Test Bank for Organization Change 6
Edition by Burke
ISBN: 9781071869918
Organization Change (6th)
ISBN 9781071869918 | Chapter 1
Total Questions: 37
Multiple Choice (22)
Q1. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Organizations change ______.
a) only when planned change is initiated
b) only in response to an environmental threat
c) only when change is unplanned
d) all the time ✓ correct
Q2. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Most organization change is ______.
a) revolutionary
b) planned
c) successful
d) evolutionary ✓ correct
Q3. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Revolutionary change is ______.
a) planned and rare
b) a major overhaul of the organization
c) rare and major
d) planned, rare, and major ✓ correct
Q4. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Evolutionary change is ______.
a) sporadic
b) sequential c) planned
d) unplanned ✓ correct
Q5. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Revolutionary change involves a change in ______.
a) leadership and culture only
b) strategy, leadership, and culture ✓ correct
c) organizational culture only
d) strategy and leadership only
Q6. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Which of the following statements is true?
a) The external environment now changes less rapidly than organizations do.
b) The external environment now changes more rapidly than organizations do. ✓ correct
c) A few decades ago, the external environment changed more rapidly than organizations.
d) A few decades ago, organizations changed more rapidly than the external environment.
Q7. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Which of the following is true?
a) Today’s organizations are generally keeping up with the external environment at a two-to-one pace.
b) Today’s organizations are generally keeping up with the external environment at a one-to-one pace.
c) Today’s organizations need to change more rapidly in order to keep up with the external environment. ✓ correct
d) Today’s organizations need to be more stable in order to keep up with the external environment.
Q8. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Organizations are generally built on an assumption of ______.
a) discontinuity and stability
b) continuity and instability
c) stability and continuity ✓ correct
d) instability and discontinuity
Q9. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Organizations’ external environments are ______.
a) unstable
b) stable
c) discontinuous ✓ correct
d) continuous
Q10. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Organizations’ external environments are not ______.
a) intradependent
b) circular
c) homeostatic ✓ correct
d) unpredictable
Q11. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
The majority of books and articles about organization change address mainly ______.
a) continuity and stabilization ✓ correct
b) discontinuous change
c) topics that are irrelevant to organizational change
d) tried and true approaches to revolutionary change
Q12. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Burke relies on which of the following types of books and literature as sources for their book?
a) organizational theory, trade and “story” books ✓ correct
b) “story” books and trade books only
c) trade books only
d) organizational theory literature only
Q13. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Comprehension Gladwell’s The Tipping Point (2000) ______.
a) neither is a “story” book nor offers insights into how change occurs
b) is a “story” book and offers insights into how change occurs
c) offers insights into how change occurs ✓ correct
d) is a “story” book
Q14. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Gladwell’s (2000) research is grounded in the ______.
a) physical and fiscal environments
b) social and behavioral sciences ✓ correct
c) psychology and management theories
d) chaos theory and the life sciences
Q15. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
According to Burke, the leader of change management par excellence is ______.
a) Donald Trump
b) John Kotter
c) Bill Gates
d) Alexander Hamilton ✓ correct
Q16. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
In the case study of the vice president’s coverage of the plans for change at Teachers College, Columbia University, the change was prompted by ______.
a) the fact that the buildings and facilities involved were at least a century old
b) tearing down buildings to provide space for new ones ✓ correct
c) the increased enrollment
d) a grant award
Q17. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
The change and external environment noted in the case study involving Teachers College, Columbia University, involved ______.
a) change in the external environment
b) change in administration ✓ correct
c) increased enrollment
d) rising tuition costs
Q18. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
The popularity of John Kotter’s “Leading Change” is due to ______.
a) the extensive bibliography and references
b) the interrater validity of the Kotter eight stages
c) Kotter’s ability to distill into eighteen stages a mass of case examples
d) Kotter’s status and reputation ✓ correct
Q19. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
A potential source for knowledge and assistance for models of organization and organization change literature includes ______.
a) books of “wisdom” that have a clear and usually simple maximum to teach
b) trade literature and books of narratives used to teach
c) organizational theory and trade literature
d) organizational theory and trade literature, and books of “wisdom” ✓ correct
Q20. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
The “story” book that contains a metaphor and is entitled “Our Iceberg Is Melting” is authored by ______.
a) John Kotter
b) Jack Welch
c) Malcolm Gladwell
d) Holger Rathgeber ✓ correct
Q21. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge John Kotter proposes that leading change consists of ______.
a) an eight-stage process ✓ correct
b) laissez-faire
c) authoritarian style of leadership
d) charismatic leader
Q22. [Multiple Choice] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge The case study involving Teachers College, Columbia University, is based upon the principle of an organization being ______.
a) influenced by a new leader
b) the context in which the change is occurring ✓ correct
c) organization influenced by its historical culture
d) a closed system
True/False (10)
Q23. [True/False] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
There is a classic pattern to any change in a given organization.
