Chapter 7-Organizational Conflict and Politics: Multiple Choice

CHAPTER 7—ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT AND POLITICS
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. ____ is defined as the behavior that occurs among organizational groups when participants identify
with one group and perceive that other groups may block their group's goal achievement or
expectations.
a. Goal incompatibility
b. Intergroup conflict
c. Political conflict
d. Strategic contingencies
ANS: B PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Group Dynamics
2. Attributes identified in our text as generating intergroup conflict include all of the following except:
a. differentiation.
b. task interdependence.
c. goal incompatibility.
d. personality.
ANS: D PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics
3. The greatest cause of intergroup conflict in organizations is probably:

a. goal incompatibility.
b. differentiation.
c. task interdependence.
d. limited resources.
ANS: A PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics
4. Putting together what you know about the sources of potential conflict and about interdependence,
which of the following attributes will create the greatest potential for conflict?
a. Pooled interdependence
b. Functional specialization
c. Reciprocal interdependence
d. Routine technology
ANS: C PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Individual Dynamics
5. Applying what you know about sources of conflict, you could conclude that as task interdependence
moves from pooled to reciprocal interdependence:
a. conflict would decrease and competition would increase.
b. the potential for cooperation increases.
c. the potential for conflict increases.
d. greater goal incompatibility arises.
ANS: C PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Individual Dynamics
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6. When goals are in alignment, there is little differentiation, departments are characterized by pooled
interdependence, and resources seem abundant. Managers can use ____ of organization.
a. a political model
b. referent power
c. authority
d. a rational model
ANS: D PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Leadership Principles
7. ____ is the potential ability of one person/department to influence other persons/departments to carry
out orders or do something they would not otherwise have done.
a. Cooperation
b. Collaboration
c. Power
d. Personal position
ANS: C PTS: 1
8. Which model of organization often prevails because each department has different interests it wants
met and different goals it wants to achieve?
a. Political
b. Rational
c. Garbage Can
d. Incremental
ANS: A PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles
9. Which type of power does a manager enjoy because of his right to promote subordinates?
a. Legitimate
b. Reward
c. Coercive
d. Referent
ANS: B PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles
10. Legitimate power comes from:

a. the positions in the organizations.
b. skill and knowledge.
c. personal characteristics.
d. resources controlled by managers.
ANS: A PTS: 1
11. People have authority in an organization because of:

a. the positions they hold.
b. skill and knowledge they possess.
c. personal characteristics.
d. resources they control.
ANS: A PTS: 1
12. Relative to power, the concept of formal authority is:

a. more narrow in scope.
b. the "umbrella term" that includes all power.
c. the same.
d. more dependent on personality.
ANS: A PTS: 1
13. In distinguishing between power and authority, we learned that power is:
a. vested in people.
b. possibly exercised upward, downward, and horizontally.
c. flowing down the vertical hierarchy.
d. more narrow in scope than authority.
ANS: B PTS: 1
14. Vertical sources of power include all of the following except:

a. control of decision premises.
b. network centrality.
c. formal position.
d. manipulation.
ANS: D PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles
15. Being centrally located in the organization and having access to information and people that are
critical to the company's success is referred to as:
a. decision premises.
b. strategic contingencies.
c. network centrality.
d. power sources.
ANS: C PTS: 1
16. For lower level employees, network centrality:

a. is out of reach because they cannot have access to critical information.
b. can be gained by becoming knowledgeable about certain activities or taking on difficult
tasks and acquiring specialized knowledge.
c. makes no difference because they cannot increase power.
d. takes on different meaning than it does for top managers; it means nothing more than
being physically located next to those with power.
ANS: B PTS: 1
17. ____ is power sharing, the delegation of power or authority to subordinates in an organization.
a. Empowerment
b. Confrontation
c. Dependency
d. Power sources
18. ____ is difficult to measure because power differences are not defined on the organization chart.
a. Strategic contingencies
b. Horizontal power
c. Dependency
d. Decision premise
ANS: B PTS: 1
19. Strategic contingencies refer to:

a. events and activities that are essential for attaining organizational goals.
b. environmental factors which have an indirect influence on goal attainment.
c. alternate strategic plans to cope with possible environmental changes.
d. competitors who may damage corporate standing.
ANS: A PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Strategy
20. Dependency power is derived from:

a. being dependent on others for something.
b. having something someone else wants.
c. becoming paternalistic in one's management style.
d. immature subordinates.
ANS: B PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Individual Dynamics
21. Which of the following is not one of strategic contingencies that influence horizontal power among
departments?
a. Centrality
b. Financial resources
c. Substitutability
d. Dependency
ANS: C PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Strategy
22. One measure of ____ is the extent to which the work of the department affects the final output of the
organization.
a. dependency
b. financial resources
c. nonsubstitutability
d. centrality
ANS: D PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Creation of Value
23. Which of the following means that a department's function cannot be performed by other readily
available resources?
a. Coping with uncertainty
b. Financial resources
c. Dependency
d. Nonsubstitutability
ANS: D PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Operations Management
24. We know which of the following about horizontal power?

