Exam 12: Power: Its Uses and Abuses in Organizations

If Jamie is in the process of building up her image with others in her organization by the way she dresses, with whom she lunches, etc., she is trying to use the political tactic of controlling access to information in order to reach her goals.

Power based on others liking the power wielder because of his/her attitude of enthusiasm and magnetic personality is called:

One can cultivate a favorable image in an organization in a number of ways, such as:

Table 12.2 The boss wants the staff to work overtime this week on a big project. He tells the managers that if they want to keep their jobs, they better keep their people here. Bob goes to his department and calls a meeting. He explains the problem and asks if everyone would be willing to stay and put in the time. His employees recognize his right to ask them, he's been good to them in the past, and they want to help him out, so they all agree to stay. Joan goes to her department, calls everyone together and tells them the bad news. She then begins assigning responsibilities and scheduling work. One of her new supervisors says, "Who are you to tell us we have to work overtime?" Her answer is, "I'm your boss, that's who, now get with it." Joseph offers everyone in his department compensatory time and a pizza party if they put in the overtime. -Refer to Table 12.2. Joan is using ________ power.

Table 12.2 The boss wants the staff to work overtime this week on a big project. He tells the managers that if they want to keep their jobs, they better keep their people here. Bob goes to his department and calls a meeting. He explains the problem and asks if everyone would be willing to stay and put in the time. His employees recognize his right to ask them, he's been good to them in the past, and they want to help him out, so they all agree to stay. Joan goes to her department, calls everyone together and tells them the bad news. She then begins assigning responsibilities and scheduling work. One of her new supervisors says, "Who are you to tell us we have to work overtime?" Her answer is, "I'm your boss, that's who, now get with it." Joseph offers everyone in his department compensatory time and a pizza party if they put in the overtime. -Refer to Table 12.2. The boss is using ________ power to gain his managers' compliance.

When it comes to organizational politics and the human resource function, it seems that:

According to strategic contingencies theory, subunits acquire power when:

Table 12.3 G.C.I. is a company with a highly political environment. To survive, managers must be adept at organizational politics. The company has clear lines of authority, operating procedures, and company policies. But the CEO confers favors based on whom he likes at the moment. Performance goals are not clear, career paths are confusing, and what constitutes success for the company is never clarified; profit, market share, quality, customer satisfaction, or what. The new marketing director sees that production and finance have a great deal of power. So he approaches the production director and offers to work closely with him to avoid creating demand he can't meet. When the marketing director has an open personnel position and knows that the production director desperately needs an assistant, the marketing director surrenders his position to the production director. Seeing this relationship develop, the finance director begins to give marketing only direct, selected information. He avoids meeting the marketing director except in group meetings where there is no opportunity to talk one-on-one. The marketing director immediately understands what is happening. He decides to enlist the production director, the sales manager, and the human resource director in a plan to reduce the finance director's power or even get him fired. -Refer to Table 12.3. The marketing director's response to the finance director's actions is an example of:

Quid pro quo sexual harassment involves requiring the victim to provide sexual favors.

________ may be considered the "dark side" of organizational power.

The practice of subjecting individuals to negative, unwanted or abusive conditions is known as:

One of the most popular tactics of organizational politics is:

Table 12.2 The boss wants the staff to work overtime this week on a big project. He tells the managers that if they want to keep their jobs, they better keep their people here. Bob goes to his department and calls a meeting. He explains the problem and asks if everyone would be willing to stay and put in the time. His employees recognize his right to ask them, he's been good to them in the past, and they want to help him out, so they all agree to stay. Joan goes to her department, calls everyone together and tells them the bad news. She then begins assigning responsibilities and scheduling work. One of her new supervisors says, "Who are you to tell us we have to work overtime?" Her answer is, "I'm your boss, that's who, now get with it." Joseph offers everyone in his department compensatory time and a pizza party if they put in the overtime. -Refer to Table 12.2. Bob uses ________ power to get his workers to comply.

Which of the following is one of the most popular social influence tactics used with peers in organizations?

The smallest or least important power base for CEOs is:

Distinguish between personal and position power and explain the bases of each.

Most American CEOs feel that they have ________ than they did ten years ago.

Lee attempts to get his subordinates to help him by asking them to be involved in the process of planning organizational change. He appears to be using the social influence technique of:

Discuss the personal and organizational determinants of politics in organizations.

People who engage in organizational politics would likely possess all of the following characteristics EXCEPT: