Deck 8: Managing Power, politics and Decision-Making in Organizations

Question 1

In chapter 8 of your textbook,power is said to be ______ if it is exercised according to one's own interests rather than one's sanctioned authority within the bureaucracy.

A)legitimate
B)illegitimate
C)corrupted
D)powerful

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following are characteristics of Resource Dependency Theory?

A)Power emerges out of the sub-units' ability to influence decision-making over the allocation of scarce resources.
B)The distribution of power in any organization is a zero-sum game.
C)Sub-units that have more resources are able to attract more resources,and hence even more power.
D)all of these

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Mintzberg identifies several types of political games actors in organizations play.What term does he use to refer to games in which actors seek to capture others and enrol them as subordinate to their interests?

A)expertise games
B)counter insurgency games
C)power games
D)empire building games

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In chapter 8 of your textbook,games characterized by conflict that is intense,confined,and unstable,and that can be found during takeovers,mergers and acquisitions are termed ______.

A)confrontation
B)shaky alliances
C)politicized organizations
D)complex political arenas

Question 5

Henry Mintzberg used the term ______ to refer to the systems of politics that come into play whenever the systems of authority,ideology or expertise are contested in various political games.

A)political arena
B)power
C)politicking
D)game theory

Question 6

Mintzberg identifies several types of political games actors in organizations play.What term does he use to refer to games which the dominant elites play against the lower status participants,in response to the former group's games?

A)expertise games
B)insurgency games
C)counter insurgency games
D)game playing

Question 7

Which of the following are central to the concept of organizational politics?

A)It concerns the management of meaning as actors in these politics seek to legitimate their ideas,values and demands.
B)It involves denying and decrying the ideas,values and demands of those that are the opposition.
C)It can be seen in 'games' of organizational symbolism,wrapped in myths,beliefs,language and legend.
D)all of these

Question 8

Which of the following are central concepts in Strategic Contingencies Theory's perception of power?

A)The organization is comprised of a number of core interdependent,non-substitutable sub-units.
B)The most powerful sub-unit is the least dependent unit that copes with the greatest level of uncertainty.
C)Only sub-units can have power.
D)The organization is comprised of a number of core interdependent,non-substitutable sub-units,and the most powerful sub-unit is the least dependent unit that copes with the greatest level of uncertainty.

Question 9

Mintzberg identifies several types of political games members of organizations play.What term does he use to refer to games in which usually lower status participants seek to externally expose illegitimacy to affect internal policy or strategy changes?

A)insurgency games
B)whistle blowing games
C)snitch games
D)expertise games

Question 10

What is the theory that claims power emerges out of the sub-units ability to influence decision-making relating to the allocation of scarce resources in an organization,and as a result,these sub-units attract even more resources?

A)Resource Dependency Theory
B)Strategic Contingencies Theory
C)Power Resource Theory
D)Force Field Theory

Question 11

According to chapter 8 of your textbook,many early organization theorists' conceptions of hierarchy viewed ______ as legitimate,and ______ as illegitimate.

A)power;authority
B)authority;power
C)leaders;subordinates
D)ethics;authority

Question 12

Unlike earlier researchers,Post World War II researchers increasingly argued that ______ is a source of power rather than a constraint on its exercise.

A)uncertainty
B)bureaucracy
C)leadership
D)legitimacy

Question 13

During the second war in Iraq,there were media clips of Iraqi civilians pulling down statues of Saddam Hussein.Such images are highly symbolic of the fact that the power of Saddam's regime is no longer perceived as ______.

A)illegitimate
B)legitimate
C)hiding weapons of mass destruction
D)useful to the US government and its allies

Question 14

Mintzberg identifies several types of political games played by actors in organizations.What term does he use to refer to games in which lower status participants play against the dominant elites?

A)expertise games
B)insurgency games
C)counter insurgency games
D)status games

Question 15

What is one of the main criticisms of 'Strategic Contingencies Theory' identified in your textbook?

A)It explains very little that is useful in understanding power.
B)It ignores that sub-units are all interdependent so none can be more powerful than others.
C)It relies on the assumption that organizational configurations are simple,tightly regulated,bureaucracies.
D)It explains very little that is useful in understanding power,and it relies on the assumption that organizational configurations are simple,tightly regulated,bureaucracies.

Question 16

Your textbook identifies a range of bases of power,legitimacy being one.Which one of the following is NOT central to the concept of power as legitimation?

A)People already want to do what it is that you want them to do.
B)Legitimation is achieved through the management of meaning.
C)Legitimate power forces people to accept that you will always be above them and so they do what they are told.
D)People already want to do what it is that you want them to do,and legitimation is achieved through the management of meaning.

Question 17

In chapter 8 of your textbook,it is argued that simply possessing a scarce resource is not enough to exercise power,and that we must also understand the importance of ______ as a basis of power.

A)contingencies
B)politics
C)context
D)size

Question 18

Drawing upon Mintzberg,chapter 6 of your textbook identifies four broad categories of games played in the political arena.These are confrontation,politicized organizations,complex political arenas,and ______.

