Chapter 14
Managing Change
1. Change is any alteration occurring at work or in the work environment that affects the ways in
which employees must act.
2. Change is merely a technical problem.
3. Feelings are the indirect result of logical thinking.
4. Unless changes can provide benefits above costs, there is no reason for the changes.
5. Continuous rounds of change can produce negative effects for individuals and corrosive
results for the entire organization.
6. Regardless of the nature of the change, some employees will try to protect themselves from
its effects.
7. Logical objections are a type of resistance to change.
8. Psychological resistance is internally logical from the perspective of the employees’ attitudes
and feelings about change.
9. Resistance can help identify specific problem areas where a change is likely to cause
difficulties, so that management can take corrective action before serious problems develop.
10. The vision of an organization typically stretches people beyond their current capabilities and
thinking.
11. Employees tend to be more emotionally committed to the vision of charismatic leaders who
are trusted and respected.
12. Double-loop learning prepares the participants to manage future changes even more
effectively.
13. According to the unfreezing stage of change, getting rid of old practices is typically easier
than learning new ones.
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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Feedback: According to the unfreezing stage of change, getting rid of old practices is just as
difficult as learning new ones.
Page: 387
Difficulty: Medium
14. Building support for change through manipulation and coercion can sabotage the long-term
success of a change program.
15. The power of a group to stimulate change in its members depends partly on the strength of
their attachment to it.
16. Rewards give employees a sense that progress accompanies a change.
17. Resistance to change can be reduced by a broader understanding of employee attitudes and
natural reactions to change.
18. Causal variables are insignificant because they have no effect on end-result variables.
19. Humanistic values are implicit in the organizational development theory.
20. Appreciative inquiry recognizes that people are energized by success and like to publicly
celebrate their achievements.
1. Which of the following is a dramatic change that an organization can encounter?
A) Greater federal regulation
B) Deregulation
C) Consolidation
D) All of the above
2. Which of the following is the role of a proactive manager?
A) Anticipate events and initiate change
B) Respond to events
C) Adapt to changes
D) Temper the consequences of change
3. Which of the following statements can be inferred from the Hawthorne studies?
A) The perception of being observed is irrelevant to the change observed in the group.
B) People act differently when they become aware of the fact that someone cares about them.
C) Changes in behavior are intentional, and the members are completely aware of their
behavior.
D) All of the above.
4. _____ refers to the self-correcting characteristic of organizations that has people acting to
establish a steady state of need fulfillment and to protect themselves from disturbance of that
balance.
A) Homeostasis
B) Equilibrium
C) Refreezing
D) Groupthinking
5. Which of the following factors is least likely to cause resistance or passivity?
A) Employees who mouth support in public but undercut changes behind the scenes
B) Indecisive managers who suffer from “analysis paralysis”
C) Organizational cultures that undervalue criticism of new ideas
D) An emphasis on flashy proposals instead of follow-through
6. Which of the following best describes a chain-reaction effect?
A) It is the process of anticipating events, initiating change, and taking control of an
organization’s destiny.
B) It is used to turn employee attention away from a negative focus on problems, missteps,
deficiencies, shortcomings, and blaming.
C) It is seen when there is a sustained series of small or moderate changes over a period of time,
producing cumulative effects that finally overload a person’s system.
D) It is a situation in which a change, or other condition, that directly affects only one person or
a few persons may lead to a direct or indirect reaction from many people.
7. _____ to change arises from the actual time and effort required to adjust to change, including
new job duties that must be learned.
A) Logical resistance
B) Psychological resistance
C) Sociological resistance
D) Emotional resistance
8. Psychological resistance and sociological resistance are _____.
A) not illogical
B) not irrational
C) logical according to different sets of values
D) all of the above
9. _____ to change arises from challenges to group interests, norms, and values.
A) Logical resistance
B) Psychological resistance
C) Sociological resistance
D) Emotional resistance
10. _____ are managers who initiate bold strategic changes to position the organization for its
future.
A) Narcissistic leaders
B) Transformational leaders
C) Restorative leaders
D) Transactional leaders
11. _____ is a leadership quality that can help influence employees to take early and sustained
action.
A) Altruism
B) Charisma
C) Vision
D) Groupthink
12. Double-loop learning involves:
A) developing the ability to anticipate problems, preventing many situations from arising, and
challenging one’s own limiting assumptions and paradigms.
B) turning employee attention away from a negative focus on problems, missteps, deficiencies,
shortcomings, and blaming.
C) the use of structured activities designed to help individuals or groups improve their work
effectiveness.
D) activities fostering collaboration across groups, transmitting essential values, stimulating
ethical behavior, or sparking action.
13. Change involves all of the following steps EXCEPT _____.
A) identifying
B) unfreezing
C) changing
D) refreezing
14. According to the stages in the change process, _____ means that old ideas and practices
need to be cast aside so new ones can be learned.
