Management Course: Discussion Topic 8
jandreg
chap010.pptPower and Influence in the Workplace
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e
Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Power, Influence & Politics in the RCMP
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) human resources director Denise Revine and her boss Chief Superintendent Fraser Macauley, (see photo) had their careers derailed when they reported that pension funds had been misappropriated. A Canadian government report concluded the RCMP suffered from the “absolute power exercised by the Commissioner.”
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The Meaning of Power
Power is the capacity of a person, team, or organization to influence others.
- Potential, not actual use
- People have power they don’t use -- may not know they possess
- A perception
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Power and Dependence
Resource desired by person B
Person B’s countervailing power over Person A
Person A
Person A’s control of resource valued by Person B
Person B
Person A’s power over Person B
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Model of Power in Organizations
Legitimate
Reward
Coercive
Expert
Referent
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Contingencies
of Power
Power
over others
Sources
of Power
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Sources of Power
- Agreement that people in certain roles can request certain behaviors of others
- Based on job descriptions and mutual agreement
- Legitimate power range (zone of indifference) varies across national and org cultures.
Legitimate
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Sources of Power
- Ability to control the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove negative sanctions
- Operates upward as well as downward
Reward
Legitimate
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Sources of Power
- Ability to apply punishment
- Exists upward as well as downward
- Peer pressure is a form of coercive power
Legitimate
Coercive
Reward
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Sources of Power
- The capacity to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills that they value
- More employee expert power over companies in knowledge economy
Legitimate
Expert
Reward
Coercive
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Sources of Power
- Occurs when others identify with, like, or otherwise respect the person
- Associated with charismatic leadership
Legitimate
Referent
Reward
Coercive
Expert
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DeCourcy’s Trendspotting Power
Colleen DeCourcy has developed a reputation as a trendspotter, giving her considerable information power in the advertising industry. “Her knowledge of the digital landscape, grounded in creativity, make her an invaluable additional to TBWA,” says DeCourcy’s boss.
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Information and Power
- Control over information flow
- Based on legitimate power
- Relates to formal communication network
- Coping with uncertainty
- More power to those who can help firms cope with uncertainty
- Prevention
- Forecasting
- Absorption
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Power Through Control of Information Flow
This person has high information control
These people individually have low information control
Wheel formation
All-channels formation
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Contingencies of Power
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Contingencies
of Power
Substitutability
Centrality
Discretion
Visibility
Power
over others
Sources
of Power
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Increasing Nonsubstitutability
- Few/no alternatives to the resource
- Increase nonsubstituability by controlling the resource
- exclusive right to perform medical procedures
- control over skilled labor
- exclusive knowledge to repair equipment
- Differentiate resource from others
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Centrality
- Degree and nature of interdependence between powerholder and others
- Centrality is a function of:
- How many others are affected by you
- How quickly others are affected by you
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Discretion and Visibility
- Discretion
- The freedom to exercise judgment
- Rules limit discretion, limit power
- Also a perception – acting as if you have discretion
- Visibility
- Symbols communicate your power source(s)
- Educational diplomas
- Clothing etc (stethoscope around neck)
- Salience
- Location – others more aware of your presence
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Social Networking and Power
- Cultivating social relationships with others to accomplish one’s goals
- Increases power through:
- social capital
- referent power
- visibility and centrality contingencies
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Influencing Others
- Influence -- any behavior that attempts to alter someone’s attitudes or behavior
- Applies one or more power bases
- Process through which people achieve organizational objectives
- Operates up, down, and across the organizational hierarchy
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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
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Coalition Formation
- Group forms to gain more power than individuals alone
- Pools resources/power
- Legitimizes the issue
- Power through social identity
Types of Influence (con’t)
Information Control
- Manipulating others’ access to information
- Withholding, filtering, re-arranging information
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Upward Appeal
- Appealing to higher authority
- Includes appealing to firm’s goals
- Alliance or perceived alliance with higher status person
Types of Influence (con’t)
Persuasion
- Logic, facts, emotional appeals
- Depends on persuader, message content, message medium, audience
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Types of Influence (con’t)
Exchange
- Promising or reminding of past benefits in exchange for compliance
- Includes negotiation and networking
Ingratiation/ Impress. Mgt.
- increaseliking by, or perceived similarity to the target person
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Consequences of Influence Tactics
Resistance
Compliance
Commitment
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people oppose the behavior desired by the influencer
motivated by external sources (rewards) to implement request
identify with and highly motivated to implement request
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Consequences of Influence Tactics
Resistance
Compliance
Commitment
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Persuasion
Ingratiation &
impression mgt
Exchange
Soft Influence Tactics
Hard Influence Tactics
Silent authority
Upward appeal
Coalition formation
Information control
Assertiveness
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Contingencies of Influence Tactics
- “Soft” tactics generally more acceptable than “hard” tactics
- Appropriate influence tactic depends on:
- Influencer’s power base
- Organizational position
- Cultural values and expectations
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Organizational Politics
Behaviors that others perceive as self-serving tactics for personal gain at the expense of other people and possibly the organization.
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Conditions
Supporting
Organizational
Politics
Scarce
Resources
Complex and
Ambiguous
Decisions
Tolerance of
Politics
Organizational
Change
Conditions for Organizational Politics
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Minimizing Political Behaviour
Introduce clear rules for scarce resources
Effective organizational change practices
Suppress norms that support or tolerate self-serving behavior
Leaders role model organizational citizenship
Give employees more control over their work
Keep employees informed
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Power and Influence in the Workplace
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McGraw-Hill/Irwin
McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e
Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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