Power/Leadership - OB

Nicholas Marone

Discussion 4- Week 8

 

            Christopher Neck, Organizational Behaviordiscusses various abuses in power.  Enron was discussed as a company with a mercenary culture, to win at all costs ruthless in the domination of new business leading to a culture of unethical behavior (Neck, Houghton, & Murray, 2017, pg. 367).

Another case discussed was that of Hitler, who was a charismatic leader, whose self-interests over the interests of the others led to the horrific outcomes in World War II.  It is important to see how leadership can lead others astray. One thing he did well was he got the buy-in of others around him (Neck, Houghton, & Murray, 2017, pg 283).  If managers get the buy-in of employees and bring them in on the making of the decisions and goals they will be more motivated if they are committed to the goals.    The key is to make sure the goals are benefiting society.

            There are many reasons companies should be concerned with management abuses, including when a political culture develops.  The CISCO case by  Neck discussed how during layoffs in 2012, cost-cutting steps ignited political behavior as employees had to compete for limited resources and rewards.  Zero-sum rewards which are programs that compensate only a few team members at the expense of others can have negative consequences for those who do not receive anything.  This can create bad feelings and drive unhealthy levels of competition case (Neck, Houghton, & Murray, 2017, pg. 314).   

             Sometimes the workforces can be more politically centered and rumors of layoffs can get employees to use political tactics to try to make their positions all the more secure.  Also, political power can be exploited in organizations that don’t implement formal rules.  This can create a lack of trust between employees and management.  Further, organizations that are so focused on financial outcomes with extreme pressure may lead to more political outcomes.

            Yet there are ways to use power effectively.  Companies can benefit from leaders and managers that are more knowledgeable of social intelligence.  They are more skilled at negotiating, resolving conflicts, and understanding the goals of others.

             Organizational power can be broken into three types.  Legitimate power reward power and coercive power.  Legitimate power comes from asking people to do things that are within the scope of the leader’s own authority.  Reward power is the ability to use rewards or incentives to influence others.

            Leaders who have referent power are important to have an influence over others based on other's desire to identify and be associated with the leader.  Integration can be helpful where there’s an effort to win favor in the good grace of others before making a request.

            The level of assertiveness skills deal s with the use of demands and threats to persuade someone to carry out a task.  It’s important that there can be three outcomes of influence tactics.  The first one is a commitment, the second compliance of the last resistance. Commitment occurs when people are enthusiastic and fully in agreement with the action and they’re motivated to help to be successful.  Compliance is happening when people are indifferent to the task and only get to put minimal effort to make it happen.  Resistance occurs when people oppose the influencer's request by refusing to carry out the task or arguing against carrying out the task. It is important to work through this first and get the employees to buy into what needs to be done, and employers need to be open to the employee’s suggestions of how best tasks can be accomplished.

            Organizations that use a lot of political power can have a lot of stress.  These organizations tend to have higher organizational turnover but yet it can be helpful to have political skills.  It’s really helpful when a person with political skill uses their political skill, not for their own interests but more for the good of the company and society.

            Managers have coercive power control through punishments.  They can fire employees who do not follow rules.  This is viewed as a negative form of power and should be used as an absolute last resort case (Neck, Houghton, & Murray, 2017, pg. 307.)   

            More efficiency is gained by using an inspirational approach explaining how to employees that what they contribute will help to achieve a greater good.

            People also respond better to soft influence tactics rather than hard influence tactics.  Managers with skills in rational appeals, inspirational, personal, consultation and integration exchange is more successful using these soft skills.  

            It is good for corporations to know how different cultures react as well to hard and soft skills.  Some examples show that information control is more common in Hong Kong than in the United States and coalition-building is more effective in the United States and Switzerland than in China.

The hard skills of upward appeal, coalition building, information control and assertiveness are harder for team members to accept generally.

            There are many ways for organizations to support effective management and leadership. Companies that act morally and ethically is in a better position to lead effectively.

Source Cited:

Neck, C. P., Houghton, J. D., & Murray, E. L. (2017). Organizational behavior: A critical-thinking approach. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

Sarah Sheehan

Week 8 DB

I think there is a fine line between being a leader and abusing that power. Our textbook describes power as "the capacity to influence the actions of others" (pg 305). Organizations should be concerned about the abuse of power because it could lead down a dangerous path of unethical behaviors. Being a powerful leader could benefit a business because it gives other employees someone to look up to. Making sure that the business is run correctly and being able to delegate orders to make the business run smooth. If a leader starts getting overwhelmed with tasks and starts cutting corners it would have to questions the ethics of a company. I think having a good ethical standards when being a leader would help the business. An organization could check in on the "leaders" to make sure they are doing well and do not need any help with projects. Making sure that leaders are not overwhelmed will help with keeping the ethical standards of the business. People also want to know that they are respected and valued at work. Checking in with employees will make them feel valued and allow them to reach full potential at the business. I think being a leader and helping lower level employees shows that leaders are not abusing power and only want to help the company reach full potential. 

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