Chapter 15: Influence, Empowerment, and Politics

Social Power

Ability to get things done with human, informational, and material resources.

Referent Power

Also called charisma, referent power comes into play when one's personality becomes the reason for compliance. Role models have referent power over those who identify closely with them.

Personal Appeals (soft)

Referring to friendship and loyalty when making a request

8. Explain how to manage organizational politics.

Since organizational politics cannot be eliminated, managers need to keep it within reasonable bounds. Measurable objectives for personal accountability are key. Participative management also helps, especially in the form of open-book management. Formal conflict resolution and grievance programs are helpful. Overly political people should not be hired, and employees who get results without playing political games should be publicly recognized and rewarded. The "how-would-it-look-on-TV" ethics test can limit political maneuvering.

Reactive vs Proactive Tactics

Some of the tactics, such as scapegoating, were reactive because the intent was to defend one's self-interest. Other tactics, such as developing a base of support, were proactive because they sought to promote the individual's self-interest.

8 Political Tactics

1. Attacking or blaming others. 2. Using information as a political tool. 3. Creating a favorable image. (Also known as impression management.) 4. Developing a base of support. 5. Praising others (ingratiation). 6. Forming power coalitions with strong allies. 7. Associating with influential people. 8. Creating obligations (reciprocity).

3 Possible Influence Outcomes

1. Commitment: Your friend enthusiastically agrees and will demonstrate initiative and persistence while completing the assignment. 2. Compliance: Your friend grudgingly complies and will need prodding to satisfy minimum requirements. 3. Resistance: Your friend will say no, make excuses, stall, or put up an argument.

Greater delegation was associated with the following factors:

1. Employee was competent. 2. Employee shared manager's task objectives. 3. Manager had a long-standing and positive relationship with employee. 4. The lower-level person also was a supervisor.

3 Levels of Political Action

1. Individual 2. Coalition 3. Network

Political maneuvering is triggered primarily by uncertainty. Five common sources of uncertainty within organizations are:

1. Unclear objectives. 2. Vague performance measures. 3. Ill-defined decision processes. 4. Strong individual or group competition.76 5. Any type of change.

Reward Power

A manager has reward power to the extent that he or she obtains compliance by promising or granting rewards. On-the-job behavior shaping, for example, relies heavily on reward power.

Legitimating tactics (hard)

Basing a request on one's authority or right, organizational rules or policies, or express, or implied support form superiors.

Impression Management

Getting others to see us in a certain manner.

5. Explain why delegation is the highest form of empowerment, and discuss the connections among delegation, trust, and personal initiative.

Delegation gives employees more than a participatory role in decision making. It allows them to make their own work-related decisions. Managers tend to delegate to employees they trust. Employees can get managers to trust them by demonstrating personal initiative (going beyond formal job requirements and being self-starters).

Pressure (hard)

Demanding compliance or using intimidation or threats

Ingratiation (soft)

Getting someone in a good mood prior to making a request; being friendly, helpful, and using praise or flattery

Personal Initiative

Going beyond formal job requirements and being an active self-starter.

4. Define the term empowerment, and explain why it is a matter of degree.

Empowerment involves sharing varying degrees of power and decision-making authority with lower-level employees to tap their full potential. Empowerment is not an either-or, all-or-nothing proposition. It can range from merely consulting with employees, to having them actively participate in making decisions, to granting them decision-making authority through delegation.

7. Distinguish between favorable and unfavorable impression management tactics.

Favorable upward impression management can be job-focused (manipulating information about one's job performance), supervisor-focused (praising or doing favors for the boss), or self-focused (being polite and nice). Unfavorable upward impression management tactics include decreasing performance, not working to potential, withdrawing, displaying a bad attitude, and broadcasting one's limitations.

2. Name at least three "soft" and two "hard" influence tactics, and summarize the practical lessons from influence research.

