The Political Frame
Moliere’s The Misanthrope
It is hard to dislike politics without also
disliking people. Like it or not, political
dynamics are inevitable under conditions
most managers face every day:
Ambiguity
Diversity
Scarcity
Five Propositions:
Organizations are coalitions of various individuals
and interest groups.
Enduring differences among coalition members in
values, beliefs, information, interests, and
perceptions of reality.
Scarce resources & enduring differences give
conflict a central role & make power the most
important resource.
Goals & decisions emerge from bargaining,
negotiation, & jockeying for position.
Concept of Power
Power - the ability to influence another person
Influence - the process of affecting the thoughts,
behavior, & feelings of another person
Authority - the right to influence another person
Sources of Organizational Power:
Interpersonal
Reward Power - agent’s ability to control the rewards that
the target wants
Coercive Power - agent’s ability to cause an unpleasant
experience for a target
Legitimate Power - agent and target agree that agent has
influential rights, based on position and mutual
agreement
Referent Power-based on interpersonal attraction
Expert Power - agent has knowledge target needs
Using Power Ethically
Does the behavior produce a
good outcome for people both
inside and outside the
organization?
Does the behavior respect the
rights of all parties?
Does the behavior treat all
parties equitably and fairly?
Successful Power Users
Have high need for social power; low need
for affiliation
Have these power-oriented characteristics
belief in the
authority system
preference for
work & discipline
belief in justice
altruism
Sources of Organizational Power:
Intergroup
Control of critical resources
Control of strategic contingencies - activities that
other groups need to complete their tasks
Ways groups hold power over other groups
Ability to reduce uncertainty
High centrality - functionality central to
organization’s success
Nonsubstitutability - group’s activities are difficult to
replace
Influence Tactics
Consultation
Rational persuasion
Inspirational appeals
Ingratiation
Upward appeals
Coalition tactics
Exchange tactics
Pressure
Upward Influence
the boss
Lateral Influence
a coworker
Downward Influence
an employee
Managing Political Behavior
Maintain open communication
Clarify performance expectations
Use participative management
Encourage cooperation among work groups
Manage scarce resources well
Provide a supportive organizational climate
Managing Up: The Boss
Make sure you understand your boss and his/her
context including

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

Goals and objectives
Pressures
Strengths, weaknesses, blind spots
Preferred work style
Managing Up: The Boss
Assess yourself and your needs, including

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Strengths, weaknesses, & blind spots
Personal style
Relation to authority figures
Using Power Effectively
 Use power in ethical ways
 Understand and use all of the various types of
power and influence
 Seek out jobs that allow you to develop your
power skills
 Use power tempered by maturity and self-control
 Accept that influencing people is an important
part of the management job
Nature of Organizational Conflict
Conflict - any situation in which incompatible goals,
attitudes, emotions, or behaviors lead to disagreement or
opposition between two or more parties
Functional conflict - a healthy, constructive disagreement
between two or more people
Dysfunctional conflict - an unhealthy, destructive
disagreement between two or more people
Conflict
 Substantive and Emotional Conflict
substantive conflict: conflict that occurs in the form of
a fundamental disagreement over ends or goals to be
pursued and the means for their accomplishment
Emotional Conflict: conflict that involves interpersonal
difficulties that arise over feeling of anger, mistrust,
dislike, fear, resentment, and the like
Conflict Intensity
Overt efforts to destroy other party.
Aggressive physical attacks.
Threats and ultimatums.
Overt questioning or challenging of
others.
Minor disagreements or
misunderstandings.
Relationship between
Substantive Conflict and Effectiveness
High
moderate levels of conflict
are constructive
Performance
too little or too much
conflict is destructive
Low
Low
High
Intensity of Conflict
Conflict Management Approaches
Indirect Conflict Management Approaches
 appeal to common goals
 hierarchical referral
 organizational redesign
 scripts and myths
 Direct Conflict Management Approaches
 win-lose conflict
 win-win conflict
 lose-lose conflict (avoidance, accommodation/smoothing,
compromise)
Consequences of Conflict
Positive
Consequences
Leads to new ideas
Negative
Consequences
Diverts energy from work
Stimulates creativity
Threatens psychological
well-being
Wastes resources
Motivates change
Promotes organizational
vitality
Helps individuals & groups
establish identities
Serves as a safety valve to
indicate problems
Creates a negative climate
Breaks down group
cohesion
Can increase hostility &
aggressive behaviors
Causes of Conflict
in Organizations
Structural Factors
• Specialization
• Interdependence
• Common resources
• Goal differences
• Authority relationships
• Status inconsistencies
• Jurisdictional ambiguities
Personal Factors
• Skills & abilities
• Personalities
• Perceptions
• Values & ethics
• Emotions
• Communication barriers
• Cultural differences
Forms of Conflict
in Organizations
Interorganizational conflict - conflict that
occurs between two or more organizations
Intergroup conflict - conflict that occurs
between groups or teams in an organization
Interpersonal conflict - conflict that occurs
between two or more individuals
Forms of Conflict
in Organizations
Intrapersonal conflict - conflict that occurs
within an individual
Interrole conflict - a person’s experience of
conflict among the multiple roles in his/her
life
Forms of Conflict
in Organizations
Intrarole conflict - conflict that occurs within
a single role, such as when a person
receives conflicting messages from role
senders about how to perform a certain role
Person-role conflict - conflict that occurs
when an individual is expected to perform
behaviors in a certain role that conflict with
his/her personal values
Defense Mechanisms
Aggressive Mechanisms.
