Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
Chapter 4: Theoretical Foundations of Organizations and Organization
Change
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. The most effective organization theories for understanding organization change are
based on ______.
A. stability
B. political science
C. economics and engineering
D. life sciences
2. The fundamental reason for organizations to change is to ______.
A. be profitable
B. grow
C. survive
D. none of these
3. According to Burke, any human organization is best viewed as ______.
A. a closed system
B. an open system
C. chaotic
D. none of these
4. According to open system theory, organizations and their environments are ______.
A. independent
B. interdependent
C. in continual conflict
D. always in balance with one another
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5. The open-system “input–throughput–output feedback loop” refers to ______.
A. a cyclical process between an organization and its environment
B. organizational communication processes
C. how organizations review employee performance
D. none of these
6. The best perspective to take when considering organization change is ______.A. to
make desired changes without affecting the organization as a whole
B. a closed system approach
C. a total system perspective
D. none of these
7. Importation of energy refers to ______.
Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
4
A. 1 of the 10 characteristics of open systems mentioned by Burke
B. throughput
C. output
D. systems being cycles of events
8. According to Katz & Kahn (1978), ______.
A. organizations have physical boundaries that give them identity
B. raw materials make up an organization’s structure and boundaries
C. events give organizations their structure and boundaries
D. the organization’s culture gives it its structure and boundaries
9. Entropy, according to Katz & Kahn (1978), refers to ______.
A. the fact that organizations are self-sufficient
B. steady-state and dynamic homeostasis
C. integration and coordination
Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
D. a universal law of nature in which all forms of organization move toward
disorganization or death
10. Negative feedback ______.
A. helps organizations respond to customers or clients more effectively
B. offers a basis for corrective action to be planned and taken
C. A and B
D. neither A nor B
11. Steady state, according to Katz & Kahn (1978), refers to ______.A. organizations
that are perfectly balanced with their environment
B. a continuous flow of energy from the external environment and a continuous export
of the products of the system
C. entropy
D. equifinality
12. Differentiation refers to ______.A. integration and coordination
B. equifinality
C. negative entropy
D. creating new businesses and eliminating old ones
13. Integration and coordination are accomplished through ______.
A. shared norms and values
B. organization structure, roles, and authority
C. both A and B
D. neither A nor B
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14. Organizations should seek feedback regularly so they can ______.A. adapt to
changes in the environment
B. take corrective action
C. determine how well the organization is doing
D. all of these
15. In a systems sense, an organization’s success and effectiveness is based on
______.
A. openness and selectivity
B. remaining a closed system
C. refraining from taking a systems view
D. remaining impermeable
16. Burke recommends which of the following paradigms to help understand
organization change ______.
Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
8
A. holistic
B. living systems
C. both A and B
D. neither A nor B
17. Autopoiesis refers to ______.
A. synthesis
B. dissipation of the system
C. boundary osmosis
D. a continuous changing of a living system’s structures, while preserving its patterns of
organization
18. Capra’s three criteria for understanding life are ______.
A. pattern, structure, and process
B. pattern, change, and process
Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
9
C. structure, process, and homeostasis
D. pattern, process, and homeostasis
19. Process (as a criterion for understanding life) refers to ______.
A. cognition (mental activity)
B. information processing
C. organizations perceiving, sorting through, and selecting from the external
environment for internal use
D. all of these
20. Dissipative structures ______.
A. go back and forth between order and chaos to create unique structures and patterns
B. have no hope for survival
C. have nothing to do with organization change
D. refer to the external environment’s challenges to organizations
Instructor Resource
Burke, Organization Change, 5th edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
21. To survive, every human organization must ______.
A. draw energy from outside to ensure survival
B. be an open system
C. Be diverse
D. all of these
22. In order to negate entropy, an organization must ______.
A. avoid general systems theory
B. take positive action
C. become self-sufficient
D. avoid instability
23. A kind of coding occurs in an organization ______.
A. when a consultant is engaged
B. through professional peer influence
C. when organizational members are selective and attempt to simplify categories that
seem to be relevant
D. none of these
24. An organization can attain the same goal from different starting points by variety
paths by ______.
A. increasing sales
B. following Von Bertalanffy’s principle
C. being closed and random
D. changing leadership