Chapter Thirteen

Influence, Power, and

Politics (An Organizational
Survival Kit)
 “Getting Things Done” Sequence
• Leadership
– Traits
– Focus on task or people
– Contingency models
– Tips from Ropes . . . book
• Managing Change
– Social change model
• Influence, Power, and Politics
• Managing Conflict
• Note: menu of options available to you in an
organizational setting
 Power

How does one get things done,

even if one has formal authority?
 Chapter Thirteen Outline

Influencing Others
•Nine Generic Influence Tactics
•Three Influence Outcomes
•Practical Research Insights
•Strategic Alliances and Reciprocity

Social Power and Empowerment

•Five Bases of Power
•Practical Lessons from Research
•Employee Empowerment
•Making Empowerment Work
 Chapter Thirteen Outline (continued)
Organizational Politics and Impression
Management
• Definition and Domain of Organizational Politics
• Impression Management
• Keeping Organizational Politics in Check
 Nine Generic Influence Tactics

 Rational persuasion. Trying to convince someone with

reason, logic, or facts.
 Inspirational appeals. Trying to build enthusiasm by
appealing to others’ emotions, ideals, or values.
 Consultation. Getting others to participate in planning, making
decisions, and changes.
 Ingratiation. Getting someone in a good mood prior to making
a request; being friendly, helpful, and using praise or flattery.
 Personal appeals. Referring to friendship and loyalty when
making a request.
 Nine Generic Influence Tactics
 Exchange. Making express or implied promises and trading
favors.
 Coalition tactics. Getting others to support your effort to
persuade someone.
 Pressure. Demanding compliance or using intimidation or
threats.
 Legitimating tactics. Basing a request on one’s authority or
right, organizational rules or polices, or express or implied
support from superiors.
 Three influence outcomes
• Commitment – will gladly do it
• Compliance – will grudgingly do it
• Resistance – will refuse in one way or
another to do it
– We all know what “no” means? At least most
of the time. What does a “yes” mean?
• Note results of research
 On a sheet of paper . . .
• Which of the 9 influence tactics have you
used or tried to use? Outcome? Describe
briefly.
• Talk about it within a group.
 Social Power
• Social power – ability to get things done
with human, informational, and material
resources
– Not necessarily downward, may be lateral or
upward.
– Reciprocity – people should be paid back for
their positive and negative acts
 Five Bases of Power
• Reward power: Promising or granting rewards.
• Coercive power: Threats or actual punishment.
• Legitimate power: Based on position or formal
authority.
• Expert power: Sharing of knowledge or information.
• Referent power: Power of one’s personality
(charisma).
 Lessons on power
• Expert and referent power - generally
positive effect
• Reward and legitimate power – slightly
positive effect
• Coercive power – slightly negative
 Skills and Best Practices: How to
Turn Your Coworkers into Strategic
Allies
 Mutual respect.
 Openness.
 Trust.
 Mutual benefit.
 A slightly different take on power
• Informal power can be held by individuals
– Perception that one has power
– Friendship network
– Intimate knowledge of key process
– IOUs
• Informal power held by superiors
– For upwardly mobile, these superiors provide
opportunities for advancement
 Different take . . .: continued
• How else can power exist in an organization (or
why can some rank and file members give their
superiors headaches?)
– Those how have reached a plateau and are not going
anywhere (or care to)
– Hold key positions like secretaries
– Non-mobile middle managers who handle key details
their bosses do not want to deal with or who have
expert knowledge
– Controls a key part of the process – can enforce
bureaucratic adherence to rules
 Empowerment
• Two way street:
– Management must be willing to allow
employees to make key decisions
– Employees must be receptive to the idea
 Randolph’s Empowerment Model

The Empowerment Plan

Share Information

Create Autonomy Let Teams Become

Through Structure The Hierarchy

Remember: Empowerment is not magic;

it consists of a few simple steps and
a lot of persistence.
13-7

Organizational Politics and

Impression Management
Organizational politics: “Involves intentional acts of
influence to enhance or protect the self-interest of individuals or
groups.”
Political Tactics:
 Attacking or blaming others.
 Using information as a political tool
 Creating a favorable image.
 Developing a base of support.
 Praising others (ingratiation).
 Forming power coalitions with strong allies.
 Associating with influential people.
 Creating obligations (reciprocity).
Impression management: “The process by which people attempt to
control or manipulate the reactions of others to images of themselves or their
ideas.”
13-8
Figure 13-2

Levels of Political Action in

Organizations
Distinguishing Characteristics
Cooperative
Network pursuit of general
Level self-interests

Coalition Cooperative
Level pursuit of group
interests in specific
issues
Individual
Level
Individual pursuit
of general self-
interests
What triggers political behavior?
• Unclear objectives
• Vague performance measures
• Ill-defined decision processes
• Strong individual or group competition
• Change
• Personalities involved
 Practical Tips for Managing
Organizational Politics
 Reduce System Uncertainty
 Reduce Competition
 Or establish formal conflict resolution and grievance
processes
 Break Existing Political Fiefdoms
 deal with overly political individuals
 Prevent Future Fiefdoms
 Screen out overly political individuals