Organizational Development exam 4

Which one of the following would most likely be considered an output of using an Open Systems Model to better understand a marketing business unit (BU)?

a marketing event

Which one of the following is not a trend in healthcare?

a surplus of healthcare workers

In an Open Systems Model, which one of the following is not an output of an Information Technology (IT) department?

a vendor's software

Which one of the following is a source of power?

a, b, and c

Organizations undertake transformational change when ________.

all of the above

Which one of the following may impact a change in an organization's climate?

all of the above

Which of the following Organizational Development (OD) interventions can be best adapted to address employees with disabilities? (Select all that apply.)

career planning and development performance management work design

Which one of the following is not a design feature of a participative, high-involvement organization?

centralized personnel selection

Tamekia is the organizational development senior manager in her company. She encounters the CEO in the elevator, who tells Tamekia in confidence that there is going to be a corporate acquisition and that the newly acquired company will bring a number of new and complementary products to the mix. The CEO indicates that she is concerned about how employees are going to adapt to the changes and asks Tamekia's opinion. How should Tamekia respond?

let the CEO know that what she describes is a big change effort and will require the CEO's leadership as they go through planned change

Which one of the following is not a step in integrated strategic change?

mapping the demand system

Which of the following is not a trend indicative of increasing workforce diversity?

negative attitudes toward authority

In the "entering and contracting" stage of OD, the presenting problem is ________________.

often a symptom of an underlying problem

The Comprehensive Model for Diagnosing Organizational Systems is based on the ______________, which includes inputs, movement or transactions, outputs, and feedback.

open systems model

A systems model of organizational design looks at business strategy and strategic fit by assessing which of the following design fit components? (Select the best answer.)

organization structure, HR practices, work design, and management processes

A key objective of the feedback process is to be sure the client has __________.

ownership of the data

The learning organization is not characterized by _____________.

structures that emphasize individual unit performance

Within a company, there are many open systems at all levels of the organization. These are often referred to as _________________.

subsystems

Research supports that leaders accelerate transitions with which of the following practices? (Select all that apply.)

supporting continuous discussion of the organization change among members creating shared meaning helping individuals understand how each person fits into the change allowing organizational units in the lower organization levels to be responsible for implementing change

Samuel is the manager of a large payroll group. He is planning a feedback session to share the results of an organizational assessment and potential diagnosis. He realizes that there may be some controversial inferences during the session. Which of the following is not an appropriate option for Samuel?

taking on the role of an objective observer in the session to negate perceptions of bias

Porter's definition of the _______________ is characterized by supplier power, buyer power, threats of substitutes, threats of entry, and rivalry among competitors.

task environment

Which one of the following is a human process intervention?

team building

Episodic change is most like ________________ planned change model.

the unfreeze->movement->refreeze

Questionnaires are often used because ___________. (Select all that apply.)

they can collect data from many people data can be analyzed quickly

When "entering and contracting," which answer below best describes the "relevant" client?

those who can directly impact change issues

The main purposes of the public sector organization are ________ and ________. (Select the two that apply.)

to govern toward the greater public good to carry out the ideas of the elected officials

True or False: Change agents working in global social change organizations need to possess good networking skills

true

True or False: Content analysis is a qualitative analysis tool that uses interview data, categorizes comments, and develops themes that are used in an organizational diagnosis.

true

True or False: Diagnosing environmental relationships and the interactions among the various components of an organizational system requires taking "a systemic perspective."

true

True or False: Employee Involvement (EI) contains four elements: power, information, knowledge and skills, and rewards.

true

People resist change because ________.

All of the above

To sustain momentum, a change agent must ________.

All of the above

Which one of the following assumptions is not congruent with the philosophy of organizational development?

An organization's performance is not affected by stockholders.

True or False: Evaluating OD interventions always involves measuring their impact on employee satisfaction, productivity, and the bottom line.

False

True or False: Mergers and acquisitions require strategic change that is primarily driven financially and, thus, are outside the realm of organizational development.

False

True or False: Organization development, according to Richard Beckhard, is an effort that is (1) unplanned, (2) organization-wide, and (3) managed from the top, to (4) increase organization effectiveness through (5) unplanned interventions.

