0. Power & Political Behavior

1. A Definition of Power Power
A capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes. B A
Dependency
B’s relationship to A when A possesses something that B requires.

2. Contrasting Leadership and Power
These two concepts are closely interwined, but there are differences.
Leadership
Focuses on goal achievement.
Requires goal compatibility with followers.
Focuses influence downward.
Research Focus
Leadership styles and relationships with followers
Power
Used as a means for achieving goals.
Requires follower dependency.
Used to gain lateral and upward influence.
Research Focus
Power tactics for gaining compliance

3. PROS
Managers can use power to control people and other resources so that they cooperate and help to achieve an organization’s current goals.
Managers can use power to engage in politics and influence the decision-making process to help promote new, more appropriate organizational goals.
CONS
Power and politics often have negative connotations because people associate them with attempts to use organizational resources for personal advantage and to achieve personal goals at the expense of other goals.

5. Bases of Power: Formal Power
It is established by an individual’s position in an organization; conveys the ability to coerce or reward, from formal authority, or from control of information.
The person receives these power bases because of the specific authority or roles they are assigned in the organization.

6. Coercive Power A power base dependent on fear.
Coercive power is the ability to apply punishment. Managers have coercive power through their authority to reprimand, demote, and fire employees.
Labor unions might use coercive power tactics, such as withholding services, to influence management in collective agreement negotiations.
Team members sometimes apply sanctions, ranging from sarcasm to ostracism, to ensure that co-workers conform to team norms.

7. Coercive Power
Many firms rely on the coercive power of team members to control co-worker behavior.
For example, 44 percent of production employees at the CAMI automobile plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, believe that team members use coercive power to improve co-worker performance. The coercive power of team members is also apparent at Eaton Corp.'s forge plant in South Bend, Indiana. "They say there are no bosses here," says an Eaton Corp. employee, but if you do something wrong, you find one pretty fast.

8. Reward Power
Compliance achieved based on the ability to distribute rewards that others view as valuable.
Reward power is derived from the person's ability to control the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove negative sanctions (i.e., negative reinforcement).

9. Reward Power
Managers have formal authority that gives them power over the distribution of organizational rewards such as pay, promotions, time off, vacation schedules, and work assignments.
Employees also have reward power over their bosses through the use of 360-degree feedback systems. Employee feedback affects the supervisor's promotions and other rewards, so bosses tend to behave differently towards employees after 360-degree feedback is introduced.

10. Legitimate Power
It is an agreement among organizational members that people in certain roles can request certain behaviors of others. This perceived right partly comes from formal job descriptions as well as from informal rules of conduct. Executives have considerable legitimate power, but all employees also have this power based on company rules and government laws.
For example, an organization might give employees the right to request customer files if this information is required for their job.

11. Legitimate Power
It also depends on mutual agreement from those expected to abide by this authority. Your boss has a power to make you work overtime partly depends on your agreement to this power.
Legitimate power is the person's authority to make discretionary decisions as long as followers accept this discretion.

12. Legitimate Power
People in high power distance cultures (i.e., those who accept an unequal distribution of power) are more likely to comply with legitimate power than are people in low power distance cultures.
Thus, an employee in Mexico (a high power distance culture) is more likely than someone in the US (a low power distance culture) to accept an order, particularly when the person's right to give that order is uncertain.

13. Legitimate Power
Legitimate power is also stronger in some organizations than in others. A 3M scientist might continue to work on a project after being told by superiors to stop working on it. This is because the 3M culture supports an entrepreneurial spirit, which includes ignoring formal authority from time to time.
More generally, employees are becoming less tolerant of legitimate power. They increasingly expect to be involved in decisions rather than be told what to do.
"People won't tolerate the command-and-control mode," says Bank of Montreal CEO Tony Comper. Thus, the command style of leadership that often guided employee behavior in the past must be replaced by other forms, particularly expert and referent power, which are described below.

14. Bases of Power: Personal Power
This type of power originate from the powerholder's own characteristics. In other words, people bring these power bases to the organization.
It is not a formal position in an organization to have power. You do not need to be a manager.

