McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Power and Influence in the Workplace

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 12-2 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

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 12-3 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 another person Craig Abraham/Fairfax Photos

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 12-4 Power and Dependence PersonA Person B’s Goals PersonB Person B’s counterpower over Person A Person A’s power over Person B

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 12-5 Model of Power in Organizations Power over Others Contingencies Of Power Legitimate Reward Coercive Expert Referent Sources Of Power

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 12-6 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

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 12-7 Legitimate  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

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 12-8 Legitimate  Ability to apply punishment  Exists upward as well as downward  Peer pressure is a form of coercive power Source of Power Reward Coercive

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 12-9 Legitimate  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

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide Legitimate  Occurs when others identify with, like, or otherwise respect the person  Associated with charismatic leadership Source of Power Reward Coercive Expert Referent

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 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. Courtesy of Lowe Worldwide

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 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 Courtesy of Lowe Worldwide

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide Contingencies of Power Contingencies of Power Substitutability Centrality Discretion Visibility Power over others Sources of Power

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide Increasing Nonsubstitutability ControllingTasks ControllingKnowledge Differentiation ControllingLabor Increasing Nonsubstitutability

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide Networking and Power Cultivating social relationships with others to accomplish one’s goals Increases power through –social capital -- durable network that connects people to others with valuable resources –referent power -- people tend to identify more with partners within their own networks –visibility and centrality contingencies

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide Influencing Others Influence is 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

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 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 more Types of Influence

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 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 more Types of Influence (con’t)

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 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 more Types of Influence (con’t)

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide Persuasion Using logic, facts, emotional appeals to gain acceptance Depends on persuader, message content, message medium, audience Types of Influence (con’t) Information Control Manipulating others’ access to information Withholding, filtering, re-arranging information

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide Consequences of Influence Tactics ResistanceComplianceCommitment Persuasion Ingratiation & impression mgt Exchange Soft Influence Tactics Hard Influence Tactics Silent authority Upward appeal Coalition formation Information control Assertiveness

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 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.”

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide Contingencies of Influence Tactics “Soft” tactics generally more acceptable Appropriate influence tactic depends on: –Organizational position –Influencer’s power base –Cultural values and expectations –Age cohort Gender differences

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 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.

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide Organizational Politics Behaviors that others perceive as self-serving tactics for personal gain at the expense of other people and possibly the organization.

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide ConditionsSupportingOrganizationalPolitics ScarceResources Complex and AmbiguousDecisions Tolerance of Politics OrganizationalChange Conditions for Organizational Politics

McShane/Von Glinow OB4e© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide Minimizing Political Behavior Leaders as role models Manage team norms Free flowing information Manage change effectively Introduce clear rules Support values that oppose politics

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Power and Influence in the Workplace