CME Change Management & Adaptation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: During a major organizational restructuring, employees begin hoarding information to protect their positions. Which change management response is most effective?
- Mandate information sharing through policy enforcement
- Address the underlying fear driving the behavior through transparent communication (Correct answer)
- Replace resistant employees with more cooperative ones
- Postpone the restructuring until trust is restored
Correct answer: Address the underlying fear driving the behavior through transparent communication
Information hoarding during change is a fear-based response best resolved by addressing root causes through transparent, two-way communication.
Question 2: Lewin's Force Field Analysis is used in change management to:
- Map organizational hierarchy during transitions
- Identify driving and restraining forces affecting a proposed change (Correct answer)
- Calculate the financial cost of implementing change
- Assign accountability for change milestones
Correct answer: Identify driving and restraining forces affecting a proposed change
Lewin's Force Field Analysis helps leaders visualize the balance of forces pushing for and against a change initiative.
Question 3: A company merges two divisions with conflicting cultures. The change manager's FIRST priority should be:
- Immediately enforcing a single unified culture
- Conducting a cultural assessment to understand each group's values and norms (Correct answer)
- Eliminating all cultural differences within 30 days
- Letting the cultures naturally blend without intervention
Correct answer: Conducting a cultural assessment to understand each group's values and norms
A cultural assessment provides the baseline understanding needed to design an integration plan that respects both groups and minimizes conflict.
Question 4: The 'burning platform' metaphor in change management refers to:
- A crisis-driven urgency that compels people to accept change (Correct answer)
- A gradual improvement strategy for legacy systems
- A technique for phasing out outdated technology
- A risk assessment tool for digital transformation
Correct answer: A crisis-driven urgency that compels people to accept change
The burning platform metaphor describes creating or communicating a compelling crisis that makes the status quo riskier than changing.
Question 5: When using the ADKAR model, an employee who understands why change is needed but lacks the tools to perform new tasks is blocked at which stage?
- Awareness
- Desire
- Knowledge
- Ability (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Ability
Ability in ADKAR refers to translating knowledge into action; lacking tools or training blocks this stage even when understanding and willingness exist.
Question 6: A change leader notices that middle managers are passively agreeing in meetings but not driving change on their teams. This behavior is best described as:
- Active resistance
- Passive resistance (Correct answer)
- Change fatigue
- Organizational inertia
Correct answer: Passive resistance
Passive resistance involves surface-level compliance without genuine commitment, often manifesting as inaction that quietly undermines change.
Question 7: Which metric is MOST useful for measuring the sustainability of an organizational change six months after implementation?
- Number of training sessions completed
- Employee adoption rate and behavioral compliance (Correct answer)
- Total budget spent on change initiatives
- Number of stakeholders engaged during rollout
Correct answer: Employee adoption rate and behavioral compliance
Adoption rate and behavioral compliance assess whether change has been truly embedded in daily work, indicating long-term sustainability.
CME Change Management & Adaptation 2
During a major organizational restructuring, employees begin hoarding information to protect their positions.
Which change management response is most effective?