Organizational Behavior: Chapter 15

Making a Good Impression

If you "dress for success," project an upbeat attitude at all times, and have polished a 15-second elevator speech for top executives, you are engaging in favorable impression management—particularly so if your motive is to improve your lot in life.

Organizational politics

intentional acts of influence to enhance or protect the self-interests of individuals or groups. An emphasis on self-interest distinguishes this form of social influence. Managers are constantly challenged to achieve a workable balance between employees' self-interests and organizational interests. When a proper balance exists, the pursuit of self-interest may serve the organization's interests. Political behavior becomes a negative force when self-interests erode or defeat organizational interests.

Mutuality of interest

involves win-win situations in which one's self-interest is served by cooperating actively and creatively with potential adversaries. The Constant Tug-of-War between Self-Interest and Mutuality of Interest Requires Managerial Action

Empowerment

recognizing and releasing into the organization the power that people already have in their wealth of useful knowledge, experience, and internal motivation.

Impression management

the process by which people attempt to control or manipulate the reactions of others to images of themselves or their ideas Favorable Impression Management Job-focused - manipulating information about one's performance Supervisor-focused - praising and doing favors for one's supervisor Self-focused - presenting oneself as a polite and nice person

Participative 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. Participative management includes, but goes beyond, simply asking employees for their ideas or opinions. Participative management helps employees fulfill three basic needs: -Autonomy -Meaningfulness of work -Interpersonal contact

Three Possible Influence Outcomes

1) Commitment - is more likely when people rely on consultation, strong rational persuasion, and inspirational appeals and do not rely on pressure and coalition tactics. Interestingly, in one study, managers were not very effective at downward influence. They relied most heavily on inspiration (an effective tactic), ingratiation (a moderately effective tactic), and pressure (an ineffective tactic). is more likely when the influence attempt involves something important and enjoyable and is based on a friendly relationship. Many studies have found women to be perceived as less competent and less influential in work groups than men. For both women and men, task behavior was associated with perceived competence and effective influence. Dominating behavior was not effective. "The display of task cues is an effective means to enhance one's status in groups and ... the attempt to gain influence in task groups through dominance is an ineffective and poorly received strategy for both men and women. 2) Compliance - reluctant agreement requiring subsequent prodding to satisfy minimum requirements 3) Resistance - stalling, unproductive arguing, or outright rejection

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 Greater delegation was associated with the following factors: -Employee was competent. -Employee shared manager's task objectives. -Manager had a long-standing and positive relationship with employee. -The lower-level person also was a supervisor.58

Delegation

-the process of granting decision-making authority to lower-level employees -amounts to power distribution Delegation has long been the recommended way to lighten the busy manager's load while at the same time developing employees' abilities. Importantly, delegation gives nonmanagerial employees more than simply a voice in decisions. It empowers them to make their own decisions.

Four P's of Political Success

1) Power Assessment - How can you improve your leverage position? 2) Performance - How can your work make the business more successful? 3) Perception - How can you enhance your reputation, especially with those who can achieve your goals? 4) Partnerships - How can you increase your network of allies and supporters?

Nine Generic Influence Tactics

1) Rational 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; being friendly, helpful, and using praise or flattery. 5) Personal appeals. Referring to friendship and loyalty when making a request. 6) Exchange. Making express or implied promises and trading favors. 7) Coalition tactics. Getting others to support your effort to persuade someone. 8) Pressure. Demanding compliance or using intimidation or threats. 9) Legitimating tactics. Basing a request on one's authority or right, organizational rules or policies, or express or implied support from superiors. *Interpersonal influence is culture bound.

Five Bases of Power

1) Reward - obtaining compliance by promising or granting rewards. Reward power is at the heart of shaping on-the-job behavior with verbal or written recognition and other forms of positive reinforcement. Employees tell us one of the problems they have with rewards is they only receive them when the goal finally is accomplished. Their complaint is generally that no one ever says anything along the way to getting the results. 2) Coercive - obtaining compliance through threatened or actual punishment. 3) Legitimate - obtaining compliance through formal authority. individuals who obtain compliance primarily because of their formal authority to make decisions. 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. 4) Expert - obtaining compliance through one's knowledge or information. The power of supervisors is enhanced because they know about work schedules and assignments before their employees do. 5) Referent - obtaining compliance through charisma or personal attraction. comes into play when one's personality becomes the reason for compliance. Role models have referent power over those who identify closely with them. Expert and referent power had a generally positive effect Reward and legitimate power had a slightly positive effect Coercive power had a slightly negative effect

Herman is able to work more on his own now that his supervisor has given him more responsibility and authority in his job. Which need of participative management does this fulfill? A) Autonomy B) Meaningfulness of work C) Interpersonal contact D) Sovereignty