False

True or False: Organizational behavior is impacted by Human Resource (HR) systems, such as performance management and compensation; therefore, Organizational Development (OD) is another form of HR.

False

True or False: The values of individual initiative and collaboration are so different that they cannot exist in one person. Putting together teams composed of members who hold individual initiative and collaboration values is the best way to ensure that both values are represented in a company.

False

_______________ competencies are associated with an OD practitioner's ability to describe an existing system.

Foundation

Which of the following contributed to the evolution of Organizational Development (OD)? (Select all that apply.)

Kurt Lewin and action research improved integration between technology and people a human relations approach to managing businesses strategic change

Which one of the following impedes developing high employee involvement in the company?

Kurt is a highly skilled technical worker and has been in the same role for more than 20 years.

___________ design supports an organization strategy emphasizing cost minimization, whereas a _____________design supports an organization strategy aimed at innovation.

Mechanistic, organic

Which one of the following is not associated with transorganizational systems?

Organizations in them always act in a coordinated fashion.

_____________ structures involve employees in resolving ill-defined, complex problems and build adaptability into bureaucratic organizations. These structures are also known as collateral, dualistic, or shadow structures.

Parallel

What assumption(s) underlie(s) the integrated strategic change process? (Select all that apply.)

Strategic and organizational change issues should be considered equal. Senior management is in the best position to plan and implement strategic change

True or False: OD efforts can help public schools build sustainable leadership capacity.

TRUE

True or False: Organizational Development (OD) most often reflects the values and assumptions of Western culture.

TRUE

True or False: Technology has made it easier for organizations to have a distributed workforce.

TRUE

Which one of the following statements is not true?

The terms OD and Change Management are interchangeable.

True or False: Boundary spanning is a method that companies use to gain competitive advantage by networking and talking with external organizations and customers.

True

True or False: Many companies today are under intense economic pressure. Reorganizations, takeovers, mergers, downsizings, joint ventures, and other major changes are extremely common as companies try to grow and survive. All members of the organization must, therefore, learn to cope with change or suffer the consequences.

True

True or False: Most organizations experience chaos. In fact, a complete absence of chaos would mean that an organization could not respond to changing demands, a sure prescription for stagnation and death.

True

True or False: One characteristic of key performance indicators (KPIs) is that they are always connected to strategic value drivers.

True

True or False: Organizational change is often an overwhelming challenge for business leaders. The need for change—or changes—may be the result of market shifts, economic environment, technology advancements, or changing work force skill-set demands.

True

You lead the Organizational Development (OD) program in your company. The new CEO had implemented Total Quality Management (TQM) in her previous company. She feels strongly that TQM would work here. After exploring the issues and doing a diagnosis, you are chartered with proposing interventions. What is the first step you would take? Pick the one best answer.

Work with the CEO to gain long-term commitment from her senior management team.

The research study "Winning Companies: Winning People" suggests that the most successful companies ________. (Select all that apply.)

are the most focused change only what needs to be changed concentrate on initiatives that have the most impact on customers and profit

Evaluation in Organizational Development (OD) provides information to ________.

assess the long-term results of OD interventions

Which one of the following is not considered a strategy for dealing with resistance to change?

avoiding conflict

Establishing a "diagnostic relationship" refers to___________.

clarifying expectations between relevant organizational members and the consultant

You are the CEO of your company. Sanjar, the Organizational Development Director, has been working with you to ensure that during a major change initiative your sponsorship is visible to employees, and that they understand the needs and how they will be impacted. Today Sanjar gave you some anecdotal information that has you concerned. He said that the change project is being overshadowed by daily activities, and the change activities are going quite slowly. Although there may be many influencers, what is most likely the source of the problem?

competing priorities

The "age" trend suggests that _____________.

competition for younger workers will be intense

Which one of the following does not describe a "family first" value system?

competitiveness

When should you identify the measurement variables to be used for evaluation and feedback?

diagnosis stage

A local CPA firm experienced an increase in client complaints. After some preliminary analysis of the complaints, the firm discovered that the cause is not from errors made by employees, but from a lack of customer service as perceived by clients. A CPA professional association has collected a set of customer service associated data and compiled a standardized questionnaire that is available to the association members. Further, the association has taken the results from many firms and compiled a statistical standard of "best practices in customer service." The CPA firm administered the standardized questionnaire to the employees. Which of the following diagnostic analysis tools is most appropriate for this situation?

