Change Management Exam
Question No: 1 (Marks: 1) - Please choose one
Which of the following is a process of setting objectives, or goals, and formulating
policies, strategies, and procedures to meet them?
Planning
Organizing
Leading
Controlling
Question No: 2 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of these best describes restraining forces?
Unfreezing
Negotiation
Refreezing
Resistance to change
Question No: 3 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following statement describes logical incrementalism in terms of strategy development?
The deliberate development of strategy by experimentation and learning from
partial commitments
The utilization by top managers of a mixture of formal and informal social and
political processes
Systematized, step-by-step, chronological procedures to develop or coordinate
an organization s strategy
Experimentation with side bet ventures and allowing developments to emerge from subsystems
Question No: 4 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following statements best describe first order change?
It is linear and continuous
It is discontinuous and radical
It threatens the status quo
It is multidimensional and multilevel
Question No: 5 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is an organizational culture in which teams are formed to solve
particular problems?
Power culture
Role culture
Task culture
Person culture
Question No: 6 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
What is the second stage of Miller & Freisen Model ?
Birth
Growth
Revival
Maturity
Question No: 7 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
According to Levinthal, when an organization changes some of its core attributes to
fit environmental contingency is referred to:
Learning
Adaptation
Selection
Retention
Question No: 8 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Sunk cost is a source of which of the following?
Structural inertia
Natural selection
Adaptation
Variation
Question No: 9 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is an organization that minimizes risk while maximizing the opportunity
for profit?
Defender
Analyzer
Prospector
Reactor
Question No: 10 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is known as an unstable organization?
Defender
Analyzer
Prospector
Reactor
Question No: 11 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Identify the state in which a firm reacts to environmental changes and complies with
environmental mandates.
Stable
Unstable
Neutral
Constant
Question No: 12 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Identify the correct sequence of the key activities in the strategic management process.
Analysis, formulation and evaluation
Analysis, implementation and evaluation
Formulation, implementation and evaluation
Formulation, evaluation and implementation
Question No: 13 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following causes of change is likely to be most easily accepted?
A decline in stakeholder demands
A decline in performance
A change in the business environment
A change in management
Question No: 14 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
What do we mean by the term 'strategic change'?
An important organizational change
A proactive management of change to achieve strategic objectives
A change that is designed in an orderly and timely fashion in anticipation of future events A
change that inevitably results in organizations as they evolve in a changing environment
Question No: 15 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Why is it important to understand the organizational context while thinking about the
management of strategic change?
Because there is no one right formula for managing strategic change
Because it is important to analyze the organizational environment to develop
strategies because understanding the timescale of change is important
Because it is important to understand the managerial and personal capabilities to
manage change
Question No: 16 (Marks: 1) - Please choose one
Why changes in organizational symbols and routines may be important in managing strategic change?
Because symbols and routines can signal strategic change in everyday terms
Because symbols and routines can be identified in a cultural web analysis
Because symbols and routines are easy to change
Because changes in routines and symbols are less time consuming
Question No: 17 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Although strategic change is taken as a long term issue, it may be useful to achieve 'short-term wins'.
What does it mean?
Completing some tasks quickly to demonstrate success and build confidence in
a change programme
The organization must complete its change programme quickly
The organization must win in the short-term to be successful in the longterm Short-term wins benefit stockholders, customers and suppliers
Question No: 18 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Identify an element of outer context of strategic change?
Life cycle of the company
Level of perceived trust in the board
Commercial requirement of the company
Ownership structure of the company
Question No: 19 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose
one
Which of the following dimensions of strategic change is related to why of change according to
Pettigrew?
Content
Context
Procedure
Process
Question No: 20 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following best describes strategic organizational change?
It is flexible strategic planning process
It is static strategic planning process
It makes planning difficult
It is a mechanistic approach
Ref: The Strategic Organizational Change (SOC) will be referred to as a flexible strategic planning process
as opposed to a static form of strategic planning.
Question No: 21 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Change can be originated from within an organization. Which of the following refers to this statement?
New corporate leadership
Political conditions of a country
Global technological advancement
New government policy
Question No: 22 (Marks: 1) - Please choose one
In the words of technology, software refers to which of the following?
Machinery
Equipments
Knowledge
None of the given options
Question No: 23 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following strategies is concerned with how a firm will compete in a particular business?
Corporate strategy
Business strategy
Functional strategy
Process strategy
Question No: 24 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Identify a systematic variable which hampers execution of strategic change?
Too many hierarchical levels
Overly narrow span of control
Responsibility without authority
Oppressive control systems
Question No: 25 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Identify a systematic variable which hampers execution of strategic change?
Overly rigid formal planning system
Too many hierarchical levels
Overly narrow span of control
Responsibility without authority
Question No: 26 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Identify a structural variable which hampers execution of strategic change?
