Chapter 7 Power and Politics

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 2 Chapter Outline A Definition of Power Contrasting Leadership and Power Bases of Power Dependency: The Key to Power Power Tactics Empowerment: Giving Power to Employees The Abuse of Power: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Politics: Power in Action

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 3 Questions for Consideration Power and Politics What is power? How does one get it? What does it mean to empower employees? How can we be effective at office politics?

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 4 Power Power: A capacity that A has to influence the behaviour of B so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 5 Leadership Requires goal congruence Focuses on downward influence Minimizes importance of lateral and upward influence Leadership research focuses on answers Power Does not require goal compatibility Focuses on intimidation Maximizes importance of lateral and upward influence Power focuses on tactics for gaining compliance Leadership and Power

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 6 Exhibit 7-1 Measuring Bases of Power The person can make things difficult for people, and you want to avoid getting him or her angry. [coercive power] The person is able to give special benefits or rewards to people, and you find it advantageous to trade favors with him or her. [reward power] The person has the right, considering his or her position and your job responsibilities, to expect you to comply with legitimate requests. [legitimate power] The person has the experience and knowledge to earn your respect, and you defer to his or her judgment in some matters. [expert power] You like the person and enjoy doing things for him or her. [referent power]

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 7 Bases of Power Coercive Power –Power that is based on fear. Reward Power –Compliance achieved based on the ability to distribute rewards that others view as valuable. Legitimate Power –The power a person receives as a result of his or her position in the formal hierarchy of an organization. Expert Power –Influence based on special skills or knowledge. Referent Power –Influence based on possession by an individual or desirable resources or personal traits.

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 8 Evaluating the Bases of Power Coercive power tends to result in negative performance responses from individuals, decreases satisfaction, increases mistrust, and creates fear. Legitimate power does not have a negative effect, but does not generally stimulate employees to improve their attitudes or performance, and it does not generally result in increased commitment. Reward power may improve performance in a variety of situations if the rewards are consistent with what the individuals want as rewards. Expert power relies on trust that all relevant information is given out honestly and completely.

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 9 Leaders’ Use of Power The least effective power bases--coercive, legitimate, and reward -- are the ones most likely to be used by managers, perhaps because they are the easiest to implement. Effective leaders use referent and/or expert power.

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 10 Dependency: Key to Power Importance: the things you control must be important Scarcity: a resource must be perceived as scarce Non-substitutability: the resource cannot be substituted with something else

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 11 When Managers Influenced Superiors* When Managers Influenced Subordinates Reason Coalition Friendliness Bargaining Assertiveness Higher authority Reason Assertiveness Friendliness Coalition Bargaining Higher authority Sanctions Most Popular Least Popular *The dimension of sanctions is omitted in the scale that measures upward influence. Exhibit 7-3 Popularity of Power Tactics: From Most to Least Popular

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 12 Empowerment: Giving Power to Employees Disagreement over definition of empowerment –empowerment as delegating decision making within a set of clear boundaries. –empowerment as “a process of risk taking and personal growth.”

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 13 Exhibit 7-4 Characteristics of Empowered People

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 14 Sexual Harassment The Supreme Court of Canada defines sexual harassment as unwelcome behaviour of a sexual nature in the workplace that negatively affects the work environment or leads to adverse job-related consequences for the employee.

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 15 Political Behaviour Those activities that are not required as part of one’s formal role in the organization, but that influence, or attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization. –Legitimate: normal everyday behaviour –Illegitimate: extreme political behaviours that violate the implied rules of the game

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 16 Why Do We Get Politics? Organizations are made up of groups and individuals who have differing values, goals and interests Resources in organizations are limited Performance outcomes are not completely clear and objective

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 17 Exhibit 7-5 How Political Is Your Workplace?

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 18 Politicking Frame arguments in terms of organizational goals. Develop the right image. Gain control of organizational resources. Make yourself appear indispensable. Be visible. Develop powerful allies. Avoid “tainted” members. Support your boss.

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 19 What Individual Factors Contribute to Politics? High self-monitors Internal locus of control High mach Organizational investment Perceived job alternatives Expectations of success

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 20 Individual factors High self-monitors Internal locus and control High mach Organizational investment Perceived job alternatives Expectations of success Organizational factors Reallocation of resources Promotion opportunities Low trust Role ambiguity Unclear performance evaluation system Zero-sum reward practices Democratic decision making High performance pressures Self-serving senior managers Political behaviour LowHigh Favourable outcomes Rewards Averted punishments Exhibit 7-6 Factors Influencing Political Behaviour

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 21 What Organizational Factors Contribute to Politics? Reallocation of rewards Promotion opportunities Low trust Role ambiguity Unclear performance evaluation system Zero-sum reward practices Democratic decision-making High performance pressure Self-serving senior managers

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 22 Making Office Politics Work Nobody wins unless everybody wins. Don’t just ask for opinions— change them. Everyone expects to be paid back. Success can create opposition.

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 23 Exhibit 7-7 Impression Management (IM) Techniques Conformity –Agreeing with someone else’s opinion in order to gain his or her approval. Excuses –Explanations of a predicament-creating event aimed at minimizing the apparent severity of the predicament. Apologies –Admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and simultaneously seeking to get a pardon for the action. Acclamations –Explanation of favorable events to maximize the desirable implications for oneself. Flattery –Complimenting others about their virtues in an effort to make oneself appear perceptive and likable. Favours –Doing something nice for someone to gain that person’s approval. Association –Enhancing or protecting one’s image by managing information about people and things with which one is associated.

Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education Canada Inc. 24 Summary and Implications Power is a two-way street. Few employees relish being powerless in their jobs and organization. People respond differently to various power bases. –Employees working under coercive managers are unlikely to be committed, –and more likely to resist the manager. Expert power is the most strongly and consistently related to effective employee performance. The power of the boss may also play a role in determining job satisfaction. The effective manager accepts the political nature of organizations. The more political that employees perceive an organization, the lower their satisfaction. Regardless of level in the organization, some people are more politically “astute” than others. The politically naive and inept tend to feel continually powerless.