Management Skills For Everyday Life 3rd Edition by Paula Caproni - Test Bank

Management Skills For Everyday Life 3rd Edition by Paula Caproni – Test Bank

 

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Sample Questions Are Posted Below

 

CHAPTER 5

GAINING AND USING SUSTAINABLE, ETHICAL POWER AND INFLUENCE

 

 

MULTIPLE CHOICE

 

1. All of the following are true about power except
   1. power must be actively sought
   2. power is negotiated
   3. power is a stable characteristic of a person or group (Recall, Moderate)
   4. power must be continuously replenished

 

2. According to the author, in order to use power ethically, you must _____.
   1. explicitly tell people what you want to achieve and why
   2. treat everyone with respect
   3. leave yourself open to be influenced by others
   4. all of the above (Recall, Easy)

 

3. People do not always make rational decisions because _____.
   1. people are incapable of taking in all the available relevant information (Recall, Moderate)
   2. people can predict the consequences of different courses of action
   3. most organizational decisions only affect one group or department
   4. organizations have unlimited resources

 

4. Using cognitive shortcuts _____.
   1. sometimes helps us make good decisions and sometimes doesn’t (Recall, Moderate)
   2. always helps us make good decisions
   3. never helps us make good decisions
   4. helps us make better decisions when we’re under stress

 

5. According to the textbook author, people with sustainable power and influence _____.
   1. focus on achieving the goals they believe are important
   2. take actions to shape their environments
   3. are willing to use the informal organization to achieve their goals
   4. all of the above (Recall, Easy)

 

6. The Social Styles model for understanding behavioral preferences has two dimensions:
   1. assertive/probing and high/low responsiveness (Recall, Easy)
   2. unilaterial functioning and bilateral functioning
   3. learning by doing and learning by thinking
   4. None of the above

 

 

7. The person with this Social Style emphasizes systematic use of data to make decisions.
   1. analytic (Recall, Moderate)
   2. driver
   3. amiable
   4. expressive

 

8. The person with this Social Style emphasizes competitiveness, the bottom line, and speed.
   1. analytic
   2. driver (Recall, Moderate)
   3. amiable
   4. expressive

 

9. The strengths of this Social Style include public speaking, inspiring enthusiasm, and building alliances.
   1. analytic
   2. driver
   3. amiable
   4. expressive (Recall, Difficult)

 

10. All of the following are forms of influence identified by Robert Cialdini except
    1. reciprocation
    2. autonomy (Recall, Moderate)
    3. commitment
    4. social proof

 

11. According to Robert Cialdini, the commitment/consistency rule means that _____.
    1. people are more likely to be committed to ideas that are consistent with their childhood experiences
    2. people can resist using cognitive shortcuts if they are committed to ideas that are consistent with their cultural beliefs
    3. people are more likely to agree with a request if they feel it is consistent with a commitment they have already made (Recall, Moderate)
    4. people tend to want what they believe is unique, rare, or in limited supply

 

12. In his book, “Influence: Science and Practice,” Cialdini suggests that _____.
    1. there are six types of influence that work with people from all cultures
    2. influence methods work because they act as “cognitive shortcuts”
    3. both a and b (Recall, Moderate)
    4. none of the above

 

 

13. A new student walks into a classroom and sees a professor standing at the front of the room behind a podium. In this situation, the fact that the professor is standing at the front of the room behind the podium serves as _____ to induce compliance on the part of the student.
    1. moderator
    2. eliminator
    3. trigger (Applied, Moderate)
    4. server

 

14. When we buy a brand of toothpaste because the advertisement says that “90% of dentists recommend this toothpaste”, we are using the _____ rule to make our decision.
    1. scarcity
    2. commitment
    3. authority (Recall, easy)
    4. none of the above

 

15. You are having a conversation with your best friend. Your friend says “If you’ll help me with my homework this week, I’ll take you to the movies on Saturday.”  In this situation, your friend is trying to use _____ to influence your behavior.
    1. reciprocation (Applied, Easy)
    2. authority
    3. scarcity
    4. social proof

 

