POWER & POLITICS

Dr. Alpana Agarwal

Power
 Power refers to a capacity that A has to influence the
behaviour of B so B acts in accordance with A ’s
wishes
 The greater B ’s dependence on A, the greater A ’s
power in the relationship. Dependence, in turn, is
based on alternatives that B perceives and the
importance B places on the alternative(s) A controls.
 Dependence increases when the resource you control
is: -
 Important
 Scarce
 Non-substitutable
Hands-on
 If you hold power in an organization, what is its
basis? How do you prefer to exert power over
others?
Bases of Power
Coercive
Power
Formal Reward
Power Power
Legitimate
Bases of Power
Power
Expert
Personal Power
Power Referent
Power
Bases/Sources of Power: Formal Power
 Formal Power
 Established by an individual’s position in an organization
 Three bases:
 Coercive Power
 A power base dependent on fear of negative results
 Reward Power
 Compliance achieved based on the ability to
distribute rewards that others view as valuable
 Legitimate Power
 The formal authority to control and use resources
based on a person’s position in the formal
hierarchy

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publishing as Prentice Hall
Bases/ Sources of Power: Personal
Power
 Power that comes from an individual’s unique
characteristics – these are the most effective
 Expert Power
 Influence based on special skills or knowledge
 Referent Power
 Influence based on possession by an individual of desirable resources
or personal traits

EEXXHHI IBBI ITT13-1

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13-6 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Prentice Hall
Hands-on
 How do you attempt to influence the people
with whom who work?
Case 1
Power Tactics
 Tactics people use to translate power bases into specific action
 Legitimacy. Relying on your authority position or saying a request accords with
organizational policies or rules.
 Rational persuasion. Presenting logical arguments and factual evidence to
demonstrate a request is reasonable.
 Inspirational appeals. Developing emotional commitment by appealing to a
target’s values, needs, hopes, and aspirations.
 Consultation. Increasing the target’s support by involving him or her in
deciding how you will accomplish your plan.
 Exchange. Rewarding the target with benefits or favors in exchange for following
a request.
 Personal appeals. Asking for compliance based on friendship or loyalty.
 Ingratiation. Using flattery, praise, or friendly behavior prior to making a request.
 Pressure. Using warnings, repeated demands, and threats.
 Coalitions. Enlisting the aid or support of others to persuade the target to agree.
Hands-on
 Have you ever felt empowered in an
organization? If so, why? And what effects, if
any, did such feeling of being empowered have
on your performance?
Case 2:
Hands-on
 Have you ever engaged in organizational
politics? If so, what tactics did you use?
Politics
 Organizational politics focuses on the use of power to affect decision
making in an organization, or on self-serving and organizationally
unsanctioned behaviours.
 Political behaviour in organizations consists of activities that are not
required as part of an individual’s formal role but that influence, or
attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and
disadvantages within the organization.
 Some Political Behaviors
 Withholding key information from decision makers,
 joining a coalition,
 whistleblowing,
 spreading rumors,
 leaking confidential information to the media,
 exchanging favors with others in the organization for mutual benefit,
 lobbying on behalf of or against a particular individual or decision alternative
Causes of Political Behaviours
Employee Response to Organizational
Politics

Decreased Increased
job anxiety and
satisfaction stress

Increased Reduced
turnover performance
Practicing OB: Politics Is Powering the Exit
Door
A rapidly growing high-tech company has recently
experienced resignations by several of its best people.
These individuals have left, expressing strong annoyance
over the high level of politics within the company. This is a
serious situation because these former employees are also
spreading the word that "politics is king' in the company.

1. What steps can the top management of this company

take to turn this situation around-to reduce the role of
politics within the company'?
Practicing OB: Politics Is Powering the Exit
Door
2. How can the company counter the negative image it is
acquiring as a result of disparaging comments by former
employees concerning politics within the company?

3. Why do you think politics has become such an important

issue in this company? Is it a matter of personalities--the
specific persons who work there--or something about the
nature of the business-how it is structured, the industry
within which it works?
 
