Unit 10 Definitions - Strategic Change

Question 1

collectivism

Answer 1

a culture in which individuals work as a team to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. Communist societies embraced the goal of collectivism

Question 2

contingency planning

Answer 2

having a plan B so that a new strategy can be implemented in the event of a change in the external environment or an emergency

Question 3

corporate culture

Answer 3

the beliefs and behaviours that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle business transactions. The way things are done in the company

Question 4

corporate governance

Answer 4

the system of rules, practices and processes by which a company is directed and controlled.

Question 5

who controls corporate governance

Answer 5

the board are in control of corporate governance and needs to balance the interests of a company’s many stakeholders, such as shareholders, management, customers, suppliers, financiers, government and the community

Question 6

critical path

Answer 6

the most important series of tasks to focus on. The activities in the critical path have a zero floor, so any delay in the critical path tasks delays the whole project

Question 7

delayering

Answer 7

means removing middle management tiers from the hierarchy. This is also known as flattening the organisation. The result is more responsibility for the remaining staff

Question 8

different assessment

Answer 8

the stakeholder believes that the proposed solution is flawed and that an alternative strategy is better. One of Kotter and Schlesinger’s reasons for resistance

Question 9

disruptive change

Answer 9

a new factor that means the current way an organisation operates is not as competitive or effective. This may be new technology or a significant change in any external factor

Question 10

divorce of ownership and control

Answer 10

the owners of the business do not control the day-to-day decisions being made perhaps by managers. This may occur when there are many small shareholders who have limited voting power so take little active interest in the business

Question 11

driving forces (positive forces for change)

Answer 11

factors that encourage change to occur. Within Lewin’s model, these include increased competition, poor financial performance, poor overall performance and dissatisfied customers

Question 12

education and communication

Answer 12

providing the stakeholders with the necessary information for them to understand the reason for the change, how the change will be implemented and the expected outcome. One of Kotter and Schlesinger’s ways to overcome resistance

Question 13

emergent strategy

Answer 13

the strategy that develops over time, perhaps some that are different to the planned strategy

Question 14

explicit and implied coercion

Answer 14

forcing the stakeholders to make the change on board, despite their reluctance. One of Kotter and Schlesinger’s ways is to overcome resistance.

Question 15

facilitation and support

Answer 15

providing the necessary resources, training and skills to help the stakeholder feel more confident with the change process. One of Kotter and Schlesinger’s ways is to overcome resistance.

Question 16

Femininity

Answer 16

one of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in which there is a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life. Society at large is more consensus-oriented

Question 17

flexible employment contracts

Answer 17

workers who may be on temporary or zero-hours arrangements and the use of agency workers, so businesses can alter the quantity and quality of workers easily without having to pay workers when they are not needed. This should reduce the labour costs of a business

Question 18

flexible organisation

Answer 18

a business that is able to adapt and respond relatively quickly to changes in its external environment in order to gain an advantage and sustain its competitive position

Question 19

float time

Answer 19

the slack or amount of time that a task in a project network can be delayed without causing a delay to the project completion date.

Question 20

the equation for float time

Answer 20

earliest start time - latest finish time

Question 21

handy’s theory of culture

Answer 21

four main types of organisational culture, power culture, role culture, task culture and person culture.

Question 22

high power distance index

Answer 22

one of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally

Question 23

Hofstede’s national cultures

Answer 23

a theory that categorises 6 different ways in which culture varies in different nations. The theory helps distinguish the ways in which business is conducted

Question 24

incremental change

Answer 24

a small adjustment as opposed to a major upheaval. Incremental changes limit the threats to existing power structures

Question 25

individualism

Answer 25

one of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in which there is a preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of only themselves and their immediate families

Question 26

information management

Answer 26

the collection of information, communication of it within and without the organisation and information processing, so that managers can take a quicker and better decision

Question 27

Kotter and Schlesinger’s Resistance to change

Answer 27

a theory that identifies four categories of reasons why individuals or groups resist change, namely parochial self-interest, misunderstanding and fear, different assessment and preferring the status quo

Question 28

Kotter and Schlesinger’s way to overcome resistance to change

Answer 28

a theory that outlines 6 approaches to deal with the opposition to change. These include education and communication, participation and involvement, facilitation and support, negotiation and agreement, manipulation and co-option and explicit and implicit coercion

Question 29

Lewin’s force field analysis

Answer 29

a model that claims that strategic change will only occur when the driving forces outweigh the resisting forces. To implement change management may need to make the driving forces stronger or reduce the power of the resisting forces

Question 30

low power distance index

Answer 30

a culture in which people strive to equalise the distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power

Question 31

manipulation and co-option

Answer 31

use of project champions who may receive incentives and are tasked with encouraging others to embrace the change. One of Kotter and Schlesinger’s ways to overcome resistance

Question 32

masculinity

Answer 32

one of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in which there is a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness, and material rewards for success

Question 33

mechanistic structure

Answer 33

an organisation with a high degree of organisational complexity, formality, standard procedures and centralisation. Often there is little perceived need to change and much resistance faced should change be proposed. Mechanistic structures are contrasted to organic structures

Question 34

negotiation and agreement

Answer 34

increased two-way communication by bargaining with stakeholders often making compromises along the way to find a mutually acceptable way forward. One of Kotter and Schlesinger’s ways is to overcome resistance.

Question 35

network analysis

Answer 35

use of a network diagram to analyse the fastest way to complete a project and assess which activities should be prioritised

Question 36

organic structures

Answer 36

an organisation characterised by informality, flexibility informality, decentralisation and employee empowerment. This structure should allow a change in soccer more easily than a mechanistic structure

Question 37

parochial self-interest

Answer 37

stakeholders only consider the impact of change on them and not the wider good of the organisation or other stakeholders. They resist if the change makes the worse off. One of Kotter and Schlesinger’s reasons for resistance

Question 38

participation and involvement

Answer 38

providing a sense of ownership to stakeholders so they feel part of the whole change process. One of Kotter and Schlesinger’s ways to overcome resistance

Question 39

power culture

Answer 39

power remains with a few dominant people at the centre of the organisation and decisions result from them and dictate how the business operates

Question 40

prefer the status quo

Answer 40

a desire to keep things as they are and avoid change. This may give workers a feeling of security. One of Kotter and Schlesinger’s reasons for resistance

Question 41

role culture

Answer 41

a rule-based culture in which every worker knows their role and power is based on that role. It is a highly controlled culture

Question 42

person culture

Answer 42

people are superior to the organisation and given a high degree of autonomy. This often occurs where the workers are highly specialised e.g accountancy firm

Question 43

resisting forces (negative forces against change)

Answer 43

factors that resist the momentum to occur. Within Lewin’s model, these include employee resistance, lack of finance, stakeholder response and the external environment

Question 44

strategic drift

Answer 44

when the strategy used is no longer relevant to the external environment. It may be due to complacency regarding a strategy that used to work e.g. Nokia failed to adapt to the new smartphone technology quickly enough

Question 45

what are the four stages of strategic drift

Answer 45

incremental changes, strategic drift, flux, transformational change or death

Question 46

task culture

Answer 46

the organisation focuses on sorting out specific issues. Teams of appropriate workers are formed to deal with certain issues and jobs. Power may depend on the personality of the team members and the importance of their role within the project