Organizational Behavior, 17e (Robbins)
Chapter 13 Power and Politics
1) Power is a function of ________.
A) goal congruency
B) realization
C) inheritance
D) dependence
E) altruism
2) Which of the following statements is true regarding power?
A) A is said to have power over B if B controls something that A desires.
B) The greater A’s dependence on B, the greater A’s power in the relationship.
C) If A has the capacity to influence the behavior of B, then A is said to have power over B.
D) A can have power over B only if A is B’s leader.
E) A can have power over B only when A and B have similar goals.
3) Which of the following is a differentiating factor between power and leadership?
A) control
B) influence
C) ability
D) goal compatibility
E) negative affect
4) Which of the following is a feature of power?
A) lack of dependence of followers
B) use of positive styles over negative tactics
C) downward influence of leader on followers
D) lack of goal compatibility between leaders and followers
E) lack of control on behavior of followers
5) Which of the following is true with regard to leadership?
A) It maximizes the importance of lateral and upward influence patterns.
B) It eliminates the requirement of goal compatibility.
C) It stimulates research in the area of tactics of influence.
D) It focuses on downward influence on followers.
E) It encourages dependence of followers on leaders.
6) Research on power is likely to provide information on the most effective ________.
A) leadership styles for motivating followers
B) methods to reduce dependence on leaders
C) tactics for gaining compliance of employees
D) methods of rewarding successful employees
E) modes of assessing employee performance
7) Unlike power, leadership requires some degree of goal compatibility.
8) For a power situation to exist, one person or group needs to have control over resources the
other person or group values.
9) The lure of money and the pressure to compete at the top level are sometimes so great that
college officials may be willing to subvert the rules and use political tactics to secure financial
advantages for their institution.
10) Define power.
11) Contrast leadership and power.
12) The two general groupings into which power may be categorized are ________.
A) informational and personal
B) formal and informal
C) informal and legitimate
D) formal and personal
E) direct and indirect
13) ________ power is based on the fear of the negative results from failing to comply.
A) Legitimate
B) Coercive
C) Punitive
D) Referent
E) Abusive
14) In the last one week, May and Phyllis have been putting in extra hours at work so that the
project assigned to them by their manager is completed well within time. Though the manager
was due to assign two more people to this project, he had not done so. As a result, May and
Phyllis, who were having to do double their routine workload, went and complained to the
division manager. May was promptly suspended from work for complaining about her
immediate supervisor. This represents the operation of ________ power.
A) reward
B) legitimate
C) coercive
D) expert
E) referent
15) ________ power represents the compliance that is achieved based on the ability to distribute
positive benefits that others view as valuable.
A) Legitimate
B) Coercive
C) Reward
D) Personal
E) Reflective
16) As a regional sales officer, one of Brandon’s job responsibilities is to process the yearly
appraisal forms of his subordinates and provide them with increments, bonuses, or benefits based
on their performance that year. This job responsibility directly reflects his ________.
A) active power
B) expert power
C) referent power
D) reward power
E) coercive power
17) Legitimate power is directly based on ________.
A) charisma of the leader
B) interpersonal trust and commitment of the manager
C) structural position of the manager in the organization
D) personality traits of the manager
E) ability of the manager to serve his or her subordinates
18) Which of the following statements is true regarding legitimate power?
A) Legitimate power develops out of admiration of another and a desire to be like that person.
B) Legitimate power comes from an individual’s unique characteristics.
C) Legitimate power is broader than the power to coerce and reward.
D) Celebrities who endorse products in commercials wield legitimate power over people.
E) Legitimate power is a type of personal power.
19) Which of the following types of power can be categorized as personal power?
A) coercive
B) legitimate
C) reward
D) referent
E) positional
20) ________ power is influence wielded as a result of proficiency, special skill, or knowledge.
A) Legitimate
B) Reward
C) Referent
D) Expert
E) Coercive
21) At the PR firm where Gerald works, everyone considers him to be very good with his work
and depends heavily on his knowledge to help the organization to solve its problems. Gerald is
often seen teaching interns a simpler way to present an article, helping project managers with
scheduling, and even the CEO often asks him for his opinion on important matters because of his
experience and skill. Gerald’s specialized knowledge depicts his ________.
A) expert power
B) coercive power
C) legitimate power
D) referent power
E) reward power
22) ________ power is based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or
personal traits.
A) Coercive
B) Legitimate
C) Referent
D) Expert
E) Reward
23) Carl believes that he is lucky to be working under a manager like Mr. Parker—conscientious,
flexible and easy to work with. It was Mr. Parker who helped Carl learn the demands of the job,
gave him opportunities to learn from the mistakes he made, and always provided sound advice.
Mr. Parker, who has been in the field for over eighteen years, never made Carl feel like a novice
and this only increased Carl’s personal confidence in his work and his loyalty toward his
manager. Carl, who is now doing very well on the job, aims to be a manager like Mr. Parker.
From this scenario, which of the following conclusions can be drawn?
A) Mr. Parker is an authoritarian manager.
B) Carl has a low degree of trust propensity.
C) Mr. Parker has a high degree of referent power.
D) Mr. Parker engages in a lot of ingratiation.
E) Mr. Parker exercises a high degree of coercive power.
24) Which of the following is true with regard to bases of power?
A) Coercive power involves an identification with and imitation of the person in power.
B) Legitimate power is used by companies when they hire celebrities to promote their products.
C) Expert and referent power are the two major types of formal power.
D) The personal sources of power are most effective for increasing employee performance and
satisfaction.
E) Reward power is the most common and broad type of power seen in operation in
organizations.
25) Will Paten is the manager of a team of twelve people in the marketing division of Palmer
Inc. Will, who has been working in the company for eleven years, is held in high regard and
liked by all his colleagues and subordinates. However, Aaron and Abby, two of his subordinates,
are noted for frequently flouting his rules and directives. They continue behaving in this manner
even after Will had categorically requested them to refrain from upsetting the momentum of the
team. Which of the following, if true, would best explain Aaron and Abby’s continued
noncompliance with Will’s requests?
A) The promotions and bonuses of the team members depend heavily on Will’s performance
ratings.
B) The company had provided Will with additional duties, and he was left with little time to
ensure that his team members performed well.
C) Will believes that since the job demands in marketing are ambiguous and ever-changing, a
supportive approach to leadership would suffice.
D) Will is uncomfortable exercising coercive measures to control employees.
E) Will is considered an expert at analyzing market trends and making accurate projections about
demand and revenue.
26) Joanna Mills has recently been promoted to the position of a project manager at Palmer Inc.,
a software development firm. As a project manager, she now has the authority to delegate work,
provide supervision and feedback, and monitor employee performance. Ever since her
promotion, she has been preparing herself to guide her subordinates in different project activities.
However, she feels that the employees do not proactively approach her for help. Which of the
following, if true, would best explain this situation?
A) Joanna has several years of experience in working on software programs.
B) The sole criterion for Joanna’s promotion was her effectiveness in meeting individual targets.
C) Employees identify with Joanna because she successfully rose from the position of a
programmer to that of a manager.
D) The managers who promoted her believed that her approachable nature would be a key factor
in improving team performance.
E) The company follows a 360-degree performance evaluation system.
27) Which of the following types of power is most likely to be negatively related to employee
satisfaction and commitment?
A) expert power
B) reward power
C) legitimate power
D) coercive power
E) referent power
28) Levin and Co. is a group of oil refineries that has been in the news recently. The company
had to stop production for over two weeks because their key supplier refused to sell them crude
oil at the old prices. Even after rounds of negotiations, the supplier refused to give in to the
demands of Levin and Co., and finally, the company had to acquire the raw material from the
same supplier because alternative suppliers, though abundant, could not provide the quantities
the company demanded at such short notice. This shows the role of ________ in increasing the
power one enjoys.
A) alternatives
B) dependence
C) abundance
D) substitutability
E) exchange
29) Dependence would be low when ________.
A) the goods have very few suppliers
B) the goods have low accessibility
C) the goods in question are scarce
D) the products are important
E) the goods have substitutes
30) Expert power is based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or
personal traits.
31) List and discuss the bases of formal power.
32) Explain expert power with reference to the dimensions of importance, scarcity, and
nonsubstitutability.
33) How does reward power contribute to sexual harassment?
34) Which of the following power tactics involves increasing the target’s support by involving
him or her in decision making?
A) legitimacy
B) rational persuasion
C) consultation
D) ingratiation
E) pressure
35) Which of the following power tactics uses warnings and threats and is typically the least
effective of all the power tactics?
