Organizational Behavior Chapter 11

Powerlessness

A lack of power.

Status

A person's relative standing in a group based on prestige and having other people defer to him.

Time Power

According to Korda, means using clocks and watches as power symbols.

Belief in justice.

According to McClelland, the characteristic of a manager who uses power successfully when they believe justice is to be sought above all else. People should receive that to which they are entitled and that which they earn.

Belief in the authority system.

According to McClelland, the characteristic of a manager who uses power successfully when they believe that the institution is important and that its authority system is valid. They are comfortable influencing and being influenced. The source of their power is the authority system of which they are a part.

Preference for work and discipline.

According to McClelland, the characteristic of a manager who uses power successfully when they like their work and are very orderly. They have a basic value preference for the Protestant work ethic, believing that work is good for a person over and beyond its income-producing value.

Altruism

According to McClelland, the characteristic of a manager who uses power successfully when they publicly put the company and its needs before their own needs. They are able to do this because they see their own well-being as integrally tied to the company's well-being.

1. Locked file cabinets are signs that the manager has important and confidential information in the office. 2. A rectangular (rather than round) conference table enables the most important person to sit at the head of the table. 3. The size of one's desk may convey the amount of power, too, as most executives prefer large, expensive desks.

According to Michael Korda, furniture is not just physically useful; it also conveys a message about power. Examples of this power include:

Standing by

According to Michael Korda, game in which people are obliged to keep their cell phones, pagers, and so forth with them at all times so executives can reach them. The idea is that the more you can impose your schedule on other people, the more power you have.

Political Behavior

Actions not officially sanctioned by an organization that are taken to influence others in order to meet one's personal goals. Not inherently constructive or destructive.

Strategic Contingencies

Activities that other groups depend on in order to complete their tasks.

Niccolo Machiavelli

An Italian statesman during the sixteenth century who wrote The Prince, a guide for acquiring and using power. Among his methods for using power was manipulating others, believing that it was better to be feared than loved.

Referent Power

An elusive power that is based on interpersonal attraction. The agent has referent power over the target because the target identifies with or wants to be like the agent. Charismatic individuals are often thought to have referent power

Machiavellians (or high Machs)

Are willing to manipulate others for personal gain and are unconcerned with others' opinions or welfare:

Managing

Because organizations are arenas in which people have competing interests, effective managers must reconcile competing interests. Organizational politics are central to:

Influence or Authority (or both)

Because power is an ability, individuals can learn to use it effectively, employing either:

1. Does the behavior produce a good outcome for people both inside and outside the organization? 2. Does the behavior respect the rights of all parties? 3. Does the behavior treat all parties equitably and fairly?

Determining whether a power-related behavior is ethical is complicated. One helpful method for establishing criteria in this respect is to ask three questions:

Authority (a right)

Enlarging a person's zone of indifference is accomplished with power (an ability) rather than with:

Power (an ability)

Enlarging a person's zone of indifference is accomplished with:

Acting in certain ways can lead employees to believe that a manager is powerless. By making external attributions (blaming others or circumstances) for negative events, a manager looks as if she has no power.

FACT:

As people try to acquire power and expand their power base, they use various tactics and strategies. Some are sanctioned (acceptable to the organization); others are not. Sometimes personal goals are aligned with team or organizational goals, and they can be achieved in support of others' interests. But other times personal goals and the interests of others collide, and individuals pursue politics at the expense of others' interests

FACT:

Central to the idea of information power is the person's position within the communication networks in the organization, both formal and informal.

FACT:

Controlling resources needed by another group allows the power-holding group to influence the actions of the less powerful group. This process can continue in an upward spiral. Groups seen as powerful tend to be given more resources from top management.

FACT:

For legitimate power to be effective, the employees must also believe the manager has the right to tell them what to do.

FACT:

Having women on corporate boards is associated with better financial performance, increased innovation, and a stronger talent pipeline. A gender-balanced board of directors is linked with better corporate social performance, which benefits business and society through stronger, more sustainable enterprises

FACT:

In some cases, no power base is enough to induce the employee to comply, especially if the employee considers the behaviors requested by the manager to be unethical.

FACT:

Influence is the process of affecting the thoughts, behavior, or feelings of another person. That other person could be the boss (upward influence), an employee (downward influence), or a coworker (lateral influence).

FACT:

Korda defines power as follows: There are more people who inconvenience themselves on your behalf than there are people on whose behalf you would inconvenience yourself. Closely tied to this is the ability to make others perform simple tasks for you, such as getting your coffee or fetching the mail

FACT:

Michael Korda also notes that the less powerful the executive, the more intricate the watch. Moreover, managers who are really secure in their power wear no watch at all, since they believe nothing important can happen without them. A full calendar is also proof of power. Personal planners are left open on the desk to display busy schedules.

FACT:

Political behavior is also viewed positively when it is seen as the only means by which to accomplish something. Job satisfaction and satisfaction with coworkers and supervisors is affected by any kind of political behavior.

