Deck 7: Power, Politics, and Leadership

Question 1

Which one of the following should be considered the least effective contributor to empowerment?

A)Providing a positive emotional atmosphere
B)Encouraging employees to set their own limits to empowerment
C)Making rewards visible
D)Starting with small changes and then building on the early success

Answer 1

B

Question 2

As the leader shares power with others, the leader's power

A)remains approximately the same.
B)increases.
C)multiplies in direct proportion to the number of people receiving a power share.
D)decreases.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The best example of personal power would be power stemming from the

A)rewards a manager can administer.
B)relevant expertise a person brings to the job.
C)closeness to a key executive.
D)ownership stake a person has in the firm.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Team leader Wanda is managing the critical problem of selling company assets to raise cash and has therefore gained power in the eyes of management.Wanda is implementing which explanation of a source of power?

A)Strategic contingency theory
B)Power stemming from being close to power
C)Power stemming from ownership
D)Prestige power

Question 5

Margaret has Machiavellian tendencies, so she is likely to

A)attempt to avoid political tactics.
B)reach out to less fortunate people.
C)manipulate other people for her personal gain.
D)revel against Macho men in the workplace.

Question 6

According to the dependence theory of power, Alex has power over Ziggy when

A)Alex and Ziggy work collaboratively.
B)Alex and Ziggy work independently of each other.
C)Alex is dependent on Ziggy.
D)Ziggy is dependent on Alex.

Question 7

Which one of the following is recommended as an effective empowering practice?

A)Choosing work methods for group members
B)Separating work activities from organizational goals
C)Allowing group members to establish their own limits to empowerment
D)Providing ample information to workers

Question 8

A consequence of the resource dependence perspective is that when leaders start losing their ability to control resources, they

A)shift to another source of power.
B)become dependent on the organization.
C)lose power.
D)compensate by receiving additional position power.

Question 9

Which two types of power that stem from a leader's authority to respond to the consequences of people's actions?

A)Information power and legitimate power
B)Reward power and coercive power
C)Expert power and charisma
D)Prestige power and legitimate power

Question 10

A study of empowerment in a firm with operations in the United States, Mexico, Poland, and India found that empowerment was negatively associated with job satisfaction among the workers in

A)India.
B)Poland.
C)Mexico.
D)the United States.

Question 11

According to a consultant cited in the leadership text, after the group is empowered, the leader

A)basically stays behind the scenes.
B)gets involved mostly to provide discipline.
C)should still provide guidance.
D)functions like a member of the group.

Question 12

Which one of the following actions or events would bring a person legitimate power?

A)Obtaining an M.B.A.
B)Being well liked by an honest executive
C)Developing charisma
D)Being appointed a corporate officer

Question 13

A leader acquires prestige power through

A)skillful use of organizational politics.
B)making the right contacts.
C)developing an outside reputation.
D)associated with successful people.

Question 14

Gus has been empowered by his manager to develop a new work flow design for the office.After completing the task successfully, Gus believes that he has the ability to perform an important new skill.The characteristic of empowerment just described is most likely

A)meaning.
B)self-determination.
C)internal commitment.
D)self-efficacy.

Question 15

A rationale for empowerment is that the most successful organizations

A)have highly knowledgeable leaders in most positions.
B)have highly knowledgeable managers in most positions.
C)invest heavily in research and development.
D)effectively use the talents of all players on the team.

Question 16

Two components of empowerment revealed by research are

A)risk taking and error correction.
B)command and control.
C)competence and self-determination.
D)consideration and initiating structure.

Question 17

The two types of personal power are

A)reward and coercive.
B)expert and referent
C)legitimate and expert.
D)legitimate and coercive.

Question 18

Advertising manager Roxanne applies the dependence perspective on power when she

A)acts dependent and weak in meetings.
B)makes her staff members dependent on her to pursue their ideas.
C)emphasizes empowering staff members.
D)proves to higher management that she is dependable.

Question 19

Empowerment tends to work best when the empowered activities are

A)linked to the work goals of the organization.
B)part of the individual worker's weekly goals.
C)routine in nature.
D)performed individually rather than in teams.

Question 20

The higher a unit reports in the hierarchy, the

A)more power it acquires.
B)less dependent it is on organizational resources.
C)less likely it is to accrue opportunity power.
D)more likely it is to be the first to go during a downsizing.

Question 21

After creating a false catastrophe, the particularly devious political player

A)claims to have resolved the problem.
B)asks another department to solve the problem.
C)apologizes and admits his or her falsehood.
D)openly laughs at management for believing the story.

Question 22

A useful guideline for empowerment is that after empowering the group, the manager should give up his or her leadership role.

Question 23

Sending thank-you notes to large numbers of people is regarded as a

A)method of keeping informed.
B)way to make a quick showing.
C)method of controlling lines of communication.
D)basic, but effective, political technique.

