Business Decision Making ADMN 2167

Professor: Bob Carpenter

Many of the slides in this presentation are from Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition . Copyright 2007 Pearson Education Canada.

Power and Politics

Outline

A Definition of Power Bases of Power Dependency: The Key to Power Influence Tactics Empowerment: Giving Power to Employees The Abuse of Power: Harassment in the Workplace Politics: Power in Action

Power and Politics

Power
A capacity that A has to influence the behaviour of B so that B acts in accordance with As wishes.

Dependency
Bs relationship to A when A possesses something that B needs.

Power, Influence and Politics Power - the ability of one party to change or control the behaviour, attitudes, opinions, objectives, needs or values of another party. Influence - the process of actually exercising this power by affecting the thoughts, behaviour, & feelings of others. Political Behaviour influence attempts that are for personal gain and are not officially sanctioned by an organization.

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

R.Kantner, Power Failure in Management Circuits HBR July-Aug 1979

Bases of Power
1. Coercive Power The person can make things difficult for people, and you want to avoid getting him or her angry.
Power that is based on fear.

2.

Reward Power The person is able to give special benefits or rewards to people, and you find it advantageous to trade favours with him or her. 3. Legitimate Power The person has the right, considering his or her position and your job responsibilities, to expect you to comply with legitimate requests. (continued)

Measuring Bases of Power

4. Expert Power
The person has the experience and knowledge to earn your respect and you defer to his or her judgment in some matters. You like the person and enjoy doing things for him or her. The person has data or knowledge that you need.

5. Referent Power

6. Information Power

Source: Adapted from G. Yuki and C. M. Falbe, Importance of Different Power Sources in Downward and Lateral Relations, Journal of Applied Psychology, June 1991, p. 417. With permission.

Evaluating the Bases of Power

People will respond in one of three ways:

1. Commitment The person is enthusiastic about the request and carries the task out. 2. Compliance The person goes along with the request grudgingly, putting in minimal effort. 3. Resistance The person is opposed to the request and tries to avoid it.

Dependancy

The party exposed to power must be dependant. The powerful party controls something that is desired. There often exists a counter-power. e.g. a powerful manager who controls rewards may be dependant on the employee to achieve his/her goals.

Continuum of Responses to Power

Resistance Bases of Leader Power Coercive Reward Legitimate Expert Referent Compliance Commitment

Most likely employee response

Source: R. M. Steers and J. S. Black, Organizational Behavior, 5th ed. (New York: HarperCollins, 1994), p. 487. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Leaders Use of Power

The least effective power bases are the ones most likely to be used by managers.
Coercive, legitimate, and reward Easiest to implement

Effective leaders use referent and/or expert power.

Dependency: Key to Power

Importance
The things you control must be important.

Scarcity
A resource must be perceived as scarce.

Nonsubstitutability
The resource cannot be substituted with something else.

Increasing Dependency

To increase the dependency of others on you, you need to

Control things viewed as important. The resources must be viewed as scarce. The resource must have few or no substitutes (nonsubstitutability).

Influence Tactics

Rational persuasion Inspirational appeals Consultation Ingratiation Personal appeals Exchange Coalition tactics Pressure Legitimating tactics

Exercise

Form groups Develop a role play where group leader uses one of
Coercive Reward Legitimate Expert referent

Role Play Scenario

You are the leader of a group that is trying to develop a website for a new client. One of your group members, who was assigned the task of researching and analyzing the websites of your clients competition, has failed twice to bring the analysis to scheduled meetings, even though the member knew the assignment was due. Consequently, your group is falling behind in getting the website developed. As leader of the group, you have decided to speak with this team member, and use your specific brand of power to influence the individuals behaviour.

Instructions for Role Play

Working in your group, read the instructions for the assignment. You have 10 minutes to develop a 3-minute role play, using the source of power assigned to your group. You MUST stick to the time limit.

Observations
Observe different types of power, and see how they affect you. Develop an understanding for which types of power are more likely to achieve positive (or negative) effects. Which gets the desired behaviour?
Which has most long lasting effect? How does it affect relationship? Which is most acceptable?

Sources of Power
COERCIVE: Depends on fear. It is the ability to punish or withhold privileges. REWARD: Based on one's control over things that others desire such as vacations, raises, promotions, and office locations. LEGITIMATE: Person holding power has right to it because of position or role. Thus the person has a formal right to direct others in certain matters and the subordinates have a duty to obey those directions. EXPERT: The perception by others that one has superior judgment or knowledge on some topics, often specialized in nature. Unlike information power, this power base does not involve sharing of the facts or reasoning behind a decision. REFERENT: Develops out of subordinates' admiration for leader and his/her desire to model behaviour and attitudes after that person. The person builds feelings of support, liking, admiration, and respect with subordinates. INFORMATION: Youve got it and they need it

Employee Empowerment

Empowerment: Giving Power to Employees

The freedom and the ability of employees to make decisions and commitments.