Fixation - an aggressive mechanism in which an
individual keeps up a dysfunctional behavior that
obviously will not solve the conflict.
Displacement - An aggressive mechanism in which
an individual directs his/her anger toward
someone who is not the source of the conflict.
Negativism - an aggressive mechanism in which a
person responds with pessimism to any attempt at
solving a problem.
Defense Mechanisms
Compromise Mechanisms
Compensation - a compromise mechanism in which
an individual attempts to make up for a negative
situation by devoting himself/herself to another
pursuit with increased vigor
Identification - a compromise mechanism whereby
an individual patterns his or her behavior after
another’s
Rationalization - a compromise mechanism
characterized by trying to justify one’s behavior
by constructing bogus reasons for it
Defense Mechanisms
Withdrawal Mechanisms
Flight/withdrawal - a withdrawal mechanism that
entails physically escaping a conflict (flight) or
psychologically escaping (withdrawal)
Conversion - a withdrawal mechanism in which
emotional conflicts are expressed in physical
symptoms
Fantasy - a withdrawal mechanism that provides an
escape from a conflict through daydreaming
Managing Intrapersonal Conflict
Person-role conflicts
Find out as much
as you can about
the company’s
values
Intrarole or interrole
conflicts
Ask role
senders what
they expect
of you
Win-Lose versus Win-Win
Strategies
Strategy
Competitive
Cooperative
Dept. A Dept. B Organization
Lose
Lose
Win
Win-
Lose
Win
Lose
Win-
Lose
Lose
Lose
Win
Ineffective Techniques for
Dealing with Conflict
Nonaction - doing nothing in hopes that a conflict
will disappear
Secrecy - attempting to hide a conflict or an issue
that has the potential to create conflict
Administrative orbiting - delaying action on a
conflict by buying time
Due process nonaction - a procedure set up to
address conflicts that is so costly, time-consuming,
or personally risky that no one will use it
Character assassination - an attempt to label or
discredit an opponent
Effective Techniques for
Dealing with Conflict
Subordinate Goals
Confronting
&
Negotiating
Changing
Structure
X
Conflict
Expanding
Resources
Changing
Personnel
Assertive
Collaborating
Competing
Compromising
Unassertive
Assertiveness
Dimensions of Conflict-Handling
Intentions
Avoiding
Accommodating
Uncooperative
Cooperative
Cooperativeness
Conflict Management Styles
Avoiding - deliberate decision to take no action on a
conflict or to stay out of a conflict
Accommodating - concern that the other party’s
goals be met but relatively unconcerned with
getting own way
Competing - satisfying own interests; willing to do
so at other party’s expense
Compromising - each party gives up something to
reach a solution
Collaborating - arriving at a solution agreeable to all
through open & thorough discussion
Avoidance Is Appropriate When...
You have no chance of satisfying
your concerns
let people cool down
Accommodation Is Appropriate When ...
You realize you are wrong
Issue is much more important to
other party
To build up credit for later
negotiations
To preserve harmony
Competition Is Appropriate When...
No long term relationship
To protect yourself against untrustworthy
parties
Unpopular courses of action need
implementation
Issues are vital to your welfare
Collaboration Is Appropriate When ...
Both parties’ concerns are too important to
be compromised
To gain commitment
Time is not an issue
Compromising Is Appropriate When ...
Goals are less important to you than collaboration
Mutually exclusive goals
To achieve temporary settlements
Under intense time pressure
Summary and Implications for
Managers
Conflict can be either constructive or
destructive to the functioning of a group.
An optimal level of conflict:
prevents stagnation.
stimulates creativity.
releases tension.
and initiates the seeds for change.
Summary and Implications for
Managers
Inadequate or excessive levels of conflict can
hinder group effectiveness.
Don’t assume there's one conflict-handling
intention that is always best.
Use competition when quick, decisive action is vital.
Use collaboration to find an integrative solution.
Use avoidance when an issue is trivial.
Use accommodation when you find you’re wrong.
Use compromise when goals are important.
