GRA 6820
Political Aspects of
Decision Making
(Harrison, Ch.9)
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
GRA 6820
Strategic Choice
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Overview of chapter 9
• A profile of power
• The managerial decision-making class
• Conceptual foundations of political power
• Profiles of political power in decision-making
• Dimensions of managerial decision-making power
• Constraints on managerial decision-making power
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
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Strategic Choice
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Metaphor analysis
• Management theories provide only a partial view of what
organizations are like.
• Definition: metaphor
– A figure of speech by which a thing is spoken of as
being that which it only resembles.
– The idea of “likeness”, as used in metaphor analysis,
helps to gain insights into difficult to understand
phenomena or issues in terms of things we are
familiar with.
• Types of metaphors used in strategy and organization
–
–
–
–
–
Machine
Organism
Brain
Culture
Politics
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
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Strategic Choice
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Political metaphor
• When applied to problem situations, the
relationships between individuals and groups are
considered as competitive and involving the
pursuit of power.
• Focuses on issues of...
– Interests
– Conflict
– Power
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
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Strategic Choice
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Political metaphor assessment
When is it useful?
When is it not useful?
• Highlights all organizational activity
as interest-based, emphasizes the
important role of power in
determining political outcomes power is at the center of all
organizational analysis.
• Emphasizes that goals may be
rational for some, but not all actors.
• Proposes disintegrative strains and
tensions.
• When explicit recognition of the
politics of the situation leads to
further heightening of tension
and mistrust.
• May over-emphasize the need
to deal with political issues at
the expense of other factors
essential for organizational
health.
• Encourages recognition of the
organizational actor as political for
motivational and structural reasons.
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
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Strategic Choice
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Some definitions…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Power
Power is the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry
out his own will, despite resistance, and regardless of the basis on which this probability
rests. (Weber, 1947).
Power is the ability of persons as groups to impose their will on others despite resistance
through deterrence either in the form of withholding regularly supplied rewards or in the form
of punishment inasmuch as the former, as well as the latter, constitutes in effect negative
sanction. (Blau, 1964).
Power is defined as a force that results in behavior that would not have occurred if the forces
had not been present. (Mechanic, 1962).
A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that he otherwise would
not do. (Dahl, 1957).
[Power is] the ability of one person or group of persons to influence the behavior of others,
that is, to change the probabilities that others will respond in certain ways to certain inputs.
(Kaplan, 1964).
Power is latent force…Power itself is the prior capacity which makes the application of force
possible. (Bierstedt, 1950).
Power we may define as the realistic capacity of a system-unit to actualize its interests within
the context of system-interaction and in this sense exert influence on processes in the
system. (Parsons, 1955).
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
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Strategic Choice
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Social control and social order
• Not simply a function of people conforming to
the demands of others, to divine precepts, to
natural law or to fixed norms of an equilibrial or
homeostatic system.
• Whatever control or disorder that exists at any
time in a society is a function of the interrelations
and interactions of the components of an ongoing system process.
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
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Strategic Choice
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Terminology
• Power
– Inherently coercive (tvingende).
– Implies involuntary submission.
• Influence
– Persuasive (overtalende).
– Implies voluntary submission.
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
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Strategic Choice
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Content dimensions of power:
Authority and influence
• Authority is the static, structural aspect of power in organizations; influence is the
dynamic, tactical element.
• Authority is the formal aspect of power; influence is the informal.
• Authority refers to the formally sanctioned right to make final decisions; influence
is not sanctioned by the organization and is, therefore, not a matter of
organizational rights.
• Authority implies submission by subordinates; influence implies voluntary
submission and does not necessarily entail a superior-subordinate relationship.
• Authority flows downward and is unidirectional; influence is multidirectional and
can flow in any direction.
• The source of authority is solely structural; the source of influence may be
personal characteristics, expertise, or opportunity.
• Authority is circumscribed, that is, the domain, scope and legitimacy of the power
are specifically and clearly delimited; influence is uncircumscribed, that is, its
domain, scope and legitimacy are typically ambiguous.
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
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Strategic Choice
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Theoretical basis of power
• Social exchange theory
– Efficient way to examine social relationships.
– Power is a central aspect of an exchange
approach to social relationships.
– Dependence is what makes exchange an
integral part of any social relationship.
• Economic - Supply and Demand
• Political
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
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Organizational typology
Relationships
Unitary
Pluralist
Coercive
• Share common
interests.
• Basic interest
compatibility.
• Do not share
common interests.
• Compatible values
and beliefs.
• Some divergence of
values and beliefs.
• Values and beliefs
likely to conflict.
• Agreement on ends
and means.
• Not necessarily in
agreement on ends
and means.
• No agreement on
ends and means.
• Participative decision
making.
• Act in accordance
with agreed
objectives.
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
• Participative decision
making.
• Act in accordance
with agreed
objectives.
GRA 6820
Strategic Choice
• Use of coercion and
power.
• No agreement on
objectives.
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Unitary and pluralist views of interests,
conflict and power
Unitary view
Pluralist view
Interests Places emphasis on achievement of
Places emphasis on diversity of individual
and group interests.
The organization is a loose coalition which
has only a remote interest in the formal goals
of the organization.
