Organizational power,

politics and conflict

12/05/2008
Organizational power
 Definition of organizational power
 Sources of power
 Powerless and empowerment
 Inter-departmental power
 Power tactics
1.Definition
 Organizational power: A capacity that A h
as to influence the behavior of B so that B d
oes things he or she would not otherwise d
o (pp.217)
 The potential to influence others
 People have power they don’t use and may
not know they possess
 Power requires one person’s perception of
dependence on another person
The Dark Side of Power and Politics

people associate power and

politics with attempts to use
organizational resources for
personal advantage and to
achieve personal goals at
the expense of other goals.
The Bright Side of Power

 Improve decision making quality

 Promote change
 Encourage cooperation
 Promote new organizational
goals
2.Sources of Power
5 category classification scheme by French & Raven

 Reward Power
– Salary, Bonus, Promotion
 Coercive Power
– Forcing someone to do something
 Legitimate Power
– Based on position; mutual agreement
 Referent Power
– Based on interpersonal attraction
 Expert Power
– Based on knowledge or info value
3. Empowerment
 Powerlessness: a real or perceived state of ha
ving little or no power.
 Is power given or self-built?
 Delegation with clear boundaries
 A process of risk taking and accountability
 An environment that encourages people to take
calculated risk and accountability in decisions
4. Inter-departmental power
Inter-departmental power
(horizontal)
 Dependency
 The power of department A over department B is
greater when department B depends on A.
 Financial resources
 Departments that generate income for an organization
have greater power.
 Centrality
 Centrality reflects a department’s role in the primary
activity of an organization.
 One measure of centrality is the extent to which the
work of the department affects the final output of the
organization.
Inter-departmental power
(horizontal)
 Nonsustainability
 If an employee cannot be easily replaced, his or her
power is greater.

 Coping with uncertainty

 Departments that reduce the uncertainty for the
organization will increase their power; i.e. technologic
al developments for IT Departments.
 5.Power tactics ways in which powerholder t
ranslate power basis into specific actions
 Reason:logical or rational presentation
 friendliness:use of flattery,creation of goodwill,
acting humble,friendly prior to making a request
 coalition:getting other’s support to back up
 bargaining:negotiation through favors exchange
 assertiveness: use of a direct & forceful
approach such as demanding compliance with
request
 higher authority:gaining the support of higher
 sanction
Organizational politics
1.Definition
 Politics is the application of power –building and
using influence towards intended purposes and
desired outcomes.
 Constructive politics is where organizational
interest comes before personal interest. It’s also
conducted within good ethical standards
 Destructive politics is where personal or sub-
group interest comes before organizational interest
or is simply building personal empire. It is
conducted without regards to ethical standards
Organizational politics
2.Domains of political activity

 Structural change
 Inter-departmental coordination
 Resource allocation
 Management succession
Organizational Conflict
 Organizational Conflict
 The discord that arises when goals, interests or
values of different individuals or groups are
incompatible and those people block each other’s
efforts to achieve their objectives.
 Conflict is inevitable given the wide range of goals
for the different stakeholder in the organization.
 Lack of conflict signals that management emphasizes
conformity and stifles innovation.
 Conflict is good for organizational performance
although excessive conflict causes managers to
spend too much time achieving their own ends.
The Effect of Conflict on Organization
Performance

Figure 16.1
Sources of Conflict

Figure 16.3
Sources of Conflict
 Incompatible Goals and Time Horizons
 Different groups have differing goals and focus.
 Overlapping Authority
 Two or more managers claim authority for the same
activities which leads to conflict between the
managers and workers.
 Task Interdependencies
 One member of a group or a group fails to finish a
task that another member or group depends on,
causing the waiting worker or group to fall behind.
Sources of Conflict
 Incompatible Evaluation or Reward Systems
 A group is rewarded for achieving a goal, but another
interdependent group is rewarded for achieving a goal that
conflicts with the first group.
 Scarce Resources
 Managers can come into conflict over the allocation of
scare resources.
 Status Inconsistencies
 Some individuals and groups have a higher organizational
status than others, leading to conflict with lower status
groups.
Conflict Management
Strategies
 Functional Conflict Resolution
 Handling conflict by compromise or collaboration
between parties.
 Compromise: each party is concerned about their goal
accomplishment and is willing to engage in give-and-take
exchange to reach a reasonable solution.
 Collaboration: parties try to handle the conflict without
making concessions by coming up with a new way to
resolve their differences that leaves them both better off.
 Managers also must address individual sources of
conflict.
Conflict-management style
Conflict Management
Strategies (cont..)
Strategies Focused on Individuals
Increasing awareness of the Can conflict source can be found
source of conflict and corrected?

Increasing diversity awareness Older workers may resent younger

and skills workers, or experience cultural
differences.

Practicing job rotation or Provides a good view of what

temporary assignments others face.

Using permanent transfers and Avoids problem interactions.

dismissals when necessary
Conflict Management
Strategies (cont…)
Strategies Focused on The Whole Organization
Changing the structure of the Shifting from a functional
organization structure to a product structure as
the organization increases in size.

Increasing the levels of Using cross-functional teams to

integration in the organization resolve conflicts between
departments.

Changing the organization’s Taking steps to change

culture dysfunctional norms and values to
reduce conflict and refocus the
organization on effective goals.

Altering the source of the If conflict is due to overlapping

conflict authority, managers can fix the
problem at the source.