Deck 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

Question 1

Referent power is mainly developed through a person's interpersonal skills.

Answer 1

True
Explanation: People have referent power when others identify with them, like them, or otherwise respect them. As with expert power, referent power originates within the power holder. It is largely a function of the person's interpersonal skills and tends to develop slowly.

Question 2

Prevention,forecasting,and absorption are three types of expertise that cope with uncertainty in organizations.

Answer 2

True
Explanation: These are strategies to help organizations cope with uncertainty.

Question 3

Power is the act of changing another person's attitudes and behavior.

Answer 3

False
Explanation: Power is not the act of changing someone's attitudes or behavior; it is only the potential to do so.

Question 4

People might gain power by convincing others that they have something of value.

Question 5

Displaying one's diplomas and degrees on office walls is one way professionals increase their visibility.

Question 6

Countervailing power is the capacity of a person,team,or organization to keep a more powerful person or group in the exchange relationship.

Question 7

Peer pressure typically represents a form of coercive power.

Question 8

Even though your job entails that you should be visiting clients most of the time,you make it a point to stop by the office everyday so your boss sees that you are working.This increases your power by increasing your centrality.

Question 9

People have more power when their actions quickly affect many other people through the organization.

Question 10

Networking is a form of influence that tends to increase the individual's expert and referent power.

Question 11

Legitimate power is created whenever the organization assigns a supervisor with formal authority over subordinates.

Question 12

The only way employees get ahead is by developing their competencies.

Question 13

Reward power is associated with charisma.

Question 14

An employee's ability to influence others increases as the source of his or her power becomes more substitutable.

Question 15

Legitimate power has restrictions; it only gives the power holder the right to ask for a range of behaviors from others.This range is known as the "norm of reciprocity."

Question 16

The four contingencies of power are prevention,forecasting,coercion,and distribution.

Question 17

By avoiding written documentation of how to operate equipment or serve customers,employees are maximizing their expert power through non-substitutability.

Question 18

Employees in low power distance cultures comply with legitimate power.

Question 19

As people become more powerful they tend to become less goal-oriented,less motivated,and more focused on gaining additional power.

Question 20

Playing "face time" instead of working productively behind closed doors is a strategy for gaining increased visibility at work.

Question 21

Organizational politics refers to any use of power to influence others.

Question 22

Soft influence tactics such as persuasion tend to build compliance rather than commitment to the influencer's request.

Question 23

Supervisors who use ingratiation and impression management tactics tend to lose the respect of their staff.

Question 24

The preferred influence tactics vary across cultures.

Question 25

Silent authority is also known as deference to authority.

Question 26

People with power over others have more difficulty empathizing.

Question 27

A coalition gains power by symbolizing the legitimacy of the issue supported by the coalition.

Question 28

As impression management is inherently unethical,it is discouraged by career professionals.

Question 29

Exaggerating one's résumé is a form of the influence tactic of persuasion.

Question 30

Impression management is a common strategy for people trying to get ahead in the workplace.

Question 31

The most appropriate influence tactic depends in part on the influencer's power base and position in the organization.

Question 32

People who have expertise tend to have more influence using persuasion.

Question 33

Research indicates that ingratiation is more commonly used by managers in high power distance cultures than by managers in low power distance cultures.

Question 34

Exchange,ingratiation,and persuasion are considered "hard" influence tactics.

Question 35

A feature of influence is that it operates down the corporate hierarchy but not up or across that hierarchy.

Question 36

People are more persuasive when they rely on logical arguments and avoid emotional appeals.

Question 37

A coalition attempts to influence people outside the group by pooling the resources and power of its members.

Question 38

In persuasive communication,the inoculation effect involves warning listeners that others will try to influence them in the future and that they should be aware of the opponent's arguments.

Question 39

Extreme forms of assertiveness include blackmailing colleagues.

Question 40

People who have more power over others engage in more automatic rather than mindful thinking.

Question 41

People with an internal locus of control and strong Machiavellian values engage in organizational politics.