15. Expert Power
It originates from within the person. It is an individual's or work unit's capacity to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills that they want. It is a result of expertise, skills and knowledge.
For instance, civilians working at Canada's Department of National Defence have acquired a lot of power because they know how to operate the bureaucracy. Military personnel are rotated around various Canadian Forces bases, so they depend on the civilians for their expertise as the corporate memory.

16. Expert Power
Employees are gaining expert power as our society moves from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy. Employers are more dependent on employees to achieve their corporate objectives.
Job applicants can demand generous salaries and preferential working conditions because of their expert power.

17. Referent Power
People have referent power when others identify with them, like them, or otherwise respect them.
It is based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits.
It develops out of administration of another and a desire to be like that person.
It is largely a function of the person's interpersonal skills and usually develops slowly.
Referent power is usually associated with charismatic leadership.
Charisma is often defined as a form of interpersonal attraction whereby followers develop a respect for and trust in the charismatic individual.

18. Which bases of power are most important?
Research suggest that:
Personal sources of power are most effective.
They are positively related to employees’ satisfaction with supervision, their organizational commitment, performance.

19. Sources of Position Power
Model of Power and Influence
Sources of Personal Power
Expertise
Reputation
Personal characteristics
Network connections
Information
Sources of Position Power
Centrality
Criticality
Flexibility
Visibility
Relevance
POWER OF AN
INDIVIDUAL
Selection of proper
strategy to
influence others
Assertive responses
to inappropriate
influence
attempts by
others
Increasing
authority via
upward influence
INFLUENCE OVER
OTHERS

20. Dependency: The Key To Power
The General Dependency Postulate
The greater B’s dependency on A, the greater the power A has over B.
Possession/control of scarce organizational resources that others need makes a manager powerful.
Access to optional resources (e.g., multiple suppliers) reduces the resource holder’s power.

21. Dependency: The Key To Power
What Creates Dependency
Importance of the resource to the organization
If they want what you have, what you control is meaningful for them, then you create dependency.
Scarcity of the resource
Scarcity-dependency relationship .
If something is plentiful, possession of it will not increase your power.
Non-substitutability of the resource
The fewer viable substitutability for a resource, the more power the control over that resource provides.

22. Power Tactics Power Tactics
Ways in which individuals translate power bases into specific actions.
Influence Tactics:
Legitimacy
Rational persuasion
Inspirational appeals
Consultation
Exchange
Personal appeals
Ingratiation
Pressure
Coalitions

23. Influence Tactics Legitimacy:
Relying on one’s authority position or stressing that a request is in accordance with organizational policies or rules.
Rational persuasion:
Presenting logical arguments and factual evidence to demonstrate that a request is reasonable.
Inspirational appeals:
Developing emotional commitment by appealing to a target’s values, needs, hopes, and aspirations.
Consultation:
Increasing the target’s motivation and support by involving hi or her in deciding how the plan or change will be done

24. Influence Tactics Exchange:
Rewarding the target with benefits or favors in exchange for following a request.
Personal appeals:
Asking for compliance based on friendship or loyalty.
Pressure:
Using warnings, repeated demands, and threats.
Ingratiation:
Using flattery, praise, or friendly behavior prior to making a request.
Coalitions:
Enlisting the aid of other people to persuade the target or using the support of others as a reason for the target to agree.

25. Factors Influencing the Choice and Effectiveness of Power Tactics
Sequencing of tactics
Softer to harder tactics work best.
Skillful use of a tactic
Relative power of the tactic user
Some tactics work better when applied downward or upward.
The type of request attaching to the tactic
Is the request legitimate?
How the request is perceived
Is the request consistent with the target’s values?
The culture of the organization
Culture affects user’s choice of tactic.
Country-specific cultural factors
Local values favor certain tactics over others.

26. Influence Tactics Some tactics are usually more effective than others.
Specifically, evidence indicates that rational, persuasion, inspirational appeals, and consultation tend to be the most effective.
On the other hand pressure tends to frequently backfire and is typically the least effective of the nine tactics.
You can also increase your chance of success by using more than one type of tactic at the same time or sequentially, as long as your choices are compatible.

