- Which of the following is a consequence of power? Increasing power over others can potentially undermine an individual’s effectiveness and interpersonal relations.
Explanation
- Increasing power over others can potentially undermine an individual’s effectiveness and interpersonal relations.
- People who have (or believe they have) power over others are more likely to cling to stereotypes, have difficulty empathizing, and generally have less accurate perceptions compared with people with less power.
- A person who has legitimate, reward, and coercive power over others in an organization is most likely to feel a sense of duty or responsibility for the people over whom they have power.
- Because of your _, when asked to recommend someone for valued positions, other network members more readily think of you than of people outside the network. A. increased visibility
Explanation
- Increased visibility is a second contributor to a person’s power through social networks.
- When asked to recommend someone for valued positions, other network members more readily think of you than of people outside the network.
- They are more likely to mention your name when asked to identify people with expertise in your areas of knowledge.
- Some minimal connection strength is necessary to remain in any social network, but strong connections aren’t necessarily the most valuable ties. Instead, having weak ties (i.e., being merely acquaintances) with people from diverse networks can be more valuable than having strong ties (i.e., having close friendships) with people in similar networks. Why is this so? Weak ties are acquaintances who are usually different from us and therefore offer resources we do not possess
Explanation:
- Strong ties—our close-knit circle of friends—tend to be similar to us and to each other, and similar people tend to have the same information and connections that we already have.
- Weak ties, on the other hand, are acquaintances who are usually different from us and therefore offer resources we do not possess.
- __ is any behavior that attempts to alter someone’s attitudes or behavi C. Influence. The simple explanation is that Influence refers to any behavior that attempts to alter someone’s attitudes or behavior.
- An influence tactic is called “soft” when it is based on personal power.
Explanation is that: Persuasion, impression management, and exchange are called soft tactics because they rely more on personal sources of power.
- Which of the following is a “hard” influence tactic? B. upward appeal
Explanation : Upward appeal is a “hard” influence tactic because it forces behavior change through position power.
- Which of the following is the most common form of influence in high power distance cultures? A. silent authority
Explanation:
- The silent application of authority occurs when someone complies with a request because of the requester’s legitimate power as well as the target person’s role expectations.
- Silent authority is the most common form of influence in high power distance cultures.
- Which of the following is a form of “soft” influence tactic? A. ingratiation
Feedback: Ingratiation is called a soft influence tactic because it relies more on personal sources of power (referent, expert) and appeals to the target person’s attitudes and needs.
- Assertiveness
A. refers to the process of gaining support from one or more people with higher authority or expertise.
D. is also known as vocal authority.
Feedback: Assertiveness might be called “vocal authority” because it involves actively applying legitimate and coercive power to influence others.
- _ involves actively applying legitimate and coercive power to influence others.A. Assertiveness
Feedback: Assertiveness is called “vocal authority” because it involves actively applying legitimate and coercive power to influence others.
- Extreme forms of _ include bullying, such as through explicit reminders of one’s obligations.
A. coalition forming
B. upward appeal
C. persuasion
D. assertiveness
E. information control
D. assertiveness
Feedback: Assertiveness typically applies or threatens to apply punishment if the target does not comply. Workplace bullying is an extreme form of assertiveness.
- _ involves explicitly manipulating others’ access to critical work issues for the purpose of changing their attitudes and/or behavior.
A. Ingratiation
B. Upward appeal
C. Persuasion
D. Assertiveness
E. Information control
E. Information control
Feedback: Information control involves explicitly manipulating others’ access to information for the purpose of changing their attitudes and/or behavior. With limited access to potentially valuable information, others are at a disadvantage.
- Forming a coalition
A. is part of a typical manager’s job description.
B. takes advantage of situations where who you know is more important than what you know.
C. causes the decision to become more complex and ambiguous.
D. increases the legitimacy of its desired outcome.
E. more effectively communicates weaknesses with opposing positions.
D. increases the legitimacy of its desired outcome.
Feedback: A coalition’s mere existence can be a source of power by symbolizing the legitimacy of the issue.
- _ involves calling upon higher authority or expertise, or symbolically relying on these sources to support the influencer’s position.
A. Ingratiation
B. Assertiveness
C. Machiavellianism
D. Exchange
E. Upward appeal
E. Upward appeal
Feedback: Upward appeal involves calling upon higher authority or expertise, or symbolically relying on these sources to support the influencer’s position.
- The effectiveness of _ as an influence tactic depends on characteristics of the power holder, message content, communication medium, and the audience.
A. coalition forming
B. upward appeal
C. persuasion
D. information control
E. silent authority
C. persuasion
Feedback: The effectiveness of persuasion as an influence tactic depends on characteristics of the persuader, message content, communication medium, and the audience being persuaded.
- Which of the following does ingratiation include?
A. flattering a boss
B. offering advice to the employees
C. listening to counterarguments
D. relying on the influencer’s position
E. appearing neutral
A. flattering a boss
Feedback: Ingratiation is any attempt to increase liking by, or perceived similarity to, some targeted person. Ingratiation comes in several flavors. Employees might flatter their boss in front of others, demonstrate that they have similar attitudes as their boss, and ask for their advice.
- _ occurs when a speaker can be more persuasive by warning the audience about potential opposing arguments.
A. Impression management
B. The inoculation effect
C. Ingratiation
D. An emotional appeal
E. A structural hole
B. The inoculation effect
Feedback: Message content is more persuasive when the audience is warned about opposing arguments, called the inoculation effect.
- Persuasion works best
A. through media-rich communication channels.
B. with highly intelligent audiences.
C. when emotional appeals are not used.
D. when there is a clear profit motive for the persuader.
E. when only one viewpoint is presented.
A. through media-rich communication channels.
Feedback: Generally, persuasion works best through media-rich channels.
- Ingratiation is part of a larger influence tactic known as
A. upward influence.
B. impression management.
C. persuasion.
D. risk management.
E. upward appeal.
B. impression management.
Feedback: Ingratiation is part of a larger influence tactic known as impression management. Impression management is the practice of actively shaping our public images.
- Angela wears a business suit to work every day in her job as a college business professor. Which of the following influence tactic does this refer to?
D. impression management
Feedback: Impression management is the practice of actively shaping our public images.
- Which of the following is true about impression management?
E. People who engage in high levels of ingratiation are less influential and less likely to get promoted.
Feedback: People who engage in high levels of ingratiation are less influential and less likely to get promoted.
- The norm of reciprocity is a central and explicit theme in _ strategies.
B. exchange
Feedback: Exchange activities involve the promise of benefits or resources in exchange for the target person’s compliance with your request. The norm of reciprocity is a central and explicit theme in exchange strategies.
- _ is an integral part of exchange.D. Negotiation
Feedback: Negotiation is an integral part of exchange influence activities. For instance, one might negotiate with his/her boss for a day off in return for working a less desirable shift at a future date.
- _ occurs when people or work units oppose the behavior desired by the influencer and consequently refuse, argue, or delay engaging in the behavior.
A. Compliance
B. Upward appeal
C. Commitment
D. Assertiveness
E. Resistance
E. Resistance
Feedback: People react in three ways when others try to influence them. One of them is resistance, which occurs when people or work units oppose the behavior desired by the influencer and consequently refuse, argue, or delay engaging in the behavior.
- _ is the strongest outcome of influence, whereby people identify with the influencer’s request and are highly motivated to implement it even when extrinsic sources of motivation are no longer present.
A. Compliance
B. Commitment
C. Organizational politics
D. Role modeling
E. Resistance
B. Commitment
Feedback: People react in three ways when others try to influence them. Commitment is the strongest form of influence, whereby people identify with the influencer’s request and are highly motivated to implement it even when extrinsic sources of motivation are no longer present.
- People with expertise tend to have more influence using persuasion, whereas those with a strong legitimate power base are usually more successful applying
A. upward appeal.
B. coalition formation.
C. silent authority.
D. assertiveness.
E. information control.
C. silent authority.
Feedback: The most appropriate influence strategy depends on a few contingencies. People with expertise tend to have more influence using persuasion, whereas those with a strong legitimate power base are usually more successful applying silent authority.
- Influence tactics that rely on expert power
A. tend to produce compliance.
B. can undermine trust.
C. tend to build commitment.
D. tend to create resistance.
E. tend to hurt future relationships.
C. tend to build commitment.
Feedback: Soft influence tactics rely on personal sources of power (expert and referent), which tend to build commitment to the influencer’s request.
