Post on 13-Dec-2015
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Power and Politics: How People Influence One
Another
Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/IrwinOrganizational Behavior, Core Concepts
10Organizational Behavior
core concepts
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Learning Objectives
• List influence tactics and outcomes, and summarize research conclusions about the effectiveness of the tactics
• Describe five bases of power, and give examples of how they are related to work outcomes
• Discuss how to make employee empowerment succeed
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Learning Objectives
• Define organizational politics, explain what triggers it, and describe its use in organizations
• Distinguish between favorable and unfavorable impression management tactics
• Explain how to manage organizational politics
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Generic Influence Tactics
1. Rational persuasion2. Inspirational appeals3. Consultation4. Ingratiation5. Personal appeals6. Exchange7. Coalition tactics8. Pressure9. Legitimating tactics
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Three Influence Outcomes
1. Commitment – substantial agreement followed by initiative and persistence in pursuit of common goals
2. Compliance – reluctant agreement requiring subsequent prodding to satisfy minimum requirements
3. Resistance – stalling, unproductive arguing, or outright rejection
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Practical Research Insights
• Commitment is more likely when people rely on strong rational persuasion and do not rely on pressure and coalition tactics
• Ingratiation (making the boss feel good) can slightly improve your performance appraisal results
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Practical Research Insights
• Commitment is more likely when the influence attempt involves something important and enjoyable
• Credible people tend to be the most persuasive
• Unfair influence tactics were associated with greater resistance among employees
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Creating Strategic Allies
• Mutual respect
• Openness
• Trust
• Mutual benefit
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How to Do a Better Job of Influencing and Persuading Others
• Reciprocity – almost universal belief that people should be
paid back for what they do – that one good turn deserves another
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Social Power and Empowerment
• Social power – ability to marshal the human, informational,
and material resources to get something done
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Question?
Which type of power obtains compliance through formal authority?
A. Reward
B. Coercive
C. Legitimate
D. Referent
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Five Bases of Power
• Reward power – obtaining compliance with promised or
actual rewards.
• Coercive power – obtaining compliance through threatened or
actual punishment.
• Legitimate power – obtaining compliance through formal
authority.
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Five Bases of Power
• Expert power – obtaining compliance through one’s
knowledge or information.
• Referent power – obtaining compliance through charisma or
personal attraction.
Read an article on organizational power
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Employee Empowerment
• Empowerment – sharing varying degrees of power with lower-
level employees to better serve the customer
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Randolph’s Empowerment Model
Figure 10-1
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Domain of Organizational Politics
• Organizational politics – intentional acts of influence to enhance or
protect the self-interests of individuals or groups
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Sources of Uncertainty
1. Unclear objectives
2. Vague performance measures
3. Ill-defined decision processes
4. Strong individual or group competition
5. Any type of change
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Levels of Political Action in Organizations
Figure 10-2
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Question?
What is a temporary groupings of people who actively pursue a single issue?
A. Alliance
B. Coalition
C. Association
D. Federation
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Levels of Political Action
• Coalition – temporary groupings of people who actively
pursue a single issue
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Political Tactics
• Attacking or blaming others
• Using information as a political tool
• Creating a favorable image
• Developing a base of support
• Praising others
• Forming power coalitions with strong allies
• Associating with influential people
• Creating obligations
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Impression Management
• Impression management – process by which people attempt to control
or manipulate the reactions of others to images of themselves or their ideas
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Favorable Impression Management• Job-focused
– manipulating information about one’s performance
• Supervisor-focused – praising and doing favors for one’s
supervisor
• Self-focused – presenting oneself as a polite and nice
person
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Bad Impressions
Four motives for intentionally looking bad at work:
• Avoidance
• Obtain concrete rewards
• Exit
• Power
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Bad Impressions
Five unfavorable upward impression management tactics:
• Decreasing performance
• Not working to potential
• Withdrawing
• Displaying a bad attitude
• Broadcasting limitations
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How to Keep Organizational Politics within Reasonable Bounds
• Screen out overly political individuals at hiring time.
• Create an open-book management system.• Make sure every employee knows how the
business works and has a personal line of sight to key results with corresponding measurable objectives for individual accountability.
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How to Keep Organizational Politics within Reasonable Bounds
• Have non-financial people interpret periodic financial and accounting statements for all employees.
• Establish formal conflict resolution and grievance processes.
• As an ethics filter, do only what you feel comfortable doing on national television.
• Publicly recognize and reward people who get real results without political games.