BUS7000
Organizational Behavior &Theory
Week 6
Dr Jenne Meyer
1
6-1
Article Analysis
2
10-2
Power and
Influence in the
Workplace
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Power of Managing Your Boss
Managing your boss is the
process of improving the
relationship with your manager for
the benefit of both of you and the
organization. It includes
developing bases of power that
enable you to influence the
manager and thereby achieve
organizational objectives. Most
executives say it is a key factor in
everyone’s career success.
10-4
The Meaning of Power
Power is the capacity of a
person, team, or organization
to influence others.
• Potential, not actual use
• People have power they don’t
use -- may not know they
possess
• A perception, not necessarily
reality
10-5
Power and Dependence
Person B’s
countervailing
power over
Person A
Person A
Person A is
perceived as
controlling resources
that help or hinder
Person B’s goal
achievement.
Person B’s
Goal
Person B
Person A’s
power over
Person B
10-6
Model of Power in Organizations
Sources
of Power
Legitimate
Reward
Coercive
Expert
Referent
Power
over others
Contingencies
of Power
10-7
Videos

Management styles explained:
http://digital.films.com/PortalViewVideo.aspx?xtid=44682&p
sid=0&sid=0&State=&title=Management Styles
Explained&IsSearch=N&parentSeriesID=
10-8
Deference to Authority:
Le Jeu de la Mort
French reality television recently
revealed how far people are willing
to submit to authority. Only 16 of
the 80 contestants refused to
administer the strongest shocks
(460 volts – enough to kill a
person) when another contestant
gave the wrong answers.
Fortunately, the other contestant
was an actor whose screams were
fake; he did not actually receive
the shocks.
10-9
Legitimate Power

Agreement that people in certain
roles can request certain
behaviors of others

Based on job descriptions and
mutual agreement

Legitimate power range (zone of
indifference) varies across
national and org cultures.

Norm of reciprocity – legitimate
power as a felt obligation to help
others who helped you in the past
10-10
Legitimate Power: Right to Control
Information Flow
Wheel
formation
This person has high
information control
All-channels
formation
These people individually
have low information control
10-11
Reward and Coercive Power

Reward Power
• Ability to control the allocation of rewards valued
by others and to remove negative sanctions

Coercive Power
• Ability to apply punishment
• Peer pressure is a form of coercive power

Reward and coercive power exist upward as
well as downward in hierarchies.
10-12
Expert Power

The capacity to influence others by
possessing knowledge or skills that they
value

Coping with uncertainty
• Organizations operate better in predictable
environments
• People gain power by using their expertise to:
- Prevent environmental changes
- Forecast environmental changes
- Absorb environmental changes
10-13
Referent Power

Occurs when others identify with, like, or
otherwise respect the person

Associated with charismatic leadership
10-14
Contingencies of Power
Sources
of Power
Power
over others
Contingencies
of Power
Substitutability
Centrality
Discretion
Visibility
10-15
The Power of Nonsubstitutability
Your personal brand improves career success when you
offer something that is valued and nonsubstitutable. “Be
unique about something. Be a specialist in something. Be
known for something,” advises Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
CEO Barry Salzberg (center).
10-16
Increasing Nonsubstitutability

Few/no alternatives to the resource

Increase nonsubstitutability by controlling the
resource
• exclusive right to perform medical procedures
• control over skilled labor
• exclusive knowledge to repair equipment

Differentiate resource from others (i.e. be
unique)
10-17
Centrality

Degree and nature of interdependence
between the powerholder and others (reflects
the person’s importance to others)

Centrality is a function of:
• How many others are affected by you
• How quickly others are affected by you
10-18
Discretion and Visibility

Discretion
• The freedom to exercise judgment
• Rules limit discretion, limit power
• Also a perception – acting as if you have discretion

Visibility
• Make others aware of your presence –more face
time, locate office near busy routes
• Symbols communicate your power source(s)
- Educational diplomas
- Clothing etc (stethoscope around neck)
10-19
Power and Influence Through
Social Networks

Social networks – people connected to each
other through forms of interdependence

Generate power through social capital -goodwill and resulting resources shared
among members in a social network

Three power resources through social
networks
• Knowledge sharing
• Visibility
• Referent power
10-20
Social Network Ties

Strong ties:
• Close-knit relationships (frequent interaction,
high volume sharing, multiple roles)
• Offer resources more quickly/plentifully,
but less unique

