chapter 10 exam
_______ is the process by which a company compares its performance with that of high-performing organizations. Competitive change Reference innovation Radical innovation Benchmarking Continuous improvement
Benchmarking Benchmarking is a process by which a company compares its performance with that of high-performing organizations.
Which of the following is an example of a proactive change? Ciara cannot get permission to hire another person until her group misses several deadlines. Ciara's staff is unhappy about the long hours they have been working and several of them quit before she knows there is a problem. Ciara explores improvements in bonus structures with her staff and begins to implement them despite the fact that her employees are generally content. Ciara is constantly "putting out fires," responding to daily crises in her group. Ciara's group sent a product that was nearing its launch date back to the drawing board based on a competitor's superior new offering.
Ciara explores improvements in bonus structures with her staff and begins to implement them despite the fact that her employees are generally content. When managers talk about "putting out fires," they are talking about reactive change, making changes in response to problems or opportunities as they arise. Proactive change or planned change involves making carefully thought-out changes in anticipation of possible or expected problems or opportunities as is the case with Ciara's exploration of improvements in bonus structure.
____________ is a change that represents the introduction of a new practice to an organization but one that is not new to the industry. Adaptive change Reactive change Innovative change Proactive change Radically innovative change
Innovative change Innovative change is the introduction of a practice that is new to the organization.
_____________ is the set of techniques used for implementing planned change to make people and organizations more effective. Revitalization Continuous improvement Incremental innovation Corporate transformation Organizational development
Organizational development Organizational development (OD) is a set of techniques for implementing planned change to make people and organizations more effective.
________ is an emotional/behavioral response to real or imagined threats to an established work routine. Radical innovation OD intervention Resistance to change Benchmarking Change agent
Resistance to change Resistance to change is an emotional/behavioral response to real or imagined threats to an established work routine. Resistance can be as subtle as passive resignation and as overt as deliberate sabotage.
Organizational development is often put into practice by a __________. transformative consultant change agent training specialist catalytic consultant counselor
change agent Often OD is put into practice by a person known as a change agent, a consultant with a background in behavioral sciences who can be a catalyst in helping organizations deal with old problems in new ways.
In which of the following situations would OD techniques be the most helpful? dealing with employee stress that comes from changing behaviors or from adapting to mergers helping employees from two similar organizations work better together in a strategic alliance working with the CEO to determine how to increase profitability facilitating discussion of ethical issues in preparing a company's code of ethics increasing efficiency among employees in a firm
dealing with employee stress that comes from changing behaviors or from adapting to mergers OD techniques can be the most helpful in dealing with employee stress that comes from changing behaviors or from adapting to mergers.
As an OD consultant, Sharon is designing a survey of employee attitudes to be given to workers at SW Emergency Clinic. By collecting this information, Sharon is conducting the ______ stage of OD. intervention unfreezing evaluation diagnosis refreezing
diagnosis Sharon is collecting information to diagnose problems.
During Lewin's refreezing stage, managers should __________. make employees dissatisfied with the present way of doing things encourage and reinforce the desired change in the employees provide benchmarking results give employees the tools for change reduce the barriers to change
encourage and reinforce the desired change in the employees Managers can assist in refreezing by encouraging employees to exhibit the new change and then, through additional coaching and modeling, by reinforcing the employees in the desired change.
Which of the following is not an interacting factor that affects the level of resistance to change? gender of the change agent change agent-employee relationship change agent actions and inactions individual differences of the change agent employee characteristics and perceptions of change
gender of the change agent Resistance can be considered to be the interaction of three causes: (1) employee characteristics, (2) change agent characteristics, and (3) the change agent-employee relationship. The characteristics of the employees and change agent consist of their individual differences, actions and inactions, and perceptions of change.
As owner and senior accountant at a tax preparation firm, Mark is changing the work schedule of all employees, including managers and accountants, for the months of March and April, the company's busiest time. He is requiring work on weekends for everyone, using the same basic schedule as last two years. Mark should expect that his employees will be __________. moderately upset but not willing to quit terribly upset but not quit moderately upset and complain terribly upset and quit hardly upset or not upset at all
hardly upset or not upset at all Adaptive change is reintroduction of a familiar practice, or the implementation of a kind of change that has already been experienced within the same organization. Because adaptive change is familiar, it is the least threatening to employees and thus will create the least resistance.
Which of the following is not a supertrend shaping the future of business? more niche products information becoming a competitive advantage faster speed-to-market traditional companies struggling with radically innovative change offshore suppliers affecting U.S. business
information becoming a competitive advantage "Information is rapidly becoming a profitless commodity, and knowledge is becoming the new competitive advantage," says San Diego management consultant Karl Albrecht.