A)conflict games
B)unstable games
C)shaky alliances
D)sneaky games

Question 19

Whom does your textbook identify as providing a major landmark in the study of power,by attaching it to the concept of uncertainty,in a study of a French Tobacco factory?

A)Granovetter
B)Follet
C)Crozier
D)Gitanes

Question 20

What is the name of the theory that attempts to measure and build a model of power that shows how it is related to the control of uncertainty?

A)uncertainty theory
B)strategic contingencies theory
C)power-uncertainty model
D)none of these

Question 21

In chapter 8 of your textbook,games characterized by conflict that is moderate,pervasive,and relatively stable,and that can be found in regulatory agencies are termed ______.

A)confrontation
B)shaky alliances
C)politicized organizations
D)complex political arenas

Question 22

What is another term your textbook uses for organizations that reinforce hegemony through the totality of its everyday practices?

A)total institutions
B)hegemonic institutions
C)demonic institutions
D)reinforced institutions

Question 23

What conclusion can be drawn from Stanley Milgram's experiments on obedience?

A)The more distance between the controller and the controlled,the more likely people would be to engage in cruel acts.
B)Once people gave the first shock the incremental threshold was broken and so they were more likely to administer more 'lethal' shocks.
C)When Milgram introduced instructors that would disagree with each other - creating polyphony of voices - people were less likely to administer shocks.
D)all of these

Question 24

If an organization is typified and dominated by one point of view,reinforced through a strong organizational culture and little,if no,resistance then ______ is said to have occurred.

A)organizational empowerment
B)organizational hegemony
C)organizational resistance
D)organizational domination

Question 25

In chapter 8 of your textbook,games characterized by conflict that is moderate,confined,and relatively stable,and that can be found in publicly accountable professional organizations such as hospitals or schools are termed ______.

A)confrontation
B)shaky alliances
C)politicized organizations
D)complex political arenas

Question 26

In chapter 8 of your textbook,games characterized by conflict that is intense,pervasive,and briefly unstable,and found in organizations with strong external sponsorship are termed ______.

A)confrontation
B)shaky alliances
C)politicized organizations
D)complex political arenas

Question 27

Which one of the following statements about empowered organizations and their relationship to political game playing is emphasized in your textbook?

A)Empowered organizations provide new means of control and foster more subversive forms of political game playing.
B)Empowered organizations make the everyday use of negotiations and games of power more difficult.
C)Empowered organizations are a myth,and the management/subordinate distinction is as pervasive and strong as ever.
D)none of these

Question 28

Zuboff's concept by which organizational elites consolidate various sources of electronic information about organizational members is known as ______.

A)information age
B)information panopticon
C)hard domination
D)managerial control

Question 29

Which one of the following best describes the concept of 'information panopticon'?

A)the consolidation of various sources of electronic information about organizational members that is made available to the organizational elites
B)a central building that houses all key information about people's lives
C)a video surveillance camera that watches workers 24 hours a day
D)all of these

Question 30

The administration of rules that give managerial discretion to managers while reinforcing the strength of centralized authorities because delegates know that their obligation is to act creatively within the system of authority is descriptive of ______.

A)power
B)hard domination
C)soft domination
D)dominatrix

Question 31

According to Sewell ______ surveillance seeks to make the subjects of surveillance their own performance monitor,while ______ surveillance seeks to make each member of the group monitor the other member.

A)vertical;horizontal
B)horizontal;vertical
C)soft;hard
D)hard;soft

Question 32

Which of the following are hallmarks of Erving Goffman's 'Total Institutions'?

A)organizations that contain the totality of the lives of those who are their members
B)organizations that cut off their members from any wider society for a relatively long time
C)organizations that can be found,albeit in usually less extreme cases,in most 'normal' organizations
D)all of these

Question 33

Which statement below best fits your textbook's description of 'resistance'?

A)a reactive process whereby people embedded in power relations actively oppose initiatives enacted by others,which they have taken exception to
B)Resistance is only available to those with low levels of power,as it is the only means by which they can equalize the power imbalance
C)Resistance only works when individuals form unions to fight the might and power of the dominant forces
D)what happens where there is friction because organization parts rub up against each other

Question 34

What is Graham Sewell's view of teamwork?

A)Teamwork is less about empowerment and more about supplementing power by ensuring team members scrutinize each other over meeting objectives,norms and rules - which are,in the end,those of the organization.
B)Teamwork is an effective tool of empowerment because it provides team members with autonomy and control over their work.
C)Teamwork provides members with social cohesion,enjoyable and rewarding working environments and so will always work better than if people worked as individuals.
D)Teamwork is an effective tool of empowerment because it provides team members with autonomy and control over their work,and it provides members with social cohesion,enjoyable and rewarding working environments and so will always work better than if people worked as individuals.

Question 35

What is the term Collinson uses to characterize the process whereby workers differentiate themselves from,and devalue the role of,management by accentuating the differences between the masculinity of blue-collar work to that of white-collar management?