Top down management system
Overly rigid formal planning system
Inflexible budgeting system
Oppressive control system
Question No: 27 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is a disadvantage of narrow span of control?
Close control
Close supervision
Superiors tend to get too involved in subordinates work
Fast communication between subordinates and superiors
Question No: 28 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
The creation of narrow and stable domain refers to:
Defender s entrepreneurial problem
Prospector s entrepreneurial problem
Analyzer s entrepreneurial problem
Reactor s entrepreneurial problem
Question No: 29 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Identify the term which refers to the particular areas of transformation under examination?
Content
Context
Procedure
Process
Question No: 30 (Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
In order to become not only a functional specialist but also a generalist (cross-functionalist),
managers must learn:
Managerial skills
Statistical skills
Multi-disciplinary skills
Supervisory skills
Question No: 31 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following focuses on the planned and controlled change of organizations in the
desired directions?
Organizational Development Model
Kurt Lewin Model
Unilateral Approach
Revenue Centric Approach
Question No: 32 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is Not included in Bullock and Batten four-phase model of planned change?
Exploration
Planning
Action
Organizing
Question No: 33 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
How many categories of change are introduced by Leavitt?
One
Two
Three
Four
Question No: 34 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
According to Lawrence, which of the following approach is unilateral?
Social
Technical
Procedural
Structural
Question No: 35 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Identify the feature of incremental change.
It is based on periodic learning
It is relevant at upper level of organization
It is long-term based
It is continuous
Question No: 36 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Complacency concept refers to:
Interpretation of things on self reference basis
Favoritism or protection of individuals
Short term view of individuals
Satisfying behavior of individuals
Question No: 37 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Identify the leading proponents of 'Organizational ecology model'.
Hannan and Freeman
Weber and Taylor
Schein and Quinn
Mintzberg and Fayol
Question No: 38 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the period of direction phase?
Incentives, budgets and work standards are adopted
Accounting systems for inventory and purchase are introduced
Communication is frequent and informal within organization
Communication becomes more formal and impersonal
Question No: 39 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Application of standard operating procedures refers to:
Rule following
Problem solving
Decision making
Learning process
Question No: 40 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which one of the following strategies refers to slow, gradual and incremental type of change
in terms of strategic management?
Internal development
External development
Revolutionary development
Radical development
The internal development strategy, in its traits is slow, gradual, equity based where one’s own organ culture is
considered very sacred as against the external development strategy which exhibits the characteristics
of being fast, structural and high growth oriented.
Internal refers to slow, gradualism or incrementalist or evolutionary view and the other refer to
revolutionary types of change.
Question No: 41 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following acts as change agent according to MOUND model of change management?
Upper level manager
Middle level manager
Lower level manager
First line manager
Question No: 42 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following can be changed with the help of organization s reward system according to
"Kerr and
Slocum"?
Organizational culture
Organizational management
Organizational structure
Organizational hierarchy
Question No: 43
( Marks: 3 )
What is an Analyzer ?
Question No: 44
( Marks: 3 )
Distinguish between incremental and discontinuous innovations.
It should have a clear rationale and should be
done in conjunction with other parallel
changes such as process change and cultural
Question No: 45 ( Marks: 3 )
Briefly discuss the importance of shared values in organizational change.
change. Sometimes restructuring takes place
due to some other events such as a new boss
arriving, a process or product failure, an
Question No: 46 ( Marks: 5 )
argument,
Explain the term sticking to one s knitting .
a
dissatisfied
client
or
an
underperforming person or department. In
these cases it is sometimes difficult for
Question No: 47 ( Marks: 5 )
employees to prepare themselves for a
Discuss the situations in which participative change approach is more
effective?
situation when changes in structure seem to
be a knee-jerk reaction, which lacks direction,
appears cosmetic and fail to lead any real
Question No: 48 ( Marks: 10 )
improvement.
Discuss the organizational and managerial means used by the defender to The
solve adaptive problems?
restructuring
process
can
create
considerable turbulence within organization,
its managers and its staff. Changes that are
Question No: 49 ( Marks: 10 )
introduced in an organizational restructuring
The degree to which management sets goals and strategies to change theaffects the socio-psychological well-being of
organization is contingent upon the success of organization s historical organization members given the potential for
goal setting process in implementing changes. Discuss what factors
uncertainty that may accompany such
influence goal setting process in an organization.
changes. There is a need to better understand
Question
10 Marks
the
consequences
of
organizational
restructuring and consider some of its
potential
side
effects
on
the
work
environment. Employees in a post“Restructuring as a theme for change can be considered a bit strange because it
restructuring context are understandably
may not be meaningful as a key strategic objective”. Comment on this statement.
wary about the future direction of the
organization and their roles within it. There
are some risks attached to the restructuring
Solution:
process. Whenever any organization moves
from one structure to another, it experiences
different kinds of risks (like failure risk). In
order to minimize risks, management should
The purpose of restructuring is to align the organization to better achieve itsconsider restructuring as a last option rather
strategy. Restructuring should only take place as a result of a change in strategy.than a first option. However if restructuring
becomes the solution to variety of organizational issues, management needs torepresent abrupt shifts in the organization’s
describe rationale behind it, how it links to the strategy, how it will work instructure, culture, and processes. If
successful, the shifts enable the organization
practice, how it differs from what went before, how it is better than what went
to experience another long period of smooth
before and what will be its benefits.
functioning until the next disruption signals
the need for drastic change.
