Exam 13: Conflict, Power, and Politics

Contrast three tactics for enhancing collaboration with three tactics for increasing power.

Differentiation refers to the dependence of one unit on another for materials, resources, or information.

Legitimate power comes from:

Formal authority is exercised downward along the hierarchy and is the same as vertical power and legitimate power.

____ is defined as the behavior that occurs among organizational groups when participants identify with one group and perceive that other groups may block their group's goal achievement or expectations.

The greatest cause of intergroup conflict in organizations is probably:

____ is power sharing, the delegation of power or authority to subordinates in an organization.

Dependency power is derived from:

Which of the following is not one of strategic contingencies that influence horizontal power among departments?

The sources of intergroup conflict are goal incompatibility, differentiation, task interdependence, and limited resources.

The allocation of power to middle managers and staff is dangerous because it hinders those employees from being productive.

Working in the offices of the state legislature was an aspiring young man who provided clerical research services for legislators on a wide range of issues. He always provided easy-to-read summary sheets on current issues at the top of their in-baskets, and always tried to make every party so that they would know him personally. When he realized that water distribution was a key issue in the state, he became an expert on water distribution. Finally it got to the point that whenever bills came up that dealt with water distribution, he provided information to the legislators that was exclusive because they did not look elsewhere for detail. Analyze this young man's use of power, utilizing principles from our textbook.