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What do Donald Trump,
Gwyneth Paltrow, and Dr.
Phil have in common?
Organizational politics is about who you know rather than what you know. Whether
playing politics is a good idea or a bad idea depends on whom you ask.
Many companies strive to be meritocracies, in which the brightest and hardest
working people advance based on their merits. Although these companies may not
fully succeed, their belief that fair treatment is what motivates most employees
keeps them working hard to reduce influences such as nepotism and favoritism. For
example, when a position opens up, they make sure to inform all possible candidates and make the selection process impartial.
Other companies are quite open about playing favorites. Nowhere is this more
true than in family-owned businesses. The real Trump apprentices are his three children Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, all of whom plan to enter the Trump companies.
Getting an MBA is a Trump family tradition, and, The Donald reasons, why start all over again when they can build on a base that
already exists? Trump points out that nepotism, whether among
friends or families, is the way the world works. “The fact is,” he
says, “I love my children and I hope they do a real good job.”1
So what do Donald Trump, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Dr. Phil have
in common? Trump’s children will enter his business. Paltrow is the
daughter of the Hollywood actor Blythe Danner and her husband
director Bruce Paltrow. And Dr. Phil’s son Jay McGraw is following
in his father’s footsteps as a talk show host. Are these offspring
innately talented, or do they simply know how to use the power of
family connections? Or both? How will their presence influence
others who work in their companies?
The influence of nepotism is just one example of how power
works in organizations. In this chapter you will learn about organizational power and influence—including how to acquire them
in today’s organizations.
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PART 1 • INDIVIDUALS AND RELATIONSHIPS
Apply What You Have Learned. . .
World Class Company: The Mayo Clinic
Some organizations take communication very seriously.
The Mayo Clinic is one such place.118 One of the best
known academic medical centers in the world, with sites in
Minnesota, Florida, and Arizona, every year Mayo Clinic
serves more than half a million patients from 150 countries.
As part of numerous efforts designed to ensure these
patients have a positive experience, the organization
employs a full time communications (“comm”) team. As
spokesperson Amy Davis puts it, “Mayo Clinic employees
create our brand every day in every interaction they have
with every patient. It’s not only the physicians, nurses, and
therapists, but also the housekeepers, parking attendants,
and every other Mayo employee who interacts with patients
or supports those that do.”119
A primary principle of the comm team is to get “the
right information to the right people the right way.”120
What exactly does the comm team do? Here are some
examples.
Every year it reviews in depth three sets of data
about its more than 38,000 U.S. employees—the
employee satisfaction survey, survey results from
the Fortune 100’s Best Places to Work survey (it
often makes the list), and employee demographic
data. It does this in order to fully understand its
employees and face down stereotypes about them.
It networks with employees to find out about their
concerns. Each member of the comm team picks 10
employees whom they know informally and sends
them e-mails once or twice a month, which they can
respond to if they feel they are not too busy. The emails ask such questions as “What one question
would you like to ask our CEO?” and “What do you
think of May’s participation in healthcare reform?”
It creates personal communication plans for Mayo’s
top managers. These plans include key messages and
tactics. A writer is assigned to each CEO or CAO (chief
administrative officer) and works with them regularly
to collaborate on creating messages for employees.
The comm team hired a storytelling consultant to
help top managers develop and use their own stories
in their communications.
The comm team develops its own processes as a
team, constantly challenging its members to bring
problems and challenges rather than updates and
reports to group meetings. It also works hard to
help members utilize their unique strengths. “That
means making sure your best crisis communicator
isn’t overwhelmed with deadline-driven projects
and that your creative ‘think outside the box’ communicator isn’t drooping from constant operational writing projects. It means making sure you
are giving people the kinds of projects that motivate them to do their best.”121
Discuss
1. Which particular one-to-one relationships does
Mayo focus on?
2. What communication principles does the motto “get
the right information to the right people the right
way” suggest?
3. What else do you think a communication team
might do for a company?
Advice from the Pros
Etiquette for Electronic Communication
Respect the Receiver
When you call or e-mail someone, identify yourself clearly.
“Hi, this is Ralph Oliva from Great University. I am trying
to reach Ms. Johnson.” Sign your e-mails and PowerPoint
presentations with the source of the communication and
how to get back to that source.
Match the Medium to the Message
When conveying good news, it may be OK to use an impersonal medium. But when conveying bad news use voice-tovoice or face-to-face communication.
When you need a lengthy, complex, detailed answer,
send your message several ways, such as with an e-mail, a
PowerPoint attachment, and a phone call.
Avoid Angry E-mail
Respect the dignity of the person you are angry with and
deliver the message personally, especially if this will
improve your business relationship. Remember that an
angry e-mail lives on in cyberspace forever, and may be a
problem when it is discovered later.
Avoid Spam-Nation
Deliver value in every communication. If you are selling something, package it in a communication that conveys real value.
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PART 3 • THE ORGANIZATION
Apply What You Have Learned. . .
World Class Leader: John Tu, Kingston Technology Company
Part I.
Discuss
What makes a leader authentic? Read back over the chapter
section on authenticity and list the characteristics of authentic leaders.
Part II.
Watch the film Kingston Technology (Prentice Hall video).
