Welcome to the NJSACOP Command and Leadership Program Practical Testing Module.

Welcome to the NJSACOP Command and Leadership Program Practical Testing Module. Please place your program in Slide Show Mode in order to begin. There is a navigation bar at the bottom of each page that will take you through the entire module. Simply place your cursor over the process you want to follow and left click from your mouse. To start your tour, left click on CONTENTS PAGE, located at the bottom right of this page. If you wish to end your tour now, simply left click on END. On behalf of the entire Command & Leadership Staff, we hope this Practical Tutorial, aids you in a complete grasp of the program concepts and process. CONTENTS PAGE END

TESTING CONTENTS: Simply place your cursor over the Chapter Number in Green and Left click to begin that chapter. If you wish to enter another Chapter or Area, simply hit the Escape Key, close this Chapter, and return to the main folder. AREA IV THE ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEM Lesson #28 Organizational Environment Lesson #29 Organizational Culture Lesson #30 Leading Change Lesson #31 Ethical Dimension of Leadership END

These practical exercises are designed to test your ability to IDENTIFY the sources of: Environmental Uncertainty and/or Organizational Dependency. Let's get started. TO THE QUESTIONS CONTENTS PAGE END

CHAPTER #28 Organizational Environment INSTRUCTIONS: Read the following brief situations and then select from the included list, a concept which helps to account for the Environmental Uncertainty and/or Organizational Dependency. Simply place your curser on the answer you want to select and left click with your mouse. This will take you to a response page indicating that you have made the correct or incorrect selection. At the bottom of each page is a navigation tool bar that will aid you in working your way through the entire practice testing module. TO THE QUESTIONS CONTENTS PAGE END

Organizational Environment Chapter #28 Part #1 Question #1 As a Patrol commander, you are extremely upset with having only 60% of your day shift available for assignment. At 0700 hours, The Chief's Office requested four (4) officers for a special detail and 6 more were tagged at the last minute by the training unit for blood born pathogen training. A. Environmental Uncertainty B. Organizational Dependency C. I have No Idea NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As a Patrol commander, you are extremely upset with having only 60% of your day shift available for assignment. At 0700 hours, The Chief's Office requested four (4) officers for a special detail and 6 more were tagged at the last minute by the training unit for blood born pathogen training. A. Environmental Uncertainty A. CORRECT. Environmental uncertainty concerns the lack of information about environmental factors and the difficulty of predicting external changes. This morning's requirement to send 4 officer on a special detail and an additional 6 for training caught you completely by surprise. As a result of these taskings, your planned duty assignments have been adversely affected. Only 60% of your personnel are present for assignment. BACK TO THIS QUESTION NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As a Patrol commander, you are extremely upset with having only 60% of your day shift available for assignment. At 0700 hours, The Chief's Office requested four (4) officers for a special detail and 6 more were tagged at the last minute by the training unit for blood born pathogen training. B. Organizational Dependency B. INCORRECT. Organizational dependency exists when the environment is the source of scarce and valued resources essential to the organization's mission. In this situation, the factor having an impact upon your unit is not environmental organizational dependency. Even though you are dependent on officers as a resource, they are not in your environment; they are inside your organization. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As a Patrol commander, you are extremely upset with having only 60% of your day shift available for assignment. At 0700 hours, The Chief's Office requested four (4) officers for a special detail and 6 more were tagged at the last minute by the training unit for blood born pathogen training. C. I have No Idea C. ONLY YOU KNOW, but if this is true, review the lesson goal and reading assignment; then, try again. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Organizational Environment Chapter #28 Part #1 Question #2 As a Range Master, you are concerned about how to make the upcoming live-fire exercise a meaningful event. At the quarterly qualification two months ago, the department Budget officer announced a cut in the training ammunition allocations. For you, this meant only 30 live rounds, per officer, per day, for the three day exercise. A. Environmental Uncertainty B. Organizational Dependency C. I have No Idea NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As a Range Master, you are concerned about how to make the upcoming live-fire exercise a meaningful event. At the quarterly qualification two months ago, the department Budget officer announced a cut in the training ammunition allocations. For you, this meant only 30 live rounds, per officer, per day, for the three day exercise. A. Environmental Uncertainty A. INCORRECT. Environmental uncertainty concerns the lack of information about environmental factors and the difficulty of predicting external changes. In this situation the factor having an impact upon your unit is not environmental uncertainty, since you knew about the cut in ammunition for two months. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As a Range Master, you are concerned about how to make the upcoming live-fire exercise a meaningful event. At the quarterly qualification two months ago, the department Budget officer announced a cut in the training ammunition allocations. For you, this meant only 30 live rounds, per officer, per day, for the three day exercise. B. Organizational Dependency B. CORRECT. Organizational dependency exists when the environment is a source of scarce and valued resources essential to the organization's mission. You are dependent on the department for ammunition and the Budget officer has cut back the amount of ammunition you have for training. This reduction in ammunition (resource) will require you to tailor your training differently to maximize the benefit of the few rounds you have. BACK TO THIS QUESTION NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As a Range Master, you are concerned about how to make the upcoming live-fire exercise a meaningful event. At the quarterly qualification two months ago, the department Budget officer announced a cut in the training ammunition allocations. For you, this meant only 30 live rounds, per officer, per day, for the three day exercise. C. I have No Idea C. ONLY YOU KNOW, but if this is true, review the lesson goal and reading assignment; then, try again. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

