Chapter

10

Power and Politics

Learning Objectives

Understand: the difference between power and authority Describe: the five interpersonal power bases. Discuss: how subunits within an organization acquire and use power. Identify: impression management tactics. Identify: the reasons why perceived authority can influence a persons behavior.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Personal Power of Great Leaders

Great leaders make things happen by utilizing four types of personal power:

Communicating their visions to others Overcoming resistance to change Mobilizing resources in the required direction Managing their own ambitions so they dont lose perspective in the process of leading

The Personal Power of Great Leaders

Power is a pervasive part of organizational life, and getting things done requires it. A persons success or failure at using or reacting to power is largely determined by:

Understanding power Knowing how and when to use it Being able to anticipate its effects

Power and Authority

Power: The ability to get others to do what one wants them to do. Involves a relationship between two or more people. Cannot be forced on people. Power sharing requires time to implement.

Power and Authority

Authority is the formal power a person holds because of his or her position in the organizational hierarchy. Authority has the following characteristics:

It is vested in a persons position. It is accepted by subordinates. It is used vertically (from the top down) in an organization.

The Bases of Power

Interpersonal Structural Situational

Interpersonal Power

Legitimate Power: Reward Power: Coercive Power: Expert Power: Referent Power:

A persons ability to influence others by being in a more powerful position. A persons ability to reward the behavior of others. Capability to punish non-compliance of followers. The power to influence others based on special expertise. Power based on charisma.

McClellands Need for Power (nPow)

Need for power is a desire to have an impact on others. This impact may be shown by: Strong action, by giving help or advice, or by controlling someone. Action that produces emotion in others. A concern for reputation.

Structural and Situational Power

Organizational structure creates formal power and authority by specifying certain individuals to perform specific jobs and make certain decisions. Other forms of structural power exist because of: Resources Decision-making power Information power

Resource Power

Resource power occurs when individuals have an open channel to resources (money, workers, technology, materials, and customers). In organizations, resources are allocated downward. To ensure compliance with goals, top-level managers allocate resources on the basis of performance and compliance. Limited resources and labor cause a dependency relationship. To improve performance, lower-level managers must be given adequate power and resources to control their destinies.

Decision-Making Power

The degree to which individuals or subunits can affect decision making determines their level of power. A person or subunit with decision making power can influence: How the decision-making process occurs. What alternatives are considered. When a decision is made.

Information Power

Having access to relevant and important information gives power. Information is the basis for making effective decisions. Those who possess the information needed for making decisions have power. A persons power may be weakened by sharing too much information.

Upward Flow of Power

A person exerting power upward has personal power, but no authority.
Manipulative Persuasion

Manipulation

A persons direct attempt to disguise the true persuasion objective. The hidden agenda ploy.

The form of influence in which both the objective and the attempt are concealed.

Powerlessness
Position First-line supervisors Symptoms Supervise too closely Fail to train subordinates Not sufficiently oriented to the management team Inclined to do the job themselves.

Sources Routine, rule-minded jobs. Limited lines of communication. Limited advancement opportunities for themselves and their subordinates.

Powerlessness
Position Staff professionals Symptoms Create islands and set themselves up as experts. Use professional standards as basis for judging work that distinguishes them from others. Resist change and become conservative risk-takers.

Sources Routine tasks are only adjuncts to real line job. Blocked career advancement. Replaced by outside consultants for non-routine work.

Powerlessness
Position Top-level managers Symptoms Have short-term horizon. Emphasize top-down communication systems. Reward followers who think like the manager; do not welcome bearers of bad news.

Sources Uncontrollable lines of supply. Limited or blocked lines of information about lower managerial levels. Diminished lines of support because of challenges to legitimacy.

Interdepartmental Power

Strategic contingency: an event or activity that is extremely important to accomplishing organizational goals. Strategic contingency theory focuses on subunit power. The power differential between subunits is influenced by the: Ability to cope with uncertainty Centrality of the subunit Substitutability of the subunit

Interdepartmental Power
Preventing market share decline by product development Coping with uncertainty Providing accurate future-based predictions Absorbing problems from other units Power acquired by subunit and power differentials

Centrality

Being in an urgent or immediacy position Located at center of work flow

Substitutability

Possessing needed skills or expertise Possessing only talents that are available to complete job

Coping With Uncertainty

There are three types of coping with uncertainty activities:

Prevention Information Absorption

Centrality

Subunits most central to the flow of work acquire power.

A subunit in a position to affect other subunits has some degree of centrality and, therefore, power.

A subunit also possesses power if its activities have a more immediate impact than that of other subunits. This leads to two centrality propositions: The higher the pervasiveness of the work flow of a subunit, the greater is its power within the organization. The higher the immediacy of the work flows of a subunit, the greater is its power within the organization.

Substitutability

Substitutability refers to other subunits ability to perform activities of a particular subunit. The lower the substitutability of the activities of a subunit, the greater is its power within the organization. A subunit can increase its power by assuming responsibility for activities critical to the organization.

Obedience to Authority

Exercising power in an authoritative way isnt the only way power can be exerted. Power is often exerted by individuals who have only minimum or no actual power. An individual may be able to significantly influence others simply because he or she is perceived to have power.

Political Strategies and Tactics

Individuals and subunits continually engage in political behavior. That is, behavior that is: Outside the legitimate, recognized power system. Designed to benefit an individual or subunit, often at the expense of the organization. Intentional and designed to acquire and maintain power. As a result of political behavior, the formal power that exists in an organization is often sidetracked.

Political Strategies and Tactics

Common ways to influence other subunits include:

Rule evasionevading the organizations formal procedures. Personal-politicalusing friendships to facilitate or inhibit processes and procedures. Educationalattempting to persuade others to think like a particular subunit. Organizationalattempting to change the formal or informal interaction patterns between subunits.

Impression Management

Impression managementbehaviors individuals use to preserve their self-image and/or influence the ways in which others perceive them. Individuals attempt to control information about themselves so as to create a favorable impression with important others in the workplace.

Impression Management Tactics

Self-Presentation Smiling Making eye contact Positive tone of voice Appropriate dress High level of energy Other-Enhancement Doing favors for others Using flattery Showing interest in others Being an active listener Agreeing with others opinions

Political Games

Insurgency: played to resist authority. Counter-insurgency: fighting back when faced with insurgency. Sponsorship: attaching oneself to someone with power. Coalition-building: forming an alliance with other subunits. Line versus staff: this game pits line authority to make decisions against staff advisors expertise. Whistle-blowing: action taken to bring about organizational change.

Ethics, Power, and Politics

Managers confront ethical dilemmas in their jobs because they frequently use power and politics to accomplish their goals. Each manager, therefore, has an ethical responsibility.

Ethics, Power, and Politics

A managers behavior must satisfy certain criteria to be considered ethical:

Utilitarian Outcomes Individual Rights Distributive Justice

Ethics, Power, and Politics

Utilitarian Outcomes

The managers behavior results in the optimal satisfaction of people both inside and outside the organization. It results in the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Ethics, Power, and Politics

Individual Rights

The managers behavior respects the rights of all affected parties. It respects the basic human rights of: Free consent Free speech Freedom of conscience Privacy Due process

Ethics, Power, and Politics

Distributive Justice

The managers behavior respects the rules of justice. It treats people equitable and fairly, not arbitrarily.