Exam Prep Chapter 11 Strategy And Organizational Politics - Complete Test Bank | Strategy Theory and Practice 3e by Clegg by Stewart R Clegg. DOCX document preview.
Test Bank
Chapter 11: Strategy and organizational politics
Below are a number of multiple choice questions relevant to this chapter. There are two to three variations on the same questions. Each question has four options; the correct answer is written in the final column. Some questions are very simple, while others are much more difficult; this should be taken into account when setting quizzes or exams.
Example of possible instruction to students:
For each of the following questions, read each question carefully and then choose the answer you believe is most correct:
Question and options | # | Ans. |
Strategies can go awry because of: a. unforeseen externalities b. organizational politics c. both unforeseen externalities and organizational politics d. neither unforeseen externalities nor organizational politics | 1 | |
Which thinker is associated with the political perspective: a. Machiavelli b. Mintzberg c. Sun Tzu d. Ansoff | 2 | |
Organizational politics is the use of ______ to advance self-interest. a. knowledge b. position c. networks d. all of these | 3 | |
Interests can be defined in terms of: a. the relations between actors b. discursive rationalities c. structural positions d. all of the above | 4 | |
A strategic interest emerges when: a. there is something at issue, which divides opinions b. there is something at issue, on which people take sides c. both there is something at issue, which divides opinions and there is something at issue, on which people take sides d. neither there is something at issue, which divides opinions nor there is something at issue, on which people take sides | 5 | |
In organizations, ______ have strategic interests. a. all actors b. only a few actors c. some actors d. only CEOs | 6 | |
Mintzberg identified which of the following as political games played in organizations: a. sponsorship games b. legacy games c. Machiavellian games d. sporting games | 7 | |
Fligstein found that the background of CEOs in the USA changed in the second half of the 20th century from ______ to ______. a. finance to operations b. operations to finance c. finance to marketing d. marketing to finance | 8 | |
Power games played between organizational sub-groups are often referred to as: a. in-fighting b. micro-politics c. face saving d. point scoring | 9 | |
Political skill entails: a. using knowledge astutely in a manner that best serves the strategic interest one is seeking to advance b. using knowledge to corner and belittle the opponent c. always claiming to be right d. never losing a battle | 10 | |
Crick (2004) defined politics as: a. the mobilization of support for a position b. the mobilization of support for a decision c. the mobilization of support for an action d. all of these | 11 | |
What do organizational politics arise from, according to Pettigrew? a. structural divisions in the organization between different component elements and identities with different values, affective, cognitive and discursive styles b. the complexity and the degree of uncertainty attached to the dilemma that strategy seeks to address c. the salience of issues for different actors and identities in the organization d. all of these | 12 | |
What do organizational politics arise from, according to Pettigrew? a. the external pressure coming from stakeholders or other actors or organizations in the environment b. the history of past politics in the organizations in question c. both the external pressure coming from stakeholders or other actors or organizations in the environment and the history of past politics in the organizations in question d. neither the external pressure coming from stakeholders or other actors or organizations in the environment nor the history of past politics in the organizations in question | 13 | |
Organizations are often lived and experienced as a series of ‘turf wars’ between: a. different branches b. different divisions and departments c. different occupations and cultures d. all of these | 14 | |
Power is ultimately deployed in: a. games of organizational symbolism b. simulation games c. both games of organizational symbolism and simulation games d. neither games of organizational symbolism nor simulation games | 15 | |
Power is: a. something you have or possess b. always relational c. absent in an organization d. not used in strategic decision-making | 16 | |
Power only begins to be organizationally meaningful when: a. stakeholders agree on specific decisions b. stakeholders disagree on specific decisions c. the relations of organizational power enable you to do certain things that others may be restricted from doing d. none of these | 17 | |
Organizational power involves a relation: a. in which you can get another person to do something b. in which you can get another person to do something in a manner that accords with your expressed intentions as to how it should be done c. both in which you can get another person to do something and in which you can get another person to do something in a manner that accords with your expressed intentions as to how it should be done d. neither in which you can get another person to do something nor in which you can get another person to do something in a manner that accords with your expressed intentions as to how it should be done | 18 | |
Organizations are devices for: a. distributing power relations b. negating power relations c. stopping power relations d. transforming power relations | 19 | |
Political competence means being the kind of manager who can get things done: a. despite resistance b. without resistance c. ignoring resistance d. none of these | 20 | |
