Chapter 7

it is used by most people

A particular technology becomes the dominant design because of critical mass, which means that:

change agent

An individual who is formally in charge of guiding a change effort in an organization is referred to as a _____.

He must educate his employees about the need for the change and explain its benefits to them before employing it

Damien Richard is the CEO of QuickShop, a chain of supermarkets. QuickShop is soon going to employ the latest technology, which will help customers reduce their shopping time by an ask-and-get approach. In this approach, a customer has to just name the product, and the robots will bring it to them. QuickShop's employees are worried about losing their jobs if this technology is employed. On speaking to several of the employees, Damien finds that many of them have misguided opinions about the implementation of the technology, causing them to have insecurities. What should Damien do to help them adapt to the change more easily?

technological substitution

During the last decade, as people sought to replace their obsolete floppy discs, there was an increase in sales in CDs, DVDs, pen drives, and portable hard discs. The replacement of floppy discs by other advanced storage devices is an example of _____.

product prototype

Dynamics Inc. is a company that specializes in household appliances. It is currently working on creating a new geyser that can heat water in less than five minutes. The company has developed a working model that is being tested for design, function, and reliability. In terms of the experiential approach to innovation, this working model is called a _____.

a steeper slope at midpoint of curve

If a technological innovation follows the typical S-curve pattern of innovation, which of the following will indicate that small amounts of effort, in terms of money or research and development, will lead to significant increase in technological performance?

it emphasizes employee participation in diagnosing, solving, and evaluating problems

In terms of change tools and techniques, which of the following is true of organizational development?

resistance forces

In the context of managing change, _____ support the status quo of an organization.

change agent

Mark was the person who was in charge of the plan to reinvent Supernova Automobiles. He played a major role in the company making a shift to building solar-powered automobiles from making regular fuel-powered cars. After the change intervention gave satisfactory results, Mark left the project and started working on another project. In the context of organizational development, Mark is a(n) _____.

creating innovation streams

Over the long run, which of the following is the best way for a company to sustain competitive advantage?

generational change

Portrance's iX processor is the latest installment in the Portrance microprocessor product line. It is fully backward compatible with the earlier versions of the microprocessor. Which of the following terms best describes this dominance of Portrance's new iX processor over its older versions?

compression approach to managing innovation

The _____ assumes that innovation is a predictable process that can be planned using a series of steps and reducing the time it takes to complete those steps can speed up the innovation process.

experiential approach to innovation

The _____ assumes that innovation is occurring within a highly uncertain environment.

unfreezing, change intervention, and refreezing

The three steps in the basic process of managing organizational change outlined by Kurt Lewin are:

discontinuous change

When Fletcher Motors, an automobile manufacturer, learned that it took longer than any other manufacturer to assemble a vehicle, it purchased existing flexible manufacturing systems to replace its older ones. Which stage of the technology cycle is illustrated in the scenario?

end of the technology cycle

When significant improvements in performance can only be gained through radical new designs or new performance-enhancing materials, it is likely that a company is at the _____.

self interest

Which of the following factors causes resistance to change?

planning

Which of the following is an aspect of the compression approach to innovation?

coercion

Which of the following methods for managing resistance to change should only be used as a last resort or under crisis conditions?

organizational members accept ownership and responsibility for the change, which is then carried out through the entire organization

Which of the following occurs in the adoption stage of organizational development interventions?