OB CH 12: Power, Influence, and Politics

relative effectiveness of influence tactics

- Rely on the core influence tactics (rational persuasion, consultation, collaboration, and inspirational appeals) - most effective at building commitment - Be believable and trustworthy - credible people tend to be most persuasive - consult rather than legitimate - expect little from schmoozing - be subtle - learn to influence there is no one best influence tactic: understand and effectively apply a range of influence tactics to be effective

interviewers attempts to impress you

- Verbal—what they say and how they say it. - Nonverbal—laughing, smiling, leaning in. - Artifactual—dress, appearance of interview venue, visual and promotional items. - Administrative—timing of communication, confirmation that application was received, feedback, and follow-up

Frequently used political tactics

- building a network of useful contacts - using key players to support initiatives - making friends with power brokers - bending the rules to fit the situation - using self promotion - creating a favorable image - praising others - attacking or blaming others - using information as a political tool

how to create bad impressions

- doing only the minimum - having a negative mind set - overcommitting - taking no initiative - waiting until the last minute to deliver bad news

reducing ambiguity

- emerged as a unique influence tactic in virtual teams - team members do three things 1. share information 2. create accountability 3. provide examples

Power at upper level or organization are based on

- formal position - knowledge and expertise - control of resources - control of information - control of decision making - network complexity and centrality

good impressions

- formed very quickly and often subtly - judge you within one second of meeting you - set goals, consider your ornaments, remember your body speaks, bust bad moods and bad days, be interested to be interesting

sharing power with others: benefits

- increased motivation, engagement, and self efficacy - increased productivity and effectiveness - better efficiency and utilization of time and resources - better decision making

reasons for leader apologies and desired outcomes

- individual - leader offended another - institutional - follower offended another organizational member - intergroup - follower offended an external party - moral - a wrongdoing is genuinely regretted

sharing power with others: required elements

- information sharing - employee development - necessary skill level - allowing employees to make substantive decisions - rewarding employees based on company performance

Mintzberg's Political Games

- insurgency game - counter insurgency game - sponsorship game - alliance building/coalition game - empire building game - budgeting game - expertise game - strategic candidates game

Effectively Wielding Political Power

- know what you're getting involved with - carefully "read" situation - awareness of personal relationships within org - expand org network - build coalitions - control decision making process and parameters - be assertive about what you want - position issues carefully, appropriately, and properly ---- framing, timing

network level politics

- loose associations of individuals seeking social support for their general self-interests - people oriented - broader and longer term agendas

deception detection : interviews

- many people are deceptive in interviews, not many people are able to detect it - bending the truth in an interview can cause an organization to hire the wrong person for the job - research shows that both interviewers and coworkers are especially poor at knowing whether a candidate is honest and humble

power at lower levels of org are based on

- personal expertise - position - access/personal influence w powerful ppl - centralized location - involvement in networks - persuasion

when are org politics bad?

- politics can increase stress and turnover intentions and reduce job satisfaction, org commitment, and org citizenship behaviors - wasted time and resources, diverted decision maker attention, and restricted and distorted information flow among decision makers

Empowerment Outputs

- positively influences performance for individuals, teams, and organizations - citizenship behaviors, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, creativity, reduce in stress

influencing others: persuasion principles

- reciprocity - consistency - authority - social proof - role models - liking - scarcity - resources, info

influencing others: potential outcomes of attempts

- resistance - compliance - commitment/internalization

Difference between structural and psychological empowerment

- structural empowerment draws on job design and characteristics - psychological empowerment is related to self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation

When are org politics good?

- when political action helps an organization adapt - when bad actors, such as destructive leaders, create organizational goals and objectives to suit their own interests -- egos or personal legacies

six principles of persuasion

1. liking - people tend to like those who like them 2. reciprocity - belief that both good and bad deeds should be repaid in kind is virtually universal 3. social proof - people tend to follow the lead of those most like themselves 4. consistency - people tend to do what they are personally committed to do 5. authority - people tend to defer to and respect credible experts 6. scarcity - people want items, information, and opportunities to have limited availability

9 most common influence tactics

1. ritual persuasion - trying to convince someone with reason, logic, or facts 2. inspirational appeals - trying to build enthusiasm by appealing to others emotions, ideals, or values 3. consultation - getting others to participate in planning, making decisions and changes 4. ingratiation - getting someone in a good mood prior to making a request 5. personal appeals - referring to friendship and loyalty when making a request 6. exchange - making explicit or implied promises and trading favors 7. coalition tactics - getting others to support your efforts to persuade someone 8. pressure - demanding compliance or using intimidation or threats 9. legitimating tactics - basing a request on authority or right, org rules, or explicit/implied support from superiors

Favorable upward impression management tactics

3 categories 1. job focused: tactics that present information about your job performance in a favorable light 2. supervisor focused: praise and favors for your supervisor 3. self focused: an image of yourself as a polite and nice person a moderate amount is a necessity today