A) coalitions
B) exchange
C) pressure
D) rational persuasion
E) consultation
36) The power tactic of using flattery and creating goodwill before making a request is known as
________.
A) ingratiation
B) consultation
C) inspirational appeal
D) motivational appeal
E) affective appeal
37) Rational persuasion is a power tactic that involves the use of ________.
A) formal authority
B) logical arguments and factual evidence
C) emotions to target the values, needs, and hopes of the other party
D) benefits or favors in exchange for following a request
E) warnings, repeated demands, and threats
38) Mike Ford is a senior accountant at Coleman and Co., which is a financial management
company. Mike has wanted to be on the board of representatives of his company for a long time,
but the company stipulates a minimum number of years an employee must work at the
organization before he or she makes it to the board. Mike is unwilling to work two more years to
reach that stipulated experience and so he found a way to transgress this rule. He met up with
one of the existing board members who was having problems accounting for allocated funds that
went missing and offered to settle that for him in his department provided he nominate Mike to
the board. Which of the following power tactics is being used here?
A) ingratiation
B) legitimacy
C) inspirational appeals
D) pressure
E) exchange
39) When the contract with one of their major suppliers was about to expire, the management of
Pierre and Collins began seeking tenders from potential vendors. One of the top management
executives, Todd Hughes, wanted the contract to go to a vendor he personally knew. In order to
do so, he held separate discussions with two key members of the organization wherein he
downplayed the potentials of the competing tenders and convinced them to support this offer. At
the meeting to finalize a supplier, Todd and his supporters strongly supported the tender of the
supplier they had chosen amongst themselves and convinced their CEO to hire this supplier
despite the higher price quoted by him. Which of the following power tactics is being used here?
A) ingratiation
B) legitimacy
C) coalition
D) pressure
E) inspirational appeals
40) Which of the following power tactics is more effective when the audience is highly
interested in the outcomes of a decision process?
A) ingratiation
B) consultation
C) personal appeals
D) exchange
E) pressure
41) When the audience does not care about the outcomes, using a combination of ________ can
help lessen negative reactions to the feeling that one is dictating outcomes.
A) ingratiation and personal appeals
B) pressure and exchange
C) legitimacy and ingratiation
D) exchange and rational persuasion
E) inspirational appeals and consultation
42) ________ is the only tactic effective across organizational levels.
A) Legitimacy
B) Inspirational appeal
C) Rational persuasion
D) Ingratiation
E) Pressure
43) Which of the following power tactics can be used most effectively for exerting lateral
influence?
A) legitimacy
B) inspirational appeal
C) coalition
D) ingratiation
E) pressure
44) Which of the following power tactics would be considered a soft tactic?
A) rational persuasion
B) exchange
C) coalition
D) politicking
E) pressure
45) Which of the following power tactics would be considered a hard tactic?
A) rational persuasion
B) inspirational appeals
C) personal appeals
D) coalition
E) consultation
46) Which of the following statements is true with regard to the effectiveness of tactics?
A) Soft tactics are less effective than hard tactics when used individually.
B) The combination of a soft tactic with reasonable persuasion is more effective than a
combination of two hard tactics.
C) All tactics are equally effective with regard to upward influence.
D) Individuals from collectivist cultures are typically more likely to use soft tactics that reflect
personal power.
E) Individuals from individualistic cultures are typically more likely to use coalition and other
hard power tactics.
47) For a person to be recognized as having a high degree of political skill, he or she must have
the ________.
A) ability to recognize that power in an organization does not translate into success
B) ability to submit to the demands made by others at all times
C) ability to influence others to enhance their own objectives
D) ability to respect and consider the needs of others first
E) ability to make sacrifices for the betterment of others
48) People from collectivistic countries tend to see power in personalized terms and as a
legitimate means of advancing their personal ends, while those in individualistic countries see
power in social terms and as a legitimate means of helping others.
49) Dale Fisher is the manager of one branch of a retail chain. He often speaks with his customer
service attendants about the value they bring to the company and encourages them to continue
doing so. He knows that this approach of enhancing the worth of these executives and shaping
their aspirations to do well is a more effective approach than using warnings and ultimatums.
Dale is using the power tactic of an inspirational appeal here.
50) Power tactics that emphasize formal power are personal and inspirational appeals, rational
persuasion, and consultation.
51) One tool to assess the exchange of resources and dependencies within an organization is
social network analysis.
52) What power tactics can employees use to translate their power bases into specific actions and
how does each one work?
53) Differentiate between rational persuasion and inspirational appeals in terms of their operation
and direction of influence.