Degrees of Empowerment

Job content
Tasks and procedures necessary for carrying out a particular job.

Job context
Reason for the job and the setting in which it is done.
Includes organizations structure, culture, and reward systems.

Characteristics of Empowered People

Sense of self-determination Employees are free to choose how to do their work; they are not micromanaged. Sense of meaning Employees feel that their work is important to them; they care about what they are doing. Sense of competence Employees are confident about their ability to do their work well; they know they can perform. Sense of impact Employees believe they can have influence on their work unit; others listen to their ideas.
Source: R. E. Quinn and G. M. Spreitzer, The Road to Empowerment: Seven Questions Every Leader Should Consider, Organizational Dynamics, Autumn 1997, p. 41.

More or less stress

What are the effects of empowerment on stress

Stages of Empowerment

No Discretion
The employee is assigned the task, given no discretion, and most likely monitored by a supervisor.
Typical assembly-line jobhighly routine and repetitive. Can lead to lowered satisfaction and productivity.

Stages of Empowerment

Participatory Empowerment
Autonomous work groups that are given some decision-making authority over both job content and job context.
Some evidence of higher job satisfaction and productivity in such groups.

Stages of Empowerment

Self-Management
Employees have total decision-making power for both job content and job context.
Generally reserved for those in top management, although it is also sometimes granted to high-level salespeople. Very rewarding to those who hold it.

Conditions for True Empowerment

There must be a clear definition of the values and mission of the company. Company must help employees acquire the relevant skills. Employees need to be supported in their decision making, and not criticized when they try to do something extraordinary. Employees need to be recognized for their efforts.

The Abuse of Power

The Abuse of Power: Workplace Bullying

Bullying can happen across levels of the organization, or among co-workers. Recent research found that:
40 percent of the respondents noted that they had experienced one or more forms of bullying weekly in the past six months. 10 percent experienced bullying at a much greater level: five or more incidents a week.

The Abuse of Power: Sexual Harassment

The Supreme Court of Canada defines sexual harassment as

Unwelcome behaviour of a sexual nature in the workplace that negatively affects the work environment or leads to adverse job-related consequences for the employee.

Examples of Sexual Harassment

There is disagreement as to what specifically constitutes sexual harassment. Includes

Unwanted physical touching. Recurring requests for dates when it is made clear the person isnt interested. Coercive threats that a person will lose her or his job if she or he refuses a sexual proposition.

Examples of Sexual Harassment

More subtle forms (harder to interpret):

Unwanted looks or comments Off-colour jokes Sexual artifacts such as nude calendars in the workplace Sexual innuendo Misinterpretations of where the line between being friendly ends and harassment begins

Damned if you do etc:

Frans legal situation Frans political dilemma Frans ethical problem What should she do?

Politics

Why Do We Get Politics?

Organizations are made up of groups and individuals who have differing values, goals and interests. Resources in organizations are limited. Performance outcomes are not completely clear and objective.

Politics: Power in Action

Political behaviour is those activities that influence, or attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization.
Legitimate: Normal, everyday behaviour. Illegitimate: Extreme political behaviours that violate the implied rules of the game.

Types of Political Activity

Attacking or blaming others Using information Managing impressions Building support for ideas Praising others Building coalitions Associating with influential people Creating obligations

Support of Political Behaviour

Support Political Behaviour Fewer advancement opportunities Unclear goals Autocratic decision making Ambiguous authority Scarce resources Uncertainty Leaders high on Machiavellianism (high Machs) Minimize Political Behaviour Transparent promotion and reward policies Avoid hiring high Machs Open communication & Supportive organization climate Clear resource allocation policies Punish organizational politicians

Impression Management

The process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others form of them. More likely used by high self-monitors than low self-monitors.
High self-monitors try to read the situation.

Making Office Politics Work

Nobody wins unless everybody wins. Dont just ask for opinionschange them. Everyone expects to be paid back. Success can create opposition.

Summary and Implications

1. What is power?
The capacity that A has to influence the behaviour of B, so that B acts in accordance with As wishes. There are six bases for power: coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, referent, and information. To maximize your power, you will want to increase others dependence on you.

2. How does one get power?

3. How does dependency affect power?

Summary and Implications

4. What tactics can be used to exercise influence?

One study identified nine strategies: rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, consultation, ingratiation, personal appeals, exchange, coalition tactics, pressure, and legitimating tactics.

5. What does it mean to be empowered?

Empowerment refers to the freedom and the ability of employees to make decisions and commitments.

Summary and Implications

6. How are power and harassment related?

People who engage in harassment in the workplace are typically abusing their power position. People use politics to influence others to help them achieve their personal objectives.

7. Why do people engage in politics?