Influence Tactics

Conscious efforts to affect and change behaviors in others

Thinking about empowerment the right way

Effective empowerment does not include giving decision making authority to just any employee in every situation - decision making authority and other broader responsibilities should be shared only with those who are competent to do what is necessary - two pitfalls to avoid: 1. empowerment is not a zero - sum game in which one persons gain is another loss 2. empowerment is a matter of degree, not an either or proposition

Personal Power

Expert and Referent - you possess independent of your position or job

Expert Power

Having valued knowledge or information gives power over those who need such knowledge or information - many hold this from past experience and performance

Five Bases of Power

Legitimate Expert Referent Coercive Reward

Position Power

Legitimate, Reward, Coercive - the source of influence is associated with a particular job or position within an organization - managers controlling your pay, work assignments, hiring and firing, evaluations

Legitimate Power

Managers who obtain compliance primarily because of their formal authority to make decisions

Psychological Empowerment

Occurs when we feel a sense of: Meaning - belief that our work values and goals align with those of our team Competence- our personal evaluation of our ability to do our job Self Determination- sense that we have control over our work and its outcomes Impact at work- feeling that our efforts make a difference and affect the organization - four elements also foster on teams

Reactions to attempts to manage and influence others

Resistance - indifferent, passive aggressive, actively resist Compliance - do only what is expected, nothing more, no extra effort Commitment - believe in the cause and often go above and beyond to ensure success - driven by intrinsic motivation

Bases of Power: Commitment VS Compliance

Reward, coercive, and negative legitimate power tend to produce compliance (and sometimes resistance). Positive legitimate power, expert power, and referent power tend to foster commitment.

Coercive Power

The ability to make threats of punishment and deliver actual punishment - for profit college claiming falsely that 90% of its graduates gained employment within six months after graduation and earned 15% higher salaries a year after graduation than other college grads

Power

The discretion and the means to enforce your will over others - all about influencing others - more influence, more power

coalition level politics

an informal group bound together by the active pursuit of a single issue - may or may not coincide with formal group membership - disbands when target issue has been resolved - issue oriented

impression management

any attempt to control or manipulate the images related to a person, organization, or idea - speech, behavior, and appearance and can be aimed at anyone - companies position as socially responsible, positive impressions boost sales

generic influence tactics

characterize social influence as we use it in all directions

Referent Power

comes into play when our personal characteristics and social relationships are the reason for others' compliance - charisma commonly associated with this type of power - drives the success of a number of marketing schemes: Use independent contractors to throw home parties to display and sell goods to friends and families - best salespeople being happy customers - reputation is also an aspect

Empowerment

consists of efforts to enhance employee performance, well being, and positive attitudes - been shown to favorably influence many outcomes such as job satisfaction, org commitment, performance, turnover, and stress - becoming a necessity

hard tactics

exchange, coalition, pressure, and legitimating exert more overt pressure

Positive Legitimate Power

focuses constructively on job performance. - policies in organizations enforced consistently from top to bottom

apology

form of trust repair in which we acknowledge an offense and usually offer to make amends - norm when our action, or lack of action, causes harm to another, intentionally or not

Effective apology

four characteristics: 1. acknowledgment of wrongdoing 2. Acceptance of responsibility 3. Expression of regret 4. Promise that the offense will not be repeated failure to do so may result in damage to how others see you

Reward Power

if they can obtain compliance by promising or granting rewards - pay for performance plans and positive reinforcement practices rely on this - EX: Walmart and Exide's relationship

organizational politics

intentional acts in pursuit of self interests that conflict with organizational interests - critical aspect is self interest, which distinguishes politics from other forms of influence - behaviors found in virtually all orgs - causes include change, lack of clarity, resource allocation - goal is to exert influence on others - often helps make sense out of ambiguity - not all is bad behavior

Influence in virtual teams

most common in virtual teams Pressure legitimating rational persuasion consultation personal appeals

three levels of political action

network level coalition level individual level

soft tactics

rational, persuasion, inspirational appeals, consultation, ingratiation, and personal appeals - friendlier than and not as coercive as other tactics

types of position power

relevance, centrality, visibility, autonomy

Empowerment inputs

structural empowerment is an input to psychological empowerment - job design, policies, and practices can either facilitate or impede feelings of empowerment

Negative Legitimate Power

tends to be threatening and demeaning to those being influenced, if not simply an exercise in building the power holder's ego - Political parties naming monuments after themselves

types of personal power

track record, charisma (attractiveness), effort

Structural Empowerment

transfers authority and responsibilities from management to employees - job design and characteristics forms of motivation: changing policies, procedures, responsibilities, and team designs

Major Causes of Political Behavior

uncertainty triggers political actions - unclear objectives - vague performance measures - Ill-defined decision processes - strong individual or group competition - any type of change Performance, change, and politics - vague performance measures; unclear performance-reward linkages - any type of change; vested interests and distribution of power is challenged