Lecture 11,

Module 12:
Power
MGMT20001, Organisational
Behaviour (OB)

Department of Management and

Marketing
 Learning Objectives
• To understand the importance of power in organisations
• See how you will be affected by the use of power, as an employee
• Learn how you can exercise power, as a manager
• Understand the 3 Dimensions of Power
– 1st dimension (resource management)
– 2nd dimension (process management)
– 3rd dimension (meaning management)

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 Theory Definition of Power
• Power is the ability to influence the behavior of others to get what you want.

• “Power is simply the ability to get things done the way one wants them to be
done” (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1989).

• Power has both positive and negative consequences.

• Powerful CEOs can align an entire organization to achieve collaborative goals.

• Yet power can be easily abused because individuals are often quick to conform.

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 Power and Politics

• Power is everywhere
• Power is the ability to influence the behaviour of others
• Politics is the exercise of power
• Power has to be exercised to influence outcomes

• Clean your room • Do your homework • Act the way I want

• Eat your vegies • Sit & listen to me • Say yes & agree

“I want you to do what I want….& you may not like it”

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 Power and Conformity
• Conformity refers to people’s tendencies to behave consistently with social
norms.

• “Because everyone else was doing it” sums up this tendency.

• So, does conformity occur only in rare or extreme circumstances? Actually

no.

• To understand this conformity relationship better, lets examine 2 classic

research studies

• Milgram studies
• Zimbardo studies

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 Milgram Studies
– Conformity to Authority
• Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale in the 1960s, set out to study
conformity to authority.

• His work tested how far individuals would go in hurting another individual
when told to do so by a researcher.

• The participant (teacher) would ask a series of questions to another

“participant” (learner).

• The teachers were instructed to shock the learners whenever an incorrect

answer was given.

• The learner was not a participant at all but an actor who would pretend to
be hurt by the shocks and yell out in pain when the button was pushed.

• Starting at 15 volts of power, the participants were asked to increase the

intensity of the shocks over time. 6
 Milgram Studies

• In the end, ALL the participants were willing to go up to 300 volts

• A shocking 65% were willing to administer the maximum of 450 volts

even as they heard screams of pain from the learner (actor).

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 Zimbardo studies
– Conformity to Social Roles

• Philip Zimbardo, a researcher at Stanford University, conducted a famous

experiment in the 1970s, which would probably not make it past the human
ethics committee of schools today

• 18 volunteers in his study were randomly assigned to the role of prisoner or

guard, and were sent to a prison created in the basement of the Stanford
psychology building.

• The guards in the experiment were told to keep order but received no training.
Zimbardo was shocked with how quickly the expected roles emerged, and how
strongly participants conformed to their randomly assigned social role.

• Prisoners began to feel depressed and helpless.

• Guards began to be aggressive and abusive. 8

 Zimbardo studies
• The original experiment was scheduled to last 2 weeks, but Zimbardo ended it
after only 6 days upon seeing how deeply entrenched in their roles everyone,
including himself, had become.

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 Why is Understanding Power in
Organisations Important?
• These studies illustrate how important it is to create checks and balances to
help individuals resist the tendency to conform or to abuse authority.

• Organisations need to involve the exercise of power

• As an employee you will be affected by use of power by others

– Can be more or less coercive
– Can be more or less hidden
– Power raises ethical issues
 Power and Dependency
Understanding power can also help the individual employee navigate their career.
Dependency is directly related to power. The more that a person or unit is
dependent on you, the more power you have.

• 1. Scarcity refers to the uniqueness of a resource. The more difficult something

is to obtain, the more valuable it tends to be. Effective persuaders exploit this
reality by making an opportunity or offer seem more attractive because it is
limited or exclusive.
• 2. Importance refers to the value of the resource. If the resources or skills you
control are vital to the organization, you will gain some power. The more vital the
resources that you control are, the more power you will have.
• 3. Substitutability refers to one’s ability to find another option that works as well
as the one offered. The harder it is to find a substitute, the more dependent the
person becomes and the more power someone else has over them.
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 Power Dependency Model
• Dependency is increased when you possess something that is considered
scarce, important, and non-substitutable by others.

• Possessing any ONE of the three aspects of a resource could make others
depend on you, TWO would make you extremely needed, and having all
THREE could make you indispensable.

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 The Dimensions of Power
• It’s impossible to be an effective manager without exercising power.
• Understanding power can provide managers with more “tools” to manage
complex organisations, and awareness of ethical implications in doing so.