- Benny approached his supervisor at the plant, and asked if he could have the upcoming Wednesday off, if he promised to work the midnight shift for Alexi that Friday. Which influence tactic was Benny using?
A. persuasion
B. silent authority
C. exchange
D. information control
E. coalition formation
C. exchange
Feedback: Exchange activities involve the promise of benefits or resources in exchange for the target person’s compliance with your request. Negotiation is an integral part of exchange influence activities.
- In which of the following ways are coalitions influential?B. They can be a source of power by symbolizing the legitimacy of the issue.
Feedback: A coalition is influential in three ways.
- First, it pools the power and resources of many people, so the coalition potentially has more influence than its members have if they operated alone.
- Second, the coalition’s mere existence can be a source of power by symbolizing the legitimacy of the issue.
- Third, coalitions tap into the power of the social identity process. A coalition is an informal group that advocates a new set of norms and behaviors.
- Organizational politics typically involve
A. an unconscious attempt to increase one’s own power.
B. a conscious attempt to motivate others to work harder for the firm.
C. attempts to influence others to promote personal objectives.
D. helping other employees to fulfill their needs through organizational activities.
E. setting up stricter policies.
C. attempts to influence others to promote personal objectives.
Feedback: The influence tactics are perceived as organizational politics when they seem to be self-serving behaviors at the expense of others and possibly contrary to the interests of the entire organization.
- People with high Machiavellian values tend to
A. place a lot of trust in their colleagues.
B. stay away from organizations where politics is tolerated.
C. use more socially acceptable forms of power to influence others.
D. be comfortable using power to manipulate others toward their own personal goals.
E. believe that deceit is totally inappropriate in organizational settings.
D. be comfortable using power to manipulate others toward their own personal goals.
Feedback: People with high Machiavellian values are comfortable with getting more than they deserve, and they believe that deceit is a natural and acceptable way to achieve this goal.
- People who seldom trust coworkers and tend to use cruder influence tactics have
A. strong Machiavellian values.
B. a high level of organizational citizenship.
C. excellent skills for working in teams.
D. more expert power than most people in organizations.
E. strong work ethics.
A. strong Machiavellian values.
Feedback: People with high Machiavellian values are comfortable with getting more than they deserve, and they believe that deceit is a natural and acceptable way to achieve this goal. They seldom trust coworkers and tend to use cruder influence tactics, such as bypassing one’s boss or being assertive, to get their own way.
- Organizational politics may be reduced by
A. cutting back resources available to organizational units.
B. encouraging leaders to become role models of organizational citizenship instead of symbols of successful organizational politicians.
C. being more tolerant of employees who use political tactics to get what they want from the organization.
D. selecting employees with a high need for personalized power.
E. conducting background checks on potential employees.
B. encouraging leaders to become role models of organizational citizenship instead of symbols of successful organizational politicians.
Feedback: One of the most important strategies of reducing organizational politics is for leaders to become role models of organizational citizenship rather than symbols of successful organizational politicians.
- Employees who experience organizational politics from others have which of the following?
A. higher job satisfaction
B. lack of organizational commitment
C. lower organizational citizenship
D. lower levels of work-related stress
E. higher motivation to stay with the organization
C. lower organizational citizenship
Feedback: Employees who experience organizational politics from others have lower job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship, and task performance, as well as higher levels of work-related stress and motivation to leave the organization.
- Organizational politics is suppressed when resource allocation decisions are
A. questionable.
B. costly and vague.
C. reinforced.
D. clear and simplified.
E. lack support.
D. clear and simplified.
Feedback: Political tactics are fueled by ambiguous or complex rules, or the absence of formal rules, because those tactics help people get what they want when decisions lack structural guidelines. Consequently, organizational politics is suppressed when resource allocation decisions are clear and simplified. Third, organizational change tends to bring out more organizational politics, mainly because change creates ambiguity and threatens the employee’s power and other valued resources.
Scenario A
Your team is allocated a project involving a major client, the Beswick Company. Although the organization has many clients, this client, and project, is the largest source of revenue and affects the work of several other teams in the organization. The project requires continuous involvement with the client, so any problems with the client are immediately felt by others in the organization.