1. What is it about Tu that suggests authenticity?
2. Discuss John Tu’s leadership in light of Parker
Palmer’s idea (quoted in the chapter) that “A
leader is a person who has an unusual degree of
power to project on other people his or her shadow,
or his or her light. A leader is a person who has an
unusual degree of power to create the conditions
under which other people must live and move and
have their being—conditions that can either be as
illuminating as heaven or as shadowy as hell.”
Advice from the Pros
How to Interview Executives for Integrity
Can a manager really interview a top job candidate for
integrity? The answer is yes.
In an article for Across the Board, a magazine directed at
top-level management, consultant William C. Byham describes
the process.103 He points out that, as the manager-interviewer, it
is best to save questions about ethics until late in an interview,
after you have developed rapport with the candidate. He counsels that if a candidate answers one of your questions with a recommendation that you think is actually unethical, be empathetic rather than judgmental. Reflect his or her thinking back to
the candidate (“So, you felt you had no reason to rethink the
sales call”). Use the opportunity to keep the candidate talking,
while listening more deeply to what he or she is saying.
Byham suggests interviewers pose at most two or three
ethics questions to candidates. Here are some examples of
such questions:
1. We are often confronted with the dilemma of having to
choose between what is right and what is best for the company. Give at least two examples of situations in which you
faced this dilemma and how you handled them.
2. Have you ever observed someone stretching the
rules at work? What did you do about it?
3. Have you ever felt guilty about receiving credit for
work that was mostly completed by others? If so,
how did you handle it?
Individually. . .
For each question, write down what you think would be a
good answer. Do not share these with your teammates.
In teams of three persons. . .
1. For each question, discuss what types of answers
are good ones and, based on your discussion, list
three criteria for good answers.
2. For each question, discuss what types of answers
are questionable ones and list three criteria for
deciding which types are questionable.
Evaluate your answers
Did you answer with integrity or not? Your professor may
ask you to write a short paper evaluating your answers.
Gain Experience
Three Discipline Dilemmas
In this exercise, students roleplay three increasingly challenging levels for giving negative feedback to an employee.
Divide the class into groups of three. In each group, assign
the following roles:
Manager
Employee
Observer
After each roleplay, switch roles so that each person has a
chance to give negative feedback.
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Project 2 Company Design Analysis: An Integrative Project for
Teams
Prerequisite
Students must have access to a company that someone
in their group knows fairly well, or can readily learn
about. Typically, either the student or someone he or
she knows has worked there, or the student has access
through personal connections. The kind of information
required for the presentation is not typically available
on the Internet or even in books.
Presentation Assignment
Analyze the organizational design of a company someone
in your group knows well. Present your analysis to the class
assuming you are presenting to the board of directors of the
company. After your presentation, students in the class will
also ask you questions about your analysis.
Consult the evaluation form below for details of how
your presentation will be evaluated by the professor.
Instructions for the content of your presentation:
1. Using the model of organizational design from
Chapter 15, present your company’s current design. Present the design part by part, from constraints through
design variables. (See Chapter 15, Table 3.)
Use course concepts as much as you can. That is,
throughout your presentation, use the material from our
lecture notes and readings to deepen your analysis. Be sure
to include lots of company-specific examples that indicate
your company’s actual design.
Also, include an organizational chart under the “structure” section (a hand drawing is okay), telling what type of
structure the company has.
2. Analyze the company’s design fit: currently, how
well do the company’s design variables fit the company’s
design constraints? What strengths and weaknesses does
this fit, or lack thereof, suggest?
3. Given what you can predict about likely changes in
the organization’s constraints, describe how the design of
this organization should be altered, or not, in the short term
(1 to 2 years).
4. Given what you can predict about likely changes in
the organization’s constraints, describe how the design of
this organization should be altered, or not, in the long term
(3 to 10 years).
You should strive to make your presentation:
Well-organized
Interesting to the class
You must hand your slides to the professor at the
beginning of your presentation.
Your presentation must be 15 to 16 minutes long, not
including questions.
All students must present. A question-and-answer
period will follow each presentation. Your group members
should be prepared to ask pertinent questions, as though
they were members of the board.
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PROJECT 2
Company Design Presentations Evaluation Form
Group number: ____________________ Company: _______________
Start time: _________
End time: _________
Criteria: The group uses these concepts correctly and thoroughly, or answers the questions well, and uses specific examples to support
their analysis.
Scale: 0 = omitted, 1 = to a very little extent, 3 = to some extent, 4 = to a great extent, 5 = to a very great extent
Concepts and Questions
Design Constraints
Environment (external)
People
Core work of the company (“technology”)
Design Variables
Decision making
Structure (include an organizational chart, and name the
type of structure)
Control and motivation
Work design
Organizational culture
Fit
Does the company’s current design fit its constraints? What
strengths and weaknesses do you detect in the fit?
Will the company’s design continue to fit its constraints in
the short term (1 to 2 years)?
Will the company’s design continue to fit its constraints in
the long term (3 to 10 years)?
Presentation Overall
The presentation content is well organized. (Topics are presented in order, etc.)
The team is well organized. (The slides are given to the professor in advance. Members are on time and prepared. A
unified team culture is apparent.)
The group made the presentation interesting to the class (for
example, by using graphics, site visit report, handouts, or
other engaging supplementary material).
Total Points
Letter Grade
Points
Comments