Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Test Bank
CHAPTER 8: BECOMING A MASTER CHANGE AGENT
Multiple Choice
1. What are the four types of change agents mentioned in the book?
a. the emotional champion, the developmental strategist, the intuitive adapter, and the
continuous improver
b. the charismatic speaker, the quiet leader, the thoughtful relationship builder, and the
small win maker
c. the persuasive strategist, the intuitive planner, the brilliant thinker, and the ferocious
fighter
d. the developmental strategist, the charismatic speaker, the brilliant planner, and the
intuitive improver
2. What are the personal benefits of being a change leader?
a. It gives the change leader a chance to deal with failure.
b. It causes them to be more peripheral to the organization.
c. It can prove to be educational and career enhancing.
d. It doesn’t challenge an individual’s view of organizations.
3. Which of the following is true about initiating change?
a. Change should generally be initiated by senior leadership.
b. The active change agent approach is taught experientially in classrooms.
c. It’s better to start from a passive stance when it comes to change.
d. Companies need people who challenge the status quo to identify and initiate change
projects.
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
4. Change agent effectiveness is a function of what three things?
a. charisma, action, and situation
b. personality, vision, and situation
c. personality, reputation, action
d. situation, urgency, personality
5. Which of the following characteristics precludes someone from being a change
leader?
a. charisma
b. abrasiveness
c. flexibility
d. complacency
6. Which of the following describes bad leadership in the eyes of Malcom Higgs?
a. ignoring constituents
b. rule breaking for self-serving purposes
c. focusing too narrowly on financial indicators
d. refusing to change course if the plan is failing
7. What are the three categories of behaviors that change agents give rise to?
a. intelligence-inspiring behaviors, framing behaviors, and capacity-creating behaviors
b. shaping behaviors, framing behaviors, and experimentation behaviors
c. shaping behaviors, framing behaviors, and capacity-creating behaviors
d. creativity-inspiring behaviors, empowering behaviors, and framing behaviors
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
8. According to Corey Criswell and Andre Martin, which of following is a trend that
change leaders need to be aware of?
a. the rise of the global market
b. simpler, more formulaic challenges
c. leading with charisma
d. leading for long-term survival
9. According to Duck, a(n) ______ will not change if the ______ do(es) not develop.
a. organization; individuals in the organization
b. individual; organization as a whole
c. strategy; change leader
d. organization; strategy
10. In order for individuals to shift their mental maps, what is required?
a. workshops and presentations
b. curiosity and ambition
c. teamwork and flexibility
d. openness and reflection
11. What is Appreciate Inquiry (AI)?
a. analyzing areas for improvement in past change initiatives
b. an exercise in appreciating the approach of senior change leaders
c. engaging people in renewing the organization
d. appreciating curiosity in individuals throughout the organization
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
12. What is the difference between an experienced change agent and an expert change
agent according to Miller?
a. Experienced agents believe that powerful communication will convince people to sign
on to a change.
b. Experts understand that people have a limited capacity to absorb change and power,
and sanctions aren’t sufficient to convince others.
c. Experts believe that people may not be ready to change, so a comprehension plan
must be developed to implement the vision.
d. Experienced agents understand that clear communication is the key to getting others
on board with change.
13. Which is more effective at driving change: pull or push tactics?
a. Push tactics are more effective because they can utilize reward-and-punishment
power.
b. Agents should try to only use pull tactics because they appeal to higher-order
purpose.
c. Neither push nor pull tactics are more effective than the other.
d. Both push and pull tactics are effective in their own way, but pull tactics tend to bring
everything together under a larger vision.
14. Which type of change agent engages in big-picture thinking about strategic change
and understands the fit of systems and structures?
a. the emotional champion
b. the intuitive adapter
c. the developmental strategist
d. the continuous improver
15. What are Hunsaker’s four internal roles a change agent can play?
a. catalyst, solution giver, process helper, and resource linker
b. positional leader, respected leader, knowledge leader, and networking leader
c. starter, worker, helper, and finisher
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
d. dissenter, critical thinker, encourager, and champion
16. What is the main benefit of an internal change agent?
a. They have defining relationships with people within the organization that make them
objective.
b. They have the highest level of specialized skills for the job.
c. They tend to have plenty of power to affect the change.
d. They have knowledge of the systems and norms of how things get done.
17. External change agents are often hired because of which of the following strengths?
a. They are a frugal option for organizations with tight budgets.
b. They are independent and credible.
c. They have deep knowledge of the organization.
d. They can take charge of final decision-making.
18. Change teams should include people with which of the following characteristics?
a. people who lack strong credibility as an avenue to improve their reputation
b. people who are enthusiastic
c. people who are committed to the change as planned
d. brand-new employees who have fresh eyes on the organization
19. Which desirable characteristics of a change team member are contradictory?
a. being open minded while being committed to the change
b. being enthusiastic while being respected
c. understanding the business while being visionary
d. being apolitical while also being reticent
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
20. A project manager is responsible for which of the following things in a change
project?
a. being the immovable visionary force
b. advising the team on direction
c. coordinating logistics and tracking progress
d. dealing with stakeholders
21. Which of the following is a good design rule for developing a change team?
a. Consider every piece of information fair game to discuss.
b. Only meet in person.
c. Shield members from financial ties to the change.
d. Include between 15 and 20 members.
22. Which of the following is a challenge for middle managers?
a. carrying out the change exactly as top management would like
b. enforcing change on subordinates while subordinates may be trying to initiate change
c. avoiding intervention in disputes and issues, even when it may not be helpful
d. Managers will tell them exactly what decisions to make and how to proceed.
23. What is a rule of thumb change agents should use?
a. Draw hard lines, even if it means risking being fired.
b. Light highly visible fires in multiple places at once.
c. Focus on perfection. Change won’t be effective unless it’s done right.
d. Deliberate and take time making decisions to be sure they are the best ones.
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
24. What should a manager consider when hiring an external consultant?
a. what the consultant intends to do
b. the personality match with potential consultants
c. narrowing the search to only one or two firms to conserve resources
d. where the consultant will sit
25. What is Weick and Quinn’s three-stage change model?
a. freeze, rebalance, unfreeze
b. unfreeze, change, refreeze
c. understand, reinterpret, resume
d. let go, move forward, appreciate
26. Kouzes and Posner highlight which of the following attributes of a successful
change leader?
a. adept financial analysis
b. the ability to get along with most everyone
c. following closely the guidance of leadership
d. modeling how they want others to act
27. Which of the following behaviors is most successful in enacting change?
a. shaping behaviors
b. framing behaviors
c. communicative behaviors
d. team-oriented behaviors
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
28. Change leader effectiveness is contingent on which of the following things?
a. having the foundational intrinsic characteristics
b. being the right person at the right time
c. building a strong network
d. being self-aware and taking time to reflect
29. What is the biggest difference between change leaders and change managers?
a. Change leaders are more effective than change managers.
b. Change leaders are more directive and change managers are more enabling.
c. Change leaders are more rigid and stick to the plan while change managers are
adaptable.
d. Change leaders are visionary while change managers manage resistance and
conflict.
30. Which of the following is an important approach for change agents to have?
a. trial-and-error
b. Optimize for perfection.
c. Get on board or get out.
d. Seek approval from all.
True/False
1. In exothermic change situations, energy is liberated by actions.
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
2. All change agents must proceed through their developmental changes by being
actively involved in leading a change.
3. The quality of external change agents determines the success of change projects.
4. Change teams don’t need to be highly cohesive to be successful.
5. Change initiative is really best used and practiced by people with formal power.
Short Answer
1. Describe the characteristics that an emotional champion is likely to have.
2. Describe the role of a steering team.
Deszca, Organizational Change 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
3. Describe the expectations of managers during periods of change.
4. Outline at least three of the questions Duck suggests change leaders ask
themselves.
5. Which of Bennis’ rules is most difficult for you to accept and why?