27. Influence Tactics Upward influence Rational persuasion
Downward influence
Rational persuasion
Inspirational appeals
Pressure
Consultation
Ingratiation
Exchange
Legitimacy
Lateral influence
Rational persuasion
Consultation
Ingratiation
Exchange
Legitimacy
Personal appeals
Coalitions

28. Power in Groups: Coalitions
Clusters of individuals who temporarily come together to a achieve a specific purpose.
Seek to maximize their size to attain influence.
Seek a broad and diverse constituency for support of their objectives.
Occur more frequently in organizations with high task and resource interdependencies.
Occur more frequently if tasks are standardized and routine.

29. Insert Figure 18.2 here 3

30. POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

31. Political Behavior (Cont.)
Characteristics of political processes
Political
process
Power
Influence

32. Political Behavior
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 or disadvantages within the organization.
It is outside one’s specified job requirement.
It requires some attempt to use one’s power bases.
It encompasses efforts to influence the goals, criteria, or processes used for decision making when we state that politics is concerned with ‘distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization’.

33. Political Behavior They are such as:
Withholding key information from decision makers
Joining a coalition
Whistle-blowing
Spreading rumors
Leaking confidential information about organizational activities to the media
Exchanging favors with others in the organization for mutual benefit
Lobbying on behalf of or against a particular individual or decision alternative

34. Political Behavior
Legitimate Political Behavior Normal everyday politics
Such as:
Complaining to your supervisor
Bypassing the chain of command
Obstructing organizational policies through inaction
We see this type more than the other.
Illegitimate Political Behavior
Extreme political behavior that violates the implied rules of the game.
Such as:
Sabotage
Groups of employees simultaneously calling sick
It is risky. You can be fired.

35. Politics Is in the Eye of the Beholder
“Political” Label “Effective Management” Label
1. Blaming others vs. Fixing responsibility
2. “Kissing up” vs. Developing working relationships
3. Apple polishing vs. Demonstrating loyalty
4. Passing the buck vs. Delegating authority
5. Covering your rear vs. Documenting decisions
6. Creating conflict vs. Encouraging change and innovation
7. Forming coalitions vs. Facilitating teamwork
8. Whistle blowing vs. Improving efficiency
9. Scheming vs. Planning ahead
10. Overachieving vs. Competent and capable
11. Ambitious vs. Career-minded
12. Opportunistic vs. Astute
13. Cunning vs. Practical-minded
14. Arrogant vs. Confident
15. Perfectionist vs. Attentive to detail
Source: Based on T. C. Krell, M. E. Mendenhall, and J. Sendry, “Doing Research in the Conceptual Morass of Organizational Politics,” paper presented at the Western Academy of Management Conference, Hollywood, CA, April 1987.

36. Factors That Influence Political Behaviors

37. Employee Responses to Organizational Politics

38. Defensive Behaviors Avoiding Action: Avoiding Blame: Avoiding Change:
Over-conforming
Buck passing
Playing dumb
Stretching
Stalling
Avoiding Blame:
Buffing
Playing safe
Justifying
Scapegoating
Misrepresenting
Avoiding Change:
Prevention
Self-protection

39. Is A Political Action Ethical?
Utilitarianism
Rights
Justice
Source: Adapted from G.F. Cavanagh, D. Moberg, and M. Valasquez, “The Ethics of Organizational Politic,” Academy of Management Review, July 1981, p Reprinted with permission.

40. Summary
Political behavior can be engaged in either to proactively promote self-interest or to defensively protect self-interest (Arkin, 1981). Proactive behaviors include responses such as assertiveness, ingratiation, coalitions, upward appeals, and exchanges of benefits (Kipnis et al., 1980).
Defensive behaviors include avoiding action, such as by playing dumb or passing the buck, avoiding blame, such as by justifying or scapegoating, and avoiding change, such as by protecting turf (Ashforth & Lee, 1990).

41. Summary
Political behavior by an individual can generate outcomes such as more favorable evaluations and job promotions (Ferris & Judge, 1991).
Political behavior can be functional or dysfunctional.
Functional political behavior enhances the achievement of organizational goals and does not harm the organization (George & Jones, 2002).

