Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 7— Power and Politics
78) Studies show that the effects of empowerment depend upon the job requirements and
personality of the employee. From this generalization, we could predict that if Bob’s
personality is such that he blames himself when things go wrong, he is more likely to
experience stress if given control and is empowered.
a. True
b. False
79) Research investigating empowerment at the workplace has shown that empowering
those who do not want to be empowered or those who are not confident about their new
responsibilities may actually lead to illness, thus decreasing productivity.
a. True
b. False
80) Empowerment is defined as the freedom and the ability of employees to make
decisions and commitments.
a. True
b. False
81) In Canadian and US workplaces, there is a trend to flatten organizations, give
employees more responsibility for decisions, and share power with employees.
a. True
b. False
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 7— Power and Politics
82) As employee empowerment increases, offices across Canada have witnessed an
increase in workplace incivility.
a. True
b. False
83) Research confirms that workplace incivility and harassment, such as gender and
sexual harassment, generally do not occur together at places of work.
a. True
b. False
84) Sexual harassment occurs only if there is physical contact of a sexual nature.
a. True
b. False
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 7— Power and Politics
85) Research shows that job dissatisfaction arises when it appears to those who do not
participate in politicking that those who do are getting ahead at their expense.
a. True
b. False
86) Political behaviour is an accepted part of working in an organization.
a. True
b. False
87) Political behaviour can be stimulated by individual personalities and characteristics in
the organization’s internal environment.
a. True
b. False
88) Organizational politics is known to have a motivating influence on individuals and,
consequently, increase productivity levels of the organization.
a. True
b. False
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 7— Power and Politics
89) Impression management implies that the impressions people convey are necessarily
false.
a. True
b. False
90) A low level of resources in the organization could contribute to political behaviour if
gains by one party are perceived as being at the expense of another.
a. True
b. False
91) Studies show that impression management is not positively associated with job
interview success.
a. True
b. False
92) Studies show that impression management works for job applicants.
a. True
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 7— Power and Politics
b. False
93) An organization can be politics-free.
a. True
b. False
94) Workplace violence and toxicity is a concern in such countries as France, Romania,
and the United States but not in Canada, due to our collectivistic culture.
a. True
b. False
95) When trust breaks down between employees and their employer, employees will feel
less like accepting decisions.
a. True
b. False
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 7— Power and Politics
96) Describe in detail the six bases, or sources, of power generally used within
organizations, and how people respond to each type of power. Provide examples to
support your response.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 7— Power and Politics
97) Explain what empowerment means. What do employees need to feel fully
empowered? Why do some managers not want to empower their employees? Give
specific examples to support your answer.
98) Explain in detail what influence tactics one could use to gain a stronger base of power
and become more influential within an organization. How do these tactics relate to
“impression management”? Give specific examples to support your answer.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 7— Power and Politics
99) Discuss in detail the abuse of power in the workplace. What are the various ways
power is abused, the impact of abuse on employees and the organization, and the ways
management can address abuse?
Suggested answer:
– Explain the issues of harassment: what constitutes harassment and how it relates to use
of power bases; the categories of harassment that have long been illegal in Canada.
– The concept of power is central to harassment.
– Workplace bullying: The answer would include a description of workplace bullying and
how it manifests itself in the workplace. Cases include the use of coercive power,
workplace violence, and intimidation.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 7— Power and Politics
– Sexual harassment: It includes unwanted physical touching, looks, or comments, off-
colour jokes, sexual artifacts, and innuendo. The answer could discuss where being
friendly ends and harassment begins.
Answer:
100) Discuss in detail the concept of organizational politics. What constitutes political
behaviour, why and how does it occur in organizations, and how do people use politics
for their own benefit? Give specific examples to support your answer.
Suggested answer:
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 7— Power and Politics
101) The main component of the concept of power is dependency. Explain how
dependency relates to power, what creates dependency, and how dependency can be used
to increase one’s power.
Suggested answer:
– Dependency happens when one possesses anything that others require that he/she alone
controls, making others dependent. The person who has the most need is the one most
dependent.
Dependency is created and increases when what you control is important, scarce, and
cannot be substituted:
– Importance: To create dependency, what you control must be perceived as important by
others.
– Scarcity: If something is plentiful, possession of it will not increase power. Possession
of a scarce resources makes whose who do not have it depend on those who do.
– Nonsubsitutability: If there are few or no substitutes to what someone desires, then the
person who has the resource has power.
102) Impression management is one type of political activity that people engage in to
increase and retain their power. Why do people try to manage impressions? What could
be the results in an organizational context? Give specific examples to support your
answer.
Suggested answer:
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 7— Power and Politics
– Impression management is the process by which individuals attempt to control the
impression others form of them. They might use impression management to get hired or
to get favourable evaluations, superior salary increases, or rapid promotions.
– Impressions are not necessarily false; sometimes they are sincere. Be cautious not to be
perceived as insincere or manipulative.
– Job applicants who use impression management tend to be successful. It did not matter
if the applicants were well or poorly qualified; if they used impression management
techniques, they did better in interviews.
Techniques:
– Job applicants who use self-promotion create an appearance of competence and get
more follow-up calls.
– Ingratiation seems to work well in job interviews.
– Employees who engage in ingratiation get better performance evaluations. However,
self-promotion seems to lead to poorer performance evaluations. Ingratiation works
because everyone likes to be treated nicely. Self-promotion works less well because in
performance evaluations, the manager has already had the opportunity to observe the
employee for a long period of time.
(Examples can be drawn from the text, class discussion, students’ own experiences, the
Internet, newspapers such as the Globe and Mail, . . .)