CHAPTER #28 Part #2 Organizational Environment INSTRUCTIONS: This series of questions will test your ability to ANALYZE how organizational leaders cope with their task environments. MATCH the environmental coping strategies being used in each of the following scenarios with the appropriate label listed below. Do this by selecting the letter (A-G) corresponding to the coping strategy you feel is represented by the scenario. There may be more than one correct answer for each question. Simply place your curser on the answer you want to select and left click with your mouse. This will take you to a response page indicating that you have made the correct or incorrect selection. At the bottom of each page is a navigation tool bar that will aid you in working your way through the entire practice testing module. TO THE QUESTIONS CONTENTS PAGE END

Organizational Environment Chapter #28 Part #2 Question #1 Your vehicle maintenance sergeant knew the supply system was often slow in providing needed parts for your vehicles Therefore, he developed a good working relationship with the owner of the local junk yard, a place where he could legally get needed parts from wrecked vehicles. A. Acquiring Prestige B. Co-Opting C. Buffering D. Maintaining Alternative Resources E. Smoothing Out F. Adaptation G. Rationing NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your vehicle maintenance sergeant knew the supply system was often slow in providing needed parts for your vehicles Therefore, he developed a good working relationship with the owner of the local junk yard, a place where he could legally get needed parts from wrecked vehicles. A. Acquiring Prestige A. CORRECT. Acquiring prestige is a strategy used by organizational leaders to reduce their relative lack of power vis-a-vis the environment. This approach is based on maintaining a positive social image with key elements in the task environment. Organizational leaders' ability to establish and maintain a good reputation for their organizations results in the organization gaining a form of power over other elements in their environment. If you focused on the data "he developed a good working relationship with the owner of the junk yard", and saw this as an attempt to "gain prestige" or "maintain a positive social image," then you could view this action as an attempt to acquire prestige. There are three correct answers to this scenario. BACK TO THIS QUESTION NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your vehicle maintenance sergeant knew the supply system was often slow in providing needed parts for your vehicles Therefore, he developed a good working relationship with the owner of the local junk yard, a place where he could legally get needed parts from wrecked vehicles. B. Co-Opting B. CORRECT. Co-opting is a strategy used by the leader to enlarge the organization's boundaries so as to incorporate uncertain environmental elements--move them under the control of the organizational leader. Through co-opting, the leader attempts to increase the certainty of future support from the organization or person being co-opted. In this case, if you saw your motor sergeant developing a good working relationship with the owner of the junk yard as an attempt to enlarge the boundaries of your organization so as to include the junk yard, then this is an example of co-opting. There are three correct answers to this scenario. BACK TO THIS QUESTION NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your vehicle maintenance sergeant knew the supply system was often slow in providing needed parts for your vehicles Therefore, he developed a good working relationship with the owner of the local junk yard, a place where he could legally get needed parts from wrecked vehicles. C. Buffering C. INCORRECT. Buffering is a strategy used by the leader to reduce uncertainty originating in the external environment. The organization is "buffered" by surrounding it with specialized agencies or components to absorb the uncertainty. In a tactical sense, you buffer your unit from sources of uncertainty by placing something or someone between you and your external environment. Buffers reduce the impact of your greatest source of tactical uncertainty your external environment. Your sergeant is not buffering. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your vehicle maintenance sergeant knew the supply system was often slow in providing needed parts for your vehicles Therefore, he developed a good working relationship with the owner of the local junk yard, a place where he could legally get needed parts from wrecked vehicles. D. Maintaining Alternative Resources D. CORRECT. Maintaining alternative resources is a proactive leader strategy used to minimize the power of the environment. Organizational leaders can reduce their dependency on single sources in their environment by maintaining a variety of options to acquire necessary resources. Instead of relying exclusively on the repair parts supply system, your sergeant is hoping to use the junk yard as an alternative source of parts for your unit. There are three correct answers to this scenario. BACK TO THIS QUESTION NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your vehicle maintenance sergeant knew the supply system was often slow in providing needed parts for your vehicles Therefore, he developed a good working relationship with the owner of the local junk yard, a place where he could legally get needed parts from wrecked vehicles. E. Smoothing Out E. INCORRECT. Smoothing out is a leader strategy to reduce the erratic nature of the environment. Whereas buffering absorbs environmental fluctuations, smoothing out involves attempts to reduce fluctuations in the environment. The leader attempts to influence the task environment to reduce the uncertainty associated with periods of either high and low demand. For example, a maintenance organization able to anticipate a period of heavy demand for its services can publicize this fact (daily bulletin, fliers, division maintenance meeting), thereby encouraging users to schedule their services well in advance, thus smoothing out the demand. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your vehicle maintenance sergeant knew the supply system was often slow in providing needed parts for your vehicles Therefore, he developed a good working relationship with the owner of the local junk yard, a place where he could legally get needed parts from wrecked vehicles. F. Adaptation F. INCORRECT. Adaptation is a leader strategy used when buffering or smoothing out isn't possible. The leader adjusts the organization to deal with anticipated environmental fluctuations rather than trying to deal directly with the environment. For example, the maintenance Sergeant may request additional personnel to deal with a heavy demand period or work his people longer hours; the U.S. Post Office hires temporary help during the holiday season to deal with the tremendous amount of mail typical of this period. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your vehicle maintenance sergeant knew the supply system was often slow in providing needed parts for your vehicles Therefore, he developed a good working relationship with the owner of the local junk yard, a place where he could legally get needed parts from wrecked vehicles. G. Rationing G. INCORRECT. Rationing is a strategy used by the leader when all else fails or other strategies are not possible. It is making the best of a bad situation; typical of emergency situations. When training resources (training areas, fuel, ammunition, people, etc.) are in short supply, the budget officer's task is to distribute through out the department what resources there are. The leader is left to react to the environment rather than being able to take a proactive approach. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Organizational Environment Chapter #28 Part #2 Question #2 You give Sergeant Wiggins, the additional duty of Prosecutor's Office Liaison. As part of her duties, you require her to meet with the Assistant Prosecutor on a monthly basis to keep abreast of all the latest change coming down in legal matters. A. Acquiring Prestige B. Co-Opting C. Buffering D. Maintaining Alternative Resources E. Smoothing Out F. Adaptation G. Rationing NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

You give Sergeant Wiggins, the additional duty of Prosecutor's Office Liaison. As part of her duties, you require her to meet with the Assistant Prosecutor on a monthly basis to keep abreast of all the latest change coming down in legal matters. A. Acquiring Prestige A. INCORRECT. Acquiring prestige is a strategy used by organizational leaders to reduce their relative lack of power vis-a-vis the environment. This approach is based on maintaining a positive social image with key elements in the task environment. Gaining prestige is analogous to the principle behind the acquisition of referent power (lesson 21). That is, it is the least costly means by which to gain power. Organizational leaders' ability to establish and maintain a good reputation for their organizations results in the organization gaining a form of power over other elements in their environment. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

