CH 13 organizational , political and personal power

1. What type of power does a professional nursing certification provide?

A) Legitimate

B) Expert

C) Charismatic

D) Organizational

Ans: B

Feedback:

A nursing certification provides the proof of earned expert power such as having

knowledge or skill not possessed by all nurses

2. Which statement about power is correct?

A) It is a finite quality and, once gained, is very difficult to lose

B) It is destructively manipulative but is necessary for effective management

C) Women generally view power more positively than do men

D) Having power generally results in the gain of additional power

Ans: D

Feedback:

The only true statement here is that power is likely to bring more power in an ascending

cycle, whereas powerlessness often generates more powerlessness.

3. Which statement represents a powerful image of a team leader?

A) "I'm in charge here, and so all requests need to come to me."

B) "I'm too tired to deal with Dr. Jones today. When he gets here, tell him I've gone

to lunch."

C) "Is it okay with the rest of you if I do all the charting and you do the direct patient

care?"

D) "We have a great deal to accomplish today, but I am confident that, by working

together, we can do it and do it well."

Ans: D

Feedback:

The empowerment of staff is a hallmark of transformational leadership. To empower

means to enable, develop, or allow. Empowerment can be defined as decentralization of

power. Empowerment occurs when leaders communicate their vision; employees are

given the opportunity to make the most of their talents; and learning, creativity, and

exploration are encouraged. Empowerment plants seeds of leadership, collegiality,

self-respect, and professionalism.

4. Which power-building strategy would be the appropriate for a new employee? Select all

that apply.

A) Maintaining a sense of humor

B) Gaining additional nursing certifications

C) Learning the institution's organizational culture.

D) Attending a training seminar on a new piece of unit equipment

Ans: A, B, C, D

Feedback:

Trying to induce change when one is a new employee is not an appropriate

power-building strategy while the other options are all appropriate for a new employee

to engage in.

5. What determines the size of the authority-power gap between a manager and an

employee?

A) The organizational philosophy

B) The degree of rigidity in the corporate chart

C) How credible the manager is perceived to be

D) How much informal power the manager possesses

Ans: C

Feedback:

When a manager loses credibility, the authority-power gap widens. None of the other

options are relevant.

6. What does proactive political strategy include?

A) Assuming authority to do something if it is not expressly prohibited

B) Using competitive approaches to the decision-making process

C) Attempting to appear as a victim so future gains can be made

D) Verbalizing discontent with the politics of an organization

Ans: A

Feedback:

Assuming authority to do something that is not prohibited allows the individual to

accomplish goals for the organization, which will lead to greater empowerment. None of

the remaining options are associated with the proactive political strategy.

7. Which strategy is most effective in empowering staff?

A) Serving as a role model of an empowered nurse

B) Following a rigid but consistent rule enforcement policy

C) Providing all employees with an annual cost-of-living raise

D) Encouraging staff to establish a strong unit culture with turf boundaries

Ans: A

Feedback:

By serving as a role model of an empowered nurse, the individual encourages others to

become empowered. The remaining options are not examples of effective empowering

strategies

8. Which statement concerning the queen bee syndrome is true?

A) It occurs more often with women than with men

B) It encourages the empowerment of subordinates

C) It prevents the sharing of power

D) It is an informal leadership role

Ans: C

Feedback:

Individuals who have the queen bee syndrome do not empower others, because they

want to keep all the power for themselves. None of the other options are associated with

the queen bee syndrome.

9. What is one of the most politically serious errors one can make?

A) Dispensing fictitious information

B) Promoting the advancement of subordinates

C) Withholding or refusing to divulge information

D) Delaying decision making until there is additional information

Ans: A

Feedback:

Lying to others is a serious political error. The other options represent appropriate

behaviors.

10. Which statement describes both self-power and feminist power?

A) The militant expression of power by assertive women

B) The power gained from knowing other powerful people

C) The narrowing of the authority gap between nurses and physicians

D) Personally awareness that is demonstrated by having power over one's life

Ans: D

Feedback:

Self-power, sometimes referred to as feminist power, is power over self rather than over

other people. The concept of self-power/feminist power is not described accurately by

any of the other options.

11. A nursing administrator believes that the organization supports an inadequate

distribution of power. What is the administrator's initial action to combat this situation?

A) To form a coalition to extend administrative networking.

B) To pose a plan for organizational restructuring.

C) To gain entry into an informal power group.

D) To improve one's personal power base

Ans: C

Feedback:

To gain power one needs entry into informal lines of communication provided by

informal power groups. The other options would be effective only after the correct

option is achieved.

12. What does empowerment encourage?

A) Delegation of responsibility

B) Sharing authority with others

C) Relinquishing informal power

D) Successful authoritarian leadership

Ans: B

Feedback:

Empowerment is sharing power or authority with others but not relinquishing either

power inherent in a position or its responsibility. Authoritarian leadership is not

associated with empowerment.

13. Two of the organizational goals are to increase physician satisfaction and reduce costs.

A unit goal is to increase professional RN staffing. Which statement best supports all

the stated goals?

A) Increasing the RN staff will cut down on nursing errors, prevent burn out, and

decrease the cost associated with staff turnover

B) Increasing the RN staff will result in increased patient safety and quality care, and

thus improve physician satisfaction

C) Increasing the RN staff will free more nurses to be available to answer doctors'

concerns during their rounds and will reduce our costly use of overtime

D) Increasing the RN staff will lead to improved patient education and a reduction in

costly patient stays

Ans: C

Feedback:

Politically wise requests should always be made using the goals of the organization;

therefore, stating that increasing the staff would meet the organization's goals is most

appropriate. The other options do not address all of the stated goals.