Politics is in the Eye of the Beholder
 The process by which individuals attempt to
Impression Management control the impression others form of them

•Agreeing with someone else’s opinion to gain his or her

Conformi approval is a form of ingratiation. Eg. A manager tells his boss,
ty
‘You are absolutely right on your reorganization plan for the
western regional office. I couldn’t agree with you more.
•Doing something nice for someone to gain that person’s
approval is a form of ingratiation. Eg. A salesperson says to a
Favors prospective cllient, “I’ve got two tickets to the theatre tonight
that I can’t use. Take them. Consider a thank-you for taking the
•time
Explanations
to talk to me”.
of a predicament-creating event aimed at
minimizing the apparent severity of the predicament is a
Excuses defensive IM technique. Eg. A sales manager says to her boss,
“We failed to get the ad in the paper on time, but no one
responds to those ads anyway”.
•Admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and
Apologi simultaneously seeking to get a pardon for the action is a
es
defensive IM technique. Eg An employees says to his boss, “ I’m
sorry I made a mistake on the report. Plz forgive me”.
 Impression Management
•Highlighting one’s best qualities, downplaying one’s deficits, and
Self- calling attention to one’s achievements is a self-focused IM
promoti technique. Eg. A salesperson tells his boss, “Matt worked
on
unsuccessfully for three years to try to get that account. I sewed
up in six months. I’m the best closer the company has”.
•Claiming that something you did is more valuable than most
other members of the organizations would think is a self-focused
Enhance IM technique. A journalist tells his editor, “My work on this
ment celebrity divorce story was really a major boost to our sales”
(though the story only made it to page 3 in the entertainment
section).
•Complimenting others about their virtues in an effort to make
Flattery
oneself appear perceptive and likeable. Eg. A new sales trainee
says to her peer, “you handled that client’scomplaint so tactfully!
I could never handled that as ewll you did”.
•Doing more than you need to in an effort to show how dedicated
Exempli and hard working you are is an assertive IM technique. An
fication employee sends e-mails from his work computer when he works
late so that his supervisor will know how long he’s been working.
Job Simulation Exercise #4
 Power and Politics

8-21
Hands-on
 Think of individuals whom you trust and those you don’t
trust. In what ways do your relationships with these people
differ?
 Conflict
 Process that begins when one party perceives that another party has
negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something that
the first party cares about.
Traditional View of Conflict
• The belief that all conflict is
harmful and must be avoided.
• It was discussed with the terms
violence, destruction, and
irrationality.
Interactionist View of Interactionist View of
Conflict- type Conflict- loci
• The belief that conflict is not • Dyadic
only a positive force in a group • Intergroup conflict
but also an absolute necessity • Intragroup conflict
for a group to perform
effectively.
• Functional conflict - Conflict that
supports the goals of the group
and improves its performance.
• A conflict that hinders group
performance is a destructive or
dysfunctional conflict.
• Type of conflict
• Task Conflict
• Relationship Conflict
• Process Conflict
Hands-on
 Think about situations of conflict witnessed by
you. What can be the possible reasons and
consequently forms according to you?
Hands-on
 Now think about the places where such conflicts
may occur.
Conflict Resolution Modes -TKI
 A useful model of conflict response modes is given by Thomas and
Kilmann.
 Thomas and Kilmann defined primarily five dominant orientations
or modes of dealing with conflict namely, Competing,
Accommodating, Avoiding, Collaborating and Compromising.
 The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument is designed to assess
an individual’s behaviour in conflict situations.
 ‘Conflict Situations’ are the situations in which the concerns of two
people appear to be incompatible.
 In such situation, we can describe a person’s behaviour along two
basic dimensions namely: -
 ASSERTIVENESS: The extent to which the individual attempts to satisfy his
own concerns, and,
 COOPERATIVENESS: The extent to which the individual attempts to satisfy
the other person’s concerns.
Conflict Resolution Modes -TKI

ASSERTIVE Competing Collaborating

PE R SO N’ S (Dominating) (Integrating)
D ESIRE TO
SATISFY
Compromising
(Sharing)
OWN
CONCE RN S

U NA S S E R TI VE Avoiding Accommodating
(Neglecting) (Appeasing)

UNCO OP E RA TI V E COOPERATIVE
PE RS ON ’ S D E SI RE T O SA T I SFY O T H E R’ S C O N C E R N S
Conflict Resolution Technique
 Problem solving
 Superordinate goals
 Expansion of resources
 Avoidances
 Smoothing
 Compromise
 Authoritative command
 Altering the human variable
 Altering the structural variable
Dysfunctional and Functional Conflict
Hands-on
 What do you think are the major barriers to
interpersonal cooperation within the workplace.
Job Simulation Exercise #3
 Group or Conflict Resolution

8-31
Quiz