Conflict Regards conflict as a rare and transient
Regards conflict as an inherent and
permanent charactistic of organizational
affairs and stresses its potentially positive or
functional aspects.
common objectives.
Organization is united under the umbrella of
common goals, working towards their
achievement as a well-integrated team.
phenomenon which can be removed through
appropriate managerial action. When it
arises, it is usually attributed to the activities
of deviants and trouble makers.
Power Largely ignores the role of power in
organizational life.
Concepts such as authority, leadership and
control tend to be the preferred means of
describing managerial prerogative of guiding
the organization towards the common goal.
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
GRA 6820
Strategic Choice
Regards power as a variable that is crucial to
understanding organizational activities.
Power is the medium through which conflicts
of interest are eased and resolved.
The organization is a plurality of power
holders drawing their power from a plurality
of sources.
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Theoretical perspectives
• Rationalists
• Satisficers
• Organizationalists
• Politicians
• Individualists
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School of Thought:
The Rationalists
• Main elements...
– The individual is confronted with a number of different
specified alternatives.
– Each alternative is associated with a set of
consequences that will result if that alternative is
chosen.
– The individual has a system of preferences of utilities.
• No descriptive support for this conception of decision
making.
• The rational choice concept defines the logic of optimal
choice.
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
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School of Thought:
The Satisficers
• Main elements...
– We generally do not have a choice between
satisfactory and optimal solutions.
– We are limited in our ability to generate and compare
all possible alternatives.
– The best alternative cannot be recognized.
– We “satisfice” by looking for alternatives in such a
way that we generally find an acceptable one after a
moderate search effort.
• Most problem solving strategies are based on heuristics.
• Heuristics reflect “bounded rationality.”
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
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Strategic Choice
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School of Thought:
The Organizationalists
• Main elements...
– Considers the effect of organizational structure and
conventional practice.
– The organization is made up of coalitions with
separate priorities, goals and focus of attention.
– Decision making necessarily involves bargaining
among these coalitions.
– Large scale problems are factored into sub-problems.
• System designers must identify the sub-units and their
standard behavior patterns.
• Specialization is generally more efficient for a given
problem, but may impede integrating, changing or
evolving the organization.GRA 6820
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
Strategic Choice
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School of Thought:
The Politicians
• Main elements...
– The entire decision process is pluralistic.
– Decision makers are multiple actors with no
consistent set of strategic objectives.
– Power, advocacy and consensus are legitimate
and important aspects of decision making.
• This view stresses the importance of the
implementation process - the issue is not so much
design as how to introduce, position and use the
system.
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
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Strategic Choice
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School of Thought:
The Individualists
• Main elements...
– People have specialized styles of decision
making.
– Outcomes of the decision process are affected by
these individual characteristics.
– Any analytic aid proposed for a decision maker
must be consistent with the individual’s decision
making style.
• The decision making process must “mesh” with the
cognitive structures of the individual.
• This perspective suggests that decision makers be
looked at as they are, not as they should be.
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
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Strategic Choice
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Strategic decision making theories
Model I:
Rational choice and cognitive
processes
Model II: Organizational processes
Model III: Political processes
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
GRA 6820
Strategic Choice
Categories of normative prescription
Model
Model I:
Rational
choice and
cognitive
processes
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
Goal
Sources of normative
prescriptions
• BCG Matrix
Improve problem
• Market Life Cycles
comprehension by
• Industry analysis
providing frameworks
• Multiple scenarios
Improve problem
• Decision analysis
comprehension by
• Influence diagrams
clarifying decision
makers’ own frameworks • Cognitive mapping
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Strategic Choice
Categories of normative prescriptions
Model
Sources of normative
prescriptions
Goal
Increase the quality of
Model II:
Organizational scanning and
processes
formulation processes
• Formal planning
systems
• Regular, Irregular, and
Continuous Scanning
• Structural perceptions
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
GRA 6820
Strategic Choice
Categories of normative prescriptions
Model
Model III:
Political
processes
Goal
Improve stakeholder •
representation and
•
management
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
Sources of normative
prescriptions
Dependence Reduction/
Autonomy Strategies
Stakeholder Management
Strategic Assumptions Analysis
Integrating social responsibility
into planning
Logical Incrementalism
Social Response Matrix
Intensity Diffusion/
Convergence Analysis
Cultural Risk Management
GRA 6820
Strategic Choice
Combining multiple perspectives via
structured conflict and the Devil’s Advocate
Facilitator’s
intervention
Assigns to groups
Assists in development
P1
P2
P3
P4
P5
Model I
views
Preliminary development,
debate and consensus
Model II
views
Development, debate
and consensus
Model III
views
Development, debate
and consensus
Discussion and
debate of
different views
Final
synthesis
P6
P = Individual perspective on a
particular strategic problem.
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
GRA 6820
Strategic Choice
Consensus and
commitment
building
Integrating the three perspectives
Cognitive
perspective
Organizational
perspective
Political
perspective
Existing or anticipated
problem, opportunity,
or crisis
External
influences
Interpretations
Internal political
structure
Analogy
Cognitive
biases
Strategic
assumptions
and cognitive
frames
The Political Aspects of Decision-Making
Individual strategic and
structural dimensions
Combination
or synthesis
Strategic
change
GRA 6820
Strategic Choice
Existing systems
and structures
Political
maneuvering