A) identifying
B) unfreezing
C) changing
D) refreezing
15. Which of the following statements is true of the refreezing stage of the change process?
A) It is the step in which the new ideas, new methods, and new technologies are learned.
B) It means that old ideas and practices need to be cast aside so new ones can be learned.
C) It is the step during which the existing methods are evaluated.
D) It means that what has been learned is integrated into actual practice.
16. According to David Ulrich, “viruses” that infect organizations involved in change efforts
include:
A) positive employee behavior.
B) perfectionism.
C) counseling.
D) support groups.
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Ans: B
Page: 389
Difficulty: Easy
17. In the context of building support for change through participation, which of the following
implies motivation to support a change and to work to ensure that the change is effective?
A) Appreciative inquiry
B) Commitment
C) Crowdsourcing
D) Action research
18. Which of the following statements is true of participation in the context of building support
for change?
A) Employees need to participate in a change after it occurs, not before.
B) As participation increases, resistance to change tends to decrease.
C) When employees participate in change from the beginning, they feel demotivated and feel
their ideas will be rejected.
D) Participation merely encourages compliance with change.
19. Which of the following activities is based on the premise that change is more likely to be
accepted if the people affected by it recognize a need for it before it occurs?
A) Stimulating employee readiness
B) Working with the total system
C) Shared rewards
D) Providing a rationale for change
20. Which of the following statements is true of organization development?
A) It makes organizations realize that they are just a collection of individuals.
B) The objective of OD is to merely change the top management of an organization in order to
make it more humanly responsive.
C) It helps in recognizing that organizations are systems with dynamic interpersonal
relationships holding them together.
D) It seeks to use behavioral knowledge to change beliefs, attitudes, and values and retain the
existing strategies, structures, and practices of an organization.
21. _____ are the ones that management can change most directly.
A) Causal variables
B) Intervening variables
C) End-result variables
D) All of the above
22. Which of the following is an intervening variable?
A) Improved productivity
B) Skilled behaviors
C) Customer loyalty
D) Lower costs
23. Which of the following is NOT a causal variable?
A) Controls
B) Training
C) Teamwork
D) Leadership behavior
24. Causal variables in the organizational development approach include _____.
A) controls
B) teamwork
C) lower costs
D) attitudes
25. Organizational development programs are typically based on _____, which are positive
beliefs about the potential and desire for growth among employees.
A) humanistic values
B) appreciative inquiries
C) interventions
D) proactive attitudes
26. Which of the following statements is NOT true about external change agents?
A) External change agents are more objective.
B) External change agents are tied to a firm’s hierarchy.
C) External change agents absorb much of the residual antagonism.
D) All of the above.
27. _____ are structured activities designed to help individuals or groups improve their work
effectiveness.
A) Social facilitations
B) Interventions
C) Contingencies
D) Applications
28. _____ is the approach that turns employee attention away from a negative focus on
problems, missteps, deficiencies, shortcomings, and blaming.
A) Storytelling
B) Action research
C) Appreciative inquiry
D) Double-loop learning
29. Which of the following is an example of an OD intervention process?
A) Appreciative inquiry
B) Action research
C) Homeostasis
D) Double-loop learning
30. A typical organizational development program begins with _____.
A) diagnosis
B) evaluation
C) action planning
D) data feedback
1. What is the Hawthorne effect? What effect does it have on the research design?
2. What are the five reactions to major change that parallel the reactions to terminal illness?
1. Refusal to believe it is real
2. Resentment at change initiator
3. Emotional or physical withdrawal
4. Exploration of benefits
5. Embracing of the change
Difficulty: Medium
3. What are the characteristics of transformational leaders?
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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Ans: They are managers who initiate bold strategic changes to position the organization for its
future. They articulate a vision and promote it vigorously. They help employees rise above their
narrow focus on their individual jobs or departments to see a broader picture. Transformational
leaders stimulate employees to action and charismatically model the desired behaviors. They
attempt to create learning individuals and learning organizations that will be better prepared for
the unknown challenges that lie ahead. The important elements of transformational leadership
are creating vision, exhibiting charisma, and stimulating learning.
Page: 385
Difficulty: Medium
4. Explain the concept of double-loop learning.
5. List the methods for introducing change within a group.
6. How does participation help in building support for change?
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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
On the other hand, employees are likely to feel that involvement after a change is nothing more
than a selling device, a charade, and manipulation by management.
Page: 390
Difficulty: Medium
7. How can management help employees become aware of the need for change?
8. What are the common organization development assumptions about groups?
9. Explain briefly the role of a change agent.
10. Explain the approach that is commonly used to improve the problem-solving skills of
employees.
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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
By studying their own problem-solving process through action research, employees learn how to
learn from their experiences, so they can solve new problems in the future on their own.
Page: 395
Difficulty: Medium