 According
to Kurt Lewin “ The possibility of
inducing forces of a certain magnitude on
other persons”.
 Power is to be treated as a capacity that A
has to influence the behaviour of B, so that B
does something which he or she would not
otherwise do.
 Characteristics 1. Dependency Relationship
 2. Specific in nature
 3. Reciprocal relationships
 4. Power is elastic
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A. Inter Personal Sources1. Reward Power- In organizational contexts the different
forms of rewards can be better pay, promotions, favorable
performance appraisal, preferred work shifts etc.
2. Coercive Power- The opposite of reward power is coercive
power; which is the ability to influence punishment.
3. Expert Power- It is more of a personal power rather than the
organizational power. If the subordinates view their leaders as
competent, they would follow their leader.
4. Legitimate Power- This power is also known as positional
power because of authority inherent in the position. Legitimate
power include coercive and reward powers, though these
powers are broader than the power to coerce and reward.
5. Referent Power- This power is known as charismatic power
and is based upon the attraction exerted by one individual
over another. This power is more of a personal nature than the
positional nature because this power is not acquired because
of position but because of personal charisma so that followers
would like to associate themselves with the leaders.
 B. structural
Sources of Power 1. Knowledge- The individuals or groups
who posses critical knowledge are
assumed to be very powerful people in the
organization.
 2. Resources- Any person who can
provide resources that are critical in the
organization acquire such power.
 3. Decision Making- Another source of
power is the authority to make decisions
and/or the ability to influence the decision
makers.
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1. Distribution of PowerThe higher the level of a person, the greater is the amount of his power.
Those in power try to grab more of it. They strongly resist any attempt to
weaken the power they yield.
2. DependencyPower largely depends upon dependency relationship. The greater the
power A depends on B, the greater power of B on A
A person who cannot be easily displaced enjoys more power than others
whose services can be easily replaced.
3. UncertaintyThe more the contingencies controlled by a unit , more is the power
exercised by it.
People who can absorb uncertainty yield more power.
4. Compliance- Rewards & coercive powers are generally used by
managers as tools for compliance.
5. Determinants of Power- most important classification of power has
been given by Raven & French who have suggested 5 types of powerreward , coercive, legitimate, referent and expert.
6. Consequences of Power- most powerful people would usually be on
the winning side of a vote.
7. Trappings- Every higher office has more power as compared to a lower
office
8 Reputation- Power of an individual can also be assessed by his
reputation in the organization as perceived by others
“Politics in an organization refer to those
activities that are not regarded as part of one’s
formal role in the organization, but that influence
or attempts to influence the distribution of
advantages and disadvantages within the
organization”
 The political behaviour includes activities such
as 1. Withholding key information from decision
makers
 2. spreading rumors
 3. Leaking confidential information about
organizational activities
 4. Exchange favours for mutual benefits
 5. Ingenious compromises
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Organizational Politics involves the use of some kind
of authority, power or pressure over other person or
groups.
 Basically, political behaviour is self serving in nature.
Attempts are made to use organizational resources
for personal benefits or to give some benefits to
others.
 Political behaviour is outside one’s specified job
requirements. It involves getting things
accomplished that are not formally recognized
practices or procedures.
 Political decisions may not be rational from the
organizational point of view . They are usually made
to acquire more power.
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1. Scarcity of resources- Any person or unit, who has control over
allocation of scarce resources yields power.
2. Non- Programmed Decisions- involves unique problems which
cannot be solved by known and structured methods and
procedures
3. Technology & External environment- the more complex the
internal technology of the org, the more politics there will be.
Similarly politics will be more if external environmental is highly
volatile.
4. Organizational Change- Whenever there are changes in the
organizational structure or rearrangement of organizational
policies, people in the powerful positions have the opportunity to
play political games.
5. Saturation in career- To rise in one’s career, a person needs
competence. But when person does not have the requisite
competence, he cannot rise above a certain level, in such case he
may resort to political behaviour to move up in the organizational
hierarchy.
6. Organizational Culture- characterized by low trust, role
ambiguity, inequitable performance evaluation systems, reward
systems
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Self Interest- Political behaviour is generally motivated and
guided by self interest. For eg, if personnel manager manipulates
the selection process , to point somebody who is not competent
enough, the impact on the organization will be dysfunctional. But if
an individual behaves in a way that is compatible with the
organizational goals, to promote his self interest, such behaviour is
functional.
Dysfunctional aspects of Power Politics on employees- Power
politics may weaken morale, demotivate the employees, attacks &
counterattacks instead of concentrating on task accomplishments.
Organizational Conflicts- Org. politics may generate org.
conflicts due to which organizational time , efforts and energy may
be wasted.
Effect on Managers- Managers who engage in more political
activity are relatively more successful in terms of promotion but
also relatively less effective in terms of subordinate satisfaction
and commitment and the performance of their unit.
Inequitable Distribution of Power- Some individuals may be able
to acquire a major portion of the organizational power, because of
organizational politics.
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Ethical & Positive Role Model- Top Mgmt should provide a
positive and ethical role model themselves. They should
make it clear to subordinates that such political games will
not be accepted .
Open & Honest Communication-A person becomes
politically powerful if he controls the confidential
information. If the communication system in the organization
is open and honest, political behaviour can be constrained.
Elimination or Reduction of Uncertainty- If the overall
objectives of the organization and the individual goals are
ambiguous and changes are not made known to the people ,
then there will be more politics in the org.
Study the Political Behaviour- Mgmt can minimize the
effects of political behaviour by being aware of the causes
and techniques of such behaviour.