Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
1
Chapter 2: Rethinking Organization Change
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. When considering implementing organizational change, begin by focusing on the
desired ______.
A. organizational structure
B. organizational strategy and culture
C. leadership style
D. capital market
2. Which of the following is/are true?
A. Deep organization change is very difficult.
B. Most attempts at changing organizations are not successful.
C. Both A and B.
D. Neither A nor B.
3. The time to plan for and bring about significant change is when ______.
A. the organization is obviously failing
B. there are warning signs that the organization is failing
C. there is new leadership at the top
D. the organization is at its peak of success
4. Which of the following is/are true?
A. The planning process for organizational change is usually linear.
Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
2
B. The implementation process is usually linear.
C. Both A and B.
D. Neither A nor B.
5. According to Foster and Kaplan (2001), ______.
A. we are in an age of continuity
B. we are in an age of discontinuity
C. the capital market is stable
D. the capital market follows organizational trends
6. Which one of the following has the greatest impact on determining the fate of any
business?
A. corporate investors
B. capitalists
C. the firm’s leaders
D. consumers
7. Foster and Kaplan (2001) concluded that ______.
A. capital markets outpace corporations
B. the rate of change is considerably different for capital markets and corporations
C. both A and B
D. neither A nor B
8. Foster and Kaplan (2001) argue that the assumption of discontinuity is critical for
______.
Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
3
A. the long-term survival of capital markets
B. the long-term survival of corporations
C. both A and B
D. neither A nor B
9. Government and nonprofit agencies ______.
A. don’t need to respond to changes in the external environment
B. do need to respond to changes in the external environment
C. don’t need to plan for organizational change
D. don’t need to respond to changing public needs
10. Burke’s metaphor of choice for offering insights into the planned organizational
change process is ______.
A. a machine
B. a brain
C. a psychic prison
D. an organism
11. Revolutionary and evolutionary change ______.
A. require the same tools and techniques
B. require different tools and techniques
C. are irrelevant to organizational change
D. none of these
12. The three levels of organization change are ______.
Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
A. individual, group, and total system
B. individual, group, and marketplace
C. individual, group, and leadership
D. group, leadership, and marketplace
13. Which of the following statements is true?
A. When planning change, the focus of attention remains the same at every level of the
organization.
B. When implementing change, the focus of attention remains the same at every level of
the organization.
C. Organization change affects each level of the organization differently.
D. None of these.
14. For organization change to be effective, ______.
A. start by changing employees’ behaviors
B. start by changing employees’ attitudes
C. start by changing employees’ values
D. none of these
15. The content of organization change refers to ______.
A. the what
B. the how
C. the what and how
D. neither the what nor how
Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
5
16. The process of organization change refers to ______.
A. the what
B. the how
C. the what and how
D. neither the what nor how
17. The content of organization change refers to ______.
A. the vision and overall direction for the change
B. the purpose mission, strategy, values, and what the organization is all about
C. implementation and adoption
D. both A and B
18. The process of organization change refers to ______.
A. the vision and overall direction for the change
B. the purpose, mission, strategy, values, and what the organization is all about
C. implementation and adoption
D. none of these
19. Burke’s organizational model of choice for effecting organization change is ______.
A. metaphor
B. the Burke-Litwin model
C. grounded in an open system way of thinking
D. both B and C
20. Organization change should ______.
Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
6
A. be measurable
B. have leadership support from the top
C. both A and B
D. neither A nor B
21. The types of organization change forms that scholars and practitioners currently use
______.
A. require different tools and techniques
B. are not mutually exclusive
C. only theoretical terms used by academics
D. both A and B
22. Over time, the opposing types of organization change ______.
A. have been limited exclusively to restrictive social engineering
B. have been handicapped and unsuccessful in providing authentic change
C. have been the principles of living systems
D. all of these
23. The Burke-Litwin model of organizational performance and change is ______.
A. based on the world of practicality
B. an evolving model
C. defined from a major organization change effort at British airways
D. all of these
24. It is imperative that planned organization change ______.
Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
7
A. be based on data
B. measured over time
C. backed by the owners
D. both A and B
25. In presenting his personal points of view, Burke has accomplished ______.
A. clarifying his bias
B. demonstrating the most important topics or understanding
C. summarizing the text
D. all of these
26. Planned organization change is ______.
A. complex
B. simple
C. straightforward and linear
D. easily replicated
27. Culture change concerns changing ______.
A. beliefs
B. attitudes
C. values
D all of these
28. A direct frontal approach to changing values starts with behavior to avoid ______.
A. difficulty
Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
8
B. resistance
C. strong human emotion
D. all of these
29. Using the metaphor of choice ______.
A. is organic
B. is a closed system theory
C. derived from the hard sciences
D. none of these
30. Fritjof Capra developed a theory of choice that ______.
A. is devoted to practical foundations
B. is now outdated
C. emphasizes the concepts of pattern, structure, process.
D. none of these
31. The paradox of planned organization change is ______.
A. easy and different
B. linear and nonlinear
C. useful for government healthcare facilities
D. inherent in the shift to digital technology
True/False
1. Effectively executing deep organizational change, particularly the culture of an
organization is fairly easy if strategically planned ahead of time.
2. The primary theme of the book is “planned” organization change.
3. Capital markets consist of buyers, sellers, and others who interact for the purpose of
economic exchange.
4. A. Kenneth Rice was instrumental in bringing reform policy back to England.
5. Strategic v. Local Option is a type of organization change.
6. Beginning with behavior changes in an organization will eventually lead to shifts in
attitudes and beliefs which will affect a company’s overall values.
7. Leadership should take the form of personality orientation rather than the form of
specified roles and behaviors.
8. The paradox of planned organizational change involves the dichotomy of being easy
and difficult.
9. The University of Phoenix, who sponsors the stadium named for it in which the
Arizona Cardinals play football, is an excellent example of an institution of higher
education that is exclusively in the nonprofit sector.
Short Answer
1. What are some of the barriers to effective organization change?
2. Why does today’s “age of discontinuity” make it much more difficult for organizations
to survive, compared to organizations in the early 1900s?
3. Explain what content and process refer to in the context of organization change?
4. Describe how the paradox of planned organizational change which has linear and
nonlinear aspects can describe the pattern of change.
5. Revolutionary change requires different tools and techniques than methods used in
evolutionary change. Describe them.