16. One of the tactics used by salespeople is to tell customers that a particular item will be available for a lower price for only one day. In this situation, the salespeople are trying to use _____ to influence customer buying habits.
    1. reciprocation
    2. consistency
    3. authority
    4. scarcity (Applied, Easy)

 

17. The _____ rule works because humans engage in “now or never” thinking.
    1. reciprocation
    2. consistency
    3. authority
    4. scarcity (Recall, Easy)

 

18. Research done by Stanley Milgram found that subjects would administer electric “shocks” to another human being, even when the victim screamed and said he was having heart problems. The subjects in this experiment were most likely influenced by the _____ of the experimenter.
    1. authority (Recall, Moderate)
    2. social proof
    3. liking
    4. commitment

 

 

19. People often base their perceptions of authority on _____.
    1. titles
    2. style of dress
    3. use of language
    4. all of the above (Recall, Easy)

 

20. You are trying to convince someone to invest in a new venture because “everyone is doing it.” What should you do to maximize your influence attempt?
    1. Show potential investors a list of the other people investing in your business.
    2. Obtain testimonials from people who have previously invested in your businesses.
    3. Show potential investors how much money others have earned by investing in your businesses.
    4. All of the above. (Applied, Moderate)

 

21. Robert Cialdini says that “people live up to what they have written down.” This illustrates the power of _____.
    1. authority
    2. commitment (Recall, Easy)
    3. scarcity
    4. reciprocity

 

22. You are more likely to be influenced by your best friend than you are to be influenced by a stranger. This is an example of the power of _____.
    1. scarcity
    2. authority
    3. liking (Recall, Moderate)
    4. commitment

 

23. Research shows that waitresses and waiters who smile broadly _____.
    1. get larger tips (Recall, Difficult )
    2. get smaller tips
    3. make customers uncomfortable
    4. are regarded as more competent by their managers

 

24. The term “politics” in organizations refers to activities that _____.
    1. people engage in to influence organizational outcomes
    2. are not part of one’s official job description
    3. are not carried out through official policies
    4. all of the above (Recall, Moderate)

 

25. Politically savvy people understand that _____.
    1. timing matters
    2. it is important to adjust their behavior to the styles of others
    3. they should read a situation before jumping into it
    4. all of the above are important (Recall, Moderate)

 

 

26. Politically savvy people draw on all of the following resources except
    1. personal resources
    2. relational resources
    3. structural resources
    4. integral resources ( Recall, Moderate)

 

27. All of the following are avenues for gaining structural power except
    1. position
    2. autonomy
    3. personality (Recall, Moderate)
    4. centrality

 

28. “Criticality” refers to the degree to which _____.
    1. you can choose how, when, and where to do your job
    2. your job requires critical analysis of important organizational issues
    3. your job has a direct impact on organizational performance or is a critical link in the workflow of the organization (Recall, Moderate)
    4. none of the above

 

29. A coalition is best defined as _____.
    1. people who work independently from each other to promote issues that are important to them
    2. an informal group of people who work together to promote issues that are important to them (Recall, Moderate)
    3. a group of people who are more likely to promote groupthink as a way of obtaining agreement from others
    4. none of the above

 

30. All of the following are ways of minimizing dysfunctional organizational politics except
    1. providing clear goals and performance measures
    2. using a systematic and transparent process for making organizational decisions
    3. de-emphasizing the communication of bad news because organizational members should stay positive (Recall, Moderate)
    4. encouraging critical thinking

 

 

TRUE/FALSE

 

31. According to the research cited in this chapter, most people tend to make decisions based on a careful analysis of all available information.
    1. True
    2. False (Recall, Easy)

 

32. Using “cognitive shortcuts” always leads to poor decisions.
    1. True
    2. False (Recall, Easy)

 

 

33. People who have an analytic Social Style tend to emphasize change rather than stability.
    1. True
    2. False (Recall, Moderate)

 

34. People who have an expressive Social Style tend to be more conservative than people who have an analytic social style because they have less data to use when making decisions.
    1. True
    2. False (Recall, Moderate)

 

