Navigating Organizational Conflict, Power, and Politics

1. Chapter ThirteenConflict, Power, and Politics 指導教授：任維廉 學生：李忠憲

2. 自我介紹 • NONO • 台中人 • 牡羊座 • 兔 • 成大交管畢 • 養魚 • 程式能力提高

3. Outline • Intergroup Conflict in Organizations • Power and Organizations • Political Processes in Organizations • Using Power, Politics, and Collaboration • Discussion

4. Intergroup Conflict in Organizations(1/3) • Intergroup conflict requires three ingredients: • Group identification • Observable group differences • Frustration • Source of conflict: • Goal incompatibility (the greatest) • Differentiation(mergers or acquisition→cultural) • Task interdependence • Limited resources (budget)

5. MARKETING VS. MANUFACTURING Operative goal is Operative goal is Goal Conflict customer satisfaction production efficiency Conflict Area Typical Comment Typical Comment Breadth of product line: “Our customers “The product line is too demand variety.” broad, all we get are short, uneconomical runs.” New product introduction: “New products are our “Unnecessary design changes lifeblood.” are prohibitively expensive.” Production scheduling: “We need faster response. “We need realistic customer Lead times are too long.” commitments that don’t change like the wind direction Physical distribution: “Why don’t we ever have “We can’t afford to keep huge the right merchandise inventories.” in inventory?” Quality: “Why can’t we have “Why must we always offer reasonable quality options that are too at low cost?” expensive and offer little customer utility?” Intergroup Conflict in Organizations(2/3)

6. Intergroup Conflict in Organizations(3/3) • Rational versus Political Model

7. Power and Organizations(1/13) • Power: the ability of one person(or department) in an organization to influence other people to bring about desired outcomes. • Power in organisations is also about structures, organisational relationships – power is vested in the position, not the person.

8. Power and Organizations(2/13) • Five sources of personal power (individual managers) • Legitimate power • Reward power • Coercive power • Expert power • Referent power

9. Power and Organizations(3/13) • Authority: is a force for achieving desired outcomes, but only as prescribed by the formal hierarchy and reporting relationship. • Properties of authority: • Vested in organizational positions • Accepted by subordinates • Flows down the vertical hierarchy • Power: vertical, horizontal • Authority: vertical

10. Power and Organizations(4/13) • Vertical sources of power • Formal position provides legitimate power: • Top manager: set goals, make decisions, direct activities. • Power is also increased when a position can contact with high-level people. • The distribution of power is skewed too heavily toward the top, the organization will be less effective.

11. Power and Organizations(5/13) • Resources • Top managers control the resources and determine their distribution. • Resource allocation creates a dependency relationship. • Control of decision premises and information • Decision premises: top managers place constraints, reference, or guidelines on decisions made at lower levels. • The control of information can also be a source of power.

12. Power and Organizations(6/13) • Control of information

13. Power and Organizations(7/13) Network centrality ‧Top managers often increase their power by surrounding themselves with a network of loyal subordinates. • People • Build a cadre of loyal executives/managers.

14. Power and Organizations(8/13)

15. Power and Organizations(9/13) • Empowerment is power sharing, the delegation of power or authority to subordinates • Empowerment benefits: • Employees receive information about company performance • Employees have knowledge and skills to contribute to company goals • Employees have the power to make substantive decisions

16. Power and Organizations(10/13) • Horizontal power pertains to relationship across departments. • Horizontal power is difficult to measure. -Perrow’s Survery • Some initial explanations have been found, called strategic contingencies. • Strategic contingencies • Events and activities both inside and outside an organization that are essential for attaining organizational goals.

17. Power and Organizations(11/13) • Horizontal power sources

18. Power and Organizations(12/13) • Dependency • The power of department A over department B is greater when department B depends on A. • Financial resources • Departments that generate income for an organization have greater power. • Centrality • Centrality reflects a department’s role in the primary activity of an organization. • One measure of centrality is the extent to which the work of the department affects the final output of the organization.

19. Power and Organizations(13/13) • Nonsubstitutability • If an employee cannot be easily replaced, his or her power is greater. • Coping with uncertainty • Departments that reduce the uncertainty for the organization will increase their power. 1. Obtaining prior information 2. Prevention 3. Absorption

20. Political Processes in Organizations(1/2) • Organisational politics involves activities to acquire, develop and use power and other resources to obtain the preferred outcome when there is uncertainty or disagreement about the choices. • The appropriate use of political behavior can serve organizational goals, and politics is the mechanism for reaching agreement.

21. Political Processes in Organizations(2/2) • When is political activities used? • Structure change • Management succession • Resource allocation

22. Using Power, Politics, and Collaboration(1/2) • The tactics that managers can use to increase the power, political tactics for using power, and increasing collaboration.

23. Using Power, Politics, and Collaboration(2/2) • Confrontation is successful when managers with a positive attitude engage in a win-win strategy.

24. Discussion • 若最高階管理者擁有過多的權力，進而從事一些自利的行為，是否有其他機制可與之抗衡？ • 在垂直權力的來源中有一項是建立個人的網路中心(Network centrality) ，這樣也許會造成部門內部，甚至是整個組織分裂成許多小團體，該如何避免或改善？

25. Thanks!