Exam 7: Power and Resistance at Work

Organizations spend a great deal of time and money getting employees to identify with organizational beliefs, values, and goals because cultivating a sense of identification encourages employees to behave in ways that serve the best interests of the organization.

In his ethnographic study of a machine tool factory, Michael Burawoy describes a game that workers play that functions ideologically to produce a system of hegemony. This game was called ______.

Malcolm's boss told him that he needed to complete the report by 9:00 A.m. Malcolm decided not to go to dinner and a movie with friends and instead spent that time working on the report. This example demonstrates the ______.

One way to alleviate power issues at work is to move from a superior-subordinate relationship to a flatter organizational structure in which work teams consist of individuals who each have a role in the decision-making process.

Disney employees are required to manage their feelings in order to help create an experience of "the happiest place on earth." However, below Disney World's Magic Kingdom is a system of tunnels for use by employees. In this "off-stage" area, you might run across a ride attendant grumbling about the heat or Snow White taking a smoke break. In other words, this area often functions as a place for ______.

The debate between those who argued that power was equally distributed throughout society and those who argued that power was concentrated in the hands of the privileged became known as the ______.

The existence of a consensus amongst different groups means that power is not being exercised.

______ functions as an interpretive lens through which people come to understand what exists, what is good, and what is possible.

Some argue that increasing taxation on the nation's wealthiest would harm job creation and therefore harm the nation. This argument is an example of which aspect of ideology?

When someone (B) is prevented from bringing up for public consideration issues that may work against the preferences of someone else (A), this is called ______.

Narratives of equality and justice inform the perceptions of most U.S. citizens, leading them to severely underestimate the actual inequality of wealth distribution in the United States. This situation is an example of which aspect of ideology?

If we are able to internalize the fact that life does not revolve around work, then we probably have a strong ______.

Scholars in the critical organizational tradition are interested in studying organizations as sites of ______ and ______.

A prisoner, regardless of their limits or constraints, can exercise power, for example in the form of a hunger strike.

"Busy-ness" is a(n) ______ construct; it is not a naturally occurring, objective feature of society, but rather is a socially constructed phenomenon that gives shape and meaning to people's lives.

Through various strategies, Company X creates an environment in which employees develop a strong sense of organizational identity. The company has been making a profit and generally doing well. However, growth has been slow lately, so in order to improve quarterly earnings reports and keep shareholders happy, the company lays off 10% of its workforce. From a critical perspective, this situation is problematic because the company actively promotes a sense of identification while ______.

June believes that a woman's place is in the home. By doing thus upholding an ideology by both the dominant and subordinate groups however the _____ benefits which is why they work to maintain and reproduce a given ideology.

Allowing employees to have freedom of expression and lifestyle attitudes is the concept of ______.

There is always struggle around ideologies, as different social groups compete to shape the meanings that make up social reality.

Power is only exercised when one person or group is able to directly and measurably influence the behavior of another person.