Organizational Theory

Chapter 14 (Conflict, Power and Politics)

14.1 Intergroup Conflict in Organizations:

It requires 3 ingredients: Group identification (department),
Observable group differences and the third, frustration (when they
believe that other groups may block their group’s achievement.

Conflicts harms organization’s achievement, while competition may

increase an organization’s productivity.

Sources of conflict:
1. Goal incompatibility:
 Probably the greatest cause of intergroup conflict in organizations.
 The achievement of one department’s goals often interferes with
another department’s goals.

2. Differentiation:
 The differences in cognitive and emotional orientations among
managers in different functional departments.

3. Task interdependence:
 It refers to the dependence of one unit on another for materials,
resources or information.

4. Limited resources:
 The desire to obtain resources when there are limited, may cause
conflict.
14.2 Rational vs Political Model:
1. Rational model:
 Consistent across participants
 Centralized
 Orderly, logical, rational
 Norm of efficiency
 Extensive, systematic accurate

2. Political Model:
 Inconsistent, pluralistic within the organization
 Decentralized, shifting coalitions and interest groups
 Disorderly, result of bargaining and interplay among interests
 Free play of market forces, conflict is legitimate and expected
 Ambiguous information used and withheld strategically.

14.3 Power and Organizations:

Power is the ability to influence others’ opinions or to carry orders in
order to bring desired outcomes.

Individual vs Organizational Power:

 Legitimate power: The authority granted by the organization to

the formal management position a manager holds
 Reward power: The ability to bestow rewards to other people.
 Coercive power: The ability to punish or recommend punishment.
 Expert power: Derives from a person’s greater skill or knowledge
about the tasks being performed.
 Referent power: Derived from personal characteristics: admire a
manager so you want to be like him.

Power vs Authority: