13 Power, Politics, Conflict, and Negotiation

1. 13 Power, Politics, Conflict, and Negotiation

2. Learning Objectives • Understand the nature of power and explain why organizational politics exists and how it can help or harm an organization and its members • Differentiate between the main sources of formal and informal power people can use to engage in organizational politics as well as sources of functional and divisional power

3. Learning Objectives • Discuss the nature of organizational conflict and the main sources of conflict in an organizational setting • Describe a model of the conflict process that illustrates how the conflict process works • Explain how negotiations can be used to manage the conflict process and resolve disputes between people and groups

4. Mixing Business and Family • Why are power struggles taking place in the two media empires? • Viacom • News Corp.

5. The Nature of Power and Politics • Power • Principal means of directing and controlling organizational goals and activities • Ability to get others to do something they might not otherwise do

6. The Good Side of Power • Improve decision-making quality • Promote change • Encourage cooperation • Promote new organizational goals

7. Exhibit 13.1 Sources of Individual Power Individual Power Formal Power Legitimate power Reward power Coercive power Information power Informal Power Expert power Referent power Charismatic power

8. Exhibit 13.2 Sources of Functional and Divisional Power Ability to control uncertain contingencies Irreplaceability Centrality Ability to control and generate resources Functional or divisional power

9. Organizational Politics Organizational politics are activities that managers engage in to increase their power. They can use the power to influence organizational decisions that favor their individual, functional, and divisional interests.

10. Tactics for Increasing Individual Power • Tap sources of functional and divisional power • Recognize who has power • Control the agenda • Bring in an outside expert • Build coalitions/alliances

11. Factors of Relative Power Sources of power Consequences of power Symbols of power Personal reputations Representational indicators

12. Politics at Eastman Kodak

13. Organizational Conflict Organizational conflict is the self-interested struggle that arises when the goal-directed behavior of one person or group blocks the goal-directed behavior of another person or group

14. Exhibit 13.4 The Effect of Conflict on Organizational Performance

15. Sources of Conflict Differentiation Task relationships Scarcity of resources

16. Conflict Evolving from Task Relationships Overlapping authority Task interdependence Incompatible evaluation systems

17. A Power Struggle at Gucci

18. Exhibit 13.5 Pondy’s Model of Organizational Conflict Stage 1: Latent Conflict Stage 2: Perceived Conflict Stage 3: Felt Conflict Stage 4: Manifest Conflict Stage 5: Conflict Aftermath

19. Forms of Manifest Conflict • Open aggression • Violence • Infighting • Sabotage • Physical intimidation • Lack of cooperation

20. Fighting for Control at CIC Inc.

21. Negotiation Initial Offer Compromise Counteroffers Concessions

22. Individual-Level Conflict Management • Manager meets with employees in conflict. All understand facts of conflict • Manager summarizes dispute in written form • Manager discusses facts in report with each employee separately and works out a common solution • Manager gets commitment to resolving dispute

23. Group-Level Conflict Management • Compromise • Collaboration • Accommodation • Avoidance • Competition

24. Exhibit 13.6 Ways of Handling Conflict High Low Interest in helping others Accommodation Collaboration Compromise Avoidance Competition Low High Interest in achieving individual goals

25. Promoting Compromise • Emphasize common goals • Focus on the problem, not the people • Focus on interests, not demands • Create opportunities for joint gain • Focus on what is fair