Reference no: EM13738740

Question 1: Which of the following options properly identifies external and internal forces which drive change?

• External forces for change are totally environmental; internal forces for change are more economic.
• An internal force for change is a lack of diversity in the make-up of the senior management, whereas an external force for change is a lawsuit by the EEOC requiring the management to correct diversity failure in the company.
• Internal forces for change tend to create a faster change than external forces for change.
• The mimetic isomorphism pressure to change was seen when Sarbanes Oxley was passed in order to ensure that an Enron-like scenario never happened again. This was an external vs. internal force for change.
• None of the above

Question 2: Which of the following best shows forces for change vs. forces for stability?

• Change forces are: adapting, sustaining, and predicting; whereas stability forces are: bureaucracy, trust, and control.
• Change forces include: lay-offs, IPOs, and inventing new products; whereas stability forces are: hiring, stock buy-backs, and regular yearly dividends.
• Change forces include: lay-offs, stock buy-backs, and bi-annual new models of iPhones; whereas stability forces are hiring freezes, bureaucracy, and regular yearly dividends.
• Change forces include: Harry Potter Park at Universal Studios, Walt Disney Cruise Lines, and McDonald's lattes; and stability forces are Cruise ship sinking at Giglio Island, bridging and buffering strategies, and JetBlue's public apology after the Valentine's Day fiasco.
• Both A and C

Question 3: Which of the following best defines the "7-S" model of diagnosing change?

• Includes purpose, structure, rewards, and helpful mechanisms
• Is based on the conceptualization of the organization as a transformation process
• Can be a starting point for an organization that has not given attention to the trends that may impact its future operations
• Includes strategy, structure, process, and lateral capability
• Includes structure, style, skills, super-ordinate goals, etc.

Question 4: Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline created a powerful lens for empowering change in organizations called

• inputs/outputs/throughputs.
• logical reasoning from deduction.
• systems thinking.
• transformational lenses.
• the Black Box model.

Question 5: The "nurturer" image of change agent will change focus when she moves from "change sponsor" to "change implementer" in the following way(s):

• A nurturer will be the planner, the instigator, and the decision maker for change so when she changes focus, she will ensure everyone follows the plan without determining or considering the results on people.
• A nurturer will accept her role as sponsor and implementer and ensure her direct reports do the same.
• A nurturer, like a caretaker, assumes that change managers receive rather than initiate change, and therefore has little role in implementation other than protection.
• A nurturer, like Kotter's theoretical manager Jim Kirk, will accept the change plan, initiate the change boldly, and ensure a new structure is determined through the project.
• All of the above

Question 6: The four-frame model of diagnosing change stems from the belief of its inventors that leaders in organizations must

• understand that not everyone in an organization is ready to be asked to step up to the plate as a change agent.
• review the landscape, picture the new landscape, mold the new landscape, and freeze the new landscape.
• stop using the human resource department as change managers.
• accept that project managers may be the best change agents for all organizations.
• unlock their perceptions, review their biases, and reinterpret the organization through different lenses without "blind spots".

Question 7: The actions of a visionary leader casting appropriate roles, engaging in dialogue to create message appeal, and directing the change through verbal and non-verbal behaviors is called

• scripting.
• performing.
• staging.
• norming.
• framing.

Question 8: Emotional intelligence domains help us determine when a person, or potential change agent, is ready for leadership. We know that people have reached the "self-management stage" when

• they are honest, keep their emotions under control, but are able to selflessly recognize that almost every situation is going to end up unfavorable to the company.
• they build bonds, resolve conflict, and pass competency tests for having "great intuitive" powers.
• they exhibit integrity, initiative, and optimism.
• they know their own limitations.
• they are self-confident but not arrogant.

Question 9: The "inspirational leadership" style of communicating change as described by Reardon and Reardon states that a leader's communication strategy for successful change will do the following:

• create consensus; the main communication process is simply involvement.
• focus on performance and results orientation; the communication will direct people toward tasks.
• totally and irrationally immerse him/herself in the overwhelming amount of change to enact, the leader will spray information about the change daily and pray that others will take the message and run, inspiring others to act accordingly.
• develop a vision of the future and encourage a cohesive community of other change leaders who will support the vision by communication through creating trust and getting people mobilized around the change effort.
• hire a pastor to come and work with the organization.

Question 10: Crisis management communication strategies for corporate situations which create injury or massive environmental damage (such as the BP Gulf Oil Disaster) might include any of the following, but almost always should include this one very important piece:

• total and full denial of blame.
• shifting the blame.
• apology.
• shift the blame and apologize.
• initial delay/silence while reviewing victim responses to the crisis.

Question 11: In July 2006, News Corporation (owner Rupert Murdoch) bought MySpace for $580 million. In June 2011, NC sold MySpace for $35 million to Specific Media. News Corp has stated in various filings that it recouped the total cost of MySpace through an ad contract with Google, but were tired of the "headache" of the site. 8 months later, through strategic partnerships with Facebook and Twitter, and investor Justin Timberlake, the site started to rejuvenate. Whether it will remake its brand remains a question. To the employees who have been with MySpace since 2005 (pre-Murdoch days) and who remain there in 2012 in the rejuvenation stage, the past 7 years could be described as a time of

• charismatic (inspirational) transformation.
• cultural readjustments.
• sustaining change.
• All of the above
• None of the above

Question 12: Which of the following is an example of the Beer, Nohria view of dimensions of change using Theory E + Theory O combined, from a leadership perspective?

• The Project Manager communicates to the software development team the timeline for a change and the CEO asks her to speed it up by 3 weeks.
• The CIO decides to move from a mainframe approach to a PC approach, notifies all of her direct reports of the new vision, establishes a communication plan, timeline, and project roll-out plan, communicates the change (including positives and negatives) to stakeholders, and establishes a metrics system where innovation, efficiencies, and positive feedback on the project is measured and rewarded via awards, bonuses, and perks.
• A fast food company decides to remove one slice of cheese from their cheeseburgers, although increasing the retail price by 10 cents, and has a cost savings which increases its stock price significantly. A group of health experts touts the company as being "health conscious" because the calorie content of the item is lowered.
• The CEO of a Fortune 100 company hires a team of consultants to take over the HR department and eliminates all in-house HR people (about 85 employees).
• A department head is invited to a meeting where he is asked to become a change agent for an exciting new product line. He accepts the assignment and goes back to his desk, whereupon he explains to his team that it is likely that their jobs will disappear in the next year because of job obsolescence, but that anyone who might like to consider helping with the new product line may be allowed to reapply for new jobs which open up.