Question 42

In organizational settings,power is defined as:

A) the practice of trying to influence another person.
B) the capacity to influence others.
C) the act of changing another person's attitudes and behaviors.
D) the extent to which one person is required to follow another person's commands even though he or she does not want to follow the commands.
E) any situation where one person is dependent on another person, who is not at all dependent on the first person.

Question 43

In order to maintain the exchange relationship,the dependent party has _____ over the dominant party.

A) countervailing power
B) substitutability
C) reverse dependence
D) visibility
E) legitimate power

Question 44

Organizational politics can result in lower job satisfaction,and high levels of work-related stress.

Question 45

Employees are more likely to comply with a supervisor's legitimate power when the:

A) employees have a high power distance value.
B) power holder gives orders outside the employees' normal role requirements.
C) company encourages people to disobey orders that interfere with their work.
D) manager has a low charisma.
E) manager has a very good reward system in place.

Question 46

The (perceived) ability to manage uncertainties in the business environment is a form of _____ power.

A) reward
B) legitimate
C) referent
D) expert
E) coercive

Question 47

Employees have more expert power today than a few decades ago because:

A) fewer people now attend university than a few decades ago.
B) referent and legitimate power are no longer valued in organizations.
C) society is shifting from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy.
D) employers have a higher power distance than in the past.
E) employees are no longer dependent on each other.

Question 48

Organizational politics tends to increase in situations where decisions become routine and programmed.

Question 49

Which of the following sources of power originates from the powerholder's own characteristics?

A) Legitimate power
B) Coercive power
C) Expert power
D) Reward power
E) Formal power

Question 50

Power is the _____ to change someone's behavior.

A) need
B) act
C) potential
D) duty
E) hidden agenda

Question 51

Which of the following statements about power is true?

A) Power exists only when the power holder is able to change someone's behavior.
B) Power requires interdependence in the relationship.
C) Power is the actual practice of influencing others.
D) Power exists only when one person has something of value for a second person, but the second person has nothing of value for the first person.
E) People cannot have power over others by controlling a desired job assignment, useful information, important resources, or even the privilege of being associated with someone.

Question 52

As our society moves from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy,employees are gaining:

A) reward power.
B) legitimate power.
C) referent power.
D) expert power.
E) coercive power.

Question 53

Office politics flourish when resource allocation decisions are ambiguous and complex with no formal rules.

Question 54

Machiavellian values help employees to recognize and avoid using political tactics in organizational settings.

Question 55

Legitimate power occurs when:

A) the manager can remove negative sanctions.
B) the manager is able to reward or punish the employees.
C) the manager has the capacity to influence others on the basis of identification with and respect for the power-holder.
D) employees are blinded by the manager's charisma.
E) it is agreed that people in certain roles can request certain behaviors of others.

Question 56

Employees also have _____ power over their bosses through their feedback and ratings in 360-degree feedback systems.

A) referent
B) reward
C) legitimate
D) expert
E) coercive

Question 57

Organizational politics occurs when someone attempts to influence others for the purpose of promoting personal interests.

Question 58

Employees have _____,ranging from sarcasm to ostracism,to ensure that coworkers conform to team norms.

A) reward power
B) legitimate power
C) referent power
D) expert power
E) coercive power

Question 59

Organizational leaders can minimize organizational politics by making decision rules more complex and ambiguous.

Question 60

Which of the following statements about countervailing power in organizational relationships is true?

A) Countervailing power prevents anyone else from having any power over you.
B) Countervailing power is used by the stronger party to prevent the weaker party from leaving the relationship.
C) Countervailing power is the weaker party's power to maintain the stronger party's continued participation in the relationship.
D) Countervailing power is one of the ways that people have power by coping with uncertainty.
E) Countervailing power is a personality characteristic of people who crave power.

Question 61

A supervisor pushes employee performance by constantly checking their work,reminding them of their deadlines,and threatens to put their unknown failures on the company notice board.Which of the following forms of influence is this supervisor using?

A) Legitimate
B) Silent authority
C) Referent
D) Assertiveness
E) Persuasion

Question 62

A new employee in the finance department prominently displays diplomas and past awards indicating his financial expertise.What contingency of power is this person trying to increase?

A) Counterpower
B) Non-substitutability
C) Centrality
D) Discretion
E) Visibility

Question 63

Which of the following are the three general strategies for coping with uncertainty?

