Management Chapter 7 Homework Also unintended Consequences Your Actions May Concern Addition Actions That Are Good In one

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Student Resource

Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 3e

SAGE Publishing, 2022

Sample Answers to In–Text Questions

Note: Answers to Case Questions are available in the Case Notes. Answers to Toolkit Activities

are personal to the student therefore there are no sample answers.

Chapter 7: Power and Politics

Critical Thinking Questions

1. Examine table 7.1 and sort the thoughts, affect, and behavior into positive responses and

negative ones. Do you think the pros outweigh the cons of having power? Explain.

Question Location: What Is It Like to Have Power?

Ans: As I review Table 7.1, I believe that most of the findings can be classified as positive or

possibly neutral. The negative responses may include “Powerholders experience less compassion

2. What is an organizational example of potential power? Explain how a leader can

increase others’ perceptions of their power without showing it.

Question Location: The Difference Between Power and Influence

Ans: The board of directors of a large public corporation has the power to remove chief

executives from their roles and replace them. This is not often done, as chief executives can also

3. Do you think the “influence without authority” approach contains risks? If not, why

not? If so, what are they?

Question Location: Influence Without Authority

Ans: The influence without authority approach does contain risks. The model is based upon the

law of reciprocity and the other party may not reciprocate in the manner you want or even at all.

Student Resource

Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 3e

SAGE Publishing, 2022

4. Do you think that impression management strategies are ethical? Why or Why not? Can

you think of situations where these tactics could be abused?

Question Location: Impression Management

Ans: The answer is Yes and No. Presenting oneself in a positive light, such as for an

5. In addition to the goals and objectives of an influence attempt, what are other ethical

concerns regarding the use of political skills in organizations? Develop an example of a

leader taking political skills too far and being seen as dishonest or not genuine.

Question Location: Having Both the Will and the Skill for Politics

Ans: Concerns include how others will perceive your influence attempt. Even if you feel the

goals or objectives are justified, others may view your actions as manipulative or unethical. Also

unintended consequences of your actions may be a concern. In addition, actions that are good in

Research in Action

Can Power Make Followers Speechless?

1. Why do you think that being assigned as formal leader results in person dominating

team discussions?

Question Location: Research in Action

2. Have you ever held back communication in a team when the leader behaved

autocratically? Explain why the leaders’ amount of talking suppresses team members’

open communication.

Question Location: Research in Action

Ans: Yes. An autocratic leader gives the impression that he or she is the boss and has already

Student Resource

Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 3e

SAGE Publishing, 2022

3. How can organizations implement the idea that reminding a leader of the importance of

team open communication is important for team performance?

Question Location: Research in Action

Ans: There are several options:

• Forbid the leader from presenting any opinions. The role of the leader is to facilitate

discussion, not to dominate.

leader remains silent.

What’s #Trending in OB?

Power and Ethics: Making Tough Choices

1. Provide an example of the utilitarian approach in organizations (think of a decision that

does the most good for the most people).

Ans: When facing the significant loss of sales or a downturn in profits that results in a budget

2. How does the utilitarian approach in your example differ from focusing on individual

rights? What would you do differently if focusing on individual rights?

Ans: The utilitarian approach looks at what is good for the most people involved which may be

the reduction of pay for all employees in my example—no one gets laid off and everyone is

3. What approach do you think most leaders use in practice?

Ans: I think most leaders try to take the utilitarian approach for the perception of fairness/justice