10 Managing strategic change

Question 1

what are barriers to change

Answer 1

resisting forces that make change more difficult to implement

Question 2

what are the four barriers to change by Kotter and Schlesinger

Answer 2

• parochial self interest
• misunderstanding/ lack of trust
• different assessment of the situation
• low tolerance to change and inertia

Question 3

parochial self interest looks like

Answer 3

• someone placing their own interests above those of the business as they are losing something of value

Question 4

low tolerance to change can be because of

Answer 4

• fear of change
• unwillingness to adapt

Question 5

misunderstanding/ lack of trust can be a sign of

Answer 5

• information failure
• (perceived) lack of communication

Question 6

why might employees have a different assessment of the situation

Answer 6

employees may see more costs than benefits to change

Question 7

alternative barriers to change can include

Answer 7

• lack of finance
• legal restrictions
• stakeholders

Question 8

six ways to overcome change as argued by Kotter and Schlesinger

Answer 8

1. education and communication
2. facilitation and support
3. participation and involvement
4. negotiation and agreement
5. manipulation and co-option
6. implicit and explicit coercion

Question 9

education and communication characteristics in Kotter and Schlesinger

Answer 9

• giving staff all the information about proposed change

Question 10

facilitation and support characteristics in Kotter and Schlesinger

Answer 10

• providing staff with care to help them adjust with change

Question 11

participation and involvement characteristics in Kotter and Schlesinger

Answer 11

• employees have a degree of ownership in the change as they can contribute ideas

Question 12

negotiation and agreement characteristics in Kotter and Schlesinger

Answer 12

• talking w staff to try and diminish any concerns

Question 13

manipulation and co-option characteristics in Kotter and Schlesinger

Answer 13

• manipulation = control the information that is shared w staff

co-option= getting a key representative of the resistance side to ‘convert’ the rest of the resisting side

Question 14

implicit and explicit coercion characteristics in Kotter and Schlesinger

Answer 14

implicit = kind of threats

explicit = clear threats to employees if they keep resisting

Question 15

strategic drift occurrs when

Answer 15

a firms strategy is no longer suitable for the current situation

Question 16

strategic drift could occur because

Answer 16

• leaders may have an inertia (unwillingness to change)
• leaders may fail to analyse the external environment clearly
• the organisational culture doesn’t allow for a strategic change
• the strategy execution may be bad

Question 17

in phase 1 of strategic drift a firm may still make

Answer 17

incremental changes to their strategy in order to align with the external changes

Question 18

in phase 2 of strategic drift a firms strategy

Answer 18

is no longer fit for purpose

Question 19

in phase 3 of strategic drift, leaders may

Answer 19

confused and may see a decline in performance

Question 20

in phase 4 of strategic drift a ______ needs to occur otherwise the a business may have to close down

Answer 20

transformational change

Question 21

a flexible organisation is one that is able to

Answer 21

anticipate change and respond to them quickly

Question 22

methods of becoming a flexible organisation

Answer 22

• restructuring
• delayering
• flexible employment contracts
• organic vs mechanistic structures

Question 23

types of flexible employment contracts

Answer 23

• part time
• temp/ seasonal staff
• flexitime
• work from home
• zero hour contracts

Question 24

restructuring is when

Answer 24

a business shifts focuses its staff on the businesses core competences and outsources/ sub contracts its non core competences

Question 25

delayering is

Answer 25

moving from a tall to a flatter hierarchy

Question 26

value of sharing information and knowledge management

Answer 26

- source of competitive advantage - gain valuable insight from other perspectives - increases motivation

Question 27

organic organisation characteristics

Answer 27

- informal and flexible - decentralised decision making - verbal communication - more able to handle change

Question 28

mechanistic organistaion charactertsicts

Answer 28

- formal and bureaucratic - centralised decision making - standardised decision making - little perceived need for change

Question 29

The four parts of handy's culture

Answer 29

- power - task - person - role

Question 30

power culture characteristics

Answer 30

- centralised, a few key decision makers, usually in small businesses

Question 31

role culture characteristics

Answer 31

- formalised culture with clear jobs, roles, rules and procedures

Question 32

task culture characteristics

Answer 32

- focus on specific tasks and projects

Question 33

person culture characteristics

Answer 33

- individuals have the freedom to act independently, usually seen in legal or medical practices.

Question 34

what is culture?

Answer 34

the norms and values held by the individuals in the firm that determine how those individuals behave

Question 35

a strong culture is one where

Answer 35

employees understand and buy into the culture

Question 36

a weak culture is one where

Answer 36

employees don't understand and don't buy into the culture

Question 37

what does Hofstede's national cultures consider

Answer 37

the preferences people have for one state over another and how this influences their values and behaviour

Question 38

what is Hofstede's national cultures used for

Answer 38

- understanding how to lead an international workforce - improving communication with workforce - help understand international customers better

Question 39

Power distance index meaning

Answer 39

extent of which members of the culture accept a degree of inequality and hierarchy in the distribution of power

Question 40

a high Power distance index may want an organisation that has

Answer 40

- tall hiercahies - authoritarian leadership style

Question 41

a low Power distance index may want an organisation that has

Answer 41

- consultative leadership - delegation - flat hierachies

Question 42

Individualism or collectivism meaning

Answer 42

the degree to which the individual perfomance is more important that the team performance

Question 43

a highly individualistic culture may want a focus on

Answer 43

- individual bonuses for indivdual performance

Question 44

a highly collectivist culture may want a focus on

Answer 44

- team rewards

Question 45

a masculine vs feminine culture considers

Answer 45

the approaches to decision making

Question 46

a highly masculine culture will

Answer 46

prefer a fact based approach to leadership that is based on data

Question 47

a highly feminine culture will

Answer 47

prefer a consultative approach to leadership that is based on intuition

Question 48

what does uncertainty avoidance index consider

Answer 48

the extent of which people are comfortable with the fact that the future is unknown and to which they try and control future outcomes

Question 49

a high uncertainty avoidance index culture will

Answer 49

- actively avoid risk - use rules and hierarchies - place emphasis on clearly communicating strategic plans

Question 50

a low uncertainty avoidance index culture will

Answer 50

- will embrace change - use of emergent strategies - accept risk

Question 51

long term orientation is the extent of which

Answer 51

societal norms and traditions are respected rather than taking a long term view that encourages innovation and adaptation

Question 52

A high long term orientation culture stresses the importance of

Answer 52

long term strategic plan and reinvestment of profit

Question 53

A low long term orientation culture stresses the importance of

Answer 53

living for the day and employee and shareholder rewards

Question 54

why might a business' culture change

Answer 54

- emergence of a toxic culture - change of leadership - divergent cultures within a culture - business growth

Question 55

ways to successfully implement a strategy

Answer 55

- set clear corporate objectives - consult with stakeholders - break the strategy down with clear deadlines

Question 56

why are leaders valuable in implementing stratergy

Answer 56

- they oversee the strategy - they review information and set the strategy - they communicate the vision of the organisation