Organizational Change Management Flashcards

A city department is merging with another agency. Which change management risk is most likely to emerge from a culture clash between the two units?

Answer: Unproductive conflicts and reduced collaboration

Culture clashes between merging units create interpersonal conflicts, competing norms, and reduced cooperation that undermine integration goals and performance.

The term 'change fatigue' in a public organization refers to:

Answer: Employee resistance caused by repeated, poorly managed change initiatives

Change fatigue occurs when employees are subjected to too many changes in rapid succession, leading to disengagement, cynicism, and reduced capacity to adopt further changes.

When applying force field analysis to a change initiative, driving forces and restraining forces are used to:

Answer: Identify and balance factors for and against the change

Lewin's force field analysis maps forces that push toward change (driving) against forces that resist it (restraining) to develop strategies for strengthening drivers or reducing barriers.

Which metric best indicates that a change initiative in a public agency has been successfully institutionalized?

Answer: New behaviors are sustained without manager prompting six months post-implementation

True institutionalization is evidenced by sustained behavioral change in daily operations without external reinforcement, indicating the new way has become 'the way we work here.'

A public sector manager is planning a large technology migration. Applying change management principles, which action should occur FIRST?

Answer: Assess impact on roles, workflows, and stakeholders

An impact assessment must precede procurement, training, or piloting because it identifies who is affected, how, and what support will be needed — informing all subsequent planning.

Which of the following best illustrates 'participatory change management' in a government context?

Answer: Frontline employees are involved in designing new workflows during reorganization

Participatory change management involves those most affected in designing solutions, which increases buy-in, surfaces practical concerns, and improves implementation quality.

According to best practices in public sector change management, which factor most frequently determines the long-term success or failure of a change initiative?

Answer: Sustained visible commitment from senior leadership throughout the effort

Research consistently shows that sustained, visible leadership commitment is the single most important predictor of change success, signaling organizational priority and maintaining momentum.