Deck 7: Power and Resistance at Work

Question 1

When many people think of a nurse,they envision a woman.This assumption 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)None of the above

Answer 1

C

Question 2

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)None of the above

Answer 2

C

Question 3

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 disposable commodities
B)Misrepresenting the relationship between employees and the organization
C)Distorting the role of work in employees' lives
D)All of the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

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 5

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)None of the above

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)None of the above

Question 7

Resistance is important for each of the following reasons except:

A)It undermines corporate colonization.
B)It forces the organization to change.
C)It suggests that organizations exist as sites of contested meanings.
D)It demonstrates alternative sense-making processes.

Question 8

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 9

The notion of the "individual" is a meaningful term for Americans,and comes with a whole set of associations,including the understandings that:

A)Everyone should have the freedom to live life as he or she sees fit
B)Anyone who has the ability,work ethic,and desire for success will be successful
C)People should "brand" themselves as unique individuals who provide employers with a competitive advantage over other companies.
D)All of the above

Question 10

Which of the following is not a question a critical organizational communication scholar would normally ask?

A)Who has the resources to shape the meaning of the dominant organizational culture?
B)What compliance-gaining strategies are most effective in the organizational environment?
C)What communicative resources do organization members utilize in their struggle over meaning?
D)How do organization members with fewer resources create alternative,resistant meanings for themselves?

Question 11

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
B)Rituals
C)Everyday conversations
D)All of the above

Question 12

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

Question 13

Beverly threatens to fire Leon if he doesn't come in to work on Saturday.According to French and Raven,Beverly is relying on which type of power:

A)Referent power
B)Reward power
C)Expert power
D)Coercive power

Question 14

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 15

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 U.S.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)None of the above

Question 16

According to the two-dimensional model of power proposed by Bachrach and Baratz,which of the following statements is not true of 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)None of the above - they are all true

Question 17

Dion is a charismatic person.People want to identify with him and do well for him.According to French and Raven,this gives Dion a basis for which type of power:

A)Reward power
B)Referent power
C)Expert power
D)Positional power

Question 18

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 19

Corey is the only person in the office who is able to re-establish the local area network connection when it goes down.According to French and Raven,this gives Corey a basis for which type of power:

A)Coercive power
B)Reward power
C)Expert power
D)Positional power

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

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

Question 22

A person only holds coercive power if she is able to produce a psychological change in the person she is trying to influence.

Question 23

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 24

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

Question 25

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

Question 26

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

Question 27

The form of power rooted in the charisma of the person exercising influence is ___________ power.

Question 28

Looking at cultural differences (for example cultural differences between the U.S.and the U.K)can help us see more clearly what phenomena are not naturally occurring,but rather socially constructed.

Question 29

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

Question 30

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

Question 31

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 32

"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 33

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 34

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

Question 35

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

Question 36

The ideological process in which social relations and institutions appear natural and objective is called _________________.

Question 37

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

Question 38

Because of her or his _____________ power,the chairman of the department can mediate and rule in a dispute between two faculty members.

Question 39

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 40

___________ 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.