Man3025 Chapter 7
Refreezing
supporting and reinforcing new changes so that they stick
The three steps in the basic process of managing organizational change outlined by Kurt Lewin are:
unfreezing, change intervention, and refreezing
Which of the following occurs in the adoption stage of organizational development interventions?
Organizational members accept ownership and responsibility for the change, which is then carried out through the entire organization.
Which of the following is an aspect of the compression approach to innovation?
Planning
In an organization, which of the following acts as a hindrance to a creative work environment?
Presence of internal conflict
Which of the following factors causes resistance to change?
Self-interest
Design iteration
a cycle of repetition in which a company tests a prototype of a new product or service, improves on that design, and then builds and tests the improved prototype
Technology cycle
a cycle that begins with the birth of a new technology and ends when that technology reaches its limits and is replaced by a newer, substantially better technology
Product prototype
a full-scale, working model that is being tested for design, function, and reliability
Organizational decline
a large decrease in organizational performance that occurs when companies don't anticipate, recognize, neutralize, or adapt to the internal or external pressures that threaten their survival
Organizational development
a philosophy and collection of planned change interventions designed to improve an organization's long-term health and performance
Flow
a psychological state of effortlessness, in which you become completely absorbed in what you're doing, and time seems to pass quickly
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?
A steeper slope at the midpoint of the curve
Discontinuous change is characterized by _____, in which an old technology and several different new technologies compete to establish a new technological standard or dominant design.
design competition
Unfreezing
getting the people affected by change to believe that change is needed
Touchstone Hardware was a popular company that specialized in making floppy disks. At the start of the 21st century, when people began switching to CDs and DVDs to store their information, it was brought to the notice of senior managers that the company needed to switch its focus to the production of new storage devices. However, the managers did not feel it was important to make this switch. They dismissed CDs and DVDs as just a passing phase. Which of the following stages of organizational decline best illustrates the current situation of the company?
Blinded stage
Which of the following methods for managing resistance to change should only be used as a last resort or under crisis conditions?
Coercion
Over the long run, which of the following is the best way for a company to sustain competitive advantage?
Creating innovation streams
Which of the following is an aspect of the experiential approach to innovation?
Design iteration
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?
Discontinuous change
When resistance to change is based on insufficient, incorrect, or misleading information, which of the following is the best approach that a manager can use to manage resistance to change?
Education and communication
in the context of the experiential approach to innovation, which of the following is true of design iteration?
Frequent design iterations improve understanding.
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?
Generational change
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?
He must educate his employees about the need for the change and explain its benefits to them before employing it
Which of the following statements is true about the compression approach to managing innovation?
It aims at consistent improvement of existing designs
In terms of change tools and techniques, which of the following is true of organizational development?
It emphasizes employee participation in diagnosing, solving, and evaluating problems.
Which of the following is a characteristic of the inaction stage of organizational decline?
Managers wrongly assume that they can easily correct the problems, so they don't feel the situation is urgent.
____ is the successful implementation of creative ideas in organizations.
Organizational innovation
Explain why innovation matters to companies.
Technology cycles typically follow an S-curve pattern of innovation. Early in the cycle, technological progress is slow, and improvements in technological performance are small. As a technology matures, however, performance improves quickly. Finally, as the limits of a technology are reached, only small improvements occur. At this point, significant improvements in performance must come from new technologies. The best way to protect a competitive advantage is to create a stream of innovative ideas and products. Innovation streams begin with technological discontinuities that create significant breakthroughs in performance or function. Technological discontinuities are followed by discontinuous change, in which customers purchase new technologies, and companies compete to establish the new dominant design. Dominant designs emerge because of critical mass because they solve a practical problem, or because of the negotiations of independent standards bodies. Because technological innovation both enhances and destroys competence, companies that bet on the wrong design often struggle, while companies that bet on the eventual dominant design usually prosper. When a dominant design emerges, companies focus on incremental change, lowering costs, and making small but steady improvements in the dominant design. This focus continues until the next technological discontinuity occurs.
Discuss the different methods that managers can use to better manage change as it occurs.
The basic change process involves unfreezing, change intervention, and refreezing. Resistance to change stems from self-interest, misunderstanding, and distrust as well as a general intolerance for change. Resistance can be managed through education and communication, participation, negotiation, top management support, and coercion. Knowing what not to do is as important as knowing what to do to achieve successful change. Managers should avoid these errors when leading change: not establishing a sense of urgency, not creating a guiding coalition, lacking a vision, undercommunicating the vision, not removing obstacles to the vision, not creating short-term wins, declaring victory too soon, and not anchoring changes in the corporation's culture. Finally, managers can use a number of change techniques. Results-driven change and the General Electric fastworks reduce resistance to change by getting change efforts off to a fast start. Organizational development is a collection of planned change interventions (large-system, small-group, person-focused), guided by a change agent, that are designed to improve an organization's long-term health and performance.
Discuss why not changing can lead to organizational decline.
The five-stage process of organizational decline begins when organizations don't recognize the need for change. In the blinded stage, managers fail to recognize the changes that threaten their organization's survival. In the inaction stage, management recognizes the need to change but doesn't act, hoping that the problems will correct themselves. In the faulty action stage, management focuses on cost cutting and efficiency rather than facing up to the fundamental changes needed to ensure survival. In the crisis stage, failure is likely unless fundamental reorganization occurs. Finally, in the dissolution stage, the company is dissolved through bankruptcy proceedings; by selling assets to pay creditors; or through the closing of stores, offices, and facilities. If companies recognize the need to change early enough, however, dissolution may be avoided.
Discuss the different methods that managers can use to effectively manage innovation in their organizations.
