1. 2BA3 Power and Influence Week 9
Dr. Teal McAteer
DeGroote School of Business
McMaster University

2. What is Power?
The capacity to influence others who are in a state of dependence

3. Types of Individual Power
Legitimate Power
Power derived from a person’s position or job in an organization
Reward Power
Power derived from the ability to provide positive outcomes and prevent negative outcome
Coercive Power
- Power derived from the use of punishment
and threat

4. Types of Individual Power
Information/ Task Interdependence Power
Power derived from the data or knowledge that you hold
Power derived because one depends on another to complete a task/job
Referent Power
Power derived from being well liked by others
Expert Power
Power derived from having special information or expertise that is valued by an organization

5. How do people obtain power? (Kanter 1977; Pfeffer, 1992)
Doing the right things
Extraordinary Activities (non-routine positions)
Visible Activities
Relevant Activities
Cultivating the right people
Develop informal relationships with the right people (outsiders, subordinates, peers, superiors)

6. Empowerment
Giving people the authority, opportunity, and motivation to take initiative and solve organizational problems
Giving people the freedom and ability to make decisions and commitments
Puts power where it is needed to make it effective
People who are empowered have a strong sense of self-efficacy

7. Degrees of Empowerment
No Discretion (routine, repetitive, tasks assigned, operate according to rules rather than initiative)
Participatory Empowerment (autonomous work groups, given some authority)
Self-Management (full decision-making power, mg’t has faith in employees carrying out organizational missions and goals)

8. Characteristics of Empowered People
Self-determination (free to choose how to work; not micro-managed)
Sense of meaning (their work is important to them; they care about what they are doing)
Sense of competence (confident about their ability to do their work well; know they can perform)
Sense of impact (believe they can have influence on their work unit; others listen to their ideas)

9. Influence Tactics
Tactics that are used to convert power into actual influence over others (Yukl & Falbe, 1990)
Examples?
Assertiveness – ordering, nagging, setting deadlines
Ingratiation – using flattery and acting friendly
Exchange – doing favours or offering to trade favours
Upward Appeals– making formal or informal appeals to superiors for intervention (also inspirational appeals and personal appeals)
Coalition Formation – seeking united support from other organizational members
Rational Persuasion – using facts and data to make a logical or rational presentation of ideas

10. What determines which influence tactics you would use?
Type of power
(e.g. coercive – assertiveness)
Whom you are trying to influence
(e.g. subordinates – assertiveness)

11. Who wants power? Those high on McClelland’s Need for Power (N-Pow)
McClelland argues that the most effective managers (“Institutional Managers”):
Have high N-Pow
Use their power to achieve organizational goals
Adopt a participative or “coaching” leadership style
Are relatively unconcerned with how much others like them
Comparison to “Personal Power Managers” and “Affiliative Power Managers”

12. An Alternative View: How do subunits obtain power?
Subunit Power – the degree of power held by various organizational subunits, such as departments
Scarcity of resources
Uncertainty
Centrality
Substitutability