Exam 6: Innovation and Adaptability

An adaptive organization requires _________________.

People resist change because change replaces the known with _______.

Culture of innovation is important for companies in the face of rapid technological changes.

Resistance to change is likely to be lower if managers ____________.

Adaptive organizations should discourage employees who are viewed as mavericks since their ideas are outside the mainstream.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Lightspeed.com (Scenario) Edwin Edwards is a team leader for Lightspeed.com, an e-business that has employees in every global time zone. Some of the factors that the team has to contend with are deadlines, strong work ethic, creativity-innovation chain, high-speed turnaround, and professionalism. As team leader, Edwin sees team members via videoconference only a few times per year or via compressed video via Internet a few times more per year. A frustration that he is encountering himself is that he works with all of these people and does not have control over their "actual" work or the few organizational rules, regulations, and policies. Yet, due to the position he is in, he feels he gets all of their complaints. The team does not deal well when a member offers an "off-the-wall" solution to a team problem; team members seem to have more trouble with this than any other team-conflict issue) What he likes most about leading the team is that they seem to prefer getting their objective accomplished instead of wasting time trying to decide who should be doing what tasks. -Edwin decided that his employees could benefit from __________, an OD technique designed to change behaviour through unstructured group interaction.

In spurring organizational change, outside consultants are usually more __________ whereas internal managers tend to be more __________.

Organizational __________ involves any alteration in structure, technology, or people.

How can managers increase the likelihood of making change happen successfully?

Which of the following cultural variable is characteristic of innovative organizations?

Adaptive organizations need clear and efficient structures in place to meet the changing environmental challenges.

Minimal structural and physical barriers allow employees to share information and foster adaptability.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Innovation Variables at Lightspeed (Scenario) Edwin Lee leads a cross-functional product development team at Lightspeed.com, a software company with employees in 10 countries around the world) The members of Edwin's team are hard-working and highly creative, but he wonders if there are ways to stimulate more innovation from the team. As the company has grown, so too has the bureaucracy. Numerous rules and policies have been introduced, and decision making has become highly centralized. This has resulted in resource limitations and tight project deadlines. Fortunately, with the use of web cams and other Internet technology, Edwin is able to hold frequent meetings with his global cross-functional team. And despite some structural limitations, the company's culture does seem to foster creative solutions. Diverse opinions are encouraged, and even the most unrealistic, ''off-the-wall'' solutions are accepted without criticism. Mistakes are treated as learning opportunities-a good thing, since there have definitely been some mistakes! -Which cultural variable relates to the acceptance of mistakes at Lightspeed?

Adaptability requires forward-thinking leadership within organizations whereby they proactively _____________________.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Innovation Variables at Lightspeed (Scenario) Edwin Lee leads a cross-functional product development team at Lightspeed.com, a software company with employees in 10 countries around the world) The members of Edwin's team are hard-working and highly creative, but he wonders if there are ways to stimulate more innovation from the team. As the company has grown, so too has the bureaucracy. Numerous rules and policies have been introduced, and decision making has become highly centralized. This has resulted in resource limitations and tight project deadlines. Fortunately, with the use of web cams and other Internet technology, Edwin is able to hold frequent meetings with his global cross-functional team. And despite some structural limitations, the company's culture does seem to foster creative solutions. Diverse opinions are encouraged, and even the most unrealistic, ''off-the-wall'' solutions are accepted without criticism. Mistakes are treated as learning opportunities-a good thing, since there have definitely been some mistakes! -Which cultural variable relates to the acceptance of "off-the wall" solutions at Lightspeed?

Organizational development techniques seek to bring about change in which of the basic change categories?

An adaptive organization ________.

One reason people resist change is that it substitutes ambiguity for uncertainty.

Which of the following is an example of a structural variable that can foster innovation?

Successful organizations are not only efficient and effective, they also must be __________.