POWER AND POLITICS 1

POWER AND POLITICS

Prepared & Presented by:

Haytham Nabulsy

AGENDA1. Definition Of Power2. Types Of Power3. Case 4. Politics Definition5. Types Of Politics in Organisation

Definition of Power• Power is the ability to make things happen in the way an individual

wants, either by self or by the subordinates. The essence of power is control over the behavior of others.

“French & Raven, 1962”

• Power refers to the capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B, so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes. The greater B’s dependence on A, the greater is A’s power in the relationship. Therefore power is a function of dependency.

“Robbins, 2003”

Meaning of Power

Power is the capacity of a person, team, or organization to influence others.

• The potential to influence others

• People have power they don’t use and may not know they possess

• Power requires one person’s perception of dependence on another person

Meaning Of Politics

Politics are those activities that are not a part of an individual’s formal role in the organization, but affect the advantages and disadvantages within the organization.

Organizational politics is the influence to obtain results not allowed by the organization or to obtain allowed results with the help of means that are not allowed.

Bases of Power

Bases of Power

Formal Power Informal Power

Coercive power

Reward Power Legitimate Power

Information Power Expert Power Rational Persuasion

Referent Power

Power and politics6

Bases Of Power

Formal Power: It is based on the individuals position and behaviour in an organisation

• Coercive Power: It is power due to fear within the organisation.

• Reward Power: Unlike Coercive Power it is the degree to which a manager can use rewards to control other people.

• Legitimate Power: It is the degree to which a manager can use subordinate’s beliefs that the boss has a right of command to control their behavior.

• Information Power: This power is the result of access to and control over information.

Bases Of Power

Informal Power: It is the power of an individual and does not depend on his/her position.

• Expert Power: It is the ability to control another person’s behavior through knowledge and experience that the other person does not have, but needs.

• Rational Persuasion :It is the ability to control others’ behavior by making him accept the attractiveness of an offered goal and a practical way of achieving it.

• Referent Power :It is the ability to control others’ behavior because the person wants to be like the person having the power.

Key of power : Dependency

• The general equation of dependency is:

• The more B is dependent on A, the more power A has over B. If a person

has anything that the other person wants, then he has more power over

him.

• Dependency is inversely proportional to the sources of supply. More

the supply of resources, less is dependency and vice versa. That’s

why most suppliers have more than one suppliers, rather than

depending on a single supplier.

Case

A director is hired to manage a team that had issues with productivity, efficiency,

and morale. She/he takes time to get to know each of her employees personally,

learning their strengths, weaknesses, and ambitions. She spends part of a day with

each employee letting them "train" her on their job, so she can understand their

day-to-day challenges. She quickly promotes experienced employees to line

manager roles, and publicly credits her team for their accomplishments. She

forms cross departmental-alliances that benefit her team and improve the quality

of work for the whole department. Her team becomes more efficient, happier, and

better at solving problems and working cooperatively with clients which shows

EXPERT POWER of director

Power Tactics

The most common strategies to implement relational effect are (Kipnis et. Al, 1984):

1. Reason: Use of facts and data to present your ideas logically.2. Friendliness: Use of flattery, creation of goodwill, acting humble, and

being friendly.3. Coalition: Getting the support of other people in the organization.4. Bargaining: Use of negotiation.5. Assertiveness: Use of a forceful approach6. Higher authority: Getting the support of higher level members of the

organization. 7. Sanctions: Use of rewards and punishments derived by the organization. 11

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• Individuals use the above strategies according to the situational factors.

• The manager’s relative power also affects the selection of techniques in two ways:• Managers with greater power use more techniques

than managers with less power.• Managers with power use aggressiveness more

frequently than managers with less power.• Managers use many power tactics like

• When they want benefits from a superior, they use friendliness.

• When they want sauperiors to accept new ideas, they use friendliness.

• Managers use reason to make employees accept new ideas and friendliness to obtain favor. 12

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Politics

The pursuit of individual agendas and self-interest in an organization without regard to their effect on the organization's efforts to achieve its goals.

Politics: Power in Action

• Political behavior is not a part of an individual’s job requirements.

• It includes efforts to influence the goals, criteria or processes used for decision making.

• It includes many political behaviors like refusing to give important information to decision makers, spreading rumors, leaking confidential information, etc.

Maccoby’s Four Political Types

• In his book "The Gamesman", Michael Maccoby describes four types of organizational politicians. They are:

1.The Craftsman: Craftsmen are the least political. They are technical specialists who like details and accuracy. The person is usually quiet, sincere, modest and practical.

2.The Jungle Fighter: Jungle fighters are active politicians. They believe employees should be used to get ahead in the company. They want success at any cost. There are two types of jungle fighters:

a) Foxes: The foxes make their nests in the organization and plan from this safe base.

b) Lions: They capture others’ territories and build empires.

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c) Company men or women: These are traditional or moderate people. They have a desire for affiliation and may not show a lot of political behaviour. Such people are concerned for humans. They are more involved with security than success and may miss opportunities that arise.

d) The Gamesman: The gamesmen are competent politicians. They see business as a game and take calculated risks. The gamesmen are charismatic, grow when there are challenges and competition and motivate employees with enthusiasm.

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Factors Contributing to Political Behavior

1) Individual factors• Some personality traits, needs and other factors are

related to political behavior. They are• Employees who are high self-monitors, have an

internal locus of control are more likely to show political behavior.

• The high self-monitor is more sensitive to social signals and is more skilled in political behavior than the low self-monitor.

• Individuals with an internal locus of control try to manipulate or control situation in their favor.

• The Machiavellian personality does not believe that politics is an unethical action. 17

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2) Organizational Factors• Organizational factors responsible for affecting political

behavior are• Cultures that have low trust, unclear performance

evaluation system, high pressure for performance, show high degree of political behavior.

• When organizations cut back to improve efficiency, people may take political actions to maintain their existing status quo (the tendency of being in the same situation).

• Promotion decision also encourage political behavior.• Political behavior is more when there is less trust within

the organization.• If employees’ roles are not clear, it leads to political

behavior. 18

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Countering the Effects of Political Behavior

To deal with the effects of politicking, individuals may use the following three strategies:

Avoid action and risk takingRedirect accountability and responsibilityDefend their turf

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Any Question

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1. What are the different types of power categorized under Formal

Power?

Check Your Learning

Coercive, Reward, Legitimate, Informational.

2. What are the common power and influence tactics?

Reason ,Friendliness, coalitions, bargaining, assertiveness, higher

authority, sanctions.