Question
10 Marks
These studies of organization evolution and
revolution point to the benefit of
implementing transformational change as
rapidly as possible. The faster the
Transformational change involves reshaping the organization’s culture and designorganization can respond to disruptions, the
elements. How can studies of evolution and revolution help in implementingquicker it can attain the benefit of operating
transformational change?
in a new way. Rapid change enables the
organization to reach a period of smooth
growth and functioning sooner, thus
providing it with a competitive advantage
Solution:
over those firms that change more slowly.
Transformational changes can be characterized as systematic and revolutionary
because the entire nature of the organization is altered fundamentally. Typically
driven by senior executives, change may occur rapidly so that it does not get
mired in politics, individual resistance, and other forms of organizational inertia.
This is particularly pertinent to changing the different features of the
organization, such as structure, information systems, human resources practices,
and work design. These features tend to reinforce one another, thus making it
difficult to change them in a piecemeal manner. They need to be changed
together and in a coordinated fashion so that they can mutually support each
other and the new cultural values and assumptions. Transformational change,
however, is distinguished from other types of strategic change by its attention to
the people side of the organization. For a change to be labeled transformational,
a majority of individuals in an organization must change their behavior.
Long-term studies of organizational evolution underscore the revolutionary
nature of the transformational change. They suggest that organizations typically
move through relatively long periods of smooth growth and operations. These
periods of convergence or evolution are characterized by incremental changes.
At times, however, most organizations experience severe external or internal
disruptions that render existing organizational arrangements ineffective.
Successful firms respond to these threats to survival by transforming themselves
to fit the new conditions. These periods of total system and quantum changes
Mark True or False.
6) A change agent is the
facilitator of the change.
5 Marks
7) Periods of substantial turmoil in organization life are known as
evolutionary phase.
8) Organizational ecology theories are based on Darwinian
5 Marks
evolutionary models.
9) Selection refers to organizational efforts to respond to changing
environmental circumstances.
10) According to Hannan & Freeman “most organizations have
structural inertia that hinders adaptation when the environment
changes”.
Make an appropriate choice
1) Which of the following theories of change posit that individuals and organizations
exist in a pluralistic world filled with conflicting interests, ideas, and values?
A. Life cycle
B. Teleological
C. Dialectical
D. Evolutionary
2) Which of the following is a dimension of organization structure?
A. Departmentalization
B. Span of control
C. Hierarchy layer
D. All of the given options
3) Which of the following is Not included in McKinsey 7 S framework?
A. Strategy
B. Structure
C. System
D. Safety
4) Which of the following areas is Not one of the four key areas that strategic change seeks to influence?
A. People
B. Technology
C. Formal organization structures
D. Informal organization structures
5) In psychology the observation that people often do (or believe) things because many other people do (or
believe) the same is called _____________.
A. Band wagon effect
B. Benchmarking
C. Fashion
D. Trend
Mark True or False.
5 Marks
6) According to “Dialectical theory” human actions are purposive.
7) “Decision making” is a part of planning activity.
5 Marks
8) In an organization, employees are the recipient of change plan.
9) “ISO certification” is a part of teleological approach to change
management.
10) Dialectical process is identified as Thesis, Antithesis and
Synthesis.
Make an appropriate choice
1) In circumstances of incremental change, strategic change is likely to be more
successful if:
A. It is imposed
B. It is owned by the senior manager
C. It is internalized and owned by those who will implement it
D. It is facilitated by management consultants
2) 'Logical incrementalism' can be described as:
A. Careful design and planning
B. Emergent
C. Cautious resource allocation
D. Top management rational analysis
3) Organizations that are good at developing relevant capabilities to respond to a
changing context are known as:
A. Knowing organizations
B. Stretch organizations
C. Learning organizations
D. None of the given options
4) Which of the following contexts would most suit a transformational leader?
A. An organization that is in trouble
B. An organization that is performing well
C. An organization in a stable environment
D. An organization in a mature industry
5) Theorists have identified two main styles of leadership. These are
transformational leadership and:
A. Transgression leadership
B. Transactional leadership
C. Transparent leadership
D. Transcendental leadership