Power and politics

Power and Political Behavior

Concept of Power

Power – the ability to influence another person

Influence – the process of affecting the thoughts, behavior, and feelings of another person

Authority – the right to influence another person

Concept of Power

Zone of Indifference – the range in which attempts to influence a person will be perceived as legitimate and will be acted on without a great deal of thought

Zone of Indifference

Z o n e o f I n d i f f e r e n c e

Managers strive to expand the zone of indifference

Sources of Organizational Power: Interpersonal

Reward Power – agent’s ability to control the rewards that the target wants

Coercive Power – agent’s ability to cause an unpleasant experience for a target

Legitimate Power – agent and target agree that agent has influential rights, based on position and mutual agreement

Sources of Organizational Power: Interpersonal

Referent Power – based on interpersonal attraction

Expert Power – agent has knowledge target needs

Which Power is Most Effective?

Expert Power!

• Strong relationship to performance & satisfaction• Transfers vital skills, abilities, and knowledge within

the organization• Employees internalize what they observe & learn

from managers they consider “experts”

Information PowerInformation Power – access to

and control over important information

• Formal/informal position in communication network

• Interpreting information when passing it on (the spin)

Criteria for Using Power Ethically

Does the behavior produce a good outcome for people both inside and outside the organization?

Does the behavior respect the rights of all parties?

Does the behavior treat all parties equitably and fairly?

Two Faces of Power

Personal Power used for personal gain

Social Power used to create motivation used to accomplish group

goals

Successful Power Users

• Have high need for social power• Approach relationships with a communal

orientation• Focus on needs and interests of others

belief in justice altruism

belief in the authoritysystem

preference for work and discipline

Sources of Organizational Power: Intergroup

• Control of critical resources

• Control of strategic contingencies – activities that other groups need to complete their tasks

Sources of Organizational Power: Intergroup

• Ways groups hold power over other groups– Ability to cope with uncertainty– High degree of centrality -

functionality central to organization’s success

– Nonsubstitutability - group’s activities are indispensable

Power Analysis: A Broader View

Organizational Power

Coercive Power – influence through threat of punishment, fear, or intimidation

Utilitarian Power – influence through rewards and benefits

Normative Power – influence through knowledge of belonging, doing the right thing

Power Analysis: A Broader View

Organizational Membership

Alienative Membership – members feel hostile, negative, do not want to be there

Calculative Membership – members weigh benefits and limitations of belonging

Moral Membership – members have positive organizational feelings; will deny own needs

Kanter’s Symbols of Power

• Intercede for someone in trouble

• Obtain placements for favored employees

• Exceed budget limitations

• Procure above-average raises for employees

• Place items on meeting agendas

• Access to early information

• Have top managers seek out their opinion

Kanter’s Symbols of Powerlessness

Key to overcoming powerlessness: share power and delegate decision making

First-line Supervisors• overly close supervision• inflexible adherence to rules• do job rather than train

Staff Professionals• resistance to change• turf protection

Top Executives• budget cuts• punishing behaviors• top-down communications

Managers• assign external attribution - blame others or environment

Korda’s Power Symbols

Power – there are more people who inconvenience themselves on your behalf than there are people on whose behalf you would inconvenience yourself

Status – a person’s relative standing in a group based on prestige and deference

Korda’s Power Symbols

TimeFurnishings

Size of desk

Rectangular table

Locked file cabinet

Access

Who has access to you?

To whom do you have access?

Political Behavior in Organizations

Organizational Politics – the use of power and influence in organizations

Political Behavior – actions not officially sanctioned by an organization that are taken to influence others in order to meet one’s personal goals

Conditions Encouraging Political Activity

• Unclear goals

• Autocratic decision making

• Ambiguous lines of authority

• Scarce resources

• Uncertainty

Effective Political Characteristics

What characteristics do effective political actors

possess?

Influence Tactics

Upward Influence: the boss

Downward Influence: an employee

Lateral Influence: a coworker

Consultation

Inspirational appeals

Rational persuasion

Ingratiation

Coalition

Exchange tactics

Upward appeals

Pressure

Influence by Consultation

This new attendance plan is controversial. How can we make it more acceptable?

The person seeks your participation in making a decision or planning how to implement a proposed strategy, policy, or change.

Influence by Rational Persuasion

This new procedure will save us over $150,000.

The person uses logical arguments and factual evidence to persuade you that a proposal or request is viable and likely to result in the attainment of task objectives.

Influence by Inspirational Appeals

Getting that account will be tough, but I know you can do it.

The person makes an emotional request or proposal that arouses enthusiasm by appealing to your values and ideals, or by increasing your confidence that you can do it.

Influence by Ingratiation

Only you can do this job right!

The person seeks to get you in a good mood or to think favorably of him or her before asking you to do something.Information on slides 23-27 from the first two columns from G. Yuki and C. M. Falbe. “Influence Tactics and Objectives in Upward, Downward, and Lateral Influence Attempts.” Journal of Applied Psychology 75 (1990): 132-140. Copyright © 1990 by the American Psychological Association.Reprinted with permission.

Managing Political Behavior

• Maintain open communication

• Clarify performance expectations

• Use participative management

• Encourage cooperation among work groups

• Manage scarce resources well

• Provide a supportive organizational climate

Managing Up: The Boss

Understand Your Boss and Her Context

Her goals and objectives

The pressures on her Her strengths,

weaknesses, blind spots

Her preferred work style

Assess Yourself and Your Needs

Your own strengths and weaknesses

Your personal style Your predisposition

toward dependence on authority figures

Develop and Maintain a Relationship that Fits both your needs and styles Is characterized by mutual

expectations Keeps your boss informed Is based on dependability and honesty Selectively uses your boss’s time and

resources

Managing Up: The Boss

SOURCE: Information on slides 29-30 adapted and reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review. From J. J. Gabarro and J. P. Kotter, “Managing Your Boss,” Harvard Business Review (January-February 1980): 92-100. Copyright© 1980 by the Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation; all rights reserved.

Sharing Power: Empowerment

Empowerment: sharing power in such a

way that individuals learn to believe in their ability

to do the job!

Empowerment’s Four Dimensions

Meaning – fit between the work role and the employee’s values and beliefs

Self-determination – having control over the way one does one’s work

Impact – belief that one’s job makes a difference within the organization

Competence – belief that one has the ability to do the job well

E2s

Guidelines for Empowering

• Express confidence in employees

• Set high performance expectations

• Create opportunities for participative

decision making

• Remove bureaucratic constraints that

stifle autonomy

• Set inspirational and meaningful goals

Employee Empowerment Grid

Point DMission Defining

ImplementFollow-up

Alt. Choice

Alt. Eval

Alt. Dev

Problem Id.

Problem Id. Alt. EvalAlt. DevAlt.

ChoiceImplementFollow-up

Decision-Making Authority over Job Content

Dec

isio

n-M

akin

g A

uth

ori

ty o

ver

Job

Co

nte

xt

Amitai Etzioni, Modern Organizations, 1964, pp.... 59-61. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.

Point ESelf-management

Point CParticipatory

Empowerment

Point BTask Setting

Point ANo Discretion

Copyright ©2006 by South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning. All rights reserved

Finkelstein: Why Executives Fail

• See themselves and their companies as

dominant, without peers

• Have all the answers

• Eliminate those not 100% behind them

• Rely on what worked in the past

• No clear boundaries between personal

interests and corporate interests

Using Power Effectively

• Use power in ethical ways• Understand and use all of the various

types of power and influence• Seek out jobs that allow you to

develop your power skills• Use power tempered by maturity and

self-control• Accept that influencing people is an

important part of the management job