HRM 360 CHAPTER 13 T-F

Power is a function of ________.

dependence

Which of the following statements is true regarding power?

If A has the capacity to influence the behavior of B, then A is said to have power over B.

Which of the following is a differentiating factor between power and leadership?

goal compatibility

Which of the following is a feature of power?

lack of goal compatibility between leaders and followers

Which of the following is true with regard to leadership?

It focuses on downward influence on followers.

Research on power is likely to provide information on the most effective ________.

tactics for gaining compliance of employees

Unlike power, leadership requires some degree of goal compatibility.

TRUE

For a power situation to exist, one person or group needs to have control over resources the other person or group values.

TRUE

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.

TRUE

Define power.

Power refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B so B acts in accordance with A’s wishes. Someone can thus have power but not use it; it is a capacity or potential. Probably, the most important aspect of power is that it is a function of dependency. The greater B’s dependence on A, the greater A’s power in the relationship. Dependence, in turn, is based on alternatives that B perceives, and the importance B places on the alternative(s) A controls. A person can have power over you only if he or she controls something you desire.

Contrast leadership and power.

Power does not require goal compatibility, merely dependence. Leadership, on the other hand, requires some congruence between the goals of the leader and those being led. A second difference relates to the direction of influence. Leadership focuses on the downward influence on one’s followers. It minimizes the importance of lateral and upward influence patterns. Power does not. Still another difference deals with research emphasis. Leadership research, for the most part, emphasizes style. It seeks answers to such questions as How supportive should a leader be? How much decision making should be shared with followers? The research on power encompasses a broader area and focuses on tactics for gaining compliance. Power can be used by groups as well as by individuals to control other individuals or groups.

The two general groupings into which power may be categorized are ________.

formal and personal

________ power is based on the fear of the negative results from failing to comply.

Coercive

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.

coercive

________ power represents the compliance that is achieved based on the ability to distribute positive benefits that others view as valuable.

Reward

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 ________.

reward power

Legitimate power is directly based on ________.

structural position of the manager in the organization

Which of the following statements is true regarding legitimate power?

Legitimate power is broader than the power to coerce and reward.

Which of the following types of power can be categorized as personal power?

referent

________ power is influence wielded as a result of proficiency, special skill, or knowledge.

Expert

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 ________.

expert power

________ power is based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits.

Referent

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?

Mr. Parker has a high degree of referent power.

Which of the following is true with regard to bases of power?

The personal sources of power are most effective for increasing employee performance and satisfaction.

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?

Will is uncomfortable exercising coercive measures to control employees.

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?

The sole criterion for Joanna’s promotion was her effectiveness in meeting individual targets.

Which of the following types of power is most likely to be negatively related to employee satisfaction and commitment?

coercive power

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.

dependence

Dependence would be low when ________.

the goods have substitutes

Expert power is based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits.

FALSE

List and discuss the bases of formal power.

Formal power can come from the ability to coerce or reward, from formal authority, or from control of information. a) Coercive power: The coercive power base is dependent on fear. One reacts to this power out of fear of the negative results that might occur if one failed to comply. A has coercive power over B if A can dismiss, suspend, or demote B, assuming that B values his or her job. b) Reward power: The opposite of coercive power is reward power. People comply with the wishes or directives of another because doing so produces positive benefits. Therefore, one who can distribute rewards that others view as valuable will have power over those others. These rewards can be either financial or nonfinancial. c) Legitimate power: In formal groups and organizations, probably the most common access to one or more of the power bases is through legitimate power. It represents the formal authority to control and use organizational resources based on structural position in the organization.

Explain expert power with reference to the dimensions of importance, scarcity, and nonsubstitutability.

Expert power is influence wielded as a result of expertise, special skill, or knowledge. As jobs become more specialized, we become increasingly dependent on experts to achieve goals. It is generally acknowledged that physicians have expertise and hence expert power. Expert power arises from the fact that: a) experts have specialized knowledge that others seek to use. In organizations, experts are people who can absorb uncertainty and are believed to be controlling an important resource. b) the expertise, special skill, and knowledge that experts have is not abundantly available and this factor makes expertise a very important determinant of personal power. c) until others in the organization learn and amass enough experience, the experts are a group of people who have no substitutes. The fewer viable substitutes for a resource, the more power control over that resource provides.

How does reward power contribute to sexual harassment?

