Power and Politics

1
Power and Politics

• Chapter 12

2
Power

• Refers to a capacity that A has to influence the
  behavior of B so that B acts in accordance with
  As wishes
• Two facets
• Its potential need not be actualized to be
  effective
• It requires a dependency relationship

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Leadership and Power

• Leaders use power as a way to attain group goals,
  and power is a means for facilitating their
  achievement
• How they differ
• Goal compatibility
• Direction of influence
• Research emphasis

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Bases of Power

• Formal
• Coercive - One reacts to this power out of fear
  of the negative results that might occur if one
  failed to comply
• Reward - People comply with the wishes or
  directives of another because doing so produces
  positive benefits
• Legitimate - represents the formal authority to
  control and use organizational resources

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Bases of Power

• Personal
• Expert - influence wielded as a result of
  expertise, special skill, or knowledge
• Referent - based on identification with a person
  who has desirable resources or personal traits

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Which Power Bases are Most Effective?

• Personal sources of power are most effective
• Expert and referent power are positively related
  to performance and commitment
• Reward and legitimate power are unrelated
• Coercive power is negatively related to employee
  satisfaction and commitment

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Influence Tactics

• Legitimacy
• Rational persuasion
• Inspirational appeals
• Consultation
• Exchange
• Personal appeals
• Ingratiation
• Pressure
• Coalitions

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Effectiveness of Influence Tactics

• Rational persuasion, inspirational appeals and
  consultation are most effective
• Pressure is least effective
• Using more than one compatible tactic at the same
  time or sequentially increases chance of success
• Softer tactics work better than harder tactics

9
Coalitions

• An informal group bound together by the active
  pursuit of a single issue
• Coalitions in organizations often seek to
  maximize their size
• More coalitions will likely be created when there
  is a great deal of task and resource
  interdependence
• The more routine the task of a group, the greater
  likelihood that coalitions will form

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Political Behavior

• Activities that are not required as part of
  ones formal role in the organization, but that
  influence, or attempt to influence, the
  distribution of advantages and disadvantages
  within the organization

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Scoring the instruments

• Average all 18 items political skill
• Average items 1, 6, 9, 10, 11, 15 Networking
  ability
• Average Items 2, 3, 4, 12 Interpersonal
  influence
• Average items 5, 7, 16, 17, 18 Social
  astuteness
• Average Items 8, 13, 14 Apparent sincerity

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Factors Contributing to Political Behavior

• Individual factors
• High self-monitors
• Internal locus of control
• High need for power
• Large investment in the organization
• More perceived job alternatives
• High expectations of success

13
Factors Contributing to Political Behavior

• Organizational factors
• Existing pattern of resources is changing
• Opportunity for promotion
• Subjective performance criteria
• Low trust
• Role ambiguity
• Zero-sum reward allocation practices
• High pressures for performance
• Politicking by top management

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How Do People Respond to Organizational Politics?

• For most people with modest political skills or
  who are unwilling to play the politics game,
  outcomes are negative, including low job
  satisfaction, increased anxiety and stress,
  feeling of losing ground to politickers, quitting
  and demotivation
• Moderated by individuals understanding of who
  makes decisions and why they were selected
• When perceived as a threat, people respond with
  defensive behaviors

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Impression Management (IM)

• The process by which individuals attempt to
  control the impression others form of them
• Techniques include
• Conformity
• Excuses
• Apologies
• Self-promotion
• Flattery
• Favors
• Association

16
Impression Management

• Interview success when used in interviews it
  works self-promotion and ingratiation work well
• Performance Evaluations ingratiation works well
  but self-promotion does not

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The Ethics of Behaving Politically

• Questions to consider
• What is the utility of engaging in the behavior?
• How does the utility of engaging in the political
  behavior balance out any harm it will do to
  others?
• Does the political activity conform to standards
  of equity and justice?

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Implications (Common Sense)

• Accept the political nature of organizations
• Increase power by
• Acquire the bases of power that are most useful
  (expert, referent)
• Use the power tactics that are most effective
  (consultation, inspirational appeal)
• Avoid tactics that tend to backfire (coercion)