Skills of the Manager as
Politician
Agenda Setting
Mapping the Political Terrain
Networking & Building Coalitions
Negotiation
Negotiation - a joint process of finding a mutually
acceptable solution to a complex conflict
Useful under these conditions
Two or more parties
Conflict of interest between the parties
Parties are willing to negotiate
Parties prefer to work together rather than to fight
openly, give in, break off contact, or take the dispute to
a higher authority
Negotiation
An exchange relationship between two parties
where it is determined what will be exchanged and
the rate of exchange.
NET OUTCOMES: Benefits minus costs
(hassles, stress and what you have to give up).
ASPIRATIONS: What each party reasonable
expects to get out of the negotiation.
BEST ALTERNATIVE TO A NEGOTIATED
AGREEMENT (BATNA): If you walked away
from the negotiation, the worst that could happen
to you.
The Negotiation Process
 __
Seller’s BATNA
 __
Seller’s Net Outcomes
 __
Seller’s Comparison Level (Aspiration)
 __
Buyer’s Net Outcomes
 __
Buyer’s Comparison Level (Aspiration)
 __
Buyer’s BATNA
Seller
Aspiration: To make a sale of $1.50 per
unit
Comparison Level: She can sell to another
client for $1.00 per unit
Buyer
Aspiration: To pay $.80 per unit
BATNA:She can buy them from another
seller at $1.60 per unit.
The Negotiation Process
 __
Buyer’s BATNA ($1.60)
 __
Seller’s Net Outcomes
 __
Seller’s Comparison Level/Aspiration ($1.50)
 __
Buyer’s Net Outcomes
 __
Buyer’s Comparison Level/Aspiration ($.80)
 __
Seller’s BATNA ($1.00)
Will we Negotiate?
The bargaining range will fall between the
salesperson’s and the purchaser’s limits. In
this case there is overlap. If there is no
overlap, then the negotiation will not be
successfully concluded.
How do you know when you start if there is
any overlap?
Agreement
Where our net outcomes meet.
BATNA: Affects comparison level, limits.
Distributive Bargaining
Fixed Pie Mentality
We normally frame as Distributive, leads to
bargaining over issues.
We like to cut to the chase
We like to ignore the interpersonal
Maximizing Joint Outcomes
Instead of bargaining over each individual
issue, try to bargain in ‘packages’
Each issue does not carry the same level of
importance to all
Give concessions of things that are not
important to you, but are important to the
other
Joint Outcomes
We almost never get maximized joint
outcomes by bargaining sequentially (now
this issue, now that issue)
It’s hard to calculate the importance of
issues for ourselves, and others
When we view the ‘other’ as the ‘opponent’
all of a sudden every issue seems important
So, we are not honest about our issues
Linking Issues
Find ways to link issues (what’s important
to me with what’s not important to me but
IS important to the opponent)
Is the Process Complex?
People tend to see negotiation as complex,
and see it as undefined CHAOS
We try to package simply
Or tend to separate each issue
The Best Way to Negotiate
Cognitively figure out packages (Planning)
Come up with 4-5 items that I give that the
other wants
And where the other gives that I want
Get some momentum by getting some up
front agreements
Try not to maximize EACH ISSUE but
maximize the ENTIRE PACKAGE
Planning
Yes, negotiation requires planning and
patience
Know issues to keep in mind
Know the levels of each issue
Know the value of each issue
Get the other guy to agree on issues (find a
way of thinking about same issues)
Reactance
The other guy knows you are trying to
move him/her and may balk
How about reciprocity?
Do’s and Don’ts
Do develop more than 1 alternative, actually
enough so you are ambivalent to current
alternative
Do negotiate over as little as possible
Don’t negotiate with friends
2 Negotiating Approaches
Integrative Negotiation
focuses on the merits
of the issues & seeks
a win-win solution
Distributive Bargaining the goals of the parties
are in conflict,
& each party seeks
to maximize its resources
What Makes Integrative Negotiation
Different?
A focus on Commonalities (Frames)
An attempt to address needs and interests (Covey)
Commitment to meeting the needs of all parties
Exchange of information and ideas
Invention of options for mutual gain
Objective criteria for standards of performance
Issues in Negotiation
Personality Traits
Gender Differences
Cultural Differences
Third-Party Negotiations
Mediators
Arbitrators
Conciliators
Consultants
What is Ethical? (Lax &
Sebenius, 1986)
Are you following rules that are understood
and accepted?
Are you comfortable discussing and
defending your action?
Would you want someone to do it to you?
What if everyone acted that way?
Are there alternatives that rest on firmer
ethical ground?
Organizations as Arenas
Arenas house contests
As such, the help determine
What game will be played
Who will be on the field
What interests will be pursued
What is often ignored
Lowerarchy
Groups in lower positions devise a host of
creative and maddening ways to resist, divert,
undermine, ignore, or overthrow change efforts.
Organizations As Political Agents
Organizations are tools for achieving the
purposes of those who control them.
They exist, compete, and coevolve in
business or political ecosystems.
Relationships are fiercely competitive,
sometimes collaborative and
interdependent.