An individual with a high degree of reward power is someone who can distribute rewards others view as valuable and thus, has power over them. These rewards can be either financial—such as controlling pay rates, raises, and bonuses—or nonfinancial, including recognition, promotions, interesting work assignments, friendly colleagues, and preferred work shifts or sales territories. This makes sexual harassment especially disturbing for employees. Because employees want favorable performance reviews, salary increases, and the like, supervisors control resources most employees consider important and scarce. Thus, sexual harassment by the boss typically creates the greatest difficulty for those being harassed.

Which of the following power tactics involves increasing the target’s support by involving him or her in decision making?

consultation

Which of the following power tactics uses warnings and threats and is typically the least effective of all the power tactics?

pressure

The power tactic of using flattery and creating goodwill before making a request is known as ________.

ingratiation

Rational persuasion is a power tactic that involves the use of ________.

logical arguments and factual evidence

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?

exchange

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?

coalition

Which of the following power tactics is more effective when the audience is highly interested in the outcomes of a decision process?

consultation

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.

legitimacy and ingratiation

________ is the only tactic effective across organizational levels.

Rational persuasion

Which of the following power tactics can be used most effectively for exerting lateral influence?

coalition

Which of the following power tactics would be considered a soft tactic?

rational persuasion

Which of the following power tactics would be considered a hard tactic?

coalition

Which of the following statements is true with regard to the effectiveness of tactics?

The combination of a soft tactic with reasonable persuasion is more effective than a combination of two hard tactics.

For a person to be recognized as having a high degree of political skill, he or she must have the ________.

ability to influence others to enhance their own objectives

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.

FALSE

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.

TRUE

Power tactics that emphasize formal power are personal and inspirational appeals, rational persuasion, and consultation.

FALSE

One tool to assess the exchange of resources and dependencies within an organization is social network analysis.

TRUE

What power tactics can employees use to translate their power bases into specific actions and how does each one work?

Research has identified nine distinct tactics of political influence. 1. Legitimacy involves relying on one’s authority position or stressing that a request is in accordance with organizational policies or rules. 2. Rational persuasion involves presenting logical arguments and factual evidence to demonstrate that a request is reasonable. 3. Inspirational appeals involve developing emotional commitment by appealing to a target’s values, needs, hopes, and aspirations. 4. Consultation involves increasing a target’s motivation and support by involving him or her in deciding how a plan or change will be implemented. 5. Exchange involves rewarding targets with benefits or favors in exchange for following a request. 6. Personal appeals involve asking for compliance based on friendship or loyalty. 7. Ingratiation involves using flattery, praise, or friendly behavior prior to making a request. 8. Pressure involves using warnings, repeated demands, and threats. 9. Finally, coalitions involve enlisting the aid of other people to persuade a target or using the support of others as a reason for the target to agree.

Differentiate between rational persuasion and inspirational appeals in terms of their operation and direction of influence.

Rational persuasion is a power tactic that involves presenting logical arguments and factual evidence to demonstrate a request is reasonable, while inspirational appeals as a power tactic operate by appealing to one’s emotions. When using an inspirational appeal, one is attempting to develop an emotional commitment by appealing to a target’s values, needs, hopes, and aspirations. Further, rational persuasion is a tactic that can be used effectively across different levels, while inspirational appeal works best as a downward-influencing tactic with subordinates.

Discuss the effectiveness of various influence tactics.

The effectiveness of some influence tactics depends on the direction of influence. Rational persuasion is the only tactic effective across organizational levels. Inspirational appeals work best as a downward-influencing tactic with subordinates. When pressure works, it’s generally downward only. Personal appeals and coalitions are most effective as lateral influence. Other factors that affect the effectiveness of influence include the sequencing of tactics, a person’s skill in using the tactic, and the organizational culture. You’re more likely to be effective if you begin with "softer" tactics that rely on personal power, such as personal and inspirational appeals. If these fail, you can move to "harder" tactics, such as exchange and coalitions. People differ in their political skill, or their ability to influence others to enhance their own objectives. The politically skilled are more effective users of all of the influence tactics. The organizational culture at the company where a person works will have a bearing on which tactics are considered appropriate. Some cultures encourage participation and consultation, some encourage reason, and still others rely on pressure. People who fit the culture of the organization tend to obtain more influence.

Discuss how power affects people and consider whether power is corruptive.

There is evidence that there are corrupting aspects of power. Evidence suggests that power leads people to place their own interests ahead of others. Why does this happen? Interestingly, research suggests that power not only leads people to focus on their self-interests because they can, it also liberates people to focus inward and thus come to place greater weight on their goals and interests. Power also appears to lead individuals to "objectify" others, to value relations with people with less power, and to see relationships as more peripheral. Powerful people react especially negatively to any threats to their competence. They’re more willing to denigrate others. People given power are more likely to make self-interested decisions when faced with moral hazard. Power also leads to overconfident decision making.