FACT:

When people focus on their own concerns rather than on organizational goals, we see the negative face of power described earlier by David McClelland as personal power. And when employees view the organization's political climate as extreme, they experience more anxiety, tension, fatigue, and burnout. They are also dissatisfied with their jobs and are more likely to leave

FACT:

You can use Kanter's symbols of power to identify powerful people in organizations. They can be particularly useful in finding a mentor who can effectively use power

FACT:

1. Overly close supervision 2. Inflexible adherence to the rules 3. Tendency to do the job themselves rather than training their employees to do it.

First-line supervisors often display three symptoms of powerlessness:

1. The target must trust that the expertise given is accurate. 2. The knowledge involved must be relevant and useful to the target. 3. The target's perception of the agent as an expert is crucial

For expert power to work, three conditions must be in place:

1. Reward 2. Coercive 3. Legitimate 4. Referent 5. Expert power

French and Raven identified five forms of interpersonal power that managers use:

critical resources

Groups or teams within an organization can also use power from several sources. When one group controls an important resource that another group desires, the first group holds power An example source of intergroup power is control of:

1. Inform subordinates of rules and penalties. 2. Warn before punishing. 3. Administer punishment consistently and uniformly. 4. Understand the situation before acting. 5. Maintain credibility. 6. Fit punishment to the infraction. 7. Punish in private.

Guidelines for the Ethical Use of Coercive Power:

1. Maintain credibility. 2. Act confident and decisive. 3. Keep informed. Recognize employee concerns. 4. Avoid threatening subordinates' self-esteem.

Guidelines for the Ethical Use of Expert Power:

1. Be cordial and polite. 2. Be confident. 3. Be clear and follow up to verify understanding. 4. Make sure request is appropriate. 5. Explain reasons for request. 6. Follow proper channels. 7. Exercise power consistently. Enforce compliance. 8. Be sensitive to subordinates' concerns.

Guidelines for the Ethical Use of Legitimate Power:

1. Treat subordinates fairly. 2. Defend subordinates' interests. 3. Be sensitive to subordinates' needs and feelings. 4. Select subordinates similar to oneself. 5. Engage in role modeling.

Guidelines for the Ethical Use of Referent Power:

1. Verify compliance. 2. Make feasible, reasonable requests. 3. Make only ethical requests. 4. Offer rewards desired by subordinates. 5. Offer only credible rewards.

Guidelines for the Ethical Use of Reward Power

Expert Power

Has been called the power of the future. Of the five forms of power, it has the strongest relationship with performance and satisfaction

David McClelland

Has spent a great deal of his career studying the need for power and the ways managers use power and believes that there are two distinct faces of power, one negative and one positive:

Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Her list offers a scholarly approach to determining who has power and who feels powerless, providing several characteristics of powerful people in organizations, heavily focusing on doing things for others—for people in trouble, for employees, for bosses in an other-oriented element to her symbols of power.

high centrality

If a group's functioning is important to the organization's success, it has:

Machiavellian

Individuals who rely on personal power at its extreme and are willing to do whatever it takes to get one's own way.

Pressure

Influence tactic wherein the person uses demands, threats, or intimidation to convince you to comply with a request or to support a proposal.

Organizational Politics

Like the word power, may conjure up negative images. The use of power and influence in organizations and is not necessarily negative.

ethically

Managers can work at developing all five forms of power for future use. The key to using them well is to use them:

framing

Managers not only pass information on to subordinates, they also interpret this information and influence the subordinates' perceptions of it. This "spin" that managers put on information is the idea known as:

Powerhungry

Managers who use personal power are commonly described as:

1. Unclear goals 2. Autocratic decision making 3. Ambiguous lines of authority 4. Scarce resources 5. Uncertainty

Many organizational conditions encourage political activity. Among them are:

1. Belief in the authority system. 2. Preference for work and discipline. 3. Altruism. 4. Belief in justice.

McClelland has found that managers who use power successfully have four power-oriented characteristics:

"my time is yours."

Michael Korda Ko says that the biggest compliment a busy executive can pay a visitor is to remove his watch and place it facedown on the desk, thereby communicating:

office furnishings, time power, and standing by

Michael Korda offers a semiserious look at 3 tangible symbols of power:

performance appraisal process

Objective activities may involve politics. One such activity is the:

John French and Bertram Raven

One of the earliest and most influential theories of power that works to determine both the forms and the sources of power managers use to influence other people were developed by two individuals:

Principled Dissent

One way to encourage ethical behavior in organizations that refers to valid criticism that can benefit the organization rather than mere complaints about working conditions.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Michael Korda

Organization charts show who has authority, but they do not reveal much about who has power. Two very different ideas about the symbols of power come from:

exchange orientation

People who approach relationships with this type of orientation often use personal power to ensure that they get at least their fair share—and often more—in the relationship.

