1. Chapter 12 Power and Influence in the Workplace
Chris Estrada
Tom Quach

2. The Meaning of Power
Power is the capacity of a person, team or organization to influence others.
Counter power is the capacity to a person, team, or organization to keep a person more powerful person or group in the exchange.

3. Dependence in the Power Relationship

4. Sources of Power
Legitimate power; the capacity to influence others through formal authority.
Reward Power; person’s ability to control the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove negative sancctions.
Coercive Power; ability to apply punishment.

5. Sources of Power
Expert Power; an individual’s or work unit’s capacity to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills that they value.
Referent Power; when others identify with them, like them, or otherwise respect them.

6. Sources of Power Information and Power
controlling the flow of information when they control the flow of information to others.
Organization’s ability to adapt with environmental changes.
Prevention
Forecasting
Absorption

7. Contingencies of Power
Substitutability; the extent to which people depend on a resource have alternatives.
Controlling Task
Controlling Knowledge
Controlling Labor
Differentiation
Centrality; the degree an natur of interdependence between the power holder and others.

8. Contingency of Power
Discretion; freedom to exercise judgment; to make decisions without referring to a specific rule or receiving permission from someone else.
Visibility; those who control value resources or knowledge will yield power only when others are aware of these power bases.
Mentoring; process of learning the ropes of organizational life from a senior person within the company

9. Contingencies of Power
Networking and Power; cultivating social relationships with others to accomplish one’s goal.

10. Model of Power within Organization

11. Influencing Others
Power is only the capacity to influence others. It represents the potential to change someone’s attitude of behavior.
Influence: Refers to any behavior that attempts to alter someone’s attitudes.
It is power in motion.

12. Types of Influence Tactics
Hard Influence Tactics: They force behavior change through position power (legitimate, reward, and coercion)
Silent Authority
Assertiveness
Information Control
Coalition Formation
Upward Appeal
Soft Tactics: Rely on more personal sources of power (referent, expert) and appeal to the target person’s attitude and needs.
Ingratiation & Impression Management
Persuasion
Exchange

13. Hard Influence Tactics
Silent Authority
Influencing behavior through legitimate power without explicitly referring to that power base.
Assertiveness
Actively applying legitimate and coercive power by applying pressure or threats.
Information Control
Explicitly manipulating someone else’s access to information for the purpose of changing their attitudes and/or behavior.
Coalition Formation
An informal group that attempts to influence people outside the group by pooling the resources and power of its members
Upward Appeal
Gaining Support from one or more people with higher authority or expertise.

14. Soft Tactics Ingratiation and Impression Management Persuasion
Any attempt to increase liking by, or perceived similarity to, the targeted person
Impression Management
The practice of actively shaping one’s public image.
Persuasion
Using Logical Arguments, facts, and emotional appeals to encourage people to accept a request or message.
Exchange
Involves the promise of benefits or resources in exchange for a target person’s compliance with your request. (negotiation & networking)

15. Consequences of Influence Tactics
The best way to measure how people react to the influence tactics is in 3 ways:
1) Resistance: when people or work units oppose the behavior desired by the influencer and consequently refuse, argue, or delay engaging in the behavior.
2) Compliance: When people are motivated to implement the influencer’s request at a minimal level of effort and for purely instrumental reasons. Without external sources to prompt the desired behavior, it would not occur.
3) Commitment: The strongest form of influence, whereby people identify with the influencer’s request and are highly motivated to implement it even when extrinsic sources of motivation are no longer present.

16. Gender difference in Influence Tactics
Men:
More likely to rely on direct impression management tactics
Tend to advertise their achievements and take personal credit for successes
Likely to assign blame and less likely to assume it
Women:
Reluctant to force the spotlight on themselves. They prefer to share credit with others.
More likely to apologize-personally take blame- even for problems not cause by them.
Generally have difficulty exerting some forms of influence in organizations
Viewed as less (not more) influential when they try to directly influence others by exerting their authority or expertise.

17. Organizational Politics
Behaviors that others perceive as self-serving tactics for personal gain at the expense of other people and possible the organization.
More prevalent when scarce resources are allocated using complex and ambiguous decisions and when the organization tolerates or rewards political behavior.
Individuals with a high need for personal power, an internal locus of control, and strong Machiavellian values have a higher propensity to use political tactics.

18. Minimizing Organizational Politics
Providing clear rules for resource allocation
Establishing a free flow of information
Using education and involvement during organizational change
Supporting team norms and a corporate culture that discourage dysfunctional politics
Having leaders who model organizational citizenship rather than political savvy.

19. Questions
1. _ is the capacity to a person, team, or organization to keep a more powerful person or group in the exchange. (b)
a) Power
b) Counter power
c) Referent power
d) Reward power
2. Name two of the four contingencies of power
(Substitutability, Centrality, Discretion, Visibility)
3. T/F Upward appeal is the tactic of gaining support from one or more people with higher authority or expertise. (T)

20. Questions
4. ______ ______ are behaviors that other perceive as self-serving tactics for personal gain at the expense of other epopel and possibly the organization (Organizational Politics)
5. Select the answer that is not a consequence of hard and soft influence tactics (C)
a) Compliance
b) Resistance
c) Assertiveness
d) Commitment