Managing Power and Stakeholders in Organizations - Action Research Perspective

1. Action and Case Research in Management and Organizational Contexts Power,stakeholders and AR

2. How might power affect an organisation? About power? • Internal politics – rival departments or managers; • External and internal stakeholders; • Everyone involved in the discourse of the organisation can affect it in some way; • Other ways…

3. Faces of Power: Positive: Socialised need to initiate, influence and lead, enabling power; Negative: Unsocialised need to dominate over submissive others, seek control. (McClelland, D., 1961, and 1995). AR would seek to encourage Positive power, through involvement and empowerment of a range of stakeholders

4. Management attitudes • Management may legitimately use Mendelow’s theories to manage some external stakeholders, such as Government and Competitors; • It may be less acceptable when managing internal stakeholders; • See following diagrams. AR would seek to encourage Positive power, through involvement and empowerment of a range of stakeholders

5. Level of interest Low High Low A Minimal effort B Keep informed Power D Key Players C Keep satisfied High Power/Interest matrix ( Mendelow,1991) A management view

6. Predictability High Low A Few problems B Unpredictable but manageable Low Power C Powerful but predictable D Greatest danger or opportunities High Power/Dynamism matrix (adapted from Mendelow,1991)

7. These attitudes can be challenged by: • Co-opting people with various skills from different stakeholder groups; • Presenting a united front; • Learning and using knowledge from the group; • See also Tempered Radicalism (to be discussed later, Myerson, 2003). AR would seek to encourage Positive power, through involvement and empowerment of a range of stakeholders

8. Sources of power: • Legitimate • Reward • Coercive • Referent (charismatic) • Expert. (French & Raven,1959.)

9. Action science • Action science can address coercive power (and even charismatic and expert power: • By uncovering “double binds”; • Undiscussability; • Winning/losing behaviour. (French & Raven,1959.)

10. Types of power: Associative: deriving from the support of a strong mentor or sponsor, in a position to supply information and advice and to promote one’s career. Assigned: the power that comes from making oneself indispensable to someone senior, by taking on tasks which they dislike and would other wise have to do. Political: becoming politically involved in groups, committees, unions which have access to information and are involved in decision making. (Garavan, et al.,1993)

11. Action research can use some of Garavan’s types of power, especially by using action learning sets to influence and exercise power. • By mobilisation of the group’s knowledge; • Group action; • Communication; • Questioning.

12. References French, J. R. P., Raven, B. (1959). The bases of social power. In Cartwright, D., and Zander, A., (Eds.), Group dynamics. New York: Harper & Row. Garavan, G.N., Barnicle, B. and Heraty, N. (1993). The Training and Development Function: Its Search for Power and Influence in Organizations, Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol 17, Iss. 7. McClelland, D.C., (1961). The Achieving Society New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, McClelland D.C and Burnham D.H. (1995). 'Power is the Great Motivator', Harvard Business Review, 73 January-February 126-39. A. Mendelow, A., (1991). Proceedings of the Second International Conference of Information Systems, Cambridge, MA. Meyerson, D., (2003). Tempered Radicals: how everyday leaders inspire change at work. Harvard Business School Press.