Which of the following statements is true?

A clear understanding of the actions that constitute sexual harassment does not exist.

Which of the following is an overt form of sexual harassment?

unwanted physical touching

Which of the following is a subtle form of sexual harassment?

making jokes with sexual overtones

Connie Cole works as a junior market analyst at SPS Services. Her previous manager retired a couple of months back, and she now has a younger male manager who repeatedly insists that she accompany him for a coffee or dinner after work. Initially, Connie was unsuspecting and refused because she did not have the time for such engagements during weekdays. Later, when her manager’s requests became frequent, she grew uncomfortable and firmly told him that she was not interested in him and his attempts were not welcome. She realized that this step could backfire because, as her superior, he has complete control over her appraisals, bonuses, and promotions. Her manager even told her that if she does not agree, he will "find other ways." Connie’s experiences are best described as ________.

sexual harassment

Which of the following factors can lead to greater probability of sexual harassment at the workplace?

large power differentials

Which of the following is true with regard to sexual harassment at the workplace?

The best approach to preventing accusations of sexual harassment is to refrain from any behavior that may be taken as harassing.

Tina Simmons worked as a welder at a shipyard company where she was forced to encounter nude and partially nude pictures posted by her male co-workers in common areas. The men also referred to her using obscene nicknames and made offensive remarks concerning her body. When Tina complained, her supervisor took no corrective action despite having an active sexual harassment policy approved by the EEOC. Tina wished to file a discrimination suit but instead she chose to endure the harassment as she could not risk losing her job. Which of the following, if true, would have strengthened her resolve to file a discrimination suit?

The company policy prescribed that Tina would face no backlash if she approached the EEOC.

Which of the following is an assertive impression management technique?

flattery

Which of the following is a self-focused impression management technique?

enhancement

Which of the following impression management techniques involves an individual admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and simultaneously seeking to get a pardon for the action?

apologies

Which of the following impression management techniques uses ingratiation?

conformity

Recently, Curtis Gibson had an interview for the position of a senior manager at a transit service. At the interview, the interviewer made a passing remark about how policies can make or break the best economy in the world. Immediately, Curtis launched into a discussion of how true the interviewer was, substantiating his claim with stories from real economies around the world. Similarly, when the interviewer suggested that Curtis work the earlier shift because, if selected, he would have to commute a significant bit to reach work, Curtis vehemently agreed, saying, "You couldn’t be more right." Which of the following impression management techniques is Curtis using?

conformity

Winston Mayer is a sales manager for a large company producing beverages and ready-to-eat meals. Winston is often seen working late and on weekends although the company stipulates a five-day workweek. Winston justifies his working extra by claiming that "in sales, one cannot afford to waste a minute" and he is often condescending when subordinates take their allotted time off. He frequently speaks to his manager about the deals he finalizes when he is working beyond the normal working hours to prove his point. From the information provided, we can say that Winston is using ________ as an impression management technique here.

exemplification

In the last month, Stacey, an intelligent and astute employee, has finished only half the work she was scheduled to complete. In addition, she has been taking frequent leaves, citing her ill health as the reason, but her manager suspects she has been playing truant. When the manager confronted her about her pending work, Stacey gave excuses: the work was time-consuming, she was unwell, and it was not a high-priority project in the first place. In this scenario, Stacey is using a(n) ________ impression management technique.

defensive

Which of the following can be used to understand how power and politics in an organization can help you achieve your career goals?

political mapping

Unwanted physical touching is an overt form of sexual harassment.

TRUE

Self-promotion works well as an impression management technique for interviews as well as performance evaluations.

FALSE

In countries that are more politically unstable, employees seem to demonstrate greater tolerance of intense political processes in the workplace.

TRUE

What is impression management? Who is more likely to engage in impression management?

The process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others form of them is called impression management. High self-monitors are more likely to engage in impression management. Low self-monitors tend to present images of themselves that are consistent with their personalities, regardless of the beneficial or detrimental effects for them. In contrast, high self-monitors are good at reading situations and molding their appearances and behavior to fit each situation.

Explain impression management and discuss which impression management techniques are most effective in an interview.

The process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others form of them is called impression management (IM). Some IM techniques work better in interviews than others. Researchers have compared applicants whose IM techniques focused on promoting their accomplishments (self-promotion) to those who focused on complimenting the interviewer and finding areas of agreement (ingratiation). In general, applicants appear to use self-promotion more than ingratiation. What’s more, self-promotion tactics may be more important to interview success. Applicants who work to create an appearance of competence by enhancing their accomplishments, taking credit for successes, and explaining away failures do better in interviews. These effects reach beyond the interview: applicants who use more self-promotion tactics also seem to get more follow-up job-site visits, even after adjusting for grade-point average, gender, and job type. Ingratiation also works well in interviews: applicants who compliment the interviewer, agree with his or her opinions, and emphasize areas of fit do better than those who don’t.