a. It is reflected on the organization flow chart.
b. The sales department invariably carries higher power rating than other departments.
c. Its relationships change as strategic contingencies change.
d. The concept of vertical linkages explains relative power.
ANS: C PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles
25. Which of the following was not a reaction of managers toward political behavior uncovered in
surveys?
a. Managers believe political behavior is uncommon to practically all organizations.
b. Political behavior arises in certain decision domains, such as structural change, but is
absent from other decisions, such as handling employee grievances.
c. Most managers have a negative view toward politics and believe that politics will more
often hurt than help an organization in achieving its goals.
d. Most managers think political behavior occurs more often at upper rather than lower levels
in organizations.
26. ____ involves activities to acquire, develop, and use power and other resources to influence others and
obtain the preferred outcome when there is uncertainty or disagreement about choices.
a. Negotiation
b. Organizational politics
c. Collective bargaining
d. Confrontation
ANS: B PTS: 1
27. ____ is a mechanism for arriving at consensus when uncertainty is high and there is disagreement over
goals or problem priorities.
a. Power
b. Authority
c. Politics
d. Decision premise
ANS: C PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Environmental Influence
28. All of the following, except ____ are the domains of political activity.
a. management succession
b. expanded networks
c. resource allocation
d. structural change
ANS: B PTS: 1
NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Environmental Influence
29. Which of the following is a political tactic for increasing power?

a. Creating dependencies
b. Satisfying strategic contingencies
c. Providing resources
d. All of these
ANS: D PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
30. Which of the following is not a political tactic for using power?
a. Expand networks
b. Schedule intergroup consultation
c. Enhance legitimacy and expertise
d. Control decision premises
ANS: B PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
31. Confrontation as a method of reducing conflict is likely to be more effective when:

a. all other forms of collaboration have failed.
b. no mutually acceptable outcomes can be envisioned.
c. the conflict is viewed as a win-win situation and the groups avoid threats.
d. All of these.
ANS: C PTS: 1
32. ____ are designed to increase worker participation and provide a cooperative model for solving union-
management problems.
a. Labor-management teams
b. Decision making teams
c. Venture teams
d. Negotiation teams
33. Collective bargaining:

a. cannot be used to describe today's union-management relations, but does apply to general
vertical conflict.
b. is one type of negotiation used to resolve disagreements between workers and
management, through a union, establishing fixed responsibilities for the next two to three
years.
c. is considered to be an integration device that results in contracts establishing flexible
responsibilities for the next ten to fifteen years.
d. has been eliminated because of the introduction of more innovative cooperative
approaches.
ANS: B PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Communication | AACSB HRM
34. The win-win strategy of negotiation:
a. avoids confrontation.
b. finds creative agreements that satisfy both groups.
c. encourages each group to pursue their own outcomes.
d. communicates a high commitment regarding one's position.
ANS: B PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Communication | AACSB HRM
35. _____ is rivalry among groups in the pursuit of a common prize, whereas conflict presumes direct
interference with goal achievement.
a. Authority
b. Centrality
c. Competition
d. Dependency
ANS: C PTS: 1
36. Generally, as interdependence increases, the potential for conflict:

a. increases.
b. decreases.
c. stays the same.
d. is kept at a minimum.
37. Which of the following is not a tactic for enhancing collaboation?

