Organizational Culture & Change Management Flashcards

An organization wants to shift from a culture of 'diversity awareness' to 'diversity action.' The most effective lever is:

Answer: Redesigning systems and processes that produce inequitable outcomes

Moving from awareness to action requires changing the structures and processes that generate disparate outcomes, not just improving individual attitudes.

Which concept describes the phenomenon where employees from marginalized groups must suppress their authentic identities to fit into the dominant organizational culture?

Answer: Code-switching

Code-switching refers to the practice of altering one's language, behavior, or appearance to conform to dominant cultural norms, which is mentally taxing and reduces authenticity.

The 'inclusion paradox' suggests that true inclusion requires organizations to:

Answer: Recognize and leverage differences rather than minimizing them

The inclusion paradox, articulated by Andrés Tapia, holds that sameness is not inclusion — genuine inclusion means acknowledging and valuing what makes people different.

When introducing a new DEI initiative, which communication strategy is most likely to reduce resistance?

Answer: Engaging stakeholders in co-designing the initiative from the start

Co-design creates ownership and buy-in, because people are far less likely to resist changes they helped shape.

In change management, 'refreezing' (Lewin's model) in the context of DEI means:

Answer: Stabilizing new inclusive behaviors through reinforcement and policy

Lewin's refreezing stage is about cementing new behaviors as the standard through structural reinforcement so that progress is not reversed.

A diversity trainer identifies that informal networks in a company exclude women from key information. The recommended intervention is:

Answer: Create formal sponsorship and mentoring structures to bridge informal network gaps

Formal structures like sponsorship programs compensate for inequitable informal networks by deliberately connecting underrepresented employees to influential relationships.

Which metric is the strongest leading indicator that organizational culture is becoming more inclusive?

Answer: Retention rates of employees from underrepresented groups

Retention of underrepresented employees signals that the culture is actually delivering on inclusion, whereas inputs like training hours measure activity, not impact.