35. People who have an amiable Social Style tend to make decisions more quickly because they get information from many different kinds of people.
    1. True
    2. False (Recall, Moderate)

 

36. People who have a driver Social Style tend to emphasize speed.
    1. True (Recall, Moderate)
    2. False

 

37. Certain words can act as triggers, which can influence behavior and cause people to mindlessly comply with requests.
    1. True (Recall, Moderate)
    2. False

 

38. Reciprocation is most effective as an influence attempt if the “return favor” is asked for within 24 hours.
    1. True
    2. False (Recall, Moderate)

 

39. One key to using the scarcity rule in influence attempts is to highlight exclusive information.
    1. True (Applied, Easy)
    2. False

 

40. According to Cialdini, someone who follows a manager’s directions because that person is a manager is being influenced by authority.
    1. True (Applied, Easy)
    2. False

 

41. A person who makes a public statement about a planned action (for example, announcing to your employees that “I will increase profits in this company by 20 percent.”) is less likely to accomplish that action than someone who remains quiet about his or her plans.
    1. True
    2. False (Recall, Moderate)

 

42. Sharing positive experiences with someone can increase your influence with that person.
    1. True (Recall, easy)
    2. False (Recall, Difficult)

 

43. The six universal forms of influence described by Robert Cialdini include authority, commitment/consistency, scarcity, liking, social proof, and reciprocity.
    1. True (Applied, Easy)
    2. False

 

44. Some forms of political behavior can increase innovation in organizations.
    1. True (Recall, Moderate)
    2. False

 

45. People who use relational power effectively rarely change the style in which they communicate their message because they know that all audiences should hear the same thing.
    1. True
    2. False (Recall, Difficult)

 

46. People who work in routine jobs that require limited judgment are more easily replaced than people who have autonomy over how their work is done.
    1. True (Recall, Easy)
    2. False

 

47. A coalition is an informal group of people who work together to promote issues that are important to them.
    1. True (Recall, Easy)
    2. False

 

48. Providing clear goals, performance measures, and feedback tends to increase political behavior in organizations.
    1. True
    2. False (Recall, Easy)

 

49. One way of minimizing dysfunctional organizational politics is to use systematic and transparent decision-making processes.
    1. True (Recall, Moderate)
    2. False

 

 

 

ESSAY QUESTIONS

 

50. Power can be gained and used either ethically or unethically. What is the primary difference between ethical and unethical power, and what steps should you take to gain and use power ethically?

 

• The basic difference between unethical and ethical power is that unethical power is used primarily for the good of the individual, and ethical power is used for the good of the group as well as the individual. Individuals who use ethical power are willing to sometimes sacrifice their own goals for the good of the group.\
• Ways to gain ethical power:
• Explicitly tell people what you want to achieve and why.
• Put the interests of others and the organization at least on par with your own. interests and, when appropriate, put other’s interests ahead of your own.
• Treat everyone with respect, administer organizational policies and procedures fairly, and do not abuse anyone’s rights or exploit people.
• Leave yourself reasonable open to be influenced by others.
• Back your requests with supporting data.

 

 

 

51. What is the Social Styles Model, and why is it important for developing influence?

 

• The Social Styles Model is a theory that can be used to understand the behavior and preferences of people. The model assumes that: 1) we all have predictable and taken-for-granted ways of behaving, including how we make decisions, interact with others, and resolve conflicts; 2) if we understand our preferred styles as well as the preferred styles of the others, we can avoid some of the problems that arise from the misunderstandings, conflicts, and frustrations that can occur when people with different styles interact; and 3) we are more likely to influence others if we build relationships based on mutual understanding and respect.
• The Social Styles Model measures people on two dimensions: 1) Assertive/probing (whether a person pushes his/her own ideas or draws ideas out from others); and 2) High responsiveness/low responsiveness (whether a person prefers to be rational, objective and task-focused, or emotionally expressive, intuitive, and relationship-focused.
• Based on a person’s preferences, they are characterized as an analytic, a driver, an amiable, or and expressive. All four types have different preferences for receiving and working with information, and all four are most effectively influenced in different ways.  By knowing a person’s preferred style, you can select and use an influence strategy that is most likely to gain the support of that person.  By knowing your own style, you can leverage your strengths, minimize your weaknesses, and better understand how you may be perceived by others.