difference tests

Which one of the following is not a human resource management intervention?

downsizing

Executive leadership is large-scale and transformational change is critical, especially when the change must happen quickly. Researchers have identified which four key roles for executive leadership during transformational change? (Select the best answer).

envisioning, energizing, enabling, and engaging

The four key roles of leadership in transformational change are ________.

envisioning, energizing, enabling, and engaging

True or False: A drawback to force-field analysis, which is based on Lewin's work, is that the qualitative data is collected using only questionnaires, and thus can be somewhat limiting.

false

True or False: Codification and personalization are techniques used in organization learning interventions.

false

True or False: In making a good diagnostic model, "hands on" knowledge and practical information are more important than organization theory.

false

True or False: Organizational Development (OD) interventions that improve local subsidiary effectiveness are more likely to support a global strategic orientation.

false

True or False: Uncertain and changing industry structures demand rigid structural, measurement, and human resource systems.

false

True or False: Workforce diversity is defined by cultural and ethnic differences and is considered essential to building competitive advantage.

false

Which one of the following is not a "core" skill of an OD practitioner?

financial management skills

True or False: Having the capability to design or modify relevant interventions is a core competency for successful Organizational Development (OD) professionals. Selected: True

true

Changing to a transnational strategic orientation typically involves ________.

gaining the ability to coordinate operations on a worldwide basis

Core competencies for OD specialists include the ability to analyze and diagnose system effectiveness. Which of the following levels is/are applicable to the OD field? (Select all that apply.)

group individual multiorganizational organizational

The success of strategic alliances is heavily influenced by ___________ and ___________. (Select the two that apply.)

how well the organization understands its distinctive capabilities the alignment of strategies between partners

Knowledge management interventions usually begin by ____________.

identifying the types of knowledge that create the most value for the organization

Understanding how an intervention is progressing is an example of __________ feedback.

implementation

A general framework for planned change ________.

includes entering, diagnosing, planning, implementing, evaluating, and institutionalizing

One of the principal advantages of a family business is ________.

increased potential for unity of purpose and action between owners and management

Observations can be particularly helpful in diagnosing ___________.

interpersonal relations

Developing political support ___________. (Select all that apply.)

is the same as addressing power issues involves identifying key stakeholders

Which one of the following is not an effective guideline for changing corporate culture?

keeping top management from being part of the process

Organization culture does not include which one of the following?

products and services supplied to customers

Which one of the following is not considered a part of the Ethical Guidelines for an Organizational Development professional?

responsibility to political affiliation

Diagnostic models incorporate _________. (Select all that apply.)

scientific models of how organizations function conceptual frameworks of how organizations function intuitive "hunches" of how organizations function

True or False: It is unreasonable to assume that all differences will be identified and resolved. Under such circumstances, the subsequent intervention process or role episode is almost always subject to role conflict and role ambiguity.

true

True or False: One drawback to collecting data via interviews is the amount of time required to conduct the interviews and analyze the data.

true

True or False: Process consultation is designed to help groups improve and also to solve their own problems.

true

True or False: Research supports the idea that organization designs with "alignment" between strategy and design are more effective.

true

True or False: Team building is intended to improve the way people work together and learn to solve their own problems.

true

True or False: The cultural components of an organization are based on basic assumptions, values, norms, and artifacts.

true

True or False: There is increasing research about the skills/knowledge of an effective OD practitioner.

true

True or False: Transformational change involves reshaping the organization's strategy and design elements to affect culture and performance.

true

True or False: Values have played an important role in organizational development from its beginning. Traditionally, OD professionals have promoted a set of humanistic values, including a concern for open inquiry, democratic principles, and personal well-being.

true

In assessing the internal validity of an intervention, we ________.

try to determine if certain changes cause certain outcomes

Diagnosis helps Organizational Development (OD) practitioners to ________. (Select all that apply.)

understand how the organization is functioning gather the information necessary to design change interventions

Which method of gathering data is the most "objective"?

unobtrusive measures

As institutionalization follows a developmental order, which indicator represents the highest degree of institutionalization?

values consensus