A)differentiation by exception
B)management by exception
C)resistance through distance
D)resistance games

Question 36

James Barker argues that ______ occurs where there is substantial consensus about values,high-level coordination,and a degree of self-management by members of an organization.

A)empowerment
B)concertive control
C)exploitation
D)power

Question 37

Who introduced the key term of 'information panopticon'?

A)Pfeffer
B)Weber
C)Zuboff
D)Courpasson

Question 38

In its simplest form,soft domination can be described as ______.

A)the subtle mechanisms through which obedience is produced
B)the use of organizational norms,vision and mission statement
C)the use of empowerment programs such as autonomy,participatory management,and personal development programs
D)all of these

Question 39

Which of the following are typical of total institutions?

A)a psychiatric institution
B)a prison
C)a boarding school
D)all of these

Question 40

For James Barker,organization design based upon Mary Parker Follett's principles of democratization and empowerment,and Elton Mayo's concept of human relations would be exemplifying what?

A)empowerment
B)vertical surveillance
C)concertive control
D)humanistic management

Question 41

According to your textbook,a rational economic model of decision making would assume that ______.

A)All other things being constant,people would choose the cheapest way of doing things.
B)All other things being constant,people would choose the most expensive way of doing things.
C)People would rather steal than pay.
D)none of these

Question 42

What is satisficing?

A)making a second best decision
B)the basis of unsatisfactory organizational decision-making
C)deciding after weighing available information
D)all of these

Question 43

According to your textbook why did William Starbuck turn decision making theory on its head?

A)He argued that organizations are really good at making effective decisions.
B)He argued that organizations spend considerable time creating problems for which they already have solutions.
C)He argued there is no such thing as a solution because there is no such thing as a problem.
D)He used consultants to come up with a great coffee chain.

Question 44

Which one of the following statements is NOT related to the concept of 'satisficing'?

A)Satisficing occurs because of the limitations in human information processing's ability to consider all possible solutions to a problem.
B)Satisficing is a process by which managers draw on their experiences to make the best decision they can at the time.
C)Satisficing is a concept that questions the rational decision making model's assumptions of perfect knowledge.
D)Satisficing is a concept that assumes all managers will satisfy their appetites before making a decision about a problem.

Question 45

What is a 'Total Institution',and how does it compare to the concept of polyphonic organizations? To what extent do you believe total institutions actually exist in today's business environment? Use contemporary organizations to provide some examples you think represent total institutions and be sure to justify your answer.

Question 46

Using what you have read in chapter seven of your textbook,why might people in organizations act in morally and ethically questionable ways? When they do so,who is to blame and who must pay?

Question 47

The idea that organizations are not so much problem solvers as action generators is attributed to which famous management theorist?

A)Frederick Taylor
B)Elton Mayo
C)William Starbuck
D)Homer Simpson

Question 48

Bounded rationality means ______.

A)being tied up in confusion
B)not knowing which box to tick
C)an organization is bad at decision-making
D)that there are limits to human ability to make decisions

Question 49

Does empowerment eliminate or accentuate power practices in organizations?

Question 50

According to your textbook the challenge for future power theory is ______.

A)to manage with power
B)to recognize,diagnose and respect the diversity of interests and seek to translate and enrol them within courses of action
C)listening to what others are saying,modifying your position accordingly,and choosing the appropriate strategies and tactics to get things done
D)all of these

Question 51

In what ways are power and politics embedded at the core of managing and organizations?

Question 52

What are the features of total institutions? How might analysis of power in total institutions inform analysis of power in organizations more generally?

Question 53

A concept that challenged the assumption inherent in the rational decision making model was satisficing: which influential theorists developed it?

A)Stewart Clegg,Martin Kornberger and Tyrone Pitsis
B)Fredrick Taylor and Henri Fayol
C)James March and Herbert Simon
D)Max Weber and Mary Parker Follett

Question 54

Discuss soft domination and concertive control as illustrations of the more general case of organizational hegemony? Illustrate your answer with examples.

Question 55

What do you understand by the terms 'resistance through distance' and 'concertive control'?

Question 56

The Bradford studies of decision-making highlighted three different decision processes which were ______?

A)garbage can,satisficing and bounded
B)sporadic,fluid and rhizomatic
C)fluid,constricted and sporadic
D)muddled,messy,and political

Question 57

Which of the following is NOT an aspect of the rational decision making model?

A)Define the problem and collect all the information that will lead to a solution.
B)Review the data and come up with a decision.
C)Discuss the decision with employees and together decide on the optimum solution.
D)Implement the decision from top-down and evaluate its effectiveness.

Question 58

Why has uncertainty been seen to be an important basis for power in organizations?

Question 59

Why do some theorists write about decision-making using the metaphor of the garbage can?

A)Decision-making involves rubbish in,rubbish out.
B)Decision-making is such a messy business.
C)Management decision-making jumbles up problems and solutions.
D)Decision-making is such a messy business,and management decision-making jumbles up problems and solutions.