Exam 12: Power: Its Uses and Abuses in Organizations

The concern of a rater for his/her own image when evaluating an employee is reflective of:

Which of the following is a myth about sexual harassment?

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 finance director's political response to the marketing director's actions with the production director is an example of:

________ refers to unauthorized use of power to enhance or protect one's own interests or interests of the group to which one belongs.

For an individual to exercise expert power in an organization, he/she most likely also has:

Table 12.1 Lee is the vice-president of a large department. He has a number of projects to assign to his managers, who are already overworked and understaffed. While they are capable and willing, one more project is going to push some of them to the breaking point. Before assigning any projects, he calls a meeting of all his managers to discuss the current situation and the new projects that have been given to him. He asks his managers for their help in getting through this workload crisis and points out that they were able to do it before. A couple of managers complain to Lee, saying it isn't fair to expect so much, and they can't keep going at this pace. In response, Lee points out that the company has always been this way. He told them about the workload when he interviewed them, and they have been through this kind of push before. Lee decides to give the Techno 2120 project to Joan. As he tells her about it, he explains that this project will contribute directly to the company's bottom line, and that it is something similar to her last project, making her the best manager for the job. With Hoa, Lee begins by making some small talk and asking him how his golf game is going. Lee expresses admiration for Hoa's skill as a golfer and his ability to balance his work and personal life so well. Then Lee explains how Hoa is the only one who can handle the project he is getting. As his best project manager because of his great past results, Hoa is the one for the job. -Refer to Table 12.1. When assigning the Techno 2120 project, Lee used:

"Mike, I'm really in a bind. Unless I get that report finished, Mr. Johnson will be very upset with me. Because you're my friend, I'm asking you to help me out of this jam." The speaker appears to be relying on which of the following bases of power?

________ is derived from an individual's recognized superior knowledge, skills, or abilities in a certain area.

Arvin tries to get others to comply with his requests by using his friendship with the person as part of the appeal. He is using:

Power based in one's ability to reward others is known as legitimate power.

Power that derives from the recognized ability of someone to make decisions is referred to as:

Empowerment requires managers to:

If an individual withholds information that might make him/her look bad, avoids those who might ask for information, and overwhelms others with information, he/she is probably using the organizational political tactic of:

The use of facts and logical arguments to influence another's behavior is:

When one organizational subunit has control over another because it has more of some valued resource than the other, you see an example of the:

Organizational politics is simply non-sanctioned action taken by an individual to influence others in order for the individual to be able to achieve his/her goals.

The capacity to neutralize another's influence is known as:

Describe the most typical techniques used to exert social influence over others in organizations.

The concern of a decision maker for the implication of a personnel decision he/she made is reflective of:

Discuss the victim and the perpetrator of sexual harassment.