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    Power and Politics

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    karthikass83
    This document discusses power and politics in organizations. It defines power as the ability to influence others and get one's way. There are different bases of power including coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent power. Organizational politics can be both legitimate and illegitimate. Legitimate political behavior includes forming coalitions and developing contacts, while illegitimate behaviors violate rules. Organizational change practitioners must navigate politics skillfully by making themselves and their work valuable to influential stakeholders, creating win-win solutions, and avoiding becoming embroiled in internal political conflicts. Their role is to facilitate positive change, not engage directly in power struggles.

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    Power and Politics

    Uploaded by

    karthikass83
    176 views32 pages
    This document discusses power and politics in organizations. It defines power as the ability to influence others and get one's way. There are different bases of power including coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent power. Organizational politics can be both legitimate and illegitimate. Legitimate political behavior includes forming coalitions and developing contacts, while illegitimate behaviors violate rules. Organizational change practitioners must navigate politics skillfully by making themselves and their work valuable to influential stakeholders, creating win-win solutions, and avoiding becoming embroiled in internal political conflicts. Their role is to facilitate positive change, not engage directly in power struggles.

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    Power and Politics

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    This document discusses power and politics in organizations. It defines power as the ability to influence others and get one's way. There are different bases of power including coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent power. Organizational politics can be both legitimate and illegitimate. Legitimate political behavior includes forming coalitions and developing contacts, while illegitimate behaviors violate rules. Organizational change practitioners must navigate politics skillfully by making themselves and their work valuable to influential stakeholders, creating win-win solutions, and avoiding becoming embroiled in internal political conflicts. Their role is to facilitate positive change, not engage directly in power struggles.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    176 views32 pages

    Power and Politics

    Uploaded by

    karthikass83
    This document discusses power and politics in organizations. It defines power as the ability to influence others and get one's way. There are different bases of power including coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent power. Organizational politics can be both legitimate and illegitimate. Legitimate political behavior includes forming coalitions and developing contacts, while illegitimate behaviors violate rules. Organizational change practitioners must navigate politics skillfully by making themselves and their work valuable to influential stakeholders, creating win-win solutions, and avoiding becoming embroiled in internal political conflicts. Their role is to facilitate positive change, not engage directly in power struggles.

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    Power and Politics

    MBA 501

    Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely


    Lord Acton

    Power defined . . .
    The intentional influence over beliefs, emotions and behaviors of people.
    Potential power is the capacity to do so Kinetic power is the at of doing so

    One person exerts power over another to the degree that he is able to exact compliance as desired

    Power defined . . .
    A has power over B to the extent that A can get B to do something that B would otherwise not do. The ability of those who possess power to bring about the outcomes they desire. The capacity to effect (or affect) organizational outcomes

    Power defined . . .
    Pouvoir from the French stands for both the noun power and the verb to be able

    Effectancegetting ones way Necessity of social interaction among two or more parties The act or ability to influence others Outcomes favoring one part over the other Power is the ability to get ones way in a social situation.

    Common elements of the definitions

    Power in Action
    Influence
    Cooperation Society

    Leadership
    Technological, medical, political, financial, spiritual, organizational standard of living Warfare, confiscation, repression misery

    Faces of Power in Action


    Positive
    Leading Influencing Selling Persuading

    Negative
    Coercing Forcing Hurting Crushing

    McClelland and The Two Faces of Power


    Negative power characterized by primitive, unsocialized need to dominate others
    Seeks to dominate and control others

    Positive power characterized by socialized needs to initiate, influence and lead


    Seeks to empower self and others

    Coercive

    The Bases of Power

    Reward Legitimate Expert Referent

    French and Ravens 5 bases of Power


    Coercive power depends on fear
    One reacts to this type of power out of fear of the negative results that might occur if one fails to comply It rests on the application (or the threat) of physical sanctions

    Reward power . . .
    is the opposite of coercive power People comply because doing so produces benefits anyone who can distribute rewards that others value will have power over them

    Legitimate power . . .
    represents the power a person receives as a result of his or her position in the formal hierarchy of an organization Legitimate power is broader than the power to coerce and reward it includes acceptance of a persons authority by members of the organization

    Expert power . . .
    is influence wielded as a result of experience, special skill, or knowledge Expertise has become a strong source of influence as the world has become more technologically oriented As jobs become more specialized, we become more dependent on experts

    Referent power . . .
    is based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or admirable personal traits. It develops out of an admiration for someone and a desire to be like that person If person A admires person B enough to model behavior and attitudes after him or her, then person B has power over person A

    What Creates Dependency?


    Importance of the Resource Scarcity of the Resource Number of Viable Substitutes

    Locating Power in Organizations


    Departmental
    Place on committees Number of employees Budget allocation Location of offices

    Individual
    Ability to intercede Approval for spending Items on the agenda Access to top brass

    Power Tactics
    Reason Friendliness

    Sanctions Higher Authority Assertiveness

    Coalition

    Bargaining

    Individual Factors Which Contribute to Political Behavior


    Level of self monitoring Need for power Internal locus of control Investment in the organization Perceived alternatives Expectations of success

    Organizational Factors that Contribute to Political Behavior


    Low trust Democratic decision making High performance pressures Scarcity of resources Role ambiguity Self-serving senior managers Unclear evaluation systems Zero-sum allocations

    Methods for Avoiding Action


    Over-conforming Buck passing Playing dumb Depersonalizing Stretching Smoothing Stalling

    Methods for Avoiding Blame


    Buffing Playing safe Justifying Scape-goating Misrepresenting

    Types of Organizational Politics


    Legitimate political behavior consists of normal, everyday politics: forming coalitions bypassing the chain of command complaining to your supervisor developing outside contacts through professional activities Illegitimate political behavior is so extreme that it violates the rules of the game Sabotage whistle-blowing symbolic protests

    Power in Action
    Political Behavior
    Legitimate Illegitimate Limited Resources Ambiguous Decisions

    The Reality of Politics

    Political Perspective Explains Organizational Behavior


    Examples of political organizational behavior withholding information restricting output attempting to build empires publicizing their successes hiding their failures distorting performance figures engaging in similar activities at odds with organizations goals, efficiency and effectiveness

    Ethical Guidelines for Political Behavior


    Unethical Question 1 Is the action motivated by self-serving interests which exclude the goals of the organization?
    Yes

    Ethical Question 3 Is the political activity fair and equitable?


    Yes Yes No

    No

    Unethical

    Question 2 Does the political action respect individual rights?

    No

    Unethical

    OD, Power and Politics


    OD values consistent with positive face of power
    Trust, openness, collaboration, individual dignity, promoting individual and organizational competence

    Emphasis on power equalization

    Increases power among organizational members the whole organization has more power

    OD in Political Environments
    1. Become a desired commodity personally and professionally
    High interpersonal competence Listening, communication, problem-solving, coaching, counseling skills; appreciating other OD allows individuals and organizations to reach their goals

    1. Make OD a desired commodity

    OD in Political Environments
    3. Make OD a valued commodity for multiple powerful people in the organization
    Creates value for OD Increases power base and support Endorsement, support and protection of OD interventions

    OD in Political Environments
    4. Create win-win situations
    Enhance stable, constructive social relationships Different way to handle conflict

    5. Mind you own business (help others solve their major problems)
    Help upon request Help the manager meet her/his goals

    OD in Political Environments
    6. Mind your own businessbe a process, not content, expert 7. Mind your own business and dont invite political trouble

    OD practitioners role is that of facilitator, catalyst, problem-solver, educator Role is not power-broker or power activist

    The Planners Dilemma


    It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage, than the creation of a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.
    Machiavelli, The Prince

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