Political behaviors usually ________.

lie outside of an individual’s specified job requirements

Which of the following factors contributes to political behavior in the organization?

presence of limited resources in the organization

________ occurs when people within organizations use whatever influence they can to taint the facts to support their goals and interests.

Politicking

Whistle-blowing is not considered to be a political behavior.

FALSE

Limited resources is one of the major reasons for the development of organizational politics.

TRUE

Define political behavior and explain its features.

Political behavior in organizations consists of activities that are not required as part of an individual’s formal role but that influence, or attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization. Political behavior is outside specified job requirements. It requires some attempt to use power bases. It includes efforts to influence the goals, criteria, or processes used for decision making. Political behavior may include varied behaviors such as withholding key information from decision makers, joining a coalition, whistle-blowing, spreading rumors, leaking confidential information to the media, exchanging favors with others in the organization for mutual benefit, and lobbying on behalf of or against a particular individual or decision alternative.

Define sexual harassment and identify ways managers can protect themselves and their employees from it.

Sexual harassment is defined as any unwanted activity of a sexual nature that affects an individual’s employment and creates a hostile work environment. Sexual harassment can wreak havoc on an organization, not to mention the victims themselves, but it can be avoided. Managers can do several things to protect themselves and their employees. 1. Make sure an active policy defines what constitutes sexual harassment, informs employees they can be fired for sexually harassing another employee, and establishes procedures for making complaints. 2. Reassure employees they will not encounter retaliation if they file a complaint. 3. Investigate every complaint and inform the legal and human resource departments. 4. Make sure offenders are disciplined or terminated. 5. Set up in-house seminars to raise employee awareness of sexual harassment issues.

Employees exhibiting which of the following features are more likely to engage in political behavior?

Machiavellian personality

Which of the following is an individual factor that influences political behavior?

perceived job alternatives

If an individual ________, then he or she is less likely to engage in illegitimate political behavior.

has invested a lot in the organization in terms of time and efforts

Which of the following is an organizational factor that increases illegitimate political behavior?

zero-sum reward practice

Which of the following organizational factors encourages political behavior?

allowing significant time to pass between the time of an action and its appraisal

Timothy Jenkins had been working for six years at Hartford Mills, a company that takes a strong stand against unionization. Though Timothy’s designation was that of a production supervisor, as the company grew, he also took on additional duties like keeping a check on employee safety, ensuring that legal measures are followed, and implementing programs for labor welfare that the company planned. Many believed that Timothy was doing a great job for the company, and so it came as a surprise when Timothy was rumored to face severe disciplinary action, as he was encouraging the workers to join a union. However, he was let off with a mere warning. Which of the following, if true, would explain this paradox?

Timothy claimed that he was only looking to ensure greater employee welfare, which was one of the duties the company had assigned to him.

Timothy Jenkins had been working for six years at Hartford Mills, a company that takes a strong stand against unionization. Though Timothy’s designation was that of a production supervisor, as the company grew, he also took on additional duties like keeping a check on employee safety, ensuring that legal measures are followed, and implementing programs for labor welfare that the company planned. Many believed that Timothy was doing a great job for the company, and so it came as a surprise when Timothy was rumored to face severe disciplinary action, as he was encouraging the workers to join a union. However, he was let off with a mere warning. Timothy argued that he was only doing his job—a job in which he had responsibility for improving the welfare of employees. Which of the following, if true, would help Hartford Mills avoid such situations in the future?

specifying the permissible and prohibited aspects of an employee’s formal role in the organization

To avoid politicking during performance evaluations, an organization should ________.

use objective criteria

Under the zero-sum approach, rewards are distributed such that ________.

rewards increase for a group at the expense of loss for another group

Reactive and protective behaviors designed to avoid action, blame, or change are termed ________.

defensive behaviors

Will Cears works at Mesner Corp. as a middle-level manager. Will recognizes that his firm is plagued by organizational politics. Since he is not good at playing games, he frequently engages in defensive behaviors in order to protect himself and his interests. Will is frustrated because he believes that he has little control over his environment and his environment is uncomfortable to him. He has had some success at establishing a sense of control for himself by appearing to be cooperative and supportive to his colleagues. However, he continues to hold his reservations against politicking and does not engage in it. This is an example of ________ in order to avoid action, blame, or change.

