OL322 Final Exam

Question 1

If the change leader is perceived to be honest and authentic, then the message is likely to be heard

• True

• False

Question 2

Accountability refers to an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility for one’s actions.

• True

• False

Question 3

According to Prosen (2006) the five crippling habits of organizational culture are:

 • absence of clear directives

 • ineffective leadership

 • lack of accountability

 • rationalizing inferior performance

 • planning in lieu of action

 • aversion to risk and change

Q4.

Judge (2012) lists which principles that can assist in making culture more accountable for results:

 • Begin with a focus on results being sought

 • Assign responsibility for results to everyone in the organization

 • Leaders should demonstrate the behaviors that align with the proposed change

 • Measure the right performance standards and do it rigorously

 • Make sure that cultural artifacts support accountability

 • Discuss assumptions underlying actions dealing with accountability

 • Make sure that the reward system focuses on accountability

 • All of the above - Correct

Q5:

According to Judge (2012) there are six aspects of organizational innovation:

 • employees need to imaginatively combine ideas in new ways

 • fundamental to creativity is the cultivation of diversity of thought

 • individuals need to own a share of the organization – Except this every other point

 • the ubiquity of weak ties

 • an organization-wide ability to look long term

 • the tolerance of ambiguity and failure

 • most innovations come from collaboration within and across team

Question 6

6) The research consensus is that organizational culture is the primary source of comprehensive and sustained innovation.

• True

• False

Question 7

According to Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn (1999) there are four classical types of organizational cultures (choose the incorrect one):

• Hierarchy

• Model - Wrong

• Market

• Clan

• Adhocracy

Question 8

Using the textbook, list some practices for making organization culture more innovative (about 100 words).

In order to make culture more innovative, management should make innovation everyone’s responsibility. As everyone will participate, the ideas will combine and the combination of ideas will create innovative culture. The second practice is to hire and retain creative employees. HR department should make extra efforts to retain such employees which contributes to the innovation. The third practice is to test the promising ideas. It encourages employees that their ideas were considered and tested. the fourth practice is to use organization’s human resources system to create psychological safety. The sixth practice is to change cultural artifacts and values to signal importance of innovation. The seventh practice is change cultural assumptions to signal importance of innovation

Reference:

William Q. Judge Jr.(2012). Focusing on Organizational Change.  

organizations should encourage combinatorial play. It’s possible when management allows employees to combine ideas and play with it in order to determine how the combination works. The second practice to promote innovative culture is the cultivation of a diversity of thoughts. Here, the diversity is not in the terms of demographics which can result in the fall in productivity and increase in conflicts. The diversity of thoughts can provide some innovative ideas. The third practice, which can facilitate innovation is the ubiquity of weak ties. Research suggests that creative minds often have weak ties inside and outside the organization.  

Question 9

The more open the culture is to new ideas and connections, the more likely that it will be innovative and capable of change.

• True

• False

Question 10

According to the textbook, what can students do to bring change into their organizations? (about 100 words).

Students can become change sponsor and can impact follower’s readiness to change. The change message can be effectively carried forward by the students by using the communication system of the organization. Students can also work along with capable champions (middle management) to implement the change at the grass root level. Further, the if the culture allows, students can share innovative ideas with the management about how the latest technology can contribute to the productivity and how change can be introduced in the organization.  

Question 11

According to Abrahamson (2000), organizations in the 20th century were built for stability and predictability. Organizations in the 21st century need to be both stable and change capable, what some refer to as “dynamically stable”.

• True  

• False