A) Autonomy

Whenever things don't go well for Duane, he is quick to shift fault to others. Which political tactic is he using? Creating a favorable image Praising others (ingratiation) Attacking or blaming others Using information as a political tool

Attacking or blaming others

Tami has a tendency to use praise or flattery with her boss prior to making a request for her expense account approval every month. Tami is using which influence tactic? A) Inspirational appeal B) Ingratiation C) Pressure D) Consultation

B) Ingratiation

Levels of Political Action in Organizations

Coalition - an informal group bound together by the active pursuit of a single issue Coalitions may or may not coincide with formal group membership. When the target issue is resolved (a sexual-harassing supervisor is fired, for example), the coalition disbands. Experts note that political coalitions have "fuzzy boundaries," meaning they are fluid in membership, flexible in structure, and temporary in duration. Coalitions are a potent political force in organizations.

As a Division Head, Natalie is implementing pay-for-performance plans and positive reinforcement programs at Goodwill Wireless Center. Natalie is attempting to exploit which power? A) Coercive B) Expert C) Referent D) Reward

D) Reward

Sources of Uncertainty

Five common sources of uncertainty within organizations are Unclear objectives. Vague performance measures. Ill-defined decision processes. Strong individual or group competition. Any type of change.

Making a Poor Impression

Four motives: (1) Avoidance: Employee seeks to avoid additional work, stress, burnout, or an unwanted transfer or promotion. (2) Obtain concrete rewards: Employee seeks to obtain a pay raise or a desired transfer, promotion, or demotion. (3) Exit: Employee seeks to get laid off, fired, or suspended, and perhaps also to collect unemployment or workers' compensation. (4) Power: Employee seeks to control, manipulate, or intimidate others, get revenge, or make someone else look bad.94 Within the context of these motives, unfavorable upward impression management makes sense. Five unfavorable upward impression management tactics identified by the researchers are as follows: Decreasing performance—restricting productivity, making more mistakes than usual, lowering quality, neglecting tasks. Not working to potential—pretending ignorance, having unused capabilities. Withdrawing—being tardy, taking excessive breaks, faking illness. Displaying a bad attitude—complaining, getting upset and angry, acting strangely, not getting along with co-workers. Broadcasting limitations—letting co-workers know about one's physical problems and mistakes, both verbally and nonverbally.

Personal Initiative: The Other Side of Delegation

Is characterized by the following aspects: it (1) is consistent with the organization's mission, (2) has a long-term focus, (3) is goal-directed and action-oriented, (4) is persistent in the face of barriers and setbacks, and (5) is self-starting and proactive

Common Political Tactics in Organizations

Listed in descending order of occurrence, the eight political tactics that emerged were Attacking or blaming others. Using information as a political tool. Creating a favorable image. (Also known as impression management.) Developing a base of support. Praising others (ingratiation). Forming power coalitions with strong allies. Associating with influential people. Creating obligations (reciprocity).

Managing Organizational Politics

Measurable objectives are management's first line of defense against counterproductive organizational politics. An individual's degree of politicalness is a matter of personal values, ethics, and temperament. People who are either strictly nonpolitical or highly political generally pay a price for their behavior. The former may experience slow promotions and feel left out, while the latter may run the risk of being called self-serving and lose their credibility. People at both ends of the political spectrum may be considered poor team players. A moderate amount of prudent political behavior generally is considered a survival tool in complex organizations. How to Keep Organizational Politics within Reasonable Bounds: -Screen out overly political individuals at hiring time. -Create an open-book management system. -Make sure every employee knows how the business works and has a personal line of sight to key results with corresponding measurable objectives for individual accountability. -Have nonfinancial people interpret periodic financial and accounting statements for all employees. -Establish formal conflict resolution and grievance processes. - As an ethics filter, do only what you would feel comfortable doing on national television. -Publicy recognize and reward people who get real results without political games.

Kendall will often do favors and run errands for her manager. She is engaged in __________ impression management. Job-focused Supervisor-focused Self-focused Organization-focused

Supervisor-focused

Social power

ability to marshal the human, informational, and material resources to get something done 1) Socialized power - plans, self-doubts, mixed outcomes and concerns for others 2) Personalized power - expressions of power for the sake of personal aggrandizement become paramount. Personalized power is exhibited when managers: -Focus more on satisfying their own needs. -Focus less on the needs of their underlings. -Act like "the rules" others are expected to follow don't apply to them The researchers found that the male and female employees had similar needs for power (n Pwr) and personalized power (p Pwr). But the women had a significantly higher need for socialized power (s Pwr) than did their male counterparts. This bodes well for today's work organizations where women are playing an ever greater administrative role. Unfortunately, as women gain power in the workplace, greater tension between men and women has been observed.