Power in organizational behaviour

Power packed performances by

Ankita Kulkarni

Priyam Shah

Mansi Purohit

Hemadri Bajirao

Sri Balaji

What do we have in store for you?

• Definition of Power• Difference between Power and

Authority• Bases Of Power• Dependency• Power Tactics• Power in Groups: Coalitions• Unequal Power in Organizations

Abraham Lincoln says that….

•Nearly all men can stand adversity. If you want to test a man’s character give him POWER.

I have the power…

• Capacity of A to influence the behaviour of B so that he/she does things that he/she would otherwise not do.

Authority and Power..What is the

difference???Authority• Legally enforced• Formal• Limited scope• Just and equally applied

Power• Individual

and independent• Informal• Transcends

Boundaries• May be used

indiscriminately.

Bases Of PowerCoercive Power:• Power because the person

has control of the punishments or demotions .

• Victim complies in order to avoid punishments believed to be controlled by the agent.

Bases of PowerPositional Power:• Power of an individual because of the

relative position and duties in the organization.

• Target complies because he believes the agent has the right to make the request and he has the obligation to imply.

Bases of Power

Expert Power:• Individual's power deriving from the

skills or expertise of the person and the organization's needs for the same.• Target complies because he believes

that the agent has special knowledge about the best way to do something.

Bases of PowerReferent Power:• Power to attract others and build

loyalty. • Based on

the charisma and interpersonal skills of the power holder.

• Target complies because he admires or identifies with the agent and wants to gain the agent’s approval.

Bases of Power Reward Power:

• Refers to the degree to which the individual can give others a reward of some kind such as benefits, time off, desired gifts, promotions or increases in pay or responsibility.

• Power a person has because he or she has control of the resources.

• Target complies in order to obtain rewards he or she believes are controlled by the agent.

Dependency

• Power : Function of dependency

• There often exists a counter-power. e.g. a

powerful manager who controls rewards

may be dependant on the employee to

achieve his/her goals.

• The dependency of A on B {D(A,B)} is a

function of two things: 1. Demand

– how much A needs what B controls.

• 2. Supply

– how easy it is for A to go

elsewhere to get what B

controls.

– Supply is inversely related to

dependency

• Dependency may be mutual:

–Married couple may depend on each

other for all the same things.

–Or, A can depend on B for some things,

and B depends on A for others

– A has power over B if A is less

dependent on B than B is on A.

General dependency• General dependency postulate

–Greater B’s dependency on A ,Greater the power A has over B.–When you possess anything that others

require but you alone control, you make them dependent on you and you gain power over them–Example• Intelligent student• Superrich• Blind

What creates dependency

• Dependency is increased when the resource you control is :– Importance.– Scarce.– Nonsubstitutability.

• Importance– The things you control must be important.– The ability to reduce uncertainty increases a

group’s power and enhances its ability to create dependency.

– An organization like Panasonic is dependant on engineers than Procter & Gamble

Scarcity• A resource needs to be perceived as scarce to

create depen dency.

• The need to obtain a scarce resource—such as,

important knowledge—makes the high-ranking

member dependent on the low-ranking member.

• Individuals in occupations in which the supply of

personnel is low relative to demand can

negotiate compensation and benefit packages far

more attractive than can those in occupations for

which there is an abundance of candidates.

Non-substitubality• The resource cannot be substituted with

something else.

• The more that a resource has no viable

substitutes, the more power that control

over that resource provides.

• At university in which there are strong

pressure for faculty to publish ,the

department head’s power over a faculty

member is inversely proportional to

member’s publication record.

Power TacticsTactical Dimensions:

• Legitimacy

• Rational persuasion

• Inspirational appeals

• Consultation

• Exchange

• Personal appeals

• Ingratiation

• Pressure

• Coalitions

Tactical Dimensions:

• Legitimacy

• Rational persuasion

• Inspirational appeals

• Consultation

• Exchange

• Personal appeals

• Ingratiation

• Pressure

• Coalitions

Ways in which individuals translate power bases into specific actions.

Preferred Power Tactics by Influence Direction

Upward Influence Downward

Influence Lateral Influence

Rational persuasion Rational

persuasion Rational persuasion

Inspirational appeals

Consultation

Pressure Ingratiation

Consultation Exchange

Ingratiation Legitimacy

Exchange Personal

appeals

Legitimacy Coalitions

Factors Influencing the Choice and Effectiveness of

Power Tactics• Sequencing of tactics

– Softer to harder tactics work best• Skillful use of a tactic• Relative power of the tactic user

– Some tactics work better when applied downward or upward

• The type of request attaching to the tactic– Is the request legitimate?

• How the request is perceived– Is the request consistent with the target’s values?

• The culture of the organization– Culture affects user’s choice of tactic

• Country-specific cultural factors– Local values favor certain tactics over others

Power in Groups: Coalitions

• Mostly the end up using their power wrongly, but effective if used wisely

• Seek a broad and diverse constituency for support of their objectives.

• Occur more frequently in organizations with high task and resource interdependencies.

• Seek to maximize their size to attain influence.

• Occur more frequently if tasks are standardized and routine.

Coalitions:

A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause.

•Typically exposed in crisis time

•In US, there is a typical organization regulating this coalition groups, called  Coalition for a Democratic Workplace(CDW)

Unequal Power in the Workplace

Glass Shield for higher positions• Even in this era of globalization , there exists a mental block among the male, which don’t accepts a female as their as their boss.

Sexual Harassment• Requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, typically exploiting women.

The final verdict…

“The fundamental concept in social science is power, in the same sense in which energy is the fundamental concept in physics.”