Power and Politics

Chapter 7, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition 7-
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada
Chapter 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
1. What is power?
2. How does one get power?
3. How does dependency affect power?
4. What tactics can be used to increase power?
5. What does it mean to be empowered?
6. How are power and harassment related?
7. Why do people engage in politics?
Questions for Consideration
Questions for Consideration

Power and Politics
Power
Politics

Leadership
Agreement
downward influence
lateral and upward influence
focuses on answers
Power
acceptance
Intimidation
lateral and upward influence
gaining compliance
Leadership and Power

Measuring Bases of Power
Coercive power
Reward power
Legitimate power
Expert power
Referent power
Information Power

Chapter 7, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition 7-
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada
Evaluating the Bases of Power
People will respond in one of three ways:
Commitment
Compliance
Resistance

Evaluating the Bases of Power
Coercive power
Legitimate power
Reward power
Expert power

Continuum of Responses to Power

When Managers
Influenced
Superiors*
When Managers
Influenced
Subordinates
Reason
Coalition
Friendliness
Bargaining
Assertiveness
Higher authority
Reason
Assertiveness
Friendliness
Coalition
Bargaining
Higher authority
Sanctions
Most Popular
Least Popular
*The dimension of sanctions is omitted in the scale
that measures upward influence.
Popularity of Power Tactics: From Most to Least Popular

Dependency: Key to Power
Importance
Scarcity
Non-substitutability

Increasing Dependency
To increase the dependency of others on you, you need to
Control
scarce
substitutes

Empowerment: Giving Power to Employees
The freedom and the ability of employees to make decisions and commitments
Managers disagree over definition of empowerment

Conditions for True Empowerment
Clear definitions
Relevant skills
Support
Recognition

Characteristics of Empowered People
Sense of self-determination
Sense of meaning
Sense of competence
Sense of impact

Chapter 7, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition 7-
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada
The Abuse of Power:
Workplace Bullying
Bullying can happen across levels of the organization, or among co-workers.

Chapter 7, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition 7-
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada
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.

Chapter 7, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition 7-
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada
Examples of Sexual Harassment
There is disagreement as to what specifically constitutes sexual harassment.

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

Politics: Power in Action
Those activities that influence, or attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization.

Why Do We Get Politics?
differing values
Resources
Performance outcomes

Factors Influencing Political Behaviour
Individual factors
•
High self-monitors
•
Internal locus of control
•
High Mach
•
Organizational investment
•
Perceived job alternatives
•
Expectations of success
Organizational factors
•
Reallocation of resources
•
Promotion opportunities
•
Low trust
•
Role ambiguity
•
Unclear performance
evaluation system
•
Zero-sum reward practices
•
Democratic decision making
•
High performance pressures
•
Self-serving senior managers
Favourable outcomes
•
Rewards
•
Averted punishments
Political behaviour
Low High

Chapter 7, Nancy Langton and Stephen P. Robbins, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition 7-
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada
Influence Tactics
Rational persuasion
Inspirational appeals
Consultation
Ingratiation
Personal appeals
Exchange
Coalition tactics
Pressure
Legitimating tactics

What Individual Factors Contribute to Politics?
High self-monitors
Internal locus of control
High mach
Organizational investment
Perceived job alternatives
Expectations of success

What Organizational Factors Contribute to Politics?
Reallocation of rewards
Promotion opportunities
Low trust
Role ambiguity
Unclear performance evaluation system
Zero-sum reward practices
Democratic decision-making
High performance pressure
Self-serving senior managers

Types of Political Activity
Attacking
Control
coalitions
Networking
obligations
impressions

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

Exhibit 7-8 Impression Management (IM) Techniques
Conformity
Excuses
Apologies
Acclamations
Flattery
Favours
Association

Concepts to Skills: Politicking
Framing arguments
Right image
Organizational resources
Indispensable
Visible
Allies
Other members
Support

Making Office Politics Work
Nobody - everybody
opinions
paid back
opposition

Summary and Implications
Power is a two-way street.
Few employees relish being powerless in their jobs and organization.
People respond differently to various power bases.
Expert power is the most strongly and consistently related to effective employee performance.