I will never forget the corporate Christmas party of 1994. My ex-husband worked for a very successful cancer treatment center; with so much success, they had built a new multibillion-dollar facility that year, and the five medical partners who owned it had rewarded themselves with mansions in France, ranches in Wyoming, new cars that were equivalent to a nurse's pay for maybe ten years, etc. to hold the Christmas party in their usual luxurious location, it was held in the reception area of ​​the new Cancer Centre. Every year, Christmas bonuses were distributed to all employees on this Christmas holiday. There were a number of employees who were heavily dependent on these Christmas bonuses to provide a decent Christmas for their families and even the highest earning employees used the bonus to pay off their credit cards for their Christmas shopping. Despite the common knowledge of the company's enormous profits, the demonstration of their financial successes with the new structure and the partners' well-known recent purchases, one of the partners had the courage to stand up at the party and say that he hoped everyone had a great time at the party and then lowered the boom. No Christmas bonuses this year. No excuses. Simply no bonuses. Needless to say, the tone of the party quickly went from one of joyful celebration to devastation, and many people left soon after the announcement. It was a well-known fact that many employees happily returned the Christmas presents they purchased the next day and their families had meager Christmases. Why would such an obviously successful group of doctors do such a cruel thing to the people who actually did it? all the work: who helped them make their lucrative profits? Because they can.... middle of paper... obviously detrimental and demeaning to women within the organization. Sexual innuendos, comments about their bodies and their appearance were totally out of place. It was very uncomfortable to read this case study on power and politics at play as I felt for the employees, having been in their situation in the past. Working for employers involved in power plays instead of working as a team player with the whole company in mind, including the employee's well-being, is a very negative feeling that can lead to a lack of self-esteem and the destruction of one's life. ability to do one's job efficiently. Using power as a means to motivate is one thing, using power as a means to intimidate is another. Works Cited Conrad C., & Poole, M. (2012) Strategic Organizational Communication in a Global Economy (7th ed.). West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons