ANSWER TEMPLATE
ADS607 (MANAGING CHANGE)
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PART A: 10 MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
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Duration: 45 minutes
1. B 2. A 3. C 4. C 5. B
6. C 7. B 8. C 9. D 10. D
PART B: 3 LONG ESSAY QUESTIONS
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Duration: 3 hours, 15 minutes
Note:
i. (Please use Times New Roman (12 font) OR Arial (11 font) with 1.5 spacing. The answers are
limited to only 4,500 words (maximum), and if exceeds, only the first 4,500 words will be
evaluated).
ii. Answers must start with the INTRODUCTION, the CONTENTS (where the
discussion/explanation and relevant examples should be given based on the Questions) and
end with the appropriate CONCLUSION. Please use the paragraph for each of the
explanation given.
iii. Submit your answer via GOOGLE CLASSROOM within the specified time (Refer to the
detailed instructions given by the lecturer).
iv. It is advisable to submit the answers 30 minutes before the deadline to avoid any unwanted
risks.
v. The marks will be given based on the students’ ability to respond and discuss the questions
related to the scope of Managing Change with the reference to the syllabus and scheme of
work for ADS607. The answers provided must be within the lecture notes, required textbook
and other reading books specified in this subject.
vi. Any forms of plagiarism is strictly prohibited including copying and pasting from the internet
sources.
To begin, please state the Questions, followed by your answers. (Please answer all
questions using this template)
ANSWER TEMPLATE
PART B
QUESTION 1
Kotter (2012) argues that “leadership and management are two distinctive and
complementary system of action”.
Explain FOUR (4) differences between the roles of management and leadership in an
organization (20 marks)
Leadership in business is the capacity of a company's management to set and achieve
challenging goals, take fast and decisive action when needed, outperform the competition,
and inspire others to perform at the highest level they can. Leadership and management are
often considered to have overlapping functions. While this can be true, these two terms
have different meanings and they shouldn’t be used interchangeably. Both imply a unique
set of functions, characteristics, and skills that share similarities. However, they show
prominent differences in some circumstances. For example, some managers do not practice
leadership, while some people lead without a managerial role. A manager is generally
someone who is selected or appointed within an organization. In most cases, a manager is
selected based on specific technical skills, knowledge, and expertise. On the contrary, the
greatest leadership skill is to influence and inspire people.
The differences between the roles of management and leadership in an organization is
leader set the vision, managers follow it. When it comes to setting and executing a
company’s mission and vision, managers and leaders have different roles. Leaders are
visioners. Most of them have a clear vision of where they want their organizations to be in
the future. However, they themselves are not the only ones responsible for making that
vision come true. Here, managers play a crucial role. While leaders may be responsible,
through efficient leadership communication, to transfer the company’s mission, vision and
goals to the entire organization, managers are responsible for keeping employees aligned
with the core company values and goals. Even though managers are the ones who can
influence people to work towards the same objectives, many employees agree that their
company doesn’t do a good job communicating the company’s goals. Moreover, employees
want and expect to be informed about how their organization is doing and where it is
heading. Moreover, by speaking openly about the company’s goals, opportunities, and
challenges, leaders are the ones who can build trust in the workplace. They can foster a
productive work environment where employees feel empowered to share their own ideas,
needs and concerns. The more transparent leaders are, the healthier the work environment
becomes.
The second differences between the roles of management and leadership in an organization
is leaders think ideas, managers think execution. While a managerial culture emphasizes
rationality and control, leaders are more about looking for opportunities for improvement
on the organizational level. They do so by coming up with new ideas and driving the shift to
a forward-thinking mindset. In other words, managers always look for answers to “how and
when”, while leaders look for answers to “what and why”. Therefore, the managers’ main
responsibility is to fulfill their tasks based on the leader’s vision. Their main job is to ensure
that people on different functions with different responsibilities operate efficiently,
productively and that they feel like they can share their voice. They should always watch the
bottom line by controlling employees and providing necessary information, processes,
workflows and tools so that employees are enabled for success. Managers relate to people
according to the role they play in a decision-making process, while leaders, who are
concerned with ideas, relate in more high-level but empathetic ways. The main difference is
simply between a manager’s attention to how things get done, and a leader’s attention to
what should be done to achieve greater results. As leaders always look for new ideas, they
can also play a crucial role in driving change within organizations. Moreover, a leader
inspires positive, incremental change by empowering employees to work toward common
objectives. A leader’s most powerful tool for doing so is efficient communication.Change
communication messages coming from leaders should get people prepared to do things
differently and give the reason why, while managers should continuously reinforce these
messages. Yet, many managers are not even aware of why a change is happening.
The third differences between the roles of management and leadership in an organization is
leaders inspire people, managers drive their success. While leaders have a great power to
inspire people, managers are responsible for driving their continuous success and positive
work experience throughout employee's entire career journey. As managers account for over
70% of employees’ engagement in the workplace, they are also held accountable for how
successful and productive their teams are. However, when people are not inspired by what
leadership has to say, there is little managers can do to help their people succeed. By
developing a personal leadership style through self-reflection, authentic communication and
continuous feedback, leaders can empower their workforce, get their followers’ attention and
inspire them to pursue important organizational initiatives. Studies show that employees feel
less stressed and under pressure when they have the opportunity to engage with the leaders
regularly. Moreover, leadership has a great power to impact employee engagement.
