Chapter Ten
Power and Politics
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Chapter Ten Outline
Influencing Others
•Nine Generic Influences
•Three Influence Outcomes
•Practical Research Insights
•Strategic Alliances and Reciprocity
Social Power and Empowerment
•Dimensions of Power
•Practical Lessons from Research
•Employee Empowerment
•Making Empowerment Work
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Chapter Ten Outline (cont’d)
Organizational Politics and
Impression Management
• Definition and Domain of Organizational
Politics
• Impression Management
• Keeping Organizational Politics in Check
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Nine Generic Influence Tactics





Rational persuasion. Trying to convince
someone with reason, logic, or facts.
Inspirational appeals. Trying to build
enthusiasm by appealing to others’ emotions, ideals,
or values.
Consultation. Getting others to participate in
planning, making decisions, and changes.
Ingratiation. Getting someone in a good mood
prior to making a request; being friendly, helpful, and
using praise or flattery.
Personal appeals. Referring to friendship and
loyalty when making a request.
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Nine Generic Influence Tactics