Reward Power

Power based on an agent's ability to control rewards that a target wants. Can lead to better performance, but only as long as the employee sees a clear and strong link between performance and rewards.

Coercive Power

Power that is based on an agent's ability to cause an unpleasant experience for a target.

Legitimate Power

Power that is based on position and mutual agreement; agent and target agree that the agent has the right to influence the target. Based on position and mutual agreement.

consultation, rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, and ingratiation

Research has shown that the four tactics used most frequently are:

Compliance

Reward power, coercive power, and legitimate power have similar effects. All lead to:

1. Ability to intercede for someone in trouble. 2. Ability to get placements for favored employees. 3. Exceeding budget limitations. 4. Procuring above-average raises for employees. 5. Getting items on the agenda at meetings. 6. Access to early information. 7. Having top managers seek out their opinion.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter's 7 characteristics of powerful people in organizations:

resist change and try to protect their turf

Staff professionals such as accountants and lawyers display different symptoms of powerlessness. When they feel powerless, they tend to:

1. Be sensitive to employees' concerns 2. Communicate well

The 2 keys to using all five types of interpersonal power ethically is to:

1. Control of Critical Resources 2. Control of Strategic Contigencies

The Intergroup Sources of Power:

Power

The ability to influence another person. As an exchange relationship, it occurs in transactions between an agent and a target.

self-interest

The effects of political behavior in organizations can be quite negative when the political behavior is strategically undertaken to maximize:

Nonsubstitutability

The extent to which a group performs a function that is indispensable to an organization. Expertise.

dependency

The key to all three of factors of the contingency model is:

Personal Power

The negative face of power. Power used for personal gain.

Inspirational Appeals

The person makes an emotional request or proposal that arouses enthusiasm by appealing to your values and ideals or by increasing your confidence that you can do it.

Exchange

The person makes an explicit or implicit promise that you will receive rewards or tangible benefits if you comply with a request or support a proposal or reminds you of a prior favor to be reciprocated.

Coalition

The person seeks the aid of others to persuade you to do something or uses the support of others as an argument for you to agree also.

Ingratiation

The person seeks to get you in a good mood or to think favorably of him or her before asking you to do something.

Upwards Appeals

The person seeks to persuade you that the request is approved by higher management or appeals to higher management for assistance in gaining your compliance with the request.

Consultation

The person seeks your participation in making a decision or planning how to implement a proposed policy, strategy, or change.

Rational Persuasion

The person uses logical arguments and factual evidence to persuade you that a proposal or request is viable and likely to result in the attainment of task objectives.

Agent

The person using the power.

Social Power

The positive face of power favored by McClelland, Power used to create motivation or to accomplish group goals.

Expert Power

The power that exists when an agent has specialized knowledge or skills that the target needs.

Influence

The process of affecting the thoughts, behavior, and feelings of another person.

Zone of Indifference

The range in which attempts to influence a person will be perceived as legitimate and will be acted on without a great deal of thought.

Target

The recipient of the attempt to use power.

Authority

The right to influence another person.

1. Pressure 2. Upwards Appeals 3. Exchange 4. Coalition 5. Ingratiation 6. Rational persuasion 7. Inspirational Appeals 8. Consultation

There are eight basic types of influence tactics:

Does the behavior respect the rights of all parties?

This question emphasizes the criterion of individual rights. Free speech, privacy, and due process are individual rights that are to be respected, and power-related behaviors that violate these rights are considered unethical.

Does the behavior treat all parties equitably and fairly?

This question represents the criterion of distributive justice. Power-related behavior that treats one party arbitrarily or benefits one party at the expense of another is unethical. Granting a day of vacation to one employee in a busy week in which coworkers must struggle to cover for him might be considered unethical.

Does the behavior produce a good outcome for people both inside and outside the organization?

This question represents the criterion of utilitarian outcomes. The behavior should result in the greatest good for the greatest number of people. If the power-related behavior serves only the individual's self-interest and fails to help the organization reach its goals, it is considered unethical. A salesperson might be tempted to deeply discount a product in order to make a sale that would win a contest. Doing so would be in her self-interest but would not benefit the organization

positively

Though positive political behavior still involves self-interest, when it is aligned with organizational goals, the self-interest is perceived:

1. One is the ability to cope with uncertainty. 2. High Degree of Centrality 3. Nonsubstitutability

Three factors can give a group control over a strategic contingency:

Information Power

To French and Raven's five power sources we can add a source that is very important in today's organizations that entails access to and control over important information called:

1. Focusing on budget cutting 2. Punishing others 3. Using dictatorial, top-down communication

Top executives can also feel powerless. They show symptoms such as:

upwards appeals and coalition tactics

Two influence tactics used moderately:

Referent Power

Type of power linked with organizational effectiveness. It is the most dangerous power, however, because it can be too extensive and intensive in altering the behavior of others.

status

While Kanter's symbols focus on the ability to help others, Korda's symbols focus on:

external attributions

blaming others or circumstances