Chapter 7 – Leading Change
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. According to Spector, leadership’s primary role in change management is:
a. providing strategic direction
b. determining which employees must be laid off
c. mobilizing adaptive behavior in the organization
d. being the face of change
e. all of the above
2. Organizational purpose is:
a. broader than strategy
b. the same as strategy
c. is a better way to define organizational culture
d. describes what motivates workers
e. none of the above
3. Which of the following is NOT a core task of change leadership:
a. establish demanding performance expectations
b. enable upward communication
c. forge an emotional bond between employees and the organization
d. design the new rules under which the organization will operate
e. develop future change leaders
4. To transform an organization from a collection of individuals into a coordinated,
interdependent unit requires ___________ that transcends instrumentality.
a. precise written contracts
b. a strong organizational culture
c. a bond
d. habits
e. none of the above
5. Companies that retain market domination over long periods tend to develop
leaders _________.
a. by hiring graduates from the finest MBA programs
b. by hiring them away from competitors
c. internally
d. by hiring people who have completed external leadership development
programs
e. none of the above
6. ____________ is considered a barrier to effective leadership development
organizational because it prevents individuals from having to live with
consequences of their actions and learning from their successes and failures.
a. Movement within a single function
b. Hiring external leadership
c. Rapid upward mobility
d. Succession planning
7. Which of the following is NOT a potential consequence of overreliance on an
individual leader
a. high levels of dependency can displace individual and group initiatives.
b. dependency on one leader can slow decision making.
c. providing the candid feedback required of effective transformation can
become risky and therefore not given.
d. a dominant leader might be unable to build the sense of teamwork and
shared responsibility required to sustain a coordinated change effort.
8. The ______________of the chief executive can influence the behaviors
of other organizational leaders.
a. management style
b. age
c. educational level
d. years of experience with organization
e. emotional intelligence level
9. Which of the following best describe how leaders enhance the effectiveness of
change implementation:
a. providing a common sense of direction and goals that allows decentralized
decision making.
b. placing decision‐making authority in the hands of employees who
are best able to respond, and respond quickly, to a dynamic environment.
c. providing a common purpose which enhances the ability of an organization
to achieve required levels of coordination and teamwork.
d. formulating strategy to help advance purpose and then change the strategy
in response to or anticipation of a dynamic environment.
e. all of above
10. _____________ are clearly articulated and challenging performance expectations.
a. Management objectives
b. Adaptive goals
c. Stretch goals
d. Compensation contracts
e. none of the above
11. The flow of information from lower to higher hierarchical levels is called:
a. privileged communication
b. hierarchical communication
c. employee initialized communication
d. upward communication
e. none of the above
12. With narrowly focused functional managers rather than broadly based leaders,
organizations become:
a. skill based rather, than behavior based
b. more adaptive
c. nonresponsive
d. more resistance to change
e. none of the above
13. ___________ is an individual who is granted authority, usually based on
hierarchical position.
a. Change agent
b. Formal leader
c. Consultant
d. Stakeholder
e. none of the above
14. Selecting an individual for a leadership position who has always worked in one
functional area has which of the following downsides:
a. they do not have enough experience
b. they will favor their former functional area unfairly
c. they have limited knowledge of the total organization, especially how
subunits fit together
d. they will feel uncomfortable with international operations
e. none of the above
15. Dominant individual leaders can create an internal dynamic that builds
__________, while _________ initiative, innovation, and teamwork.
a. trust, increasing
b. dependency, stifling
c. independence, increasing
d. dependency, increasing
e. none of the above
16. Moving from individual to shared leadership is desirable, and is:
a. not easily achieved
b. not possible
c. requires replace of current leaders
d. quite easy to achieve
e. none of the above
17. When leaders impose change on their organization, often the results are
____________ and _____________.
a. challenging, rewarding
b. successful, smooth
c. noticeable, frustrating
d. disappointing, frustrating
e. none of the above
18. Which of the following actions does NOT help create a shared purpose?
a. supporting decentralized decision
b. supporting enhanced autonomy
c. supporting coordination
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
19. In leadership development, recruiting candidates with outstanding technical skills:
a. should always be done.
b. is NOTDOZD\V a good idea, such persons PD\have limited leadership potential.
c. is NOT DOZD\Va good idea, they PD\have difficulty DFFHSWLQJ non-technical
DVVLJQPHQWV.
d. is NOT a good idea, they focus only their own area of expertise.
20. In leadership development, recruiting candidates with outstanding technical skills:
a. formulate vision and strategies, rather the planning and managing budgets.
b. communicate purpose and build commitment rather than issue repots and
creating policies.
c. think in log-term time horizons.
d. work with an organization’s culture and not its formal structures.
e. all of the above
21. The exercise of power is the same as leadership.
22. Strong, demanding leaders are the most effective at leading change.
23. Particularly in situations of strategic renewal and change, formal leaders need
to learn about how their effects are proceeding through a process of mutual
engagement with employees at all organizational levels.
24. If employees are committed to their organization, emotionally they are less likely to
engage in required behavioral changes because they are happy with the status
quo.
25. Given a combination of experience, training, and circumstances, a wide array
of individuals can be effective leaders.
26. Rapid upward movement of personnel through the hierarchy can work to hurt
an organization’s ability to develop effective leadership.
27. Reliance on one person to be the leader of change might actually undermine
the effectiveness of a change effort.
28. Effective leaders communicate downward to make sure employees at all
levels understand in a clear and consistent way the purpose and direction of the
firm.
29. Cisco CEO, John Chambers was NOT committed to building collaboration as a way
of keeping his company agile and responsive to a rapidly shifting competitive and
technological environment. This explains why their change initiative was
unsuccessful.
30. Effective change efforts are built on a drive to achieve outstanding performance.
31. Stretch goals are designed to urge workers to go beyond their normal job
descriptions and expand their areas of expertise, even if short-term performance is
sacrificed.
32. Effective leaders need to take specific steps to ensure that communications move
both upward and downward, and is best they simply response to all questions, fully
and completely.
33. Maintaining centralized decision making is suggested during a period change.
34. Inadequate attention to leadership development can ruin a company, even an
industry.
35. Leaders should work through coalitions and leverage their hierarchical authority.
36. Communication channels, especially upward and downward, support new
behaviors and help ensure that leaders will learn from employees at all levels about
the effectiveness of their efforts.
37. The effectiveness of leadership will be judged not by personalities and traits but by
the impact those actions and behaviors exert on the change process.
38. Formal leaders may exert a powerful influence over followers without exercising
effective leadership.