Employees work more effectively within workplaces that support honest, open and
transparent communication. Yet, many organizations still neglect the importance of two-way
communication between leaders and employees. Instead, the information flows one way and
employees don’t have the opportunity to join company-wide conversations.
Lastly, leaders shape the culture, managers endorse it. Culture is a system of values,
beliefs, and behaviors that shape and determine how an organization operates and how the
work gets done. When organizational culture is aligned to the overall business strategy,
employees and other stakeholders act and behave in ways that support and enable the
achievement of business goals. When it comes to the organization culture, the difference
between leadership and management is that leaders define and shape the culture, while the
managers lead their employees to live up to that culture. It is the leader’s duty to uphold the
core company values and beliefs of the organization’s culture through their actions, authentic
communication and their decisions. Passionate and inspiring leaders have a great power to
communicate the organizational culture company-wide and influence employees’ behaviors.
Their skills and leadership styles have a big impact on how employees take and live that
culture, while the manager’s role is to continuously support and endorse the culture within
their teams. Therefore, driving employees to live by the company’s culture and core values is
impossible without the collaboration between leadership and management.
In conclusion, organizations provide its managers with legitimate authority to lead, but there
is no assurance that they will be able to lead effectively. Organizations need strong
leadership and strong management for optimal effectiveness. In today’s dynamic workplace,
we need leaders to challenge the status quo and to inspire and persuade organization
members. We also need managers to assist in developing and maintaining a smoothly
functioning workplace.
QUESTION 2
a) Explain TWO (2) debates faced by change managers if they were to link vision
and change in an organization.
(10marks)
A vision statement is the anchor point of any strategic plan. It outlines what an organization
would like to ultimately achieve and gives purpose to the existence of the organization. A
well-written vision statement should be short, simple, specific to your business, leave nothing
open to interpretation. It should also have some ambition. Having a vision is often linked to
why successful organizational change is achieved. Forming a strategic vision is an exercise
in thinking about where a company needs to head to be successful. A vision is a mental
image of a possible and desirable future state of the organization. A vision describes
aspirations for the future as a destination for the organization.
b) Explain TWO (2) attributes that constitute a meaningful vision in an organization
(10 marks)
The content of meaningful vision has sparked considerable debate. Some consideration has
been given to attributes, its style, and how it is differentiated from the mission and
organizational values. The attributes that constitute a meaningful vision in an organization
are the cognitive component and effective component.
The first attribute is the cognitive component. It focuses on achieving outcomes. Cognitive
approaches to motivation focus on how a person’s motivation is influenced by their
cognitions or mental processes. Of particular interest is the role of cognitive dissonance on
motivation. Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person experiences conflict, contradiction,
or inconsistency in their cognitions. These contradictory cognitions may be attitudes, beliefs,
or awareness of one’s behavior. Dissonance is strongest when a discrepancy has been
noticed between one’s self-concept and one’s behavior. If you do something you are
ashamed of or act in a way that is counter to an idea you have about yourself. For example,
if you consider yourself an honest person but then lie to your parents when they ask about
your future plans, you are likely to feel cognitive dissonance afterward.
The second attribute is the affective component. It helps to motivate people and increase
commitment to the change. Commitment to change can be defined as the force that pushes
the individual to exhibit an attitude and behaviour that supports the change process.
Commitment to change is considered to be one of most important factors for thesuccessful
implementation of change initiatives. Many organizations fail to achievethe results they
pursue and want to know more about to what extent variables influence commitment to
change.
Last but not least, it can be concluded that an organization should focus on the importance
of readiness for change in improving organizational growth. Why an organization needs a
vision and mission? We do believe the needs of vision and mission in an organization is to
ensure the organization achieves their goals and what they hope in having good
performances and this needs also as an indicator for the organization meet the effective and
efficient decision as to the proper one.
QUESTION 3
a) Explain TWO (2) main components of resistance to change (10 marks)
Resistance is a very real and common issue that is faced by change managers during the
process of change. It can be considered tridimensional and made up of three components
that are affective which is how a person feels about change, cognitive which is what they
think about it and behavioral which is how they act or what they do in the face of change.
The behavioral response may take active or passive forms. Also, resistance to change is the
act of opposing or struggling with modifications or transformations that alter the status quo.
This resistance can manifest itself in one employee, or in the workplace as a whole.
The main component of resistance to change is affective. It is how a person feels about
change. As in the organization, employee readiness for change and found that a key
influencer of employee attitude or subjective feelings toward change is directly influenced by
the leader’s behavior and emotional intelligence, in addition to their leadership skills and
abilities. Other than that, leaders who put too much focus on business aspects, such as
gathering data, analyzing reports, and formulating presentations, most often experience a
high rate of failed change. Instead of placing the emphasis on convincing people that
change is needed, leaders should focus on how that change affects people emotionally.
