Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Test Bank
CHAPTER 10: GET AND USE DATA THROUGHOUT THE CHANGE PROCESS
Multiple Choice
1. What is a main concern of change agents about measurement and control systems?
a. They worry that measurement systems aren’t properly calibrated.
b. They worry that measurement systems don’t accurately represent the work they put
into the project.
c. They worry that critics will use measurements to undermine the change.
d. They worry that measuring will take too much time.
2. Measurement and control systems enable change managers to do which of the
following?
a. have content for presentations to senior leadership
b. capture the qualitative and personnel-related feedback
c. guide the change and make midcourse corrections
d. communicate the cultural and emotional effects of the change
3. Measurement and control occur at what stage in the change process?
a. at the end
b. throughout
c. at the beginning and at the end
d. in the middle until everything is established
4. Goals are best set at what level?
a. challenging yet attainable
b. lofty to inspire vision
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
c. low to encourage incremental progress
d. attainable so employees don’t fear they won’t meet expectations
5. What will most likely hinder a measurement system from being accepted?
a. it’s not clear
b. the follow-up is too arduous
c. there are too many measurements
d. the process of developing them is perceived as unfair
6. What might interfere with the accuracy of data?
a. trust in the people who the data will be analyzed by
b. keeping pressure at reasonable levels
c. providing excessive rewards for success
d. belief that the data will not be used to harm them
7. Change leaders should develop their measures based on which of the following?
a. how incentives and boost data
b. who the measures will be analyzed by
c. what data can be ensured is precise and correct
d. how much it will cost
8. Under which circumstance should change agents choose more approximate
measures and focus on vision rather than using explicit goal-focused measures?
a. when complexity and ambiguity are high
b. when time to completion is short
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
c. when complexity and ambiguity are low
d. when sanctions and rewards must be used
9. Which of the following are change levers that Robert Simon suggests focusing on?
a. interactive controls
b. veto power of leadership
c. alignment metrics
d. financial Incentives
10. What is an example of an interactive control?
a. limits on spending authority at a managerial level
b. stated organizational values
c. sales data based on changed selling efforts
d. market intelligence data
11. What is the purpose of understanding an organization’s belief system in relation to
developing measurement systems?
a. It helps change agents understand critical variables and milestones.
b. It allows change leaders to frame initiatives according to the core values of the
organization.
c. It helps change leaders understand what is off-limits.
d. It sensitizes change leaders to environmental shifts.
12. Which tool is a visual representation of the desired end states and the action paths
that will get the organization there?
a. DICE model
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
b. risk exposure calculator
c. strategy map
d. balanced scorecard
13. What are the four perspectives in a strategy map?
a. financial, customer, internal, and learning & growth
b. financial, stakeholder, employee, and efficiency
c. profit, systems, culture, and people
d. profit, systems, learning, and stakeholders
14. What should be at the top of the strategy map?
a. always the financial perspective
b. the customer perspective for non-profits
c. whatever best captures the purpose of the organization
d. learning and growth
15. What is the purpose of a balanced scorecard?
a. to link capabilities, change strategies, and outcomes
b. to integrate measures into the strategy to track critical success factors
c. to provide action items for day-to-day execution of the strategy
d. to measure risk associated with the strategy
16. Who should the customer perspective include?
a. just outside consumers of the product
b. every employee in the organization
c. anyone affected by the change
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
d. senior leadership
17. Which of the following is an area that Simon’s risk exposure calculator measures?
a. employee turnover
b. financial vulnerabilities
c. information management
d. competition
18. What does the DICE framework acronym stand for?
a. Duration, Initiative, Commitment, Effort
b. Duration, Integrity, Commitment, Effort
c. Durability, Initiative, Commitment, Effectiveness
d. Durability, Integrity, Commitment, Effectiveness
19. Commitment needs to be measured on what two levels?
a. Financial and process
b. Individual and organizational
c. Actions and words
d. Senior management and employees
20. Which area in the DICE model is weighted the heaviest?
a. Local Level Commitment
b. Integrity of Performance
c. Duration
d. Effort
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
21. At the end of a change project, measures shift in what way?
a. measures become more important
b. measures are communicated more heavily
c. measures are used to determine impact rather than diagnose
d. measures get more complex and increase in number as the project moves toward its
end
22. What does a diagnostic control system enable a change leader to do?
a. understand critical performance variables and adjust their approach
b. decide midway through the change project whether the vision was indeed the right
one
c. helps deal with strategic uncertainties
d. identifies risks to be avoided and when those lines are being crossed
23. Which guideline is best to select and deploy measures well?
a. use measures that challenge employees but are achievable
b. use measures that suit stakeholders
c. present data that supports your position
d. focus on measures that were previously used to determine the success of the
organization
24. Don’t let ______ be the enemy of good.
a. perfect
b. good intentions
c. selfishness
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
d. analysis
25. Which of the following reflects the best way to choose which measures to focus on?
a. choose as many as possible to get the whole picture
b. choose mainly financial measures since those will determine whether the change was
successful
c. choose measures from existing reports to avoid reinventing the wheel
d. choose measures that accurately reflect the end goals of the change
26. What are the effects of employees’ acceptance of change management measures?
a. less stress and better performance
b. contagious apathy
c. leadership opportunities
d. an increase in hiring
27. Why are employees more likely to accept data as justification of a change?
a. people generally trust numbers
b. a dashboard is a visually appealing way to show employees only what you want them
to see
c. if used correctly, data is objective
d. deployment of data is en vogue in the business world.
28. What makes employees believe that measures are fair?
a. if there are many
b. if they include data employees don’t usually see
c. if the process to develop them was transparent
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
d. if they predict financial success for the organization
29. How should change leaders use data during the beginning stages of a change
project?
a. find data that confirms the view of the change team
b. cull data from a limited number of sources
c. encourage enthusiasm and commitment and avoid nay-sayers
d. find the people who will tell them what they need to hear
30. What is the goal of a strategy map?
a. to help determine what the strategy should be
b. to compile all the foundational data into one visual representation
c. to visualize how the change aligns with purpose and will reach desired outcomes
d. to visualize the step-by-step process the change project will go through
True/False
1. What gets measured affects the direction and outcome of a change initiative.
2. Measurement and control systems can impede the process.
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
3. Change leaders need to consider how measures can help them think about
contingencies and unforeseen circumstances.
4. One of the risks measured in the risk exposure calculator is the level of ambiguity
present.
5. Change leaders should make every effort to create the most precise measurement
systems possible.
1. Why should change agents be mindful of what are leading versus lagging indicators?
2. What, if any, are the dangers of an organization with low risk?
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
3. What is the purpose of using the DICE model?
4. Which of Simon’s levers resonate with you most and why?
5. Give an example of a time when you experienced a leader sending mixed signals.