Power and Politics: How People Influence One Another

2. 10 Organizational Behavior core concepts McGraw-Hill/Irwin Organizational Behavior, Core Concepts Copyright © 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Power and Politics: How People Influence One Another

3. 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

4. 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

5. Generic Influence Tactics • Rational persuasion • Inspirational appeals • Consultation • Ingratiation • Personal appeals • Exchange • Coalition tactics • Pressure • Legitimating tactics

6. Three Influence Outcomes • Commitment – substantial agreement followed by initiative and persistence in pursuit of common goals • Compliance – reluctant agreement requiring subsequent prodding to satisfy minimum requirements • Resistance – stalling, unproductive arguing, or outright rejection

7. 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

8. 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

9. Creating Strategic Allies • Mutual respect • Openness • Trust • Mutual benefit

10. 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

11. Social Power and Empowerment • Social power • ability to marshal the human, informational, and material resources to get something done

12. Question? Which type of power obtains compliance through formal authority? • Reward • Coercive • Legitimate • Referent

13. 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.

14. 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

15. Employee Empowerment • Empowerment • sharing varying degrees of power with lower-level employees to better serve the customer

16. Randolph’s Empowerment Model Figure 10-1

17. Domain of Organizational Politics • Organizational politics • intentional acts of influence to enhance or protect the self-interests of individuals or groups

18. Sources of Uncertainty • Unclear objectives • Vague performance measures • Ill-defined decision processes • Strong individual or group competition • Any type of change

19. Levels of Political Action in Organizations Figure 10-2

20. Question? What is a temporary groupings of people who actively pursue a single issue? • Alliance • Coalition • Association • Federation

21. Levels of Political Action • Coalition • temporary groupings of people who actively pursue a single issue

22. 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

23. Impression Management • Impression management • process by which people attempt to control or manipulate the reactions of others to images of themselves or their ideas

24. 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

25. Bad Impressions Four motives for intentionally looking bad at work: • Avoidance • Obtain concrete rewards • Exit • Power

26. Bad Impressions Five unfavorable upward impression management tactics: • Decreasing performance • Not working to potential • Withdrawing • Displaying a bad attitude • Broadcasting limitations

27. 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.

28. 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.