INFLUENCE, POWER,

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Chapter
Eleven
INFLUENCE, POWER, AND POLITICS IN ORGANIZATIONS
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After reading this chapter you should be able to
1. Distinguish between social influence, power,
and politics in organizations. 2. Characterize
the major varieties of social influence. 3. Descri
be the conditions under which various forms of
social influence are used. 4. Identify the major
types of individual power in organizations.
5. Explain the two major approaches to the
development of subunit power in organizations
(i.e., the resource-dependency model and the
strategic contingencies model). 6. Describe
organizational politics as well as when and where
it is likely to occur. 7. Explain the major
ethical issues surrounding political behavior in
organizations.
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Social Influence A Basic Organizational Process
(Pp. 409-412)
Social Influence - attempts to affect another in
a desired fashion Power - the capacity to change
the behavior or attitudes of others in a desired
manner Organizational politics - unauthorized
uses of power that enhance or protect your own
(or your group) personal interests, usually at
the expense of organizational goals -
technically it is illegitimate in both its means
and its ends - typically is a source of conflict
as well
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Figure 11.1 Relationship Among Social Influence,
Power, and Politics
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Social Influence A Basic Organizational Process
(cont.)
Tactics of Social Influence - several tactics
identified by research Rational persuasion -
based on logical arguments Inspirational appeal
- appeal to anothers values and
ideals Consultation - request participation in
decision making Ingratiation - putting person in
good mood or getting them to like
you Exchange - promise benefits in exchange for
compliance Personal appeal - appeal to anothers
feelings of loyalty or friendship Coalition-build
ing - seeking or noting the support of
others Legitimating - relating request to ones
authority and organizational policies and
practices Pressure - use of demands, threats,
and intimidation
When Are These Tactics Used? - use depends upon
organizational level of the person one is
attempting to influence - open, consultative
tactics are believed to be more appropriate than
coercive tactics -less socially desirable
tactics -- i.e., pressure and legitimating --
used much less frequently
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Individual Power A Basis for Influence (Pp.
413-420)
Two major categories of individual power
bases Position power - power based on ones
formal position in an organization Personal
power - power derived from a persons individual
qualities or characteristics
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Individual Power A Basis for Influence (cont.)
Position Power - formal powers that remain vested
in the position and are available to anyone who
holds that position Legitimate power - power
people have because others recognize and accept
their authority - covers a relatively narrow
range of influence
Reward power - power to control the rewards that
others receive
Coercive power - power to control punishments
that others receive
Information power - power to control information
needed by subordinates to do their jobs -
technology has made information available to more
people, thereby reducing its importance as a
source of individual power
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Individual Power A Basis for Influence (cont.)
Personal Power - power derived from an
individuals unique characteristics Rational
persuasion - ability to mount logical arguments
and factual evidence to convince others an idea
is acceptable - among the most popular types of
influence in organizations
Expert power - derived from superior knowledge
and skills in a certain field - people whose
expertise is highly regarded are among the most
powerful people in organizations
Referent power - derived from the degree to which
one is liked and admired by others Charisma -
an engaging and magnetic personality -
charismatic people - have a clear vision of
the future - tend to be excellent
communicators - inspire trust
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Individual Power A Basis for Influence (cont.)
Power How Is It Used? - various bases of power
often are used together in varying combinations
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Individual Power A Basis for Influence (cont.)
Empowerment - the passing of responsibility and
authority from managers to subordinates - key
to empowerment is the sharing of expert
information - empowerment is a matter of degree
rather than all-or-nothing - supervisors rely
less on coercive power and more on expert
power - most managers are afraid of
relinquishing control, so empowered employees
remain in the minority - experts predict a
change in the direction of empowerment
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Group or Subunit Power (Pp. 421-424)
Resource Dependency Model - power resides within
subunits able to control the greatest share of
valued organizational resources - subunits
depend on other subunits for resources - to the
extent one subunit controls the resources on
which another subunit depends, the first
subunit may be said to have power over the
second Asymmetrics - imbalances in resource
dependencies
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Group or Subunit Power (cont.)