stalling

Buck passing is seen when an employee ________.

transfers responsibility for the execution of a task or decision to someone else

Which of the following defensive behaviors involves rigorously documenting activity to project an image of competence and thoroughness?

buffing

Placing the blame for a negative outcome on external factors that are not entirely blameworthy is known as ________.

scapegoating

Daphne is one of the three project managers at Virgo Inc., an art and design studio. Raymond and Gabriel, the other two project managers, are unhappy working with Daphne as she always selects projects that suit her area of expertise and avoids projects which require more ambiguous work, have tight deadlines, and represent a low probability of success. Raymond and Gabriel feel that they deserve greater credit than Daphne for being open and accepting different work demands and situations, as opposed to Daphne, who always takes a conservative and risk-averse approach. Daphne is using the defensive behavior of ________ here.

playing safe

Which of the following defensive behaviors involves developing explanations that lessen one’s responsibility for a negative outcome and apologizing to demonstrate remorse?

justifying

Which of the following is a defensive behavior that is used to avoid change?

preventing

Which of the following differentiates between high self-monitors and low self-monitors?

High self-monitors tend to mold their appearances and behavior to fit each situation, while low self-monitors tend to present images of themselves that are consistent with their personalities.

The low self-monitor is more sensitive to social cues, exhibits higher levels of social conformity, and is more likely to be skilled in political behavior than the high self-monitor.

FALSE

The Machiavellian personality is characterized by the will to manipulate and the desire for power.

TRUE

Using a single outcome measure is recommended when designing a performance evaluation system.

FALSE

When the production manager at CalTrack was asked to provide reasons for the delay in the last batch of stock to be produced for the month, he clearly stated that this was the result of one of his front-level managers taking two days off and that the fault was not his. The manager is using buffing as a defensive behavior here.

FALSE

What are the various individual factors that make a person more likely to engage in political behavior?

At the individual level, researchers have identified certain personality traits, needs, and other factors likely to be related to political behavior. In terms of traits, employees who are high self-monitors, possess an internal locus of control, and have a high need for power are more likely to engage in political behavior. The high self-monitor is more sensitive to social cues, exhibits higher levels of social conformity, and is more likely to be skilled in political behavior than the low self-monitor. Because they believe they can control their environment, individuals with an internal locus of control are more prone to take a proactive stance and attempt to manipulate situations in their favor. Not surprisingly, the Machiavellian personality, characterized by the will to manipulate and the desire for power, is comfortable using politics as a means to further his or her self-interest.

What are defensive behaviors? Provide three examples of defensive behaviors and explain why an employee would engage in the behavior.

Defensive behaviors occur when people perceive politics as a threat rather than an opportunity. They respond with reactive and protective behaviors to avoid action, blame, or change. Defensive behaviors are often associated with negative feelings toward the job and work environment. In the short run, employees may find that defensiveness protects their self-interest. But in the long run, it is the only way they know how to behave. At that point, they lose the trust and support of their peers, bosses, employees, and clients. Buck passing is transferring responsibility for the execution of a task or decision to someone else. Employees engage in buck passing with the goal of avoiding action. Playing safe is evading situations that may reflect unfavorably. It includes taking on only projects with a high probability of success, having risky decisions approved by superiors, qualifying expressions of judgment, and taking neutral positions in conflicts. Employees engage in playing it safe with the goal of avoiding blame. Self-protection is acting in ways to protect one’s self-interest during change by guarding information or other resources. Employees engage in self-protection in order to avoid change.

Victor Ortiz was a successful and popular manager at the marketing division of a consumer goods company. Many attributed the company’s immense success in the last two years to Victor’s highly creative marketing plans, which cost the company very little but increased the visibility of its products. He also effectively tied up with new retail chains so the demand for their products grows as the new retail chains grow. Recently, a subordinate alleged that Victor had sexually harassed her, and stories of similar allegations made against him in the past resurfaced. The situation was laid to rest when Victor made an appearance with the victim by his side claiming that the allegations were baseless as he was romantically involved with her. Though this announcement did not convince people, the allegations against Victor were withdrawn. From the information provided in this scenario, this outcome can be explained by the fact that ________.

Victor has enough power to get away with his misdeeds

The more effort applicants put into highlighting their skills, motivation, and admiration for the organization, the more likely they are to be hired.

TRUE

When two organizations with very political environments interact with one another, the political interactions between them can hurt performance in collaborative projects.

TRUE

Studies from multiple countries around the world have similarly shown that higher levels of political skill are associated with lower levels of perceived job performance.

FALSE