Northstar Insurance is about to install a program that will change the way its adjusters settle claims. Adjusters will be able to complete adjustment and issue the check right at the scene of the accident. Although employees are uncertain this can work, other insurance agencies have been successful with this approach. This represents ________. innovative change radically innovative change refusal to change adaptive change motivated change
innovative change Innovative change is the introduction of a practice that is new to the organization. This form of change involves moderate complexity, cost, and uncertainty. It is therefore apt to trigger some fear and resistance among employees.
Which of the following is not a leading reason that employees resist change? individual predisposition toward change nonreinforcing reward systems climate of mistrust lack of personal ethics fear of failure
lack of personal ethics Employees may resist change for all kinds of reasons, but lack of personal ethics is not among them.
Inside forces for change include which of the following? immigration low productivity and turnover domestic competition advancements in automation recession
low productivity and turnover Inside forces for change include employee problems such as low productivity or turnover, as well as managers' behavior.
Joan, a new manager, must enforce sales report deadlines, but her team is struggling. She creates a new system to streamline the process and helps everyone understand why the deadlines are important. This is an example of which force for change? social and political pressures human resource concerns manager's behavior demographic characteristics shareholder, customer, and market changes
manager's behavior New managers tend to struggle when dealing with regular, day-to-day issues. One solution is to become a "servant leader" seeing yourself as someone who helps others do their jobs, fixing problems and giving employees the tools they need.
An innovative change involves ______ complexity, cost, and uncertainty. extreme no hidden moderate minimum
moderate Innovative change is the introduction of a practice that is new to the organization. This form of change involves moderate complexity, cost, and uncertainty. It is therefore apt to trigger some fear and resistance among employees.
The two co-founders of Network Appliance, a data-storage firm in Sunnyvale, California, were feuding with each other because one founder couldn't stick to his decisions, which drove the other founder crazy. A(n) ____________ began working with the warring executives in separate sessions to solve the problem. family doctor informational technologist acquisition consultant labor relations specialist organizational behavior specialist
organizational behavior specialist The two co-founders of Network Appliance, a data-storage firm in Sunnyvale, California, were feuding with each other because one founder couldn't stick to his decisions, which drove the other founder crazy. An organizational behavior specialist began working with the warring executives in separate sessions to solve the problem.
A(n) ______ innovation is a change in the way a product or service is conceived, manufactured, or disseminated. process transformational adaptive procedural product
process A process innovation is a change in the way a product or service is conceived, manufactured, or disseminated.
Four steps to making innovation happen within an organization include all of the following except ____. recognize problems and opportunities and devise solutions punish failures gain allies by communicating your vision execute well overcome employee resistance
punish failures Four steps to making innovation happen within an organization include (1) recognize problems and opportunities and devise solutions, (2) gain allies by communicating your vision, (3) overcome employee resistance, and (4) execute well.
Introducing a practice that is new to the industry is called a(n) ______ change. revolutionary innovative radically innovative adaptive reactive
radically innovative Radically innovative change involves introducing a practice that is new to the industry.
Which of the following is an example of a force for change originating outside the organization? social and political pressures absenteeism structural reorganization conflict management productivity issues
social and political pressures Forces for change that originate outside the organization include demographic characteristics, market changes, technological advancements, and social and political pressures.
The invention of a machine to make plastic corks for wine bottles has severely affected companies that produce traditional cork. This is an example of a(n) ______ advancement. technological social and political economic market demographical
technological Forces for change that originate outside the organization include demographic characteristics, market changes, technological advancements, and social and political pressures. This plastic cork machine is an example of a technological advancement.
Omar, an OD consultant, is working with members of a cross-functional team to build cohesiveness and practice skills to function better as a team. Omar is conducting the ______ stage of OD. changing evaluation diagnosis treatment or intervention feedback
treatment or intervention "Treatment" or intervention is the attempt to correct the diagnosed problems. OD activities for implementing planned change include helping group members learn to function as a team, and stimulating better cohesiveness among several work groups.
Studies exploring nurses' perceptions about using PDAs in their daily patient practice found initial resistance, with some nurses concerned about the cost and short technological life cycle of these devices. This is an example of the __________ stage of change. refreezing unfreezing thawing freezing change
unfreezing Studies exploring nurses' perceptions about using PDAs in their daily patient practice found initial resistance, with some nurses concerned about the cost and short technological life cycle of these devices—the unfreezing stage.