Question 1

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?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 2

Employees are losing their expert power as society moves from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 3

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

Accepted Answer

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)  None of these explanations are correct.

Question 4

Which of these actions would help persuade an employee to support your recommendation about the company introducing an on-site childcare facility?

Accepted Answer

A)  Discussing the issue face-to-face with the employee rather than through a memo. 
B)  Convincing the employee that you have no vested interest in the childcare facility other than the belief that it is good for the organization. 
C)  Starting by saying something about the childcare facility that the employee agrees with. 
D)  Describing both positive and negative features of the childcare facility. 
E)  All of these would help to persuade an employee to support your recommendation.

Question 5

Which of the following would potentially increase someone's power through non-substitutability?

Accepted Answer

A)  Avoiding documenting unique knowledge about organizational processes. 
B)  Increasing the number of people affected by your work. 
C)  Increasing the amount of autonomy granted to you to accomplish your work. 
D)  Using impression management strategies to increase your popularity with colleagues. 
E)  All of these.

Question 6

Some employees and departments gain power by forecasting uncertainties in the organization's environment.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 7

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

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 8

Organizational politics typically involves:

Accepted Answer

A)  an unconscious attempt to increase your own power. 
B)  a conscious attempt to motivate others to work harder for the firm. 
C)  attempts to influence others to promote personal objectives. 
D)  helping other employees to fulfill their needs through organizational activities. 
E)  none of these.

Question 9

Coping with uncertainty is an important source of power in organizational settings.Identify two jobs in your university that have power because they cope with uncertainty.Be sure to discuss the reasons why this power exists.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Coping with uncertainty is an important source...

Question 10

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

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

_______ is part of a larger influence tactic called _______.

Accepted Answer

A)  Persuasion, upward influence 
B)  Ingratiation, impression management 
C)  Upward appeal, persuasion 
D)  Persuasion, ingratiation 
E)  Impression management, persuasion

Question 12

Women have difficulty getting into senior management because they are usually excluded from male networks.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 13

The preferred influence tactics vary across cultures.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 14

Extreme forms of assertiveness include blackmailing colleagues.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 15

Even though you should be visiting clients most of the time,you make a point of stopping by the office each day so your boss sees that you are working.This increases your power by increasing your centrality.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 16

Which of these statements about legitimate power is FALSE?

Accepted Answer

A)  Legitimate power depends on more than job descriptions. 
B)  Employees in Canada are generally less likely to accept legitimate power than employees in high power distance cultures. 
C)  Your boss's power to make you work overtime partly depends on your agreement to this power. 
D)  Employees are generally more tolerant of legitimate power today than were employees a few decades ago. 
E)  All employees have some degree of legitimate power.

Question 17

Advanced Systems Ltd.(ASL),a high-technology company with 20,000 employees,has just acquired LiteForce Ltd.,a 5,000-person company where you work as a photonics (fibre optics)engineer.ASL mainly acquired LiteForce to reduce its competitive threat in the marketplace,as well as to increase the number of engineers and researchers in lightwave technology.You and five other engineers and scientists at LiteForce were working on new technology that would dramatically improve lightwave transmission to communicate data across the Internet.Your team's discovery occurred just before the acquisition and was not well known in the organization.Also,the key executives who strongly supported your team's research have left the company through generous buyout packages during the acquisition.(ASL offered share options to encourage you and other engineers and researchers to remain.)The result is that only your team members and a few other people are aware of the potential benefits of the project.Your team has similar education and experience as many other engineers in the combined organization.Moreover,your team's authority is limited to expenditure within the existing project budget,which ends in a few months.Further support would require executive approval.Describe the sources and contingencies of power that you and your team have in this situation to continue the project.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Advanced Systems Ltd.(ASL),a high-technology company with 20,000...

Question 18

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

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 19

Which source of power tends to produce compliance or resistance,but not commitment,to the requested behaviour?

Accepted Answer

A)  Reward power 
B)  Legitimate power 
C)  Referent power 
D)  All of these produce compliance or resistance, but not commitment 
E)  Reward AND legitimate power produce compliance or resistance, but not commitment

Question 20

A software engineer was able to get placed into a group working on the most critical part of a new software program.She also made a habit of arriving at work around 5 a.m.,knowing that some of the top corporate leaders would arrive that early once in a while.This software engineer's actions increased her power mainly through:

Accepted Answer

A)  decreased non-substitutability. 
B)  increased legitimate power. 
C)  increased coercive power. 
D)  increased discretion. 
E)  increased visibility.

Exam 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

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?

Employees are losing their expert power as society moves from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy.

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

Which of these actions would help persuade an employee to support your recommendation about the company introducing an on-site childcare facility?

Which of the following would potentially increase someone's power through non-substitutability?

Some employees and departments gain power by forecasting uncertainties in the organization's environment.

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

Organizational politics typically involves:

Coping with uncertainty is an important source of power in organizational settings.Identify two jobs in your university that have power because they cope with uncertainty.Be sure to discuss the reasons why this power exists.

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

_ is part of a larger influence tactic called _.

Women have difficulty getting into senior management because they are usually excluded from male networks.

The preferred influence tactics vary across cultures.

Extreme forms of assertiveness include blackmailing colleagues.

Even though you should be visiting clients most of the time,you make a point of stopping by the office each day so your boss sees that you are working.This increases your power by increasing your centrality.

Which of these statements about legitimate power is FALSE?

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

Which source of power tends to produce compliance or resistance,but not commitment,to the requested behaviour?