42. Summary
An example of this is forming coalitions with managers who have similar interests to lobby for an organization to pursue new strategies.
Other functional political activities include obtaining tasks and responsibilities that provide greater control over resources (e.g., being assigned to the budgeting group) or seeking indirect control over resources through engaging in networking to build alliances, the focus of the strategic contingencies model of power.

43. Summary
Alternatively, individuals seeking to acquire power may engage in activities that protect their own interests but do not help the organization or activities that are destructive to the organization.
In fact, political behavior is often associated with the exploitation of legitimate systems of influence for individual rather than organizational ends (Mintzberg, 1983).
Some examples are withholding or filtering organizational information from others who need it to perform their jobs and building empires for the sake of empire building rather than to increase organizational effectiveness.

44. Summary
Political behaviors generally promote an individual's self-interest at the expense of other employees' interests and the organization's goals, effects of political behaviors are quite different for the politician as compared with effects for other individuals in the organization. Political behavior in organizations also has been consistently negatively associated with individual and company performance and positively associated with employee stress, job dissatisfaction and turnover (e.g., Bozeman et al.,1996).

45. Summary
Models of organizational justice have been used to explain some of these negative effects (e.g., Ferris & Kacmar, 1992). When political behavior in organizations is rewarded, other employees perceive that the organization is not fair or just. For instance, employees usually expect that promotions, awards, and pay raises will be based on merit, rather than political considerations, and become dissatisfied when this expectation is violated (Cropanzano et al., 1997).

46. Impression Management (IM)
The process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others form of them.
IM Techniques:
Conformity
Excuses
Apologies
Self-Promotion
Flattery
Favors
Association
Source: Based on B. R. Schlenker, Impression Management (Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1980); W. L. Gardner and M. J. Martinko, “Impression Management in Organizations,” Journal of Management, June 1988, p. 332; and R. B. Cialdini, “Indirect Tactics of Image Management Beyond Basking,” in R. A. Giacalone and P. Rosenfeld (eds.), Impression Management in the Organization (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1989), pp. 45–71.

47. Impression management (IM)
Impression management (IM), originated by Erving Goffman (1959), describes a central aspect of role theory: how individual actors create, maintain, defend, and often enhance their social identities through assumptions, settings, props, and scripts in a play metaphor. IM explains the motivations behind complex human interactions and performances.
IM is the goal-directed attempt to influence others’ perceptions about a person, a group, and/or an organization regarding an object or event by providing self-assessed beneficial information in social interactions.

48. Impression management (IM)
The goal for the aforementioned attempt is to gain an advantageous first impression. The motive for this goal is based on the assumption that the target audience’s impressions about the individuals, groups, or organizations become reality of the target audience. Authors, philosophers, and social science researchers have long interpreted the reality each individual entity “acts” and believes in as a “stage.” In each stage, humans, individually or in groups, and organizations “play” their part on this “world stage” according to William Shakespeare (As You Like It, Scene 2, Act 7)1.

49. Impression Management
Impression management is the deliberate 'bending' of the truth in order to make a favorable impression. Managing impression includes deliberate use of any or all of:
Dress, make-up, hairstyle and other management of visual appearance.
Manner and general behavior, such as being pleasant, assertive, and so on.
Managing body language to conceal anxieties or untruths and show openness, etc.
Being economic with the truth, not telling lies but also not revealing the whole truth.
Exaggeration or complete fabrication of things that make you look good.
Downplaying or denial of negative factors that make you look bad.

50. Discussion about Impression Management
To some extent, we are constantly managing impressions of others in most social circumstances and of course we want to look good in interviews. However there are two question that may be asked:
The extent to which it is ethical and acceptable, both socially and for the interviewers.
The extent to which it is effective. More impression management does not necessarily mean a better impression is gained.

51. Discussion about Impression Management
Impression management not only happens, it is expected to happen. For example:
This can cause a dilemma where the interviewer either marks you down for not managing impression sufficiently (for example not being smart enough or not being assertive enough) or managing it too much (low-cut dresses, boasting, exaggeration).