Strategic Contingencies Model - power resides in
subunits with the capacity to control the
activities of other subunits - a subunits power
is determined by - the importance of its
activities for organizational success -
activities are nonsubstitutable and
indispensable - its capacity to reduce
uncertainty faced by other subunits - the
centrality of the functions it performs
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Organizational Politics Power in Action (Pp.
424-432)
Organizational Politics - actions not officially
approved by an organization that are taken to
influence others to meet ones personal goals -
place ones self-interest above the interests of
the organization
Political Tactics - refers to various forms of
political behavior Controlling access to
information - being able to determine who is
in the know and who is not
Cultivating a favorable impression - image
building Organizational chameleons - individuals
who discern what behaviors are generally
appropriate and then go out of their way to
make others aware they behaved in such a
manner
Developing a base of support - gaining the
support of others Reciprocity - people expect to
be paid back for the favors they grant others
Blaming and attacking others - avoid blame when
bad things occur Scapegoat - someone who is
made to take the blame for anothers failure or
wrongdoing
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Organizational Politics Power in Action (cont.)
Political Tactics (cont.)
Aligning oneself with more powerful
others Mentor - a better-established person to
look out for ones interests Coalitions -
groups that band together to achieve some
common goal Ingratiation - agreeing with
powerful others in order to become their ally
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Organizational Politics Power in Action (cont.)
Political Tactics (cont.)
Playing political games Authority games
Insurgency games - played to resist formal
authority Counterinsurgency games - played to
counter such resistance
Power base games - enhance the degree and breadth
of ones power Sponsorship game - attaching
oneself to a rising or established star in
return for a piece of the action Alliance game -
peers agree in advance to support each
other Empire building - gaining increased
responsibility for more important
organizational decisions
Rivalry games - designed to weaken ones
opponents Line versus staff game - undermine
other groups power Rival camps game - groups or
individuals with differing points of view
attempt to undermine the others power
Change games - played to create organizational
change Whistle-blowing game Young Turks game -
overthrow existing leadership
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Organizational Politics Power in Action (cont.)
When Does Political Action Occur ? Conditions
prompting political acts Uncertainty -
organizational priorities unclear Resources -
large amounts of scarce resources are at
stake Conflicting interests - involved parties
have different goals Power - involved parties
have approximately equal power
Politics in human resource management - nature of
HRM activities makes them prime candidates for
organizational politics - e.g., performance
appraisal, personnel selection, pay decisions
Politics and the organizational life span -
contrasting degrees and types of political
activity characterize different stages Birth
stage - political activity not particularly
likely Mature stage - full range of political
activities Decline stage - insecurity throughout
the organization prompts intense political
activity
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Organizational Politics Power in Action (cont.)
When Do Organizational Politics Occur? Existence
of policy - political activity more likely in the
absence of clear policies - political
activity likely to occur in the face of ambiguity
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Figure 11.13 Organizational Politics More Likely
at the Top
1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 .9 .8 .7 .6 .5 .4 .3 .2 .1
Extent to Which Political Activity is Likely
(range 0-3)
Production and blue collar
Clerical and white collar
Technical and professional
Lower management
Middle management
Upper management
Organizational Level
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The Ethics of Organizational Politics (Pp.
432-436)
Organizational Power - the greater ones power,
the greater the temptation to use that power
for immoral purposes
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The Ethics of Organizational Politics (cont.)
Assessing the Ethics of Political Behavior -
there are no clear-cut criteria to judge the
ethics of an organizational action - useful
guidelines, instead Are only selfish interests
promoted? - unethical behavior more likely if
only personal interests served
Are privacy rights respected? - difficult to
assess whether individuals right to privacy
outweighs greater social good
Is it fair? - any political behavior that
unfairly benefits one party over another may
be unethical