Five soft influence tactics are: -rational persuasion-inspirational appeals -consultation -ingratiation -personal appeals. They are more friendly and less coercive. The four hard influence tactics: -exchange -coalition tactics -pressure -legitimating tactics According to research, soft tactics are better for generating commitment and are perceived as more fair than hard tactics. Ingratiation—making the boss feel good through compliments and being helpful—can slightly improve performance appraisal results and make the boss like you a lot more. Influence through domination is a poor strategy for both men and women. Influence is a complicated and situational process that needs to be undertaken with care, especially across cultures.

3. Identify and briefly describe French and Raven's five bases of power, and discuss the responsible use of power.

French and Raven's five bases of power are: -reward power (rewarding compliance) -coercive power (punishing noncompliance) -legitimate power (relying on formal authority) -expert power (providing needed information) -referent power (relying on personal attraction) Responsible and ethical managers strive to use socialized power (primary concern is for others) rather than personalized power (primary concern for self). Research found higher organizational commitment among employees with bosses who used uplifting power than among those with power-hungry bosses who relied on dominating power.

Coalition Tactics (hard)

Getting other to support your effort to persuade someone

Consolation (soft)

Getting others to participate in planning, making decisions, and changes

Exchange (hard)

Making express or implied promises and trading favors

1. Explain the concept of mutuality of interest.

Managers are constantly challenged to foster mutuality of interest (a win-win situation) between individual and organizational interests.

6. Define organizational politics, and explain what triggers it.

Organizational politics is defined as intentional acts of influence to enhance or protect the self-interests of individuals or groups. Uncertainty triggers most politicking in organizations. Political action occurs at individual, coalition, and network levels. Coalitions are informal, temporary, and single-issue alliances.

Participate Management Benefits

Predicted to increase motivation because it helps employees fulfill three basic needs: (1) autonomy, (2) meaningfulness of work, and (3) interpersonal contact.

Coalition

Temporary groupings of people who actively pursue a single issue.

Participate Management

The process whereby employees play a direct role in (1) setting goals, (2) making decisions, (3) solving problems, and (4) making changes in the organization. Participate management includes, but goes beyond, simply asking employees for their ideas or opinions.

Legitimate Power

This base of power is anchored to one's formal position or authority. Thus, individuals who obtain compliance primarily because of their formal authority to make decisions have legitimate power. Legitimate power may express itself in either a positive or negative manner in managing people. Positive legitimate power focuses constructively on job performance. Negative legitimate power tends to be threatening and demeaning to those being influenced. Its main purpose is to build the power holder's ego. Importantly, there is growing concern today about the limits of managers' legitimate power relative to privacy rights and off-the-job behavior.

Coercive Power

Threats of punishment and actual punishment give an individual coercive power. For instance, consider this heavy-handed tactic by Wolfgang Bernhard, a Volkswagen executive: "A ruthless cost-cutter, Bernard, 46, has a favorite technique: He routinely locks staffers in meeting rooms, then refuses to open the doors until they've stripped $1,500 in costs from a future model."

Inspirational Appeals (soft)

Trying to build enthusiasm by appealing to others' emotions, ideals, or values

Rational Persuasion (soft)

Trying to convince someone with reason, logic, or facts

Expert Power

Valued knowledge or information gives an individual expert power over those who need such knowledge or information. The power of supervisors is enhanced because they know about work schedules and assignments before their employees do. Skillful use of expert power played a key role in the effectiveness of team leaders in a study of three physician medical diagnosis teams.33 Knowledge is power in today's high-tech workplaces.

Barriers to Delegation

• Belief in the fallacy, "If you want it done right, do it yourself." • Lack of confidence and trust in lower-level employees. • Low self-confidence. • Fear of being called lazy. • Vague job definition. • Fear of competition from those below. • Reluctance to take the risks involved in depending on others. • Lack of controls that provide early warning of problems with delegated duties. • Poor example set by bosses who do not delegate.

Power Outcomes

• Expert and referent power had a generally positive impact. • Reward and legitimate power had a slightly positive impact. • Coercive power had a slightly negative impact.