A) Visibility, discretion, prevention
B) Visibility, immediacy, pervasiveness
C) Prevention, forecasting, absorption
D) Discretion, immediacy, prevention
E) Immediacy, forecasting, and absorption

Question 64

Extreme forms of _____ include blackmailing colleagues,such as by threatening to reveal the other person's previously unknown failures unless he or she complies with your request.

A) coalition forming
B) upward appeal
C) persuasion
D) assertiveness
E) information control

Question 65

Employees have ______ power,when others identify with them,like them,or otherwise respect them.

A) reward
B) legitimate
C) referent
D) expert
E) coercive

Question 66

Which contingency of power are unions mainly applying by going on strike at a critical time in the company's business cycle?

A) Visibility
B) Non-substitutability
C) Centrality
D) Discretion
E) Persuasion

Question 67

Which of the following is a "hard" influence tactic?

A) Ingratiation
B) Upward appeal
C) Persuasion
D) Visibility
E) Exchange

Question 68

Assertiveness:

A) refers to the process of gaining support from one or more people with higher authority or expertise.
B) is an indicator that a person lacks power due to low centrality.
C) is an attempt to increase liking by, or perceived similarity to, some targeted person.
D) is also known as vocal authority.
E) refers to the use of logical arguments, factual evidence, and emotional appeals to convince people of the value of a request.

Question 69

Jason is effective at forming friendships with other people in the organization.Over time,he becomes well known and respected by numerous people in key positions in the organization.Through his networking,Jason has:

A) increased his level of Machiavellianism.
B) reduced his centrality.
C) increased his coercive power.
D) increased his referent power.
E) reduced his visibility.

Question 70

Which of these refers to the degree and nature of interdependence between the powerholder and others?

A) Visibility
B) Substitutability
C) Centrality
D) Discretion
E) Expertise

Question 71

Which of the following is a consequence of power?

A) Employees who feel more power feel humbled.
B) When people become more powerful, they hide from their environment.
C) Increasing power over others can potentially undermine an individual's effectiveness and interpersonal relations.
D) Powerful people gain the added skill of empathizing with subordinates.
E) People with power engage in mindful thinking and are concerned about the consequences of their actions.

Question 72

Networking potentially increases a person's power by:

A) increasing the person's legitimate power.
B) decreasing the person's centrality.
C) increasing the person's referent power.
D) decreasing the person's reward power.
E) increasing the person's coercive power.

Question 73

Which of the following is a form of "soft" influence tactic?

A) Ingratiation
B) Upward appeal
C) Coalition forming
D) Silent authority
E) Information control

Question 74

Which of the following networking styles increases a person's expert power?

A) Gaining valuable information through networking
B) Identifying people who are in the same network as you
C) Taking decisions in favor of others
D) Recognizing talents
E) Placing oneself in a strategic position in the network

Question 75

Which of the following refers to availability of alternatives?

A) Visibility
B) Substitutability
C) Centrality
D) Discretion
E) Referent power

Question 76

Your team has been put in charge of a major project involving a client.Although the organization has many clients,this particular project is the largest source of revenue and affects the work of several other teams in the organization.The project requires continuous involvement with the client,so any problem with the client is immediately felt by others in the organization.According to the model of power,your team has:

A) very little power in the organization.
B) a high degree of centrality.
C) a high degree of substitutability.
D) a low level of visibility.
E) a lot of referent power.

Question 77

_____ involves actively applying legitimate and coercive power to influence others.

A) Assertiveness
B) Upward appeal
C) Persuasion
D) Coalition forming
E) Information control

Question 78

Referent power is typically associated with:

A) reward systems.
B) power distance.
C) uncertainty avoidance.
D) peer pressure.
E) charisma.

Question 79

Which of the following is the most common form of influence in high power distance cultures?

A) Silent authority
B) Coalition formation
C) Assertiveness
D) Ingratiation
E) Information control

Question 80

Which of these sources of power originates mainly from the person rather than the position?

A) Referent power
B) Legitimate power
C) Coercive power
D) Reward power
E) Perceived right