Unit 3

Dr. Meenu Chaudhary

 Understanding Power

• Power refers to a capacity that A has to influence

the behavior of B so B acts by A’s directions.

• Someone can thus have power but not use it; it is a

capacity or potential. Probably the most important
aspect of power is that it is a function of
dependence.
SOURCES OF POWER
 REWARD POWER
• Reward Power is influencing behaviour by rewarding desirable
behaviours. For example, praise, promotions, bonus, etc. are rewarded
to employees in an organisation as a result of their performance, which
motivates them to continue to exhibit that behaviour.
 REWARD POWER (e.g. SAVJIBHAI
DHOLAKIA)
• Savjibhai Dholakia, who runs a diamond export firm
in Surat, gave1,260 cars, 400 flats and pieces of
jewellery to his employees in Diwali
• He said the rewards were in recognition of the
outstanding performance and dedication shown by
employees in the last five years.
• The company will be spending an estimated Rs50
crore ($7million) under the loyalty program to reward
an unknown number of staff from a total workforce of
5,500.
 COERCIVE POWER
• It is influencing behavior by punishing undesirable behaviors.
• For example, subordinates may comply with a particular behavior for fear
of getting punished for not adhering to supervisory directives.
• Punishment may be in the form of reprimands, undesirable work
assignments, strict work rules, pay cuts, or suspension.
 ADOLF HITLER
• Adolf Hitler was used coercive power. He
required the population of the Third Reich
to accept everything that he said as
absolute law, and was able to impose a
death sentence on anyone who failed to do
so. Hitler was obsessed with being in
control, and with being the alpha male in a
rigid male dominance hierarch
 LEGITIMATE POWER
• Legitimate power is the power you
derive from your formal position or
office held in the organization's
hierarchy of authority.
• Example: Sandhya Devanathan
Appointed Head and Vice President
of Meta India
 EXPERT POWER
• It is an individual’s ability to influence the behavior of other individuals owing to his/her
competencies, talents, or specialized knowledge and skills. To demonstrate proficiency in
implementing, analyzing, evaluating, and controlling the tasks of employees, managers acquire
expert power.
 SUNDAR PICHAI
• Example: In his first job at the company he joined a small
team that worked on Google’s search toolbar, which gave
users easy access to the company’s search screen. It was
Pichai’s idea that Google build its own browser. Page and
Brin were in favor of the project but then-CEO Eric Schmidt
objected. According to BusinessWeek, Schmidt thought the
browser project would be an expensive distraction. Of
course Chrome has been a huge success, with a reported
worldwide market share of 45%.
 REFERENT POWER
• Referent power is an individual’s ability to influence the behaviour of other individuals
as a consequence of being respected, admired, or liked by others. For example, an
employee’s desire to imitate an old, experienced or skilled manager may cause him/her to
copy the same managerial style. Often, senior managers have some referent ability to
influence the behaviour of younger managers in an organisation.
• Referent power is generally associated with people possessing admirable personality,
characteristics, charisma, or reputation.
 Informational Power
• It’s when someone has information that gives them power over colleagues
and others.
 Which type of Powers is most Effective?
• Of the three bases of formal power (coercive, reward, legitimate) and two bases
of personal power (expert, referent), research suggests that the personal sources
of power are most effective.
• Both expert and referent power are positively related to employees’ satisfaction
with supervision, their organizational commitment, and their performance,
whereas reward and legitimate power seem to be unrelated to commitment and
performance.
• One source of formal power—coercive power—actually can backfire in that it
is negatively related to employee satisfaction and commitment.
 POWER TACTICS
• Power tactics refer to the manner in which authority figures exercise their
ability to control or influence others within an organisation.
 Politics: Power in Action
• Political behavior 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.

• Organizations are made up of individuals and groups with different values, goals, and interests.
This sets up the potential for conflict over the allocation of limited resources, such as departmental
budgets, space, project responsibilities, and salary adjustments.
 Politics Is in the Eye of the Beholder
• A behavior one person labels as “organizational politics” is very likely to seem like
“effective management” to another.
• The fact is not that effective management is necessarily political, although in some cases
it might be. Rather, a person’s reference point determines what he or she classifies as
organizational politics.
Political vs. Effective Management
Factors That Influence Political Behavior
Employee Responses to Organizational
Politics
 Impression Management
• The process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others form of them is called
impression management.
• Low self-monitors tend to present images of themselves that are consistent with their personalities,
regardless of the beneficial or detrimental effects for them. In contrast, high self-monitors are good
at reading situations and molding their appearances and behavior to fit each situation.
Defensive Behaviours
Impression Management (IM) Techniques
1. Conformity: Agreeing with someone else’s opinion to gain his or her approval is a form
of ingratiation.
• Example: A manager tells his boss, “You’re absolutely right on your reorganization.