Increasing “visibility" of power

1st dimension = managing resources (What)

conscious strategy to defeat resistance
2nd dimension = managing process (How)
conscious strategy to sideline resistance

3rd dimension = managing meaning (Why)

conscious strategy to prevent resistance
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1st Dimension
of Power
 The First Dimension of Power
• Mobilising resources to defeat resistance

• Power derives from control over resources

• Based on dependency: if someone is dependent on you for a scarce and

valued resource, then you (potentially) have power over them

• This form of power is relational, context- specific and dynamic

• Any resource can be a source of power, depending on the situation

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 Resources and Power

• Expert Power: rare skillset, strong credibility, a record of valued achievements

• Authority / Legitimate Power: formal position top of the hierarchy
• Reward Power: tangible and intangible ways to reward (and punish) people
• Information Power: access to information that others do not have
• Coercive Power: ability to injure or damage somebody
• Referent Power: charismatic charm, ability to establish a personal rapport
• Affiliation / Connection Power: connections to powerful / many people

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 First Dimension of Power
• Intention: someone (A) wants to get somebody else (B) to do something
they would not otherwise do

• Resistance: B’s opposition/resistance is directly confronted by A

• Action: A mobilizes resources

• Power use: relatively visible

• Conflict: overt

• Such power used by senior managers is generally deemed acceptable; when

used by others it is often dismissed as “political”

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2nd Dimension
of Power
 Second Dimension of Power

• Resistance is sidelined by managing decision making processes

− Control of access to decision-making arena (not everyone attends / or is

invited to be members)

− What gets discussed (what is on the agenda)

− When and how it gets discussed (at end of agenda, when people are tired)

− Criteria for decision-making (some people don’t get to vote)

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 Second Dimension of Power

I don’t have time to talk about this now…

Seat at the table in “mgnt meetings” A team / “in the know”

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 Second Dimension of Power
• Intention: A wants to get B to do something they would not otherwise do

• Resistance: B’s resistance/opposition is indirectly confronted (side-lined /

avoided) by A, using the “rules of the game”

• Action: A manages decision making processes

• Power use: less visible

• Conflict: sidelined (possibly only for a while)

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3rd Dimension
of Power
 Third Dimension of Power
• Rests on managing meaning to prevent resistance
• Meaning is created for desired outcomes so that they are seen as legitimate,
inevitable, natural, beneficial, etc.
• Often by associating outcomes with symbols and skillful use of language
• There is no opposition because outcomes are accepted
• By targeting what people think about outcomes, behaviour is influenced
indirectly

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 Third Dimension of Power

• Challenges the view that power is used only in response to resistance or

conflict
• Power can be used unobtrusively to prevent conflict and resistance – a safer
option
• Manages the meaning of the desired outcome to ensure B feels favourably
towards it and, therefore, does not oppose it
• Power can be largely invisible because of apparent cooperation between A & B
• It is still a conscious and deliberate use of power to achieve desired outcomes

Dead-end leading to nowhere… 1 way ticket to Fun-ville! 24

Train metaphor – you choose your destination
 Third Dimension of Power
• Intention: A wants to get B to do something they would not otherwise do

• Resistance: B’s resistance/opposition is pre-emptively eliminated by A by

getting B to desire what A wants also

• Action: A manages meaning making processes to control and manipulate B

• Power use: almost invisible

• Conflict: averted

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 Key Learning Points
• Power is part of organisational life so you need to understand it
• There is an ethical imperative to use power responsibly
• The three dimensions of power demonstrate the different ways in which power can be used
• First dimension: managing resources; conscious strategy to defeat resistance
• Second dimension: managing processes; conscious strategy to sideline resistance
• Third dimension: managing meaning; conscious strategy to prevent resistance

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 Last Lecture
- Exam Preparation
- Guest Speaker
- Farewells

Dr. Vedrana Savic is a global senior executive and published author with over 20 years of experience
in corporate strategy, thought leadership, and business innovation. She specializes in crafting winning
strategies that address the business and societal challenges of our time, and in building high-
performing teams.

During her distinguished career with Accenture, she successfully performed a diverse range of roles in
strategy and management consulting, financial services, in-house corporate development and applied
research, including six years as a Managing Director of thought leadership. Her leading-edge research
focused on green economy, digital transformation, societal value creation and industry disruption has
been featured in Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, the European Business
Review and Ivey Business Journal.

She is trilingual (English, German, Croatian) and holds a PhD in Corporate Governance, Bachelor of
Business and Economics (Honors) and Bachelor of Electronic Commerce. In parallel to her professional
career, Vedrana continues to pursue her two interlinked passions: contemporary art and positive
psychology.
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 Components of Module 11

Learn key concepts

Learn/Apply
1. Lecture
Learn/Apply
• Power 2. Module
Preparation Quiz
3. Tutorial
Complete the Modules
in Canvas:
• Knowledge Testing
• Application of
Theory

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