Exam 12: Managing Innovation and Change

Many employees at Mandy's company are having difficulty adjusting to the changes stemming from the recent takeover.In some cases,productivity has declined and absenteeism has increased.These employees are exhibiting which symptoms of stress?

The size of offices,the elegance of furnishings,and executive perks such as health club memberships are all examples of ________.

Which of the following is an example of a psychological symptom of stress?

According to Lewin,successful change can be planned and requires three stages: unfreezing,changing,and refreezing.

Which OD technique is designed to change the attitudes,stereotypes,and perceptions that work groups have about each other?

Refer to the Scenario below to answer the questions that follow. The Government Job (Scenario) Colin was getting accustomed to his surroundings in provincial government.His efforts at getting employees to accept change had met with little resistance to date.But now the hard part really started-actually managing the change.What techniques could he and his agency's new director employ to most effectively implement changes that would result in increased productivity in his department? He was considering changes in three areas of his agency: the structure,the technology,and the people. -If Colin decided to introduce new procedures and work processes in the agency,he would be making a change in which of the following categories?

Which of the following phrases is associated with the definition of organizational culture?

Identify and define the seven dimensions that make up an organization's culture.

New Ideas is a company that uses technology that changes frequently,and has strong competition in a dynamic market.This is consistent with the ________ metaphor of the change process.

Creative organizations have cultures that emphasize focusing on the means rather than the ends.

Refer to the Scenario below to answer the questions that follow. Fred's Situation (Scenario) Fred was not handling the change in his department well.The company had recently changed hands,and even though no jobs had been lost,people had been changing jobs and were being asked to move to different locations.The new leadership had a completely different outlook than those people he had worked under for the past 21 years.Fred found that he was unable to concentrate at work and generally felt like he did not like his job anymore.At home,he was getting headaches and having trouble sleeping,which only enhanced his feeling that things were not going to work out well for him.When he thought about it,he had always hated change.He worked in the job he did partially because it was considered stable (boring to some)and predictable.Fred's new boss kept trying to convince him that he was a valuable employee and that new opportunities,along with salary increases,were in his future.Unfortunately,Fred felt like he never knew what to expect the next day and what Fred really wanted was to have things the way they used to be. -Fred is obviously resistant to the change being introduced in his organization.Which of the following reasons is most likely the primary driver of Fred's resistance?

Which of the following is an external force for change?

Which of the following is an unfavourable condition that makes it difficult to effect change?

Material symbols include the size of offices,the elegance of furnishings,and executive perks such as health club memberships.

Lewin's three-step process treats change simply as a break in the organization's equilibrium state.

Corporate ________ are repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the values that the organization upholds and the goals and people that are most important.

Which kind of resistance to change is most likely to be beneficial to a company?

Rituals are repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the key values of an organization.

Technology and competition are internal forces for change.

Refer to the Scenario below to answer the questions that follow. Fred Fryer's Doughnuts (Scenario) Since the integration of two new stores in Hamilton,Ontario,Fred Fryer's Doughnuts,Ltd.,has recognized that there is a need for reengineering the entire organization.The main need is to install new state-of-the-art kitchen equipment in the seven remaining stores,then dispose of all old equipment to a salvage dealer at three-fourths of the book value,or a loss of $2000 per store.This means that employees will have to be trained to operate the new computer-programmed equipment.Fred is setting up the main store as a training store.Employees from the other stores will train at the main store for the five days that their respective store's equipment is being converted.The regular employees from the main store have the responsibility of instructing the classes or overseeing the installation of the new equipment and testing its operation before that store's employees return from training.The organization is also undergoing implementation of teams to replace the old employee reporting system.Ordering of materials will now be done by an intranet among the stores and the corporate purchasing function.Fred has promised that no one will lose his or her job because of the reengineering changes.He estimates that when the employees get to the computer programming training,as many as 10 percent of the current employees will resign or retire.The planned opening of a new store in Guelph will absorb any "excess" employees due to the efficiency of the new equipment. -Do the employees of Fred Fryer's Doughnuts have a legitimate reason to be concerned about the reengineering and to resist the changes that have been announced by Fred?