Organizational Behavior ISLT-644 Instructor: Erlan Bakiev, Ph.D. 1-1

Chapter 12 Power and Politics 12-2 Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 11/e Stephen P. Robbins & Timothy A. Judge

After studying this chapter, you should be able to: Define power and contrast leadership and power. 2. Contrast the five bases of power. 3. Identify nine power or influence tactics and their contingencies. 4. Identify the causes and consequences of political behavior. 5. Apply impression management techniques. 6. Show the influence of culture on the uses and perceptions of politics.

Power 12-4 The capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes (Bass, 1990) Two facets:  Potential: power does not need to be actualized to be effective  Dependency: based on the available alternatives and their desirability

Contrasting Leadership and Power 12-5 DifferencesLeadershipPower Goal Compatibility Requires goal congruence Only needs dependence Direction of Influence Focuses on downward influence Concerned with influence in all directions Research Emphasis Emphasizes leadership style Broader topic: focuses on tactics used by individuals and groups

Formal Bases of Power (French and Raven, 1959) 12-6 Due organizational position:  Coercive Power  Complies from fear of the negative results  Reward Power  Complies due to desire for positive benefits  Legitimate Power (Ward, 2001)  From the formal authority to control and use organizational resources

Personal Bases of Power 12-7 Stems from an individual’s unique characteristics:  Expert  Influence wielded as a result of expertise, special skill, or knowledge  Referent  Based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits - charisma

Effective Power Bases 12-8  Expert and referent power are positively related to performance and commitment  Reward and legitimate power are unrelated to organizational outcomes  Coercive power is negatively related to employee satisfaction and commitment (Podsadkoff and Schreisheim, 1985)

Power Tactics 12-9  Used to translate power bases into specific actions that influence others  More immediate than power bases  Can result in the accumulation of a power base

Nine Influence Tactics LegitimacyPressure Rational persuasionCoalitions Inspirational appeals Consultation Exchange Personal appeals Ingratiation

Influence Tactic Effectiveness  Most effective:  Rational Persuasion  Inspirational Appeals  Consultation  Least effective:  Pressure (Yukl, 2002)  Combining tactics increases effectiveness (Falbe and Yukl, 1992)  Direction, sequencing, individual skill, and organizational culture modify effectiveness

Politics: Power in Action Politics occur when employees convert power into action Organizational Politics: Activities 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 (Farrell and Peteren, 1982; Drory and Rom, 1990; Croponzano et al., 1995)  Outside of job requirements  Requires the use of power

Legitimacy of Political Behaviors (Farrell and Petersen,1988)  Based on sticking to the implied rules  Legitimate:  Normal everyday politics – complaining  Illegitimate:  “Hardball” activities such as sabotage, whistle-blowing, and symbolic protests

The Reality of Politics It is a major part of organizational life (Buchanan, 2008) Politics arise in organizations because of:  Conflicting interests  Limited resources  Ambiguity in decision making Politicking: twisting facts to support one’s own goals and interests

Individual Factors Contributing to Political Behavior  Traits that encourage political action:  High self-monitors  High need for power  Situational influences leading to illegitimate political actions (Farrell and Petersen, 1982):  Lower organizational investment  Greater the number of perceived alternatives  Greater expectations of success

Organizational Factors Contributing to Political Behavior  Organizational resources declining or distribution shifting (Ferris and Kachmar, 1992)  Opportunity for promotion exists  Organizational culture issues:  Low trust  Role ambiguity  Zero-sum reward allocation  High performance pressures  Leading by poor example

Responses to Organizational Politics For those unwilling to play, or with modest political skills, the outcomes are negative  Moderated by individual’s understanding of who makes decisions and why they were selected  When perceived as a threat, people respond with defensive behaviors (Ashforth and Lee, 1990)

Impression Management (IM)  The process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others form of them (Gardenr and Martinlo, 1988)  People may misrepresent themselves in situations of high uncertainty or ambiguity  Misrepresentations may discredit the individuals – seen as insincere or manipulative

Impression Management Results  Interviews  Self-promotion and ingratiation work well  Performance Evaluations  Ingratiation positively related  Self-promotion is negatively related

The Ethics of Behaving Politically Questions to consider: 1. What is the utility of engaging in the behavior? 2. How does the utility of engaging in the political behavior balance out any harm it will do to others? 3. Does the political activity conform to standards of equity and justice?

Global Implications Perception of Politics:  Negative consequences are common Preference for Power Tactics:  Differences exist consistent with cultural values Effectiveness of Power Tactics:  Little evidence for differences

Implications for Managers Power can be increased by:  Increasing the dependence of others  Gaining unique knowledge or skills  Minimizing one’s own dependence  Acquiring useful bases of power  Using effective power tactics  Avoiding coercion

Keep in Mind…  Informal, expert, and referent power are the most important  Use consultation and inspirational appeals  IM techniques effectiveness depends on the setting

Summary Defined power and contrasted leadership and power. 2. Contrasted the five bases of power. 3. Identified nine power or influence tactics and their contingencies. 4. Identified the causes and consequences of political behavior. 5. Applied impression management techniques. 6. Showed the influence of culture on the uses and perceptions of politics.