To successfully manage innovation streams, companies must manage the sources of innovation and learn to manage innovation during both discontinuous and incremental change. Because innovation begins with creativity, companies can manage the sources of innovation by supporting a work environment in which creative thoughts and ideas are welcomed, valued, and encouraged. Creative work environments provide challenging work; offer organizational, supervisory, and work group encouragement; allow significant freedom; and remove organizational impediments to creativity. Discontinuous and incremental change require different strategies. Companies that succeed in periods of discontinuous change typically follow an experiential approach to innovation. The experiential approach assumes that intuition, flexible options, and hands-on experience can reduce uncertainty and accelerate learning and understanding. A compression approach to innovation works best during periods of incremental change. This approach assumes that innovation can be planned using a series of steps and that compressing the time it takes to complete those steps can speed up innovation.
Experiential approach to innovation
an approach to innovation that assumes a highly uncertain environment and uses intuition, flexible options, and hands-on experience to reduce uncertainty and accelerate learning and understanding
Compression approach to innovation
an approach to innovation that assumes that incremental innovation can be planned using a series of steps and that compressing those steps can speed innovation
If a technological innovation follows the S-curve pattern of innovation, a flat slope at the beginning of the curve indicates that:
an increased effort can bring only small improvements in its performance.
There are eight general steps for organizational development interventions. The third step is _____.
assessment and feedback
In terms of change tools and techniques, the General Electric workout is a special kind of _____.
results-driven change
An individual who is formally in charge of guiding a change effort in an organization is referred to as a _____.
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) _____.
change agent
Generational change
change based on incremental improvements to a dominant technological design such that the improved technology is fully backward compatible with the older technology
Results-driven change
change created quickly by focusing on the measurement and improvement of results
Design competition
competition between old and new technologies to establish a new technological standard or dominant design
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.
compression approach to managing innovation
Levio is a company that develops mobile applications. It aims to become the market leader in its field. Levio focuses on developing a culture where workers are made to feel that new ideas are welcome. It plans to do this by offering challenging work and supervisory encouragement to its workers. In this scenario, the company is attempting to develop a(n) _____.
creative work environment
Before TREX Mobiles launched its latest smartphone, it built a prototype of the phone and tested its performance repeatedly, improving the model each time. In the context of the experiential approach to innovation, this process is called _____.
design iteration
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 _____.
end of the technology cycle
The _____ assumes that innovation is occurring within a highly uncertain environment.
experiential approach to innovation
Xamber Tools, a metal tool manufacturing firm, is facing a threat of organizational decline due to the rising costs of raw materials, decreasing profits and lower market share. To fix these problems, the management decides to cut costs of production to increase efficiency and profit. The cost cut does not help the company, and the company eventually files for bankruptcy. In this scenario, Xamber Tools is most likely in the _____ of organizational decline.
faulty action stage
Change forces
forces that produce differences in the form, quality, or condition of an organization over time.
Resistance forces
forces that support the existing conditions in organizations.
Milestones
formal project review points used to assess progress and performance
A particular technology becomes the dominant design because of critical mass, which means that:
it is used by most people.
A technology is most likely to become a dominant design if:
it solves a practical problem.
Dominant design
new technological design or process that becomes the accepted market standard
Resistance to change
opposition to change resulting from self-interest, misunderstanding and distrust, and a general intolerance for change
Garrison Motors Inc. developed a creative manufacturing technique that helps improve the efficiency of their production. It allows the company to produce more than one type of car from the same assembly line. In this scenario, the development of a new technique by Garrison Motors to improve its workflow efficiency is an example of _____.
organizational innovation
S-curve pattern of innovation
pattern of technological innovation characterized by slow initial progress, then rapid progress, and then slow progress again as a technology matures and reaches its limits
Innovation streams
patterns of innovation over time that can create sustainable competitive advantage
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 _____.
product prototype
General Electric fastworks
quickly experimenting with new ideas to solve customer problems and learn from repeated tests and improvements
In the context of managing change, _____ support the status quo of an organization
resistance forces
Feldman Films is a company associated with photography, and has been in business for the last 30 years. The invention and development of the digital camera forced Feldman Films to start thinking fresh. Feldman Films applied design thinking to strategy and innovation in response to the competitive threat from the digital camera. In this scenario, the development of the digital camera was a _____.
technological discontinuity
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 _____.
technological substitution
Studies of hundreds of technological innovations have shown that nearly all technology cycles follow _____.
the S-curve pattern of innovation
Technological lockout
the inability of a company to competitively sell its products because it relies on old technology or a nondominant design
Change agent
the person formally in charge of guiding a change effort
Discontinuous change
the phase of a technology cycle characterized by technological substitution and design competition
Incremental change
the phase of a technology cycle in which companies innovate by lowering costs and improving the functioning and performance of the dominant technological design`
Technological discontinuity
the phase of an innovation stream in which a scientific advance or unique combination of existing technologies creates a significant breakthrough in performance or function
Change intervention
the process used to get workers and managers to change their behaviors and work practices
Technological substitution
the purchase of new technologies to replace older ones
Organizational innovation
the successful implementation of creative ideas in organizations
Testing
the systematic comparison of different product designs or design iterations
Coercion
the use of formal power and authority to force others to change
When Red Arc Enterprises, a shipping company, was merged with a larger shipping company, there was a strong resistance to change among the employees of Red Arc. When the CEO of Red Arc got to know of this, he met everyone and explained why the change was necessary and how it could serve to benefit everyone. According to Kurt Lewin, Red Arc is in the _____ stage of managing organizational change.
unfreezing
Multifunctional teams
work teams composed of people from different departments
Creative work environments
workplace cultures in which workers perceive that new ideas are welcomed, valued, and encouraged