14. What are necessary components of leadership and management?

1. Power

2. Authority

3. Empowerment

4. Authority-power gap

A) 1, 2

B) 1, 3

C) 2, 4

D) 3, 4

Feedback:

Power and authority are necessary components of leadership and management. The gap

that sometimes exists between a position of authority and subordinate response is called

the authority-power gap. Empowerment is the concept of sharing power.

15. What is the primary influence that shapes a person's response to authority?

A) Power figures in the family unit

B) Work experiences in each job held

C) Administrative figures in the workplace

D) Experiences in the spiritual dimension of life

Ans: A

Feedback:

A person's response to authority is conditioned early through authority figures and

experiences in the family unit. While the other options may influence an individual,

none are the primary influence

16. What is the name of the gap that sometimes exists between a position of authority and

subordinate response?

A) Leadership-subordinate

B) Manager-subordinate

C) Administrator-power

D) Authority-power

Ans: D

Feedback:

The gap that sometimes exists between a position of authority and subordinate response

is called the authority-power gap. None of other options is the term used to identify the

described power gap.

17. Which factors are associated with the empowerment of staff?

1. Allow

2. Develop

3. Enable

4. Lead

A) 1, 2, 3

B) 1, 2, 4

C) 1, 3, 4

D) 2, 3, 4

Ans: A

Feedback:

The empowerment of staff is a hallmark of transformational leadership. Empowerment

means to enable, develop, or allow. Leading is not associated with empowerment.

18. Which statement concerning women's views of power is true?

A) Women view power as a male right

B) Women view power differently than men do

C) Gender views regarding power differ only slightly

D) Gender views regarding power are rapidly changing

Ans: B

Feedback:

Traditionally, women have been socialized to view power differently than men do.

However, recent studies show that gender differences regarding power are slowly

changing.

19. What is coercive power based on?

A) The ability to grant rewards to others

B) The power of fear and of punishment

C) The power inherent in one's position

D) The gaining of knowledge and skills

Ans: B

Feedback:

Coercive power is based on fear and punishment. Reward power is obtained by the

ability to grant rewards to others. Legitimate power is the power inherent in one's

position. Expert power is gained through knowledge or skill.

20. What are the reasons for losing this power?

1. Being politically naive

2. Failure to use appropriate political strategies

3. The lack of a dynamic and powerful persona

4. Association with others who desire similar power

A) 1, 2

B) 1, 3

C) 2, 4

D) 3, 4

Ans: A

Feedback:

Power gained may be lost because one is politically naive or fails to use appropriate

political strategies. The other options are not major factors in the loss of power.

21. Which statement regarding the view of power held by some women is true? Select all

that apply.

A) Power is inherently possessed by men

B) Power is associated with personal attributes

C) Power is viewed as dominance versus submission

D) Power is associated with personal qualities not accomplishment

Ans: A, B, C, D

Feedback:

As a result, some women view power as dominance versus submission; associated with

personal qualities, not accomplishment; and dependent on personal or physical

attributes, not skill. Also, some women believe that they do not inherently possess

power but instead must rely on others to acquire it. Thus, rather than feeling capable of

achieving and managing power, some women feel that power manages them. The end

result has been that so far too many women have remained unskilled in the art of the

political process.

22. What is the foundation of reference power?

A) Association with others

B) Ability to grant favors

C) Personality

D) Fear

Ans: A

Feedback:

Referent power is power that a person has as others identify with that leader or with

what that leader symbolizes. Referent power also occurs when one gives another person,

feelings of personal acceptance or approval. It may be obtained through association with

the powerful. Reward power, charismatic, and coercive are the powers associated with

the other options.

23. Which is the positive outcome for a manager perceived to possess manager power?

A) Staff have trust in the manager

B) Unit staffing tends to remain stable

C) The manager will be a leader as well

D) Administration supports the manager's decisions

Ans: A

Feedback:

The term manager power may explain subordinates' response to the manager's authority.

The more power subordinates perceive a manager to have, the smaller the gap between

the right to expect certain things and the resulting fulfillment of those expectations by

others. None of the other options present a positive outcome of manager power.

24. A staff member asks the manger for a particular day off on the next schedule. Which

response demonstrates the concept of underpromising and help the manager retain the

staff's trust?

A) "I will do my best to give you the time off."

B) "Be sure to get the written request in early."

C) "If staffing stays the same, I will arrange for your request."

D) "If you don't take any sick time before then, I'll give it to you."

Ans: C

Feedback:

Less trust is lost between the manager and the subordinate when underpromising occurs

than when a granted request is rescinded, as long as the subordinate believes that the

manager will make a genuine effort to meet his or her request. Underpromising occurs

when the manager explains the uncontrollable factors that affect granting the request.

While being sick is uncontrollable, the issue is staffing at the time of the actual request.

25.Which statement supports the manager's commitment to staff empowerment? Select all

that apply.

A) "Unit goals include hiring an additional 2 nursing assistants."

B) "A staff committee will be formed to address that unit issue."

C) "We can arrange for you to spend 2 months working on another unit."

D) "I'm got funding to support staff who are interested in earning certifications."

Ans: A, B, C, D

Feedback:

Empowerment, as discussed in Chapter 2, can be defined as decentralization of power.

Empowerment occurs when leaders communicate their vision; employees are given the

opportunity to make the most of their talents; and learning, creativity, and exploration

are encouraged. While an open-door policy supports communication, it is not associated

with empowerment