage?

In the faulty action stage, management announces belt-tightening plans designed to cut costs, increase efficiency, and restore profits, whereas in the crisis stage, bankruptcy or dissolution is likely to occur unless the company completely reorganizes the way it does business.

Whilph, an automobile manufacturer, launched its new compact car. The car provides the highest mileage and has the lowest price in its market segment. In the context of innovation streams, which of the following concepts does this scenario best illustrate?

Incremental change

_____ is a philosophy and collection of planned change interventions designed to improve a firm's long-term health and performance.

Organizational development

Kappawn, a cell phone manufacturer, observes that its customers have started purchasing only touchscreen cell phones. It hence stops manufacturing traditional cell phones and switches to the manufacture of touchscreen cell phones. In the context of innovation streams, which of the following concepts does this scenario best illustrate?

Technological substitution

When Nathanil Inc., a network service provider, introduced 4G data plans, it observed that most of its customers completely stopped using 2G and 3G data plans and switched to 4G. In the context of innovation streams, which of the following concepts does this scenario best illustrate?

Technological substitution

In the context of managing resistance to change, which of the following is an error that managers make during the unfreezing stage?

They do not establish a great enough sense of urgency.

Work group encouragement occurs when group members have diverse experience, education, and backgrounds and the group fosters mutual openness to ideas; positive, constructive challenge to ideas; and shared commitment to ideas.

True

As touchscreen laptops gained popularity in the country of Desapotam, the import of older models of laptops was stopped. Subsequently, touchscreen laptops became the accepted market standard for laptops in the country. In the context of innovation streams, this scenario best illustrates _____.

a dominant design

When USB flash drives started becoming popular, customers stopped purchasing CDs. As a result, USB flash drives almost completely replaced CDs in the market and became the accepted market standard for storage devices. In the context of innovation streams, this scenario best illustrates _____.

a dominant design

In the context of organizational development, the purpose of small-group interventions is to:

assess how a group functions and help it work more effectively to accomplish its goals.

Cleanreef, a chain of stores that provides dry-cleaning services, has been the market leader in the country of Gregoramas for the past 20 years. None of its rivals have been able to match Cleanreef's technology, logistics, and pricing. In the context of innovation streams, Cleanreef most likely has a _____.

distinctive competence

Waltert, a cell phone manufacturer, has been the market leader in the country of Besmagia ever since cell phones were introduced in the country. None of the other domestic or foreign cell phone brands have been able to match the high quality and low price that Waltert's products offer. In the context of innovation streams, Waltert most likely has a _____.

distinctive competence

Organizational encouragement of creativity occurs when:

management encourages risk taking and new ideas.

Russeng, a travel agency, had a huge setback in its business as customers started to book travel tickets online and make their own itineraries using the information available on the Internet. It failed to take the necessary corrective measures to address this issue, and this led to an overall decrease in the company's performance. This scenario best illustrates _____.

organizational decline

The employees of Carlofen, a cell phone manufacturer, raised a concern to their management about their poor pay and excess workload. However, the management failed to address their issue, so a majority of them resigned at once. As a result, the company's sales began to fall and its overall performance began to deteriorate. This scenario best illustrates _____.

organizational decline

Wenayton, a company that manufactures and supplies ceramic kitchenware, uses broken and rejected pieces of ceramics to design its office interiors. It also uses novel ways to utilize solar energy for interior lighting. This scenario best illustrates _____.

organizational innovation

Brandack is a leading manufacturer of storage devices. During a span of every five years, it produces one high-performance storage device. At the beginning of the five-year period, the device's performance improvement is slow. However, the improvement becomes rapid over time, and toward the end of the five-year period, it gradually begins to drop. In the context of technology cycles, this scenario best illustrates _____.

the S-curve pattern of innovation

The employees of Antrobe, a leading daily newspaper, believe that their managers encourage them to voice their ideas and opinions. They also believe that they are given challenging tasks that interest and motivate them. In the context of managing sources of innovation, which of the following concepts does this scenario best illustrate?

A creative work environment