2. Favours: Doing something nice for someone to gain that person’s approval is a form of
ingratiation.
• Example: A salesperson says to a prospective client, “I’ve got two tickets to the theater tonight that I can’t use. Take
them. Consider it a thank-you for taking the time to talk with me.”
Impression Management (IM) Techniques
3. Excuses: Explanations of a predicament-creating event aimed at minimizing the
apparent severity of the predicament is a defensive IM technique.
• Example: 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.”

4. Apologises: Admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and simultaneously seeking to get a
pardon for the action is a defensive IM technique.
• Example: An employee says to his boss, “I’m sorry I made a mistake on the report. Please forgive me.”
Impression Management (IM) Techniques
5. Self-Promotion: Highlighting one’s best qualities, downplaying one’s deficits, and calling attention
to one’s achievements is a self-focused IM technique.
• Example: A salesperson tells his boss, “Matt worked unsuccessfully for three years to try to get that account. I sewed it
up in six weeks. I’m the best closer this company has.”

6. Enhancement: Claiming that something you did is more valuable than most other members of the
organizations would think is a self-focused IM technique.
• Example: A journalist tells his editor, “My work on this celebrity divorce story was really a major boost to our sales”
(even though the story only made it to page 3 in the entertainment section).
Impression Management (IM) Techniques
7. Flattery: Complimenting others about their virtues in an effort to make oneself appear perceptive
and likeable is an assertive IM technique.
• Example: A new sales trainee says to her peer, “You handled that client’s complaint so tactfully! I could never have
handled that as well as you did.”

8. Exemplification: Doing more than you need to in an effort to show how dedicated and hard
working you are is an assertive IM technique.
• Example: An employee sends e-mails from his work computer when he works late so that his supervisor will know how
long he’s been working.
 The Ethics of Behaving Politically
• One thing to keep in mind is whether it’s really worth the risk.
• Another question to ask is this: how does the utility of engaging in the political behavior
balance out any harm (or potential harm) it will do to others?
• When faced with an ethical dilemma regarding organizational politics, try to consider
whether playing politics is worth the risk and whether others might be harmed in the
process.
• If you have a strong power base, recognize the ability of power to corrupt. Remember
that it’s a lot easier for the powerless to act ethically, if for no other reason than they
typically have very little political discretion to exploit.
CONFLICT
 CONFLICT
• According to Chung and Meggison, “Conflict is the struggle between
incompatible or opposing needs, wishes, ideas, interests, or people.” According
to them conflict arises when individuals or groups encounter goals that both
parties cannot attain satisfactorily.

• According to Pondy, conflict has been defined as “the condition of objective

incompatibility between values and goals; as the behaviour of deliberately
interfering with another’s goal achievement; and as emotionally in terms of
hostility.”
 CONFLICT
• The conflict process has five stages:
• potential opposition or incompatibility,
• cognition and personalization,
• intentions,
• behavior, and
• outcomes.
 Negative Aspects of Conflicts
• Performance Degradation: Conflicts consume significant energy of the individuals involved as
well as the organization. These lead to degradation in performance.
• For example, an employee who spends time arguing with a colleague is not able to deliver tasks within time.

• Low Employee Retention: Conflicts create demotivation among employees. This increases
employee turnover and leads to low retention.
• For example, employees who think they are the victims of conflicts may bear negative perceptions about the
organization and try to find opportunities in other organizations.
 Positive Aspects of Conflicts
• Competition: Conflict may induce healthy competition in an organisation. This helps in increasing
productivity and quality.
• For example, competition to deliver better among two departments leads to both departments performing well.

• Creativity: Increasing competition due to conflicts may spur creativity among employees.
• For example, an employee tries to show that he/she is better than a colleague and thus forms profitable ideas for
the entire team.
 Dysfunctional Conflict
• A dysfunctional conflict consists of various disputes and disagreements that hinder the
performance of the company.