- According to the model of power, your team has
A. very little power in the organization.
B. a high degree of centrality.
C. a high degree of substitutability.
D. a low level of visibility.
E. an absence of referent power.
B. a high degree of centrality.
Feedback: Centrality refers to the degree and nature of interdependence between the power holder and others. If one has high centrality, most people in the organization would be adversely affected by his/her absence, and they would be affected quickly.
Scenario A
Your team is allocated a project involving a major client, the Beswick Company. Although the organization has many clients, this client, and project, is the largest source of revenue and affects the work of several other teams in the organization. The project requires continuous involvement with the client, so any problems with the client are immediately felt by others in the organization.
- Jamie, a member of your team, is the only person in the company with whom this client is willing to deal. It can be said that Jamie has
A. a low degree of substitutability.
B. a low degree of centrality.
C. a high level of discretion.
D. referent power.
E. a low level of visibility.
A. a low degree of substitutability.
Feedback: Substitutability refers to the availability of alternatives. Power is strongest when someone has a monopoly over a valued resource. Conversely, power decreases as the number of alternative sources of the critical resource increases
Scenario B
A new employee in the finance department of the Hogan Company prominently displays diplomas and past awards indicating his financial expertise..
- What contingency of power is this person trying to increase?
A. countervailing power
B. substitutability
C. centrality
D. discretion
E. visibility
E. visibility
Feedback: Those who control valued resources or knowledge will wield power only when others are aware of these sources of power—in other words, when the power is visible. People often use public symbols as cues to make their power sources known to others. Many professionals display their educational diplomas and awards on office walls to remind visitors of their expertise.
Scenario B
A new employee in the finance department of the Hogan Company prominently displays diplomas and past awards indicating his financial expertise..
- What type of power is this employee most likely trying to attain?
A. expert
B. coercive
C. legitimate
D. reward
E. referent
A. expert
Feedback: Expert power, on the other hand, originates mainly from within the power holder. It is an individual’s or work unit’s capacity to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills others value. One important form of expert power is the (perceived) ability to manage uncertainties in the business environment.
Scenario C
At DoubleTalk, Inc., Joe, a supervisor, pushes his employees’ performance by constantly checking their work and threatening them if they fail to keep their deadlines. After months of mistreatment, the employees get together and sign a letter to the human resources department to express their grievances.
- Which form of influence is this supervisor using?
A. impression management
B. silent authority
C. referent
D. assertiveness
E. persuasion
D. assertiveness
Feedback: Assertiveness typically applies or threatens to apply punishment if the target does not comply. Extreme forms of assertiveness include blackmailing colleagues, such as by threatening to reveal the other person’s previously unknown failures unless he or she complies with your request.
Scenario C
At DoubleTalk, Inc., Joe, a supervisor, pushes his employees’ performance by constantly checking their work and threatening them if they fail to keep their deadlines. After months of mistreatment, the employees get together and sign a letter to the human resources department to express their grievances.
- What form of influence are the employees using?
A. impression management
B. coalition formation
C. referent
D. assertiveness
E. persuasion
B. coalition formation
Feedback: When people lack sufficient power alone to influence others in the organization, they might form a coalition of people who support the proposed change.
Scenario D
Krystal’s boss in the accounting department initially rejected her proposal for a new budgeting process. So Krystal spoke to and received support from the heads of two departments that would benefit from the proposed budgeting process. She also found support from several coworkers in the accounting department because they believed the new budgeting process would be simpler and fairer. When Krystal’s boss realized that several key people supported the new budgeting system, he agreed to test it in a pilot project.
- What form of influence is Krystal mainly using here?
A. silent authority
B. coalition formation
C. assertiveness
D. impression management
E. persuasion
B. coalition formation
Feedback: When people lack sufficient power alone to influence others in the organization, they might form a coalition of people who support the proposed change.
Scenario D
Krystal’s boss in the accounting department initially rejected her proposal for a new budgeting process. So Krystal spoke to and received support from the heads of two departments that would benefit from the proposed budgeting process. She also found support from several coworkers in the accounting department because they believed the new budgeting process would be simpler and fairer. When Krystal’s boss realized that several key people supported the new budgeting system, he agreed to test it in a pilot project.
- What other form of influence is Krystal using?
A. exchange
B. information control
C. upward appeal
D. integration management
E. silent authority
C. upward appeal
Feedback: Upward appeal is gaining support from one or more people with higher authority or expertise.
