Deck 7: Power and Resistance at Work

Question 1

Bachrach and Baratz present a model of the two faces of power that suggests ______.

A) power is exercised when one group is able to influence the behavior of another
B) power is equitably distributed through society and no one group has more influence
C) power is not distributed evenly across stakeholders but is skewed toward political elites
D) power is in the hands of the privilege few who share the control as needed

Answer 1

C

Question 2

______ allows organizations to capitalize on unpaid labor like blogging and discussion boards.

A) Power configuration
B) Intersubjectivity
C) Economic valorization
D) Emotional labor

Answer 2

C

Question 3

On a 100-degree summer day, Christine is working as a counselor and coach at a soccer camp for middle-schoolers. By the end of the day, she's tired, hot, and irritable. However, she must continue to be cheerful and energetic in order to motivate her campers. Christine must engage in ______.

A) normative control
B) emotional labor
C) corporate colonization
D) hidden transcripts of resistance

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The latest tech gadget has just come out. Advertising and other media surrounding its release has convinced Jeremy that he needs to buy the item, even if he has to borrow money to do it. Which model of power best describes this situation?

A) one-dimensional model (Dahl)
B) two-dimensional model (Bachrach and Baratz)
C) three-dimensional model (Lukes)
D) transactional model (Deetz)

Question 5

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 ______.

A) treating employees as valuable commodities
B) giving the remaining employees more central power
C) distorting the role of work in employees' lives
D) creating a stronger social factory

Question 6

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?

A) Ideology represents particular group interests as universal.
B) Ideology obscures contradictions in society.
C) Ideology naturalizes social relations through the process of reification.
D) Ideology works in the existence of consensus.

Question 7

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 ______.

A) "making do"
B) "piecing up"
C) "maxing out"
D) "making out"

Question 8

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?

A) Ideology represents particular group interests as universal.
B) Ideology obscures contradictions in society.
C) Ideology naturalizes social relations through the process of reification.
D) Ideology works in the existence of consensus.

Question 9

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 ______.

A) elitist debate
B) pluralist debate
C) community power debate
D) political power debate

Question 10

Critical organizational communication researchers have studied which of the following communication phenomena to try to understand how power and resistance work at an everyday level?

A) metaphors and humor
B) race and gender
C) research and theory
D) standards and laws

Question 11

Early management theoriests like Taylor and Mayo rarely mentioned power as an object of study because ______.

A) power was not a leadership feature
B) the exercise of power was viewed as a last resort
C) power was expressed as an external interest
D) power was a competing interest for employees

Question 12

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 ______.

A) mobilization of bias
B) strategic persuasion
C) organizational identification
D) coercive power

Question 13

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.

A) capitalistic group
B) marginalized group
C) subordinate group
D) dominant group

Question 14

The seasonal workers who run the holiday shop have been told to always smile at customers (especially the children), to be extremely pleasant, and to 'ooze the holiday spirit.' This is a form of ______.

A) regulation of movement and space
B) seasonal worker cooperation
C) emotional intelligence
D) corporate management of emotions

Question 15

Malcolm's boss told him that he needed to complete the report by 9:00
A) referent model of power

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 ______.
B) one-dimensional model of power
C) two-dimensional model of power
D) positional model of power

Question 16

Tyler, Jordan, and Madison work for a small research firm. Their boss recently enacted a new cell phone policy to cut down on gaming at work. The employees now sit at their desks with a split screens they can easily click on to cover up the fact that they are now playing games on their computer. The employees are engaging in a form of resistance called ______.

A) sabotage
B) loafing
C) striking
D) gaming

Question 17

According to the two-dimensional model of power proposed by Bachrach and Baratz, which of the following statements best describes the exercise of power?

A) The exercise of power involves both decisions and non-decisions.
B) Power is exercised when someone prevents someone from doing something they would otherwise have done.
C) Overt conflict has to be present for the exercise of power to occur.
D) Hierarchal power is the least expensive means of exerting control.

Question 18

Lori works in a busy advertising firm that places a high value on "going the extra mile." Like her coworkers, Lori chooses to take work home with her and do whatever is needed to get the job done. Which model of power best describes this situation?

A) one-dimensional model (Dahl)
B) two-dimensional model (Bachrach and Baratz)
C) three-dimensional model (Lukes)
D) transactional model (Deetz)

Question 19

In his study of a high tech engineering firm, Gideon Kunda found that which of the following groups were subject to normative control?

A) professional employees
B) secretarial staff
C) temporary workers
D) security guards

Question 20

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 ______.

A) normative control
B) emotional labor
C) corporate colonization
D) hidden transcripts of resistance

Question 21

According to Robert Dahl and the one-dimensional model of power, the presence of overt conflict is not a condition for the exercise of power.

Question 22

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

Question 23

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

Question 24

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

Question 25

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.

Question 26

In the community power debate, the ______ argued that power was equitably distributed throughout society.

Question 27

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.

Question 28

A person may exercise positional, coercive, and reward power simultaneously.

Question 29

______ is not a thing that someone can possess, but rather is exercised through a dynamic process in which relations of interdependence exist between actors in organizational settings.

Question 30

According to Stan Deetz, ______ is the process in which the corporation has become the dominant institution in society, largely eclipsing other institutions in producing meaning, identity, and values.

Question 31

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

Question 32

The management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display is ______ labor.

Question 33

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

Question 34

"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.

Question 35

Companies like Disney and McDonalds that have their own universities that socialize and education employees are exercising a three-dimensional view of power.

Question 36

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

Question 37

People who blog about products, participate in focus groups or incorporate commentary about products, goods, and services on their social media sites, are providing companies with free ______.

Question 38

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

Question 39

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

Question 40

Web sites and other social media provide a vehicle for employee resistance and dissert outside of the formal purview their employers.