Organizational behavior 4th by MShean chap012

Power, Influence & Politics at NABNational Australia Bank rogue trader Luke Duffy and his colleagues created losses of $350 million, thanks in part of Duffy’s power and influence ta

Power and Influence

Power and Influence

Power, Influence & Politics at NAB

National Australia Bank

rogue trader Luke Duffy and

his colleagues created

losses of $350 million,

thanks in part of Duffy’s

power and influence tactics.

Craig Abraham/Fairfax Photos

The Meaning of Power

• Power is the capacity of a

person, team, or organization to influence others.

– The potential to influence

others

– People have power they don’t

use and may not know they possess

– Power requires one person’s

perception of dependence on Craig Abraham/Fairfax Photos

Power and Dependence

Person A

Person B’s Goals

Person B

Person B’s counterpower

power over Person B

Model of Power in Organizations

Power over Others

Contingencies

Of Power

Legitimate Reward Coercive Expert Referent

Sources

Of Power

Legitimate • Agreement that people in certain

roles can request certain behaviors of others

• Based on job descriptions and

mutual agreement from those expected to abide by this

authority

• Legitimate power range (zone of

indifference) is higher in high power distance cultures

Source of Power

 Ability to control the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove negative sanctions

 Operates upward as well as downward

Source of Power

Reward

 Ability to apply punishment

 Exists upward as well as downward

 Peer pressure is a form of coercive power

Source of Power

Reward

Coercive

 Individual’s or work unit’s capacity

to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills that they

value

 Employees gaining expert power over companies in knowledge economy

Source of Power

Reward

Coercive

Expert

Information Power at Lowe Counsel

Information about the future helps companies to cope with environmental uncertainties,

so trendspotters like Zoe Lazarus and Richard Welch at Lowe Counsel (shown here) potentially wield considerable power.

Information and Power

• Control over information flow

– Based on legitimate power

– Relates to formal communication network

– Common in centralized

structures (wheel pattern)

• Coping with uncertainty

– Those who know how to cope

with organizational uncertainties gain power

• Prevention

• Forecasting

• Absorption

Contingencies of Power

Contingencies

of Power

Substitutability Centrality Discretion Visibility

Power over others Sources

of Power

Increasing Nonsubstitutability

Controlling Tasks

Controlling Knowledge

Differentiation

Controlling Labor

Increasing Nonsubstitutability

Networking and Power

• Cultivating social relationships with others to accomplish

one’s goals

• Increases power through

to others with valuable resources

partners within their own networks

Influencing Others

• Influence is any behavior that attempts to alter someone’s

attitudes or behavior

objectives

hierarchy

Assertiveness • Actively applying legitimate and coercive

power (“vocal authority”)

• Reminding, confronting, checking, threatening

Silent Authority • Following requests without overt influence

• Based on legitimate power, role modeling

• Common in high power distance cultures

Types of Influence

Coalition Formation

• Group forms to gain more power than individuals alone

1 Pools resources/power

2 Legitimizes the issue

3 Power through social identity

Exchange • Promising or reminding of past benefits in exchange for compliance

• Negotiation is integral to this strategy

• Networking relates to exchange influence

Types of Influence (con’t)

Ingratiation/

Impress Mgt.

• Ingratiation

• Increasing liking/similarity to target

• Flattering, helping, seeking advice

• Impression Management

• Actively shaping our public images

• Way we dress, padding résumé

Upward Appeal

• Appealing to higher authority

• Includes appealing to firm’s goals

• Formal alliance or perception of alliance with higher status person

Types of Influence (con’t)

Persuasion • Using logic, facts, emotional appeals to gain

• Withholding, filtering, re-arranging information

Consequences of Influence Tactics

Resistance Compliance Commitment

Persuasion Ingratiation &

impression mgt Exchange

Soft Influence Tactics

Hard Influence Tactics

Silent authority Upward appeal Coalition formation Information control Assertiveness

Steve Jobs’ Reality Distortion Field

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and Pixar

Animation Studios, is famous for influencing people through his

persuasiveness, which draws them into his “reality distortion field.”

Contingencies of Influence Tactics

acceptable

depends on:

– Organizational position – Influencer’s power base – Cultural values and

expectations

– Age cohort

WorldCom Politics

Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers (left), CFO Scott Sullivan

(right), and other executives perpetrated one of the largest cases of

accounting fraud in history by using assertiveness, information control, and other influence practices as political tactics to protect their financial interests.

Organizational Politics

Behaviors that others perceive as self-serving

tactics for personal gain at the expense of other

people and possibly the organization.

Conditions Supporting Organizational

Politics

Scarce Resources

Complex and Ambiguous Decisions

Tolerance of Politics

Organizational Change

Conditions for Organizational Politics

Minimizing Political Behavior

Leaders as role models

Manage team norms

Free flowing information

Manage change effectively

Introduce clear rules

Support values that oppose politics

Power and Influence

Power and Influence