Question 24

Which one of the following factors is the least likely to contribute to the political behavior in the workplace?

A)A pyramid-shaped organization structure
B)Environmental uncertainty and turbulence
C)Refusing to accept compliments from subordinates
D)Emotional insecurity of workers

Question 25

Self-leadership occurs when the group members choose their own leader.

Question 26

The group leader in a laboratory has more legitimate power than the director of research and development.

Question 27

A recommended way of reducing disruptive politics within the work group is to

A)play favorites with the least political group members.
B)avoid favoritism.
C)threaten to stab in the back those who play politics excessively.
D)tightly control information on how rewards will be allocated.

Question 28

A study conducted in four different geographic locations of the same company indicated that empowerment decreased job satisfaction in the United States, but enhanced satisfaction in Mexico, Poland, and India.

Question 29

According to the Law of Reciprocity (as it relates to organizational politics),

A)workers who are wronged seek revenge.
B)everybody expects to be paid back.
C)leaders get even with disloyal group members.
D)hard work pays off in the long run.

Question 30

A recommended strategy for minimizing office politics is to

A)increase the competition for jobs.
B)set a good example at the top.
C)keep tighter control of information.
D)reward people for snitching on office politicians.

Question 31

Working on problems critical to the company's success helps provide the person with power.

Question 32

An important component of full-fledged empowerment is the manager choosing the work method the group member should use to get the job done most efficiently.

Question 33

The organizational culture sets a limit to an executive's power.

Question 34

Your CEO, Anika Bananga, is a black woman raised in Africa.While introducing Bananga to work associates, it would be most politically correct to say, "I would like you to meet Anika Bananga, our

A)African-American CEO,"
B)beautiful lady CEO."
C)CEO and first black person in this position."
D)CEO."

Question 35

Middle manager Barney practices favoritism when he recommends for promotion

A)a worker suggested by his boss.
B)a worker chosen at random.
C)a golfing buddy who is a low producer.
D)the highest producer in the department.

Question 36

Bill depends on Clara for good ideas to use in his work, so according to the dependence perspective Clara has power over Bill

Question 37

A problem noted with empowerment from a cost perspective is that after workers are empowered, more managers are needed.

Question 38

A major political blunder is to

A)participate in dress-down days.
B)accept the first offer from top management.
C)be tactless toward influential people.
D)agree with everything the boss says in a public forum.

Question 39

Although it seems paradoxical, managers who share their power with group members wind up increasing their own power.

Question 40

A frequent political blunder with e-mail is to

A)send messages outside of standard working hours.
B)send incriminating or embarrassing e-mails on the company system.
C)forget to place something in the subject line.
D)use emoticons like a smiley face.

Question 41

Hiring people with high integrity tends to increase politics in the office because people with integrity tend to be very ambitious.

Question 42

A study of employees in four organizations found that perceptions of organizational politics were related to both less commitment to the organization and a stronger intention to quit the company.

Question 43

A frequently committed political blunder is to send an embarrassing e-mail message without thinking that it might be read by an unintended person.

Question 44

A manager who frowns upon hearing negative feedback encourages political behavior.

Question 45

According to consultant Tom Peters, the thank-you note is a powerful political tactic.

Question 46

A real career booster today is to be tactless when criticizing influential people because honesty and candor are so highly valued in organizations.

Question 47

A variation of the embrace-or-demolish political technique is to fire people who disagree with you on major issues.

Question 48

Being tactless toward influential people has become a career booster because so many managers invite honest feedback.

Question 49

Empowerment is a broader concept than delegation because delegation is focused on a specific task.

Question 50

A pyramid-shaped organization fosters organizational politics because people feel compelled to compete for a limited number of powerful positions.

Question 51

A major negative consequence of workers being territorial is that they focus too much on themselves at the expense of the organization.

Question 52

Establishing alliances with powerful people is a basic tactic of organizational politics.

Question 53

You are being politically correct when you refer to an 85-year-old employee as "our most experienced worker," rather than "oldest worker."

Question 54

A good diagnostic question to ask to size up the political climate within a firm is "Who gets heard, promoted, or passed over?"

Question 55

A current analysis of organizational politics emphasizes that political skill combines social awareness with the ability to communicate well.

Question 56

Stepping forward to accept reasonable change is considered an ethical political tactic.

Question 57

When a state of goal congruence exists, workers are more likely to play organizational politics.

Question 58

According to the Law of Reciprocity (in relation to organizational politics), get even quickly with people who have wronged you in any way.

Question 59

The devious political player will sometimes create a false catastrophe and then seek credit for having resolved the crisis.

Question 60

When the boss practices favoritism or cronyism, organizational politics tends to decrease because group members will tend to think that good performance is the best path to being rewarded.