a. Schedule intergroup consultation
b. Create integration devices
c. Avoid confrontation
d. Practice member rotation
ANS: C PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics
38. John is a manager at XYZ Inc. His subordinates respect him, and several have made comments such
as, “I want to be as good a manager as he is one day.” He is highly respected and admired. John holds
_____ power.
a. reward
b. coercive
c. expert
d. referent
ANS: D PTS: 1
39. Empployees at Brazil-based company Seneco are permitted to control their work hours, location, and
even pay plans. Employees also participate in all organization decisions, including what businesses
Semco should pursue. Employees at Seneco are _____.
a. dependent
b. rational
c. decentralized
d. empowered
ANS: D PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles
40. Gary is a manager at YMZ Company. One day, when Gary was swamped with work, his colleague,
Charles, offered to help Gary with some of his work. Charles finished writing some reports for Gary
and made phone calls for him. A month later, when Charles was overwhelmed with work, Gary felt
obligated to help him. This example best illustrates which of the following?
a. The principle of reciprocity
b. Empowerment
c. Network centrality
d. Negotiation
ANS: A PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
TRUE/FALSE
1. Intergroup conflict requires three ingredients: group identification, observable group differences, and
commitment.
ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics
2. Intergroup conflict can occur horizontally across departments, vertically between different levels, and
between divisions or business units within the organization.
ANS: T PTS: 1
3. The sources of intergroup conflict are goal incompatibility, differentiation, task interdependence, and
limited resources.
ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics
4. Goal incompatibility can be a kind of "built-in" conflict between departments--especially marketing

and manufacturing--that are faithfully attempting to accomplish their own missions.
ANS: T PTS: 1
5. Differentiation refers to the dependence of one unit on another for materials, resources, or information.
6. Differentiation refers to the dependence of one unit on another for materials, resources, or information.
ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Individual Dynamics
7. Limited resources refer to the dependence of one unit on another for materials, resources, or
information.
8. Legitimate power is the authority to punish or recommend punishment, whereas expert power derives
from a person's greater skill or knowledge about the tasks being performed.
ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles
9. The following statement is a correct usage of the terms "power" and "authority:" Some secretaries are
likely to have a great deal of power in the organization even though they have little authority.
ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Individual Dynamics
10. Formal authority is exercised downward along the hierarchy and is the same as vertical power and
legitimate power.
ANS: T PTS: 1
11. Network centrality means that managers have access to information and people that are critical to the
company's success, and thereby increase their power base.
ANS: T PTS: 1
12. The allocation of power to middle managers and staff is dangerous because it hinders those employees
from being productive.
13. People at the bottom levels of an organization can never obtain more power than those in higher levels
of the organization.
14. Middle managers and lower-level employees do not have access to information that would increase
their power.
ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Individual Dynamics
15. Empowerment is power sharing, the delegation of power or authority to subordinates in an

