1. Influence, Power, and Politics in Organizations
Chapter 12

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Learning Objectives
Define the concepts of social influence, power, and organizational politics.
Describe the major varieties of social influence tactics.
Identify the major types of individual power in organizations.
Describe the two major approaches to the development of subunit power in organizations (the resource dependency model and the strategic contingencies model).
Describe when and where organizational politics occur and the forms such behavior takes.
Identify the major ethical issues surrounding the use of political behavior in organizations.
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Basic Definitions
Social Influence: Attempts to affect another in a desired fashion, whether or not these are successful.
Power: The potential to successfully influence another; the capacity to have a desired effect on others.
Organizational Politics: Actions by individuals that are directed toward the goal of furthering their own self-interest without regard for the well-being of others or their organization.
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4. Influence, Power, & Politics
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5. Social Influence Tactics I
Rational Persuasion: Using logical arguments and facts to persuade another that a desired result will occur.
Inspirational Appeal: Arousing enthusiasm by appealing to one’s values and beliefs.
Consultation: Asking for participation in decision making or planning a change.
Ingratiation: Getting someone to do what you want by putting that person in a good mood or getting him or her to like you.
Exchange: Promising some benefits in exchange for complying with a request.
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6. Social Influence Tactics II
Personal Appeal: Appealing to feelings of loyalty and friendship before making a request.
Coalition Building: Persuading by seeking the assistance of others or by noting the support of others.
Legitimating: Pointing out one’s authority to make a request or verifying that it is consistent with prevailing organizational policies and practices.
Pressure: Seeking compliance by using demands, threats, or intimidation.
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7. Principles of Influence
Friendship/Liking: The more we like other persons or feel friendship for them, the more likely we are to comply with their requests or to accept other forms of influence from them.
Commitment/Consistency: Once individuals have adopted a position or committed themselves to a course of action, they experience strong pressure to comply with requests that are consistent with these initial commitments.
Scarcity: Requests that emphasize scarcity or the fact that some object, opportunity, or outcome will soon no longer be available, are difficult to resist.
Reciprocity: Individuals generally experience powerful pressures to reciprocate benefits they have received from others.
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8. Individual Power Position Power
Power based on one’s formal position in an organization.
Personal
Power
The power that one derives because of his or her individual qualities or characteristics.
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Position Power
Legitimate Power: The individual power base derived from one’s position in an organizational hierarchy; the accepted authority of one’s position.
Reward Power: The individual power base derived from an individual’s capacity to administer valued rewards to others.
Coercive Power: The individual power base derived from the capacity to administer punishment to others.
Information Power: The extent to which a supervisor provides a subordinate with the information need to do the job.
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Personal Power
Rational Persuasion: Using logical arguments and factual evidence to convince others that an idea is acceptable.
Expert Power: The individual power base derived from an individual’s recognized superior skills and abilities in certain areas.
Referent Power: The individual power base derived from the degree to which one is liked and admired by others.
Charisma: An attitude of enthusiasm and optimism that is contagious; an aura of leadership.
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CEO Power Bases
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Empowerment
The process in which employees are given increasing amounts of autonomy and discretion in connection with their work.
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Group or Subunit Power
Resource-Dependency Model: The view that power resides within subunits that are able to control the greatest share of valued organizational resources.
Strategic Contingencies Model: A view explaining power in terms of a subunit’s capacity to control the activities of other subunits.
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14. Resource-Dependency Model
In this example, the accounting department would be considered more powerful than either the production department or the marketing department because it controls more important resources.
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15. Strategic Contingencies Model
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16. The Antecedents of Politics
Personal and organizational variables: Political behavior is often influenced by a combination of individual and organizational factors.
Human resource management: Activities such as performance appraisal, personnel selection, and compensation decisions are likely to engender political behavior.
Organizational life span: Political behaviors are more likely to occur as organizations mature and begin to decline.
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17. Factors Influencing Politics
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Political Tactics
Gaining control over and selective use of information.
Cultivating a favorable impression.
Building powerful coalitions.
Blaming and attacking others.
Associating with powerful others.
Creating obligations and using reciprocity.
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The Ethics of Politics
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Combating Politics
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21. Determining Ethical Action
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