a) True
b) False ✓ correct
Correct answer: False
Q24. [True/False] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Management of change is a recent activity.
a) True
b) False ✓ correct
Correct answer: False
Q25. [True/False] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Change management literature is only a recent activity.
a) True ✓ correct
b) False
Correct answer: True
Q26. [True/False] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Change is a repetitive process in an organization.
a) True
b) False ✓ correct
Correct answer: False
Q27. [True/False] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Change is a continuous process in an organization.
a) True ✓ correct
b) False
Correct answer: True
Q28. [True/False] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge Change in an organization is decided and executed by senior leadership.
a) True
b) False ✓ correct Correct answer: False
Q29. [True/False] · Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Everyone in an organization is involved in and takes leadership responsibility for change in that organization.
a) True ✓ correct b) False
Correct answer: True
Q30. [True/False] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Change management is a fairly recent area of study and discipline.
a) True
b) False ✓ correct
Correct answer: False
Q31. [True/False] · Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Change management theory and analysis is a recent area of study.
a) True ✓ correct
b) False
Correct answer: True
Q32. [True/False] · Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
The case study involving Teachers College, Columbia University, is based on an open system theory of organization
a) True ✓ correct b) False
Correct answer: True
Essay (5)
Q33. [Essay] · Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Why is there a need for a clearer and greater depth of understanding about organization change?
Suggested answer: Sample response: Until the last few decades, organizations’ external environment was more static and organizations could operate under the status quo without too much concern about surviving. Now that the external environment changes much more rapidly than organizations do, organizations need to keep up with the changes. Most organizations are created and developed on an assumption of continuity and so are most books and the literature about organization change. So more research needs to be done to help organizations change effectively in today’s rapidly changing external environment.
Q34. [Essay] · Cognitive Domain: Analysis
What are the three basic types of books or literature that Burke uses as background and research for his book? Describe one drawback to each type.
Suggested answer: Sample response: The three types of books/literature are (1) organization change, (2) trade literature, and (3) “story” books. A drawback to the organization change literature is that it mostly focuses on continuity and stabilization. A drawback to the trade literature is that the exemplary organizations on which the books are based eventually change and are no longer exemplary. (Another drawback to using trade literature is that it is typically based on one expert’s experience and has not been verified or validated.) A drawback to “story” books is that organizations are too complex for a simple story to reveal the many factors involved in organization change.
Q35. [Essay] · Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Explain the concept of a “cultural lock-in” and why it is important to understand.
Suggested answer: Sample response: Corporations today experience what Foster and Kaplan referred to as “cultural lock-in”; they cannot change themselves rapidly enough to remain a high-performing organization—assuming they were in the first place.
Q36. [Essay] · Cognitive Domain: Application
Burke uses trade literature as a source for their theory. Using at least two titles of trade literature, discuss why it is important to use it as a theory of change is developed.
Suggested answer: Sample response: Peters and Waterman (1982), In Search of Excellence, and later, Built to Last, by Collins and Porras (1994) typically focus on organization exemplars: This is what to learn from, to model, and to follow. The authors draw conclusions from these model organizations and sometimes even derive principles about how organizations should be led and managed. Peters and Waterman had eight such principles: for example, “stick to your knitting.” Collins and Porras stressed the power of culture as facilitating continuity and stabilization over time. The problem here is that by using popular, actual organization cases as the base from which to derive principles, sooner or later—and today it is much sooner rather than later—the organizations studied and showcased no longer illustrate the principles because things have changed. The model organizations have perhaps fallen on bad times, have become acquired, or worse, have filed for Chapter 11. The principles become passé, are no longer (if they ever were) relevant, and are soon forgotten. Sticking to one’s knitting in this day and age may be the opposite of what to do in business. In fact, in a recent article, Peters (2001) “confesses” that a number of the conclusions in the 1982 book were guesses and opinions rather than rigorously based on data.
Q37. [Essay] · Cognitive Domain: Application
Using Kotter’s eight-stage process, describe how you would lead the process of lowering the tuition for education in this institution of higher learning.
Suggested answer: Sample response: Answers will vary, but may include establishing a sense of urgency by describing the necessity for change and the limitations imposed for postgraduate growth by incurring significant debt for the cost of the education; creating a guiding coalition of students, faculty, and parents to develop a vision and strategy of an innovative and creative country; communicating that vision of change through high school counselors, parental associations, and local and national politicians; creating mechanisms such as work-study programs and campaigns to enlist private charities and solicitation from corporate America to empower students to take a broad-based action on lowering the tuition. Lowering of a tuition for probationary period of a year or two would generate short-term wins and demonstrate the efficacy of the vision thereby consolidating gauge and producing continuing change through additional years. The anchoring of this new approach in the American culture that holds dear the precept that education is the foundation for social upward mobility, reduction of crime, and raising the overall level of the standard of living would constitute a cultural change.