Dealing with Dysfunctional Conflicts

1. Integrating/Collaborating
2. Obliging/Accommodating
3. Competing
4. Avoiding
 INTEGRATING
• This method is also known as the problem-solving method. It
involves encouraging opposing parties to face the issue
collectively, generate a solution, and select the most appropriate
action.
• Collaboration plays a major role within conflict resolution and
requires great courage and much consideration.
• Collaborating with the other party involves listening to their side,
discussing areas of agreement and goals, and ensuring that all
parties understand each other.
• Collaboration requires thinking creatively to resolve the problem
without concessions. Collaborators are usually admired and well-
respected.
 INTEGRATING/COLLABORATING
EXAMPLE
• Example: Anya owns a ballet studio that is managed by her best friend Sukriti. Anya
and Sukriti usually agree on almost all business-related decisions. However, Sukriti
disagrees with Anya regarding which job applicant they should hire as the new dance
teacher.
• As the owner, Anya has the authority to overrule Sukriti’s opinion. However, she chooses
to sit down with Sukriti and discuss a solution that will please them both. After several
weeks of negotiation and open communication, they hire two of the applicants for a trial
period.
 OBLIGING/ACCOMODATING
• In this approach, a party neglects their own concern to satisfy the
concern of the opposing party. it resolves the conflict by giving in to
the opposing party. You might need to use an accommodating
conflict style or attitude when interacting with someone with a
strong or abrasive personality.
• Acknowledging and accepting someone else’s views or perspectives
is an important part of teamwork, especially when the other party
is an expert or more experienced than you. However, it is also
crucial for you to know when accommodating someone else might
be detrimental to you or your team’s best interest.
 OBLIGING/ACCOMODATING
EXAMPLE
• Sonal loves working at her local fitness center. She enjoys her job
and gets along with all her coworkers except for one. Siya has a
strong personality and does not like to be told “no.” Siya tries to take
advantage of Sonal’s accommodating personality by pressuring her
into trading shifts. Sonal does not appreciate Siya’s actions, but she
also does not want to introduce additional tension into her
workplace. She agrees to trade with Siya to keep the peace
 AVOIDING STYLE
• To avoid confrontation and conflict, some managers
will delay making a deadline or avoid making a
decision. They might physically separate the opposing
parties or remove themselves from the situation
altogether.
• However, often, the deliberate delay will cause the
unresolved conflict to cause resentment and
frustration from employees. Conversely, in other
situations, it can give both parties time to potentially
readjust their attitudes and perspectives and the
conflict could resolve on its own.
 AVOIDING EXAMPLE
• Karan and Shweta disagree on the best plan for implementing a new
advertising campaign. They have tried to find a compromise, but their
disagreement is becoming angrier and more distracting each minute.
• Their supervisor tells them to set the campaign aside and work on other
projects for the rest of the day. Taking a break from the project gives both
karan and Shweta time to work through the conflict on their own. They
continued working on the campaign the next morning with more positive
and collaborative attitudes.
 COMPETING
• People with an I-win-you-lose mentality follow this approach.
It involves relying upon formal authority to force compliance.
It is also used when unpopular but necessary solutions need to
be implemented. This style rejects compromise and involves
not giving in to others viewpoints or wants.
 COMPETING EXAMPLE
• Jagruti and Sanjay’s are charged with the task of bringing new customers to their business.
Jagruti wants to use direct mail to bring attention to their company’s offerings, and Sanjay
wants to move forward with an expensive television ad campaign.
• Jagruti thinks that Sanjay is wasting money by putting the message out there for an untargeted
audience of viewers, and Sanjay thinks that Jagruti is wasting money by sending something out
that’s just going to get tossed in the trash.
• If Jagruti were to adopt the competing style of conflict resolution, she might move forward with
the plan to use direct mail and ignore anything to do with Sanjay’s suggestion. She’d take her
idea to their boss and implement and run right over any objections Sanjay had.
CONFLICT PROCESS
Dimensions of Conflict-Handling Intentions
 Organisational Conflict
• Organizational conflict is an internal misunderstanding or disagreement
that can occur between colleagues or leaders.
• These kinds of disagreements can lead to a lack of cohesion and
collaboration in the workplace.
• When employees don't get along with each other or disagree, it can make
it challenging to get everyone aligned with the company's goals.
 Organizational conflict causes
• Lack of communication
• Different personality types
• Ambiguous expectations
• Unclear responsibilities
• Unfair distribution of resources
 Organizational conflict causes
• Lack of communication
• Different personality types
• Ambiguous expectations
• Unclear responsibilities
• Unfair distribution of resources
Conflict Management Techniques
Conflict-Stimulation Techniques
 Negotiation
• Negotiation as a process that occurs
when two or more parties decide how
to allocate scarce resources.

• Every negotiation in organizations also

affects the relationship between the
negotiators and the way the negotiators
feel about themselves.
 Bargaining Strategies
• Distributive bargaining and
• Integrative bargaining
Distributive Versus Integrative
Bargaining
The Negotiation Process
 Individual Differences in Negotiation
Effectiveness
• Personality Traits in Negotiation
• Moods/Emotions
• Culture
• Gender Differences
 Third-Party Negotiations
• A mediator is a neutral third
party who facilitates a
negotiated solution by using
reasoning and persuasion,
suggesting alternatives, and the
like.
 Third-Party Negotiations
• An arbitrator is a third party with the
authority to dictate an agreement.
• Arbitration can be voluntary (requested
by the parties) or compulsory (forced on
the parties by law or contract).

• A conciliator is a trusted third party who

provides an informal communication link
between the negotiator and the opponent.