Power relations are typically thought of as being distributed spatially in organizations: a. up b. down c. across the organization d. all of these | 21 | |
Internal tournaments occur where strategic proposals are based on specific: a. spheres of competence b. functional responsibilities c. disciplinary knowledge d. all of these | 22 | |
Strategies need circuits of ______ to be implemented. a. knowledge b. power c. communication d. boundary objects | 23 | |
Which of the following is NOT a dimension of power in Lukes’ framework? a. formal decision-making b. non-decision-making c. the existing order of things d. empowerment | 24 | |
Any successful strategy will be premised on: a. knowledge b. power c. both knowledge and power d. neither knowledge nor power | 25 | |
What is the relationship between power and knowledge? a. Power is based on knowledge. b. Power uses knowledge. c. Power reproduces knowledge. d. all of these | 26 | |
A strategic decision can be defined as a decision that: a. has long-term organizational implications for key success factors, such as access and control of resources and effective performance b. is sanctioned by those with power c. gains approval of the top management team d. is the outcome of political contests | 27 | |
Who is credited with coining the term bounded rationality? a. James March b. Herbert Simon c. Henry Mintzberg d. Richard Cyert | 28 | |
Who is credited with coining the term satisficing? a. James March b. Herbert Simon c. Henry Mintzberg d. Richard Cyert | 29 | |
The garbage can is: a. a metaphor of organizational decision-making b. a flawed set of assumptions about organizational decision-making c. a framework for improving organizational decision-making d. none of these | 30 | |
The garbage can model of organizational decision-making states that: a. organizations need to gather lots of information from diverse sources to inform decisions b. decisions should be made when solutions, problems, participants and choices are an optimal fit c. decisions are made when solutions, problems, participants and choices coincide in often random ways d. decisions are made when solutions, problems, participants and choices are brought together in carefully planned ways | 31 | |
The garbage can seeks to capture the image of which of the following? a. problems and solutions b. rubbish c. opportunities d. threats | 32 | |
A decision gets made when all elements of the garbage can: a. coincide at a certain point b. always coincide c. never coincide d. none of these | 33 | |
Which of the following statements is correct? a. The garbage can emphasizes the contingent nature of decision-making. b. The garbage can emphasizes the anarchic nature of decision-making. c. The garbage can emphasizes the random nature of decision-making. d. The garbage can emphasizes the political nature of decision-making. | 34 | |
Organizational subgroups form coalitions to try to frame ______ in decision-making according to their ______. a. identities/ideas b. issues/ideologies c. politics/ideologies d. issues/interests | 35 | |
When a strategy proceeds that favours a dominant group this is known as: a. the mobilization of will b. the mobilization of elites c. the mobilization of bias d. the mobilization of vested interests | 36 | |
The Top Decisions research at the University of Bradford was mainly interested in answering which of the following questions? a. how strategic decisions are structured as processes b. how strategic decisions should be made c. why the decision made was a good decision d. none of the above | 37 | |
Which of the following was NOT an independent variable in the Top Decisions research, thought to have an impact on the nature of the decision-making process? a. the gender of the managers b. the type of organizational context c. the level of politics associated with a decision d. the complexity of the decision | 38 | |
The Top Decisions research identified which of the following decision-making processes? a. sporadic decisions b. fluid decisions c. constricted decisions d. all of these | 39 | |
The Top Decisions research found that the average time taken to make a strategic decision was: a. one month b. six months c. twelve months d. two years | 40 | |
The Top Decisions research identified what time difference between decision-making in public sector and private sector organizations? a. little difference b. Public sector organizations took longer to make decisions. c. Private sector organizations took longer to make decisions. d. Public sector organizations never made decisions but kept putting them off. | 41 | |
The Top Decisions research defined a sporadic decision as one that: a. involves many interests and tends to move horizontally in the organization b. tends to move vertically in the organization and exhibits stops and starts c. both involves many interests and tends to move horizontally in the organization and tends to move vertically in the organization and exhibits stops and starts d. neither involves many interests and tends to move horizontally in the organization nor tends to move vertically in the organization and exhibits stops and starts | 42 | |
The Top Decisions research defined a constricted decision as one that: a. deliberately constricts participation by those lower down in the organizational hierarchy b. on matters of familiar problems and involving familiar interests requires little debate c. tries to constrict the number of vested interests that vie to define a problem d. keeps issues off the agenda through the use of power | 43 | |
A non-decision means that: a. important questions and issues are not raised b. important decisions are forgotten c. minor decisions are not made d. minor decisions do not make it onto the agenda | 44 |
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Complete Test Bank | Strategy Theory and Practice 3e by Clegg
By Stewart R Clegg