You must have javascript enabled to view this website. Please change your browser preferences to enable javascript, and reload this page.
After you have entered your answers, click the Submit Answers button to review your answers. You can then click the E-mail The Results button to send the results to yourself or to your professor.
Eye Openers on Influence and Organizational Politics
www.influenceatwork.com
www.fastcompany.com/backissues
Influence and political tactics are an inescapable part of modern organizational life, as discussed in this chapter. The purpose of this exercise is to broaden your understanding of organizational influence and politics and help you deal with them effectively.
A Free Quiz on Social Influence
Do you get the feeling advertisers, the media, politicians, salespeople, parents and teachers, and friends sometimes are trying to trick you by manipulating words and images in self serving ways? According to Professor Robert B Cialdini and his colleagues, you are right to feel a bit put upon. After all, as their research has documented, each of us is the recipient (or victim) of countless social influence attempts during every waking hour. The Internet site www.influenceatwork.com provides a brief inside look at social influence so we will not be unfairly or unwittingly manipulated. At the home page, click on the "What's Your Influence Quotient?" icon. The short 10-item quiz (and answers) will get you thinking about the power and pervasiveness of social influence.
Interesting and Practical Advice on Organizational Politics
A pair of articles in the April–May 1998 issue of Fast Company magazine are must reading. Go to Fast Company's online archives at www.fastcompany.com/backissues and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click on "More Fast Company Issues "(00 - 40)" Next, scroll down to issue number 14 and select "Table of Contents—April/May 1998." Finally, scroll down the table of contents for issue number 14 and select these two articles: "The Bad Guy's (and Gal's) Guide to Office Politics" (1½ pages) and "The Good Guy's (and Gal's) Guide to Office Politics" (6 ½ pages). You may want to print copies. We recommend you read the Good Guy's article first.