Power, politics and persuasion

Politics of telecommuting Gary Withers, managing director of Drake International New Zealand, leads the Auckland-based consulting firm from his home in Queenstown. Withers says telecommuting keeps him away from office politics, but experts warn that telecommuters may become victims of office politics.

The meaning of power Power is the capacity of a person, team or organisation 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

Power and dependence PersonA Person B’s goals PersonB Person B’s counterpower over Person A Person A’s power over Person B

Contingencies of power among pilots These pilots at Germany's Lufthansa Airlines won 30 per cent pay rises after staging two 24-hour strikes that grounded hundreds of flights and cost the airline more than US$23 million. Pilots are powerful because they have low substitutability (only other pilots can replace them) and high centrality.

Contingencies of power Contingencies of power Power over others Sources of power Substitutability Centrality Discretion Visibility

Consequences of power Commitment Reward power Legitimate power Coercivepower Expertpower Referentpower ResistanceCompliance Sources of power Consequences of power

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

Types of Influence Tactics Influence Tactics SilentauthorityExchange Informationcontrol Persuasion Formingcoalitions Upwardappeal Impressionmanagement Assertiveness

Types of Influence 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 (con’t) 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

Types of Influence (con’t) Ingratiation/ Impress. Mgt. Ingratiation Increasing liking/similarity to target Flattering, helping, seeking advice Impression Management Actively shaping our public images Way we dress, padding resumé Upward Appeal Appealing to higher authority Includes appealing to firm’s goals Formal alliance to perception of alliance with higher status person

Types of Influence (con’t) Persuasion Using logic, facts, emotional appeals to gain acceptance Depends on persuader, message content, message medium, audience Information Control Manipulating others’ access to information Withholding, filtering, re-arranging information

Organisational politics Attempts to influence others using discretionary behaviours to promote personal objectives  discretionary behaviours  neither explicitly prescribed nor prohibited Politics may be good or bad for the organisation

Types of organisational politics Types of organisationalpolitics Managingimpressions Attacking and blaming Creatingobligations Cultivatingnetworks Controllinginformation Forming coalitions

Conditions for organisational politics Conditionssupportingorganisationalpolitics Scarceresources Complex and ambiguousdecisions Personalcharacteristics Tolerance of politics

Controlling political behaviour Peer pressure against politics Remove political norms Free flowing information Manage change effectively Providesufficientresources Introduce clear rules Hirelow-politicsemployees Increaseopportunities for dialogue

Persuasive communication Audiencecharacteristics Self-esteem Self-esteem Inoculated InoculatedCommunicatorcharacteristics Expert Expert Credibility Credibility Attractive Attractive Messagecontent Present all sides Present all sides Few arguments Few arguments Emotional appeals Emotional appeals Inoculation effect Inoculation effect Communication medium