You give Sergeant Wiggins, the additional duty of Prosecutor's Office Liaison. As part of her duties, you require her to meet with the Assistant Prosecutor on a monthly basis to keep abreast of all the latest change coming down in legal matters. B. Co-Opting B. INCORRECT. Co-opting is a strategy used by the leader to enlarge the organization's boundaries so as to incorporate uncertain environmental elements--move them under the control of the organizational leader. Through co-opting, the leader attempts to increase the certainty of future support from the organization or person being co-opted. For example, always including your department's vehicle maintenance agreement in your unit's functions may increase the likelihood of quick, quality support in the future. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

You give Sergeant Wiggins, the additional duty of Prosecutor's Office Liaison. As part of her duties, you require her to meet with the Assistant Prosecutor on a monthly basis to keep abreast of all the latest change coming down in legal matters. C. Buffering C. CORRECT. Buffering is a strategy used by the leader to reduce uncertainty originating in the external environment. The organization is "buffered" by surrounding it with specialized agencies or components to absorb the uncertainty. In a tactical sense, you buffer your unit from sources of uncertainty by placing something or someone between you and the external environment. Buffers reduce the impact of your greatest source of tactical uncertainty—the external environment. In this case, Sergeant Wiggins acts as a buffer between you and any environmental uncertainty concerning the Prosecutor's Office. BACK TO THIS QUESTION NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

You give Sergeant Wiggins, the additional duty of Prosecutor's Office Liaison. As part of her duties, you require her to meet with the Assistant Prosecutor on a monthly basis to keep abreast of all the latest change coming down in legal matters. D. Maintaining Alternative Resources D. INCORRECT. Maintaining alternative resources is a proactive leader strategy used to minimize the power of the environment. Organizational leaders can reduce their dependency on single sources in their environment by maintaining a variety of options to acquire necessary resources. For example, rather than relying exclusively on the repair parts supply system, an organizational leader might develop a relationship with the owner of the junk yard so that another source of parts is available to the unit. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

You give Sergeant Wiggins, the additional duty of Prosecutor's Office Liaison. As part of her duties, you require her to meet with the Assistant Prosecutor on a monthly basis to keep abreast of all the latest change coming down in legal matters. E. Smoothing Out E. INCORRECT. Smoothing out is a leader strategy to reduce the erratic nature of the environment. Whereas buffering absorbs environmental fluctuations, smoothing out involves attempts to reduce fluctuations in the environment. The leader attempts to influence the task environment to reduce the uncertainty associated with periods of either high and low demand. For example, a maintenance organization able to anticipate a period of heavy demand for its services can publicize this fact (daily bulletin, fliers, division maintenance meeting), thereby encouraging users to schedule their services well in advance, thus smoothing out the demand. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

You give Sergeant Wiggins, the additional duty of Prosecutor's Office Liaison. As part of her duties, you require her to meet with the Assistant Prosecutor on a monthly basis to keep abreast of all the latest change coming down in legal matters. F. Adaptation F. INCORRECT. Adaptation is a leader strategy used when buffering or smoothing out isn't possible. The leader adjusts the organization to deal with anticipated environmental fluctuations rather than trying to deal directly with the environment. For example, the vehicle maintenance Sergeant may request additional personnel to deal with a heavy demand period or work his people longer hours; the U.S. Post Office hires temporary help during the holiday season to deal with the tremendous amount of mail typical of this period. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