Weak ties
• Acquaintances
• Offer unique resources not held by us or
people in other networks

Many ties
• Resources increase with number of ties
• Limits on number of weak/strong ties one can create
10-21
Social Network Centrality


Person’s importance in a network
Three factors in centrality:
A
1. Betweenness – extent you are located between
others in the network (i.e. information gatekeeper)
2. Degree centrality -- Number of people connected
to you
3. Closeness – stronger relationships (faster/plentiful
resources)

B
Example: “A” has highest network centrality due
to all three factors; “B” has lowest centrality
10-22
Influencing Others

Influence -- any behavior that
attempts to alter someone’s
attitudes or behavior

Applies one or more power
bases

Process through which
people achieve organizational
objectives

Operates up, down, and
across the organizational
hierarchy
10-23
Types of Influence
Silent
Authority
• Following requests without overt influence
• Based on legitimate power, role modeling
• Common in high power distance cultures
Assertiveness • Actively applying legitimate and coercive
power (“vocal authority”)
• Reminding, confronting, checking,
threatening
more
10-24
Types of Influence (con’t)
Information
Control
• Manipulating others’ access to information
• Withholding, filtering, re-arranging
information
Coalition
Formation
• Group forms to gain more power than
individuals alone
1. Pools resources/power
2. Legitimizes the issue
3. Power through social identity
more
10-25
Types of Influence (con’t)
Upward
Appeal
• Appealing to higher authority
• Includes appealing to firm’s goals
• Alliance or perceived alliance with higher
status person
Persuasion
• Logic, facts, emotional appeals
• Depends on persuader, message content,
message medium, audience
more
10-26
Types of Influence (con’t)
Ingratiation/
Impress. Mgt.
Exchange
• Increase liking by, or perceived similarity to
the target person
• Promising or reminding of past benefits in
exchange for compliance
• Includes negotiation and networking
10-27

The power to Influence others:
http://digital.films.com/PortalViewVideo.aspx?xtid=37390&psid
=0&sid=0&State=&title=Obeying or Resisting Authority: A
Psychological
Retrospective&IsSearch=Y&parentSeriesID=&loid=47242
10-28
Consequences of Influence Tactics
people oppose the behavior desired by the influencer
motivated by external sources
(rewards) to implement request
identify with and
highly motivated to
implement request
Resistance
Compliance
Commitment
10-29
Consequences of Influence Tactics
Hard Influence
Tactics
Soft Influence
Tactics
Silent authority
Persuasion
Upward appeal
Coalition formation
Ingratiation &
impression mgt
Information control
Exchange
Assertiveness
Resistance
Compliance
Commitment
10-30
Contingencies of Influence Tactics

“Soft” tactics generally more acceptable than
“hard” tactics

Appropriate influence tactic depends on:
• Influencer’s power base
• Organizational position
• Cultural values and expectations
10-31
Organizational Politics
Behaviors that others perceive as self-serving tactics for
personal gain at the expense of other people and
possibly the organization.
10-32
Conditions that Encourage
Organizational Politics
•
Scarce resources – to safeguard own resources
•
Ambiguous resource allocation decisions
•
Organizational change – due to uncertainty, ambiguity
10-33
Minimizing Political Behavior






Introduce clear rules for scarce resources
Effective organizational change practices
Suppress norms that support or tolerate
self-serving behavior
Leaders role model organizational
citizenship
Give employees more control over their
work
Keep employees informed
10-34
Leadership in
Organizational
Settings
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Videos

IBM Leadership Competencies:
http://www.youtube.com/ibm?v=YjMTx4b6bLw&lr=1
 Daniel Goleman: Leadership:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6zIssWbrFw
 Discover Channel: what is leadership:
http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/what-is-leadership
 Discovery Channel: What makes a good leader?:
http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/what-makes-a-goodleader
12-36
The Leadership of Steve Jobs
During his life, Steve Jobs won
numerous awards for his
transformational and charismatic
leadership. The co-founder of
Apple, Inc. and Pixar animation
Studios was equally renowned as
a demanding perfectionist with
less-than-ideal people skills.
10-37
Leadership Defined
Leadership is the ability
to influence, motivate,
and enable others to
contribute toward the
effectiveness of the
organizations of which
they are members
10-38
Shared Leadership

The view that leadership is broadly distributed,
rather than assigned to one person, such that
people within the team and organization lead
each other.
• Employees champion change, ideas, etc.

Shared leadership requirements:
• Formal leaders willing to delegate power
• Collaborative culture – employees support each
other
• Employees able to influence others
10-39
Perspectives of Leadership
Competency
Perspective
Implicit
Leadership
Perspective
Leadership
Perspectives
Transformational
Perspective
Behavioral
Perspective
Contingency
Perspective
10-40
Competency Perspective

Personal characteristics that lead to superior
performance in a leadership role

Several competencies now identified as key
influences on leadership potential and of
effective leaders
10-41
Eight Leadership Competencies
Personality
• Extroversion, conscientiousness
(and other personality dimensions)
Self-concept
• Positive self-evaluation
• High self-esteem and self-efficacy
• Internal locus of control
Drive
Integrity
• Inner motivation to pursue goals
• Inquisitiveness, action-oriented
• Truthfulness
• Consistency in words and actions
more
10-42
Eight Leadership Competencies
(con’t)
Leadership
Motivation
• Motivation to lead others
• High need for socialized power
Knowledge of
the Business
• Understands external environment
• Aids intuitive decision making
Cognitive/
Practical
intelligence
• Above average cognitive ability
• Able to solve real-world problems
Emotional
Intelligence
• Perceiving, assimilating, understanding,
and regulating emotions
10-43
Authentic Leadership at TNT
TNT, the Netherlands-based
express and mail delivery
services company, relies on
“honesty, authentic leadership,
and truly connecting with staff” to
keep the firm humanized. “What
you can do as a company is
emphasize that authentic
leadership is key and explain
what it entails” says TNT’s head
of human resources.
10-44
Authentic Leadership
Know Yourself
Be Yourself
• Engage in selfreflection
• Develop your own
style
• Feedback from
trusted sources
• Apply your values
• Know your life story
• Maintain a positive
core self-evaluation
10-45
Competency Perspective Limitations
1.
Implies a universal approach
2.
Alternative combinations of competencies
might work just as well
3.
Leadership is relational, not just something
within the person
4.
Competencies refer to leadership potential,
not performance
10-46
Leader Behavior Perspective

Task-oriented behaviors
• Assign work, clarify responsibilities
• Set goals and deadlines, provide feedback
• Establish work procedures, plan future work

People-oriented behaviors
• Concern for employee needs
• Make workplace pleasant
• Recognize employee contributions
• Listen to employees
10-47
Leader Behavior Perspective
Limitations

These categories mask subcategories of
leader behavior that may be distinct

Assumes best leaders display a high level of
both people-oriented and task-oriented styles
• But best style seems to depend on the situation
10-48
Servant Leadership

Leaders serve others toward their need
fulfillment, personal development, and
growth

Described as selfless, egalitarian, humble,
nurturing, empathetic, and ethical coaches

Three main features:
1. Natural calling to serve others
2. Maintain a humble, egalitarian, accepting
relationship
3. Anchor decisions/actions on ethical principles
10-49
Anne Sweeney’s Path-Goal
Leadership




Disney/ ABC executive Anne
Sweeney has an uncanny ability to
provide both task-oriented and
people-oriented leadership.
“There's great resolve and strength
there.”
“Anne draws upon her optimism and
her grace in keeping her focus firmly
on the future.”
“[She] asks the tough questions. . . .
It trains you to anticipate it.”
“She's very concerned about the
people who work for her.”
10-50
Path-Goal Leadership

Effective leaders provide the
information, support, and
other resources, and ensure
that rewards are linked to
good performance

Several employee and
situational contingencies to
determine the best leader
style
10-51
Path-Goal Leadership Styles

Directive
• Provide psychological structure to jobs
• Task-oriented behaviors

Supportive
• Provide psychological support
• People-oriented behaviors

Participative
• Encourage/facilitate employee involvement

Achievement-oriented
• Encourage peak performance through goal setting and
positive self-fulfilling prophecy
10-52
Path-Goal Leadership Model
Employee
Contingencies
Leader
Behaviors
•
•
•
•
Leader
Effectiveness
• Employee
motivation
Directive
Supportive
Participative
Achievementoriented
• Employee
satisfaction
• Acceptance of
leader
Environmental
Contingencies
10-53
Path-Goal Contingencies