organization.
ANS: T PTS: 1
16. Horizontal power is not defined by the formal hierarchy or the organization chart.
ANS: T PTS: 1
17. Strategic contingencies are succession plans that are made within the corporation.
ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Strategy
18. "He who has the gold makes the rules" refers to control of financial resources as a strategic
contingency that influences horizontal power among departments.
ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles
19. Centrality reflects a department's role in the primary activity of an organization.
ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
20. Nonsubstitutability means that departmental power will be decreased with the loss of control over
resources.
ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
21. Departments can cope with critical uncertainties by obtaining prior information, prevention, and
absorption.
ANS: T PTS: 1
22. One of the three primary domains of political activity is structural change.
ANS: T PTS: 1
23. Two of the four tactics suggested in our text for increasing management's power are: (1) Answer every
challenge, and (2) Get those who can help you indebted to you.
ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
24. A win-win strategy means that both departments adopt a positive attitude and strive to resolve the
conflict in a way that will benefit each other.
ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Strategy
25. Negotiation occurs when parties in conflict directly engage one another and try to work out their
differences.
26. The advantage of intergroup consultation is that individuals become submerged in the values, attitudes,
problems, and goals of the other department.
ANS: F PTS: 1
27. The ability to identify oneself as a part of one group and to observe differences in comparison with
other groups is necessary for conflict.
28. Horizontal conflict may occur when employees clash with bosses about new work methods, reward
systems, or job assignments.
29. A certain amount of conflict is good for an organization.
30. Resources symbolize power and influence within an organization.
31. Absorption occurs when a department takes action after an event to reduce its negative consequences.
ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Strategy
ESSAY
1. During your job interview for a position in purchasing with Ideal Corporation, the interviewer poses
the following question for you to answer: If the two departments of marketing and manufacturing have
been experiencing considerable conflict, what explanation could you offer for the likely conflict areas?
ANS:
Answer not provided.
PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles
2. Members of the marketing department have become aware that manufacturing is inflating their
expense forms when they turn in claims. If marketing decides to report manufacturing to the vice
president, they will need to proceed with care. What recommendations would you give to marketing,
based on your reading of the chapter on power and politics?
ANS:
PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics
3. Describe the conditions under which a rational model of behavior could be operative. How does the
rational model compare to the political model?
ANS:
PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Creation of Value
4. Why will the rational choice model not always work? Under what circumstances will it work?
ANS:
PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value
5. In most organizations, are decisions more likely to be made using the rational or political model of
organization? Explain and defend your position.
ANS:
6. Explain the five sources of personal power and provide an example of each.
ANS:
PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Leadership Principles
7. Working in the offices of the state legislature was an aspiring young man who provided clerical
research services for legislators on a wide range of issues. He always provided easy-to-read summary
sheets on current issues at the top of their in-baskets, and always tried to make every party so that they
would know him personally. When he realized that water distribution was a key issue in the state, he
became an expert on water distribution. Finally it got to the point that whenever bills came up that
dealt with water distribution, he provided information to the legislators that was exclusive because
they did not look elsewhere for detail. Analyze this young man's use of power, utilizing principles from
our textbook.
ANS:
8. Why is it that some employees may obtain power that is disproportionate to the level of their formal
position?
ANS:
9. What is empowerment? Describe the three elements that enable empowered employees to act more
freely to accomplish their jobs.
ANS:
10. Explain what is meant by strategic contingencies that influence horizontal power among departments,
and provide examples.
ANS:
PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Strategy
11. Today e-commerce departments have growing power in many organizations. Explain why, based on
the strategic contingencies and power sources that apply to horizontal sources of power.
ANS:
12. Do you agree with the manager who made the following statements: "As a proponent of cooperative
relationships within the organization, I believe that there is no place for the application of power and
politics. They are dirty processes that set conflict in motion." Explain your position.
ANS:
13. Describe when political activity is used.
ANS:
PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Creation of Value
14. What are similarities and differences between power and politics in organizations?
ANS:
15. Contrast three tactics for enhancing collaboration with three tactics for increasing power.
ANS:
16. From reading the chapter on power and politics, what political tactics for increasing power did you
glean that you would be willing to use?
ANS:
17. When faced with uncertainty, some departments end up losing power, and others end up gaining
power. What makes the difference? What are the actions and techniques of those departments that end
up gaining power?
ANS:
PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Group Dynamics
18. What political tactics are recommended for using power?
ANS:
19. Describe the steps of a win-win strategy and a win-lose strategy.
ANS:
20. Assume that you are called to mediate a conflict between the players and the management of Major
League Baseball. The players wanted different salary caps and were turned down. Now they are about
to go out on strike and neither side is talking to the other. What might you do to try to resolve this
conflict so that baseball will not reach the same fate it did on September 15, 1995 when the 1994
major-league season and the World Series were called off for the first time in 89 years?
ANS:
21. Place labor-management teams on a continuum ranging from cooperative to competitive; defend your
position. Then place labor-management teams on a continuum ranging from win-win strategy to win-
lose strategy; defend your position.
ANS:
PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics

Chapter 7-Organizational Conflict and Politics: Multiple Choice

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Chapter 7-Organizational Conflict and Politics: Multiple Choice

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CHAPTER 7—ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT AND POLITICS

3. The greatest cause of intergroup conflict in organizations is probably:

10. Legitimate power comes from:

11. People have authority in an organization because of:

12. Relative to power, the concept of formal authority is:

14. Vertical sources of power include all of the following except:

16. For lower level employees, network centrality:

19. Strategic contingencies refer to:

20. Dependency power is derived from:

24. We know which of the following about horizontal power?

29. Which of the following is a political tactic for increasing power?

31. Confrontation as a method of reducing conflict is likely to be more effective when:

33. Collective bargaining:

36. Generally, as interdependence increases, the potential for conflict:

37. Which of the following is not a tactic for enhancing collaboation?

ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics

ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics

4. Goal incompatibility can be a kind of "built-in" conflict between departments--especially marketing

ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics

ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Individual Dynamics

ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles

ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Individual Dynamics

ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles

ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles

ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Individual Dynamics

15. Empowerment is power sharing, the delegation of power or authority to subordinates in an

ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles

19. Centrality reflects a department's role in the primary activity of an organization.

ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value

ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value

ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value

ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Strategy

ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics

ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics

ANS: F PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics

29. A certain amount of conflict is good for an organization.

ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics

30. Resources symbolize power and influence within an organization.

ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics

ANS: T PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Strategy

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Group Dynamics

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Creation of Value

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Leadership Principles

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Leadership Principles

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Strategy

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Strategy

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles

13. Describe when political activity is used.

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Creation of Value

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Creation of Value

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Leadership Principles

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Group Dynamics

18. What political tactics are recommended for using power?

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Leadership Principles

19. Describe the steps of a win-win strategy and a win-lose strategy.

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Strategy

PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Analytic | AACSB Leadership Principles