 

 

General Characteristics of Each Social Style

Analytic	Driver
Emphasizes facts, data, and procedures	Emphasizes goals and bottom-line results
Well organized	Decisive and direct
Systematic, logical, objective	Encourages risk taking
Careful, detailed, disciplined	Competitive
Conservative	Impatient
Reserved	Uses report talk (facts and information)
Uses report talk (facts and information)	Fast-talking and may interrupt
Asks questions	Focuses on content not style
Chooses words carefully	Uses bold gestures and direct eye contact
Focuses on content not style	Leans forward and may be loud
Uses limited gestures and facial expressions	May not praise others
Uses deliberate and slow decision making	May be formal
May need to be right	May not want to be told what to do
Amiable	Expressive
Emphasizes collaboration	Emphasizes positive vision of the future
Good listener and agreeable	Enthusiastic, energetic, can-do attitude
Uses rapport talk (building relationships)	Uses rapport talk (building relationships)
Tries to see others’ perspectives	Likes to think out loud
Empathetic	Optimistic, dramatic, and spontaneous
Asks questions	Encourages innovation and risk taking
Wants to include everyone	Social, playful, and comfortable
Prefers consensus	with most people
Likes routine	Leans forward, uses bold eye contact
Often quiet, slow, and steady	Uses animated gestures/facial expressions
Easygoing and modest	Fast-talking
Uses open, unhurried gestures	Expresses emotions and concern
May not give direct statements/opinions	Likes to be center of attention
May avoid making big decisions	May speak in generalities
	May not seek out data to back up intuition

 

 

 

52. Based on the research of Robert Cialdini, describe each of the six universal forms of influence and provide an example of each. (Note that each student may describe different examples, but the six universal forms of influence are those listed below.)

 

• Reciprocation: People feel obligated to pay back favors, gifts, and help that they receive from others. (“If you scratch my back, I’ll scratch your back.”).
• Commitment/consistency: People are more likely to agree with a request if they feel it is consistent with a commitment they have made (especially a commitment that they make publicly or write down) or a behavior they have taken in the past.
• Authority: People tend to obey people they perceive to be authorities and experts.
• Social proof: People are more willing to support an idea if they know that other people support it, especially if they perceive the other people to be similar to them.
• Scarcity: People tend to want what they believe is unique, rare, or in limited supply.
• Liking:  People want to support the people they like

 

 

53. You are attempting to increase your structural power in your organization. Describe at least 4 strategies you can use to increase your structural power.

 

• Get a position of authority because doing so enables you to have control over other people’s access to resources.
• Build autonomy into your job so that you can decide how to spend your day, who you build relationships with, and how you do so.
• Make sure that your job is perceived as critical to the workflow of the organization, or get yourself on projects that are critical to the organization’s success.
• Increase your centrality to organizational networks by gaining control of information, expertise, connections or other resources people need to achieve their goals.
• Join coalitions that can help you to promote common interests.

 

 

54. As a manager, what steps can you take to minimize dysfunctional political behavior in your organization?

 

• Provide clear goals, performance measures and feedback so employees stay focused on the task and can link their behavior to important organizational results
• Reward individuals and groups for achieving not only personal and unit results, but overall organizational results.
• Provide clear guidelines for the attitudes and behaviors that can lead to promotions, salary increases, and other forms of career advancement.
• Provide training in how to demonstrate these attitudes and behaviors – and visibly promote people based on these characteristics
• Use a systematic and transparent process for making important organizational decisions, including decisions about career advancement, and ensuring that employees understand how these decisions are made.
• Provide people with opportunity to participate in decision-making, as well as with the information they need to make and implement effective decisions.
• Make it clear that dysfunctional political behavior – self-promotion, turf building, and other behaviors that harm other employees, departments, customers, shareholders, or the organizational goals — will not be tolerated.
• Encourage critical thinking and the reporting of bad news so that employees don’t feel silenced by fear.