You give Sergeant Wiggins, the additional duty of Prosecutor's Office Liaison. As part of her duties, you require her to meet with the Assistant Prosecutor on a monthly basis to keep abreast of all the latest change coming down in legal matters. G. Rationing G. INCORRECT. Rationing is a strategy used by the leader when all else fails or other strategies are not possible. It is making the best of a bad situation; typical of emergency situations. When training resources (training areas, fuel, ammunition, people, etc.) are in short supply, the budget officer's task is to distribute through out the department what resources there are. The leader is left to react to the environment rather than being able to take a proactive approach. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Organizational Environment Chapter #28 Part #2 Question #3 Your Chief told the intelligence commander to infiltrate local gangs in order to obtain information on their activities. A. Acquiring Prestige B. Co-Opting C. Buffering D. Maintaining Alternative Resources E. Smoothing Out F. Adaptation G. Rationing NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your Chief told the intelligence commander to infiltrate local gangs in order to obtain information on their activities. A. Acquiring Prestige A. INCORRECT. Acquiring prestige is a strategy used by organizational leaders to reduce their relative lack of power vis-a-vis the environment. This approach is based on maintaining a positive social image with key elements in the task environment. Gaining prestige is analogous to the principle behind the acquisition of referent power (lesson 21). That is, it is the least costly means by which to gain power. Organizational leaders' ability to establish and maintain a good reputation for their organizations results in the organization gaining a form of power over other elements in their environment. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your Chief told the intelligence commander to infiltrate local gangs in order to obtain information on their activities. B. Co-Opting B. INCORRECT. Co-opting is a strategy used by the leader to enlarge the organization's boundaries so as to incorporate uncertain environmental elements--move them under the control of the organizational leader. Through co-opting, the leader attempts to increase the certainty of future support from the organization or person being co-opted. For example, always including your department's vehicle maintenance Sergeant in your unit's functions may increase the likelihood of quick, quality support in the future. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your Chief told the intelligence commander to infiltrate local gangs in order to obtain information on their activities. C. Buffering C. CORRECT. Buffering is a strategy used by the leader to reduce uncertainty originating in the external environment. The organization is "buffered" by surrounding it with specialized agencies or components to absorb the uncertainty. In a tactical sense, you buffer your Dept. from sources of uncertainty by placing something or someone between you and the external environment. Bufferers reduce the impact of your greatest source of tactical uncertainty-- the external environment. In this case, the Chief is demonstrating one of these buffering strategies by directing his intelligence commander to gain information on local gangs, thereby reducing uncertainty as to their activities. BACK TO THIS QUESTION NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your Chief told the intelligence commander to infiltrate local gangs in order to obtain information on their activities. D. Maintaining Alternative Resources D. INCORRECT. Maintaining alternative resources is a proactive leader strategy used to minimize the power of the environment. Organizational leaders can reduce their dependency on single sources in their environment by maintaining a variety of options to acquire necessary resources. For example, rather than relying exclusively on the repair parts supply system, an organizational leader might develop a relationship with the owner of the junk yard so that another source of parts is available to the unit. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your Chief told the intelligence commander to infiltrate local gangs in order to obtain information on their activities. E. Smoothing Out E. INCORRECT. Smoothing out is a leader strategy to reduce the erratic nature of the environment. Whereas buffering absorbs environmental fluctuations, smoothing out involves attempts to reduce fluctuations in the environment. The leader attempts to influence the task environment to reduce the uncertainty associated with periods of either high and low demand. For example, a maintenance organization able to anticipate a period of heavy demand for its services can publicize this fact (daily bulletin, fliers, division maintenance meeting), thereby encouraging users to schedule their services well in advance, thus smoothing out the demand. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your Chief told the intelligence commander to infiltrate local gangs in order to obtain information on their activities. F. Adaptation F. INCORRECT. Adaptation is a leader strategy used when buffering or smoothing out isn't possible. The leader adjusts the organization to deal with anticipated environmental fluctuations rather than trying to deal directly with the environment. For example, the maintenance Sergeant may request additional personnel to deal with a heavy demand period or work his people longer hours; the U.S. Post Office hires temporary help during the holiday season to deal with the tremendous amount of mail typical of this period. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Your Chief told the intelligence commander to infiltrate local gangs in order to obtain information on their activities. G. Rationing G. INCORRECT. Rationing is a strategy used by the leader when all else fails or other strategies are not possible. It is making the best of a bad situation; typical of emergency situations. When training resources (training areas, fuel, ammunition, people, etc.) are in short supply, the Budget officer's task is to distribute through out the department what resources there are. The leader is left to react to the environment rather than being able to take a proactive approach. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Organizational Environment Chapter #28 Part #2 Question #4 As the Department Training Officer, you attempt to program major training requirements throughout the calendar year rather than all at once in certain key months. A. Acquiring Prestige B. Co-Opting C. Buffering D. Maintaining Alternative Resources E. Smoothing Out F. Adaptation G. Rationing NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As the Department Training Officer, you attempt to program major training requirements throughout the calendar year rather than all at once in certain key months. A. Acquiring Prestige A. INCORRECT. Acquiring prestige is a strategy used by organizational leaders to reduce their relative lack of power vis-a-vis the environment. This approach is based on maintaining a positive social image with key elements in the task environment. Gaining prestige is analogous to the principle behind the acquisition of referent power (lesson 21). That is, it is the least costly means by which to gain power. Organizational leaders' ability to establish and maintain a good reputation for their organizations results in the organization gaining a form of power over other elements in their environment. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As the Department Training Officer, you attempt to program major training requirements throughout the calendar year rather than all at once in certain key months. B. Co-Opting B. INCORRECT. Co-opting is a strategy used by the leader to enlarge the organization's boundaries so as to incorporate uncertain environmental elements--move them under the control of the organizational leader. Through co-opting, the leader attempts to increase the certainty of future support from the organization or person being co-opted. For example, always including your Department's vehicle maintenance Sergeant in your unit's functions may increase the likelihood of quick, quality support in the future. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As the Department Training Officer, you attempt to program major training requirements throughout the calendar year rather than all at once in certain key months. C. Buffering C. INCORRECT. Buffering is a strategy used by the leader to reduce uncertainty originating in the external environment. The organization is "buffered" by surrounding it with specialized agencies or components to absorb the uncertainty. In a tactical sense, you buffer your unit from sources of uncertainty by placing something or someone between you and the external environment. Buffers reduce the impact of your greatest source of tactical uncertainty-- the external environment. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As the Department Training Officer, you attempt to program major training requirements throughout the calendar year rather than all at once in certain key months. D. Maintaining Alternative Resources D. INCORRECT. Maintaining alternative resources is a proactive leader strategy used to minimize the power of the environment. Organizational leaders can reduce their dependency on single sources in their environment by maintaining a variety of options to acquire necessary resources. For example, rather than relying exclusively on the repair parts supply system, an organizational leader might develop a relationship with the owner of the junk yard so that another source of parts is available to the unit. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As the Department Training Officer, you attempt to program major training requirements throughout the calendar year rather than all at once in certain key months. E. Smoothing Out E. CORRECT. Smoothing out is a leader strategy to reduce the erratic nature of the environment. Whereas buffering absorbs environmental fluctuations, smoothing out involves attempts to reduce fluctuations in the environment. The leader attempts to influence the task environment to reduce the uncertainty associated with periods of either high and low demand. For example, a maintenance organization able to anticipate a period of heavy demand for its services can publicize this fact (daily bulletin, fliers, division maintenance meeting), thereby encouraging users to schedule their services well in advance, thus smoothing out the demand. Here the Training Officer is proactively dealing with the cyclical nature of training requirements. BACK TO THIS QUESTION NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As the Department Training Officer, you attempt to program major training requirements throughout the calendar year rather than all at once in certain key months. F. Adaptation F. INCORRECT. Adaptation is a leader strategy used when buffering or smoothing out isn't possible. The leader adjusts the organization to deal with anticipated environmental fluctuations rather than trying to deal directly with the environment. For example, the maintenance Sergeant may request additional personnel to deal with a heavy demand period or work his people longer hours; the U.S. Post Office hires temporary help during the holiday season to deal with the tremendous amount of mail typical of this period. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As the Department Training Officer, you attempt to program major training requirements throughout the calendar year rather than all at once in certain key months. G. Rationing G. INCORRECT. Rationing is a strategy used by the leader when all else fails or other strategies are not possible. It is making the best of a bad situation; typical of emergency situations. When training resources (training areas, fuel, ammunition, people, etc.) are in short supply, the Budget officer's task is to distribute throughout the department what resources there are. The leader is left to react to the environment rather than being able to take a proactive approach. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Organizational Environment Chapter #28 Part #2 Question #5 As an experienced Range Master, you were making final arrangements to prepare your department for its annual firearms qualification. The last time the medical support provided by the volunteer ambulance squad to the range was dismal. They rarely showed up on time and were often unprepared to support your specific needs. Having a good E.M.T. on the range was important to you, so this year you made arrangements with your Chief to utilize your own department's E.M.T. trained law enforcement personnel. A. Acquiring Prestige B. Co-Opting C. Buffering D. Maintaining Alternative Resources E. Smoothing Out F. Adaptation G. Rationing NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As an experienced Range Master, you were making final arrangements to prepare your department for its annual firearms qualification. The last time the medical support provided by the volunteer ambulance squad to the range was dismal. They rarely showed up on time and were often unprepared to support your specific needs. Having a good E.M.T. on the range was important to you, so this year you made arrangements with your Chief to utilize your own department's E.M.T. trained law enforcement personnel. A. Acquiring Prestige A. INCORRECT. Acquiring prestige is a strategy used by organizational leaders to reduce their relative lack of power vis-a-vis the environment. This approach is based on maintaining a positive social image with key elements in the task environment. Gaining prestige is analogous to the principle behind the acquisition of referent power (lesson 21). That is, it is the least costly means by which to gain power. Organizational leaders' ability to establish and maintain a good reputation for their organizations results in the organization gaining a form of power over other elements in their environment. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As an experienced Range Master, you were making final arrangements to prepare your department for its annual firearms qualification. The last time the medical support provided by the volunteer ambulance squad to the range was dismal. They rarely showed up on time and were often unprepared to support your specific needs. Having a good E.M.T. on the range was important to you, so this year you made arrangements with your Chief to utilize your own department's E.M.T. trained law enforcement personnel. B. Co-Opting B. CORRECT. Co-opting is a strategy used by the leader to enlarge the organization's boundaries so as to incorporate uncertain environmental elements--move them under the control of the organizational leader. Through co-opting, the leader attempts to increase the certainty of future support from the organization or person being co-opted. In this case, you were taking a potential source of uncertainty and dependency (the volunteer ambulance squad), that was normally outside the boundaries of your organization, and co-opting it. By taking your own E.M.T. with you, you have, in a sense enlarged the boundaries of your organization so as to include the E.M.T.s, thereby increasing your control over this important asset. There are two correct responses to this scenario. BACK TO THIS QUESTION NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As an experienced Range Master, you were making final arrangements to prepare your department for its annual firearms qualification. The last time the medical support provided by the volunteer ambulance squad to the range was dismal. They rarely showed up on time and were often unprepared to support your specific needs. Having a good E.M.T. on the range was important to you, so this year you made arrangements with your Chief to utilize your own department's E.M.T. trained law enforcement personnel. C. Buffering C. INCORRECT. Buffering is a strategy used by the leader to reduce uncertainty originating in the external environment. The organization is "buffered" by surrounding it with specialized agencies or components to absorb the uncertainty. In a tactical sense, you buffer your unit from sources of uncertainty by placing something or someone between you and the external environment. Buffers reduce the impact of your greatest source of tactical uncertainty--the external environment. TRY AGAIN. PLEASE TRY AGAIN NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

As an experienced Range Master, you were making final arrangements to prepare your department for its annual firearms qualification. The last time the medical support provided by the volunteer ambulance squad to the range was dismal. They rarely showed up on time and were often unprepared to support your specific needs. Having a good E.M.T. on the range was important to you, so this year you made arrangements with your Chief to utilize your own department's E.M.T. trained law enforcement personnel. D. Maintaining Alternative Resources D. CORRECT. Maintaining alternative resources is a proactive leader strategy used to minimize the power of the environment. Organizational leaders can reduce their dependency on single sources in their environment by maintaining a variety of options to acquire necessary resources. For example, rather than relying exclusively on the repair parts supply system, an organizational leader might develop a relationship with the owner of the junk yard so that another source of parts is available to the unit. You might view taking along your own E.M.T.s as maintaining an alternative resource. There are two correct responses to this scenario. BACK TO THIS QUESTION NEXT TEST CONTENTS PAGE END

Welcome to the NJSACOP Command and Leadership Program Practical Testing Module.