Skill and experience
• Low: directive and supportive leadership

Locus of control
• Internal: participative and achievement leadership
• External: directive and supportive leadership

Task structure
• Nonroutine: directive and/or participative leadership

Team dynamics
• Low cohesion: supportive leadership
• Dysfunctional norms: directive leadership
10-54
Other Contingency Leader Theories

Situational Leadership Model
• Four styles: telling, selling, participating, delegating
• Best style depends on follower ability/motivation
• Popular model, but lacks research support

Fiedler’s Contingency Model
• Leadership style is stable -- based on personality
• Best style depends on situational control
• Theory has problems, but uniquely points out that
leaders have a preferred style, not very flexible
10-55
Leadership Substitutes

Contingencies that limit a leader’s influence
or make a particular leadership style
unnecessary
• e.g.: Training and experience replace task-oriented
leadership

Research evidence: substitutes help, but
don’t completely substitute for real leadership
10-56
Transformational, Managerial, and
Transactional Leadership

Transformational leadership
• Change agents – transforming the
organization to fit environment

Managerial leadership
• Improving employee performance
and well-being in the current
situation
• Applies contingency leadership
theories (e.g. path-goal)

Transactional leaders
• Influencing followers through
rewards, penalties, and
negotiation
Courtesy of Microsoft
10-57
Transformational v. Charismatic
Leaders

Some leadership models say charismatic
leadership is essential for transformational
leadership

Emerging view -- charisma differs from
transformational leadership

Charisma is a personal trait that provides
referent power
• Doesn’t necessarily attempt to change the organization

Transformational leadership is a set of behaviors
to bring about change
10-58
Transformational Leadership Model
Build
commitment
to the vision
Develop
a strategic
vision
Elements of
Transformational
Leadership
Model the
vision
Communicate
the vision
10-59
Transformational Leadership
Elements

Create a strategic vision
• Image of company’s attractive
future
• Motivates and bonds employees
• Vision may originate from the leader,
employees, or other stakeholders

Develop
a strategic
vision
Elements of
Transformational
Leadership
Communicate
the vision
Communicate the vision
• Frame message around a grand
purpose
• Shared mental model of the future
• Use symbols, metaphors, symbols
10-60
Transformational Leadership
Elements (con’t)

Model the vision
• Walk the talk
• Symbolize/demonstrate the
vision through behavior
• Employees trust leader more

Build
commitment
to the vision
Develop
a strategic
vision
Elements of
Transformational
Leadership
Model the
vision
Communicate
the vision
Build commitment to the vision
• By communicating and modeling the vision
• Through employee involvement in shaping
the shared vision
10-61
Evaluating Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is important
• Higher employee satisfaction, performance, org
citizenship, creativity

Transformational leadership limitations
• Risk of circular logic
- Some research defines transformational leaders by
their success rather than their behavior
• Universal theory
- Need a contingency-oriented theory
- Need to recognize cultural differences
10-62
Implicit Leadership Perspective
Follower perceptions of characteristics of
effective leaders
1.
Leadership prototypes
• Preconceived beliefs about the features and
behaviors of effective leaders.
2.
Romance of leadership effect
• Amplify effect of leaders on organizational results
• Fundamental attribution error
• Need for situational control
10-63
Leading with Ubuntu Values
Barloworld Logistics CEO Isaac
Shongwe is keen to imprint
Africa’s unique ubuntu value
throughout the company’s
operations in 26 countries.
Ubuntu is the notion of that
each of us is a person through
others. Thus, ubuntu calls for
leadership that emphasizes
mutual respect, tolerance, and
forgiveness.
10-64
Cultural Issues in Leadership

Societal cultural values and
practices affect leaders:
• Shape leader’s values/norms
• Influence decisions and actions
• Shape follower prototype of effective
leaders

Some leadership styles are
universal, others differ across
cultures
• “Charismatic visionary” seems to be
universal
• Participative leadership works better
in some cultures than others
10-65
Gender Issues in Leadership

Male and female leaders have similar taskand people-oriented leadership

Participative leadership style is used more
often by female leaders

Evaluating female leaders
• Still receive negative evaluations as leader due to
prototypes and gender stereotypes
• But evidence that they are good at emerging
leadership styles (coaching, teamwork)
10-66
Week 5 wrap up

Questions?
 Assignments for next week
10-67