Leaving employees to sort through their emotions on their own is a costly mistake that can
lead to a failed change initiative. In order to shift the odds of executing successful change
into their favor, leaders need to encourage positive feelings while limiting negative feelings
toward the change effort. However, leaders are often left to sort through affective dimensions
of change without proper tools and know-how, resulting in a negative experience for the
manager and poor change outcomes.
The second main component of resistance to change is behavioural. It is how they act or
what they do in the face of change. The behavioural response may take active or passive
forms. The behaviour in passive change resistance, individuals remain silent about their
views or appear to agree to changes, but then do not act on them. fear manifest itself in four
different behaviours: fight, flight, freeze, or freak-out. When someone displays passive
resistance, you are seeing a 'flight' or 'freeze' response. It means the threat that this change
presents is something they want to move away from, or hide from in the hope that it passes
by without affecting them. meanwhile, the behaviour in active change resistance individuals
speak and act against the change either overtly or covertly, with a particular focus on
negatively influencing others to also resist, or finding a way to have the change overturned.
They may undermine change efforts in subtle ways, or challenge them directly, depending
on their personality, role and confidence. as with passive resistance, this is usually triggered
by a threat response, but when someone displays active resistance, they are modelling
'fight'. It means this change has triggered a very specific threat that they want to eradicate. It
may make them feel out of control or unfairly treated, and their active resistance is an
attempt to reassert some lost autonomy. It may pose a risk to something they hold dear (e.g.
a threat to status, job, intellect) and they are attempting to avoid this materialising.
In conclusion, managing resistance to change can be a challenge. Be mindful that we are
not the reason behind the resistance. You can cause serious resistance when you
repeatedly introduce change to your organization. Organizations are constantly evolving,
which means change is inevitable. But introducing changes without consulting the people
they affect, explaining the need for change, and providing support through the process will
alienate your employees and drag down morale. Something as simple as listening to how
employees talk about the change in meetings and hall conversations can tell you a lot about
any resistance they are experiencing. Some employees may come directly to you for help
navigating the changes. That's a great opportunity to listen to their concerns.
b) Explain TWO (2) signs of passive resistance to change that commonly happens in
an organization (10 marks)
Resistance to change is the unwillingness to adapt to altered circumstances. It can be covert
or overt, organized, or individual. Employees may realize they don't like or want a change
and resist publicly, and that can be very disruptive. Employees can also feel uncomfortable
with the changes introduced and resist, sometimes unknowingly, through their actions, their
language, and in the stories and conversations, they share in the workplace. In a worst-case
scenario, employees can be forceful in their refusal to adopt any changes, bringing
confrontation and conflict to your organization.
The signs of passive resistance to change that commonly happens in an organization are
agreeing verbally but not following through (“malicious compliance”) and feigning ignorance. The
signs of passive resistance to change that commonly happens in an organization is agreeing
verbally but not following through (“malicious compliance”). Malicious compliance is the
practice of following directions or orders in a literal way, observing them without variance,
despite knowing that the outcome will not be what the manager or boss initially desired. it is
the practice of following directions or orders in a literal way, observing them without variance,
despite knowing that the outcome will not be what the manager or boss initially desired. this
behavior is always meant in some way to damage, humiliate or threaten the established power
structure, regardless of what level that may be. The reasons behind malicious compliance are
myriad, ranging from office politics and jealousy to a resistance to change, but there are a few
fundamental boxes that should be ticked if a behavior is truly malicious compliance.The worker
must be aware that the rule or directive is flawed, and that their superior made a mistake, and yet
still choose to follow that rule. The “humorous” element of this behavior is that the worker isn’t
required to fully enforce such a rule, as in the above example of the bouncer at the bar. Finally,
for it to properly be called malicious compliance, the worker must genuinely want or intend
harmful/chaotic results from their actions.
The second sign of passive resistance to change that commonly happens in an organization is
feigning ignorance. Ignorance is a lack of knowledge and information. Ignorance can appear in
three different types which are factual ignorance (absence of knowledge of some fact), object
ignorance (unacquaintance with some object), and technical ignorance (absence of knowledge of
how to do something). For instance, if someone feigns a particular feeling, attitude, or physical
condition, they try to make other people think that they have it or are experiencing it, although
this is not true. Feigned Ignorance claimed by anyone must never be acceptable as a good
enough excuse, for action, nor inaction, for speech, nor silence, when proof is undeniable that
the opposite (full knowledge) is found to be true. Ignorance can have negative effects on
individuals and societies, but can also benefit them by creating within them the desire to know
more. For example, ignorance within science opens the opportunity to seek knowledge and make
discoveries by asking new questions. Though this can only take place if the individual possesses
a curious mind.
In conclusion, effect of change in any organization is either to bring positive or negative
transformation. The essence of transformation is to bring about new idea that can improve the
current situation in any organization. The role of leadership is as important as that of change
itself. If the leadership or the organization are not on the same page either partially or fully, the
success of any implemented change will be problematic. And as a result of positive change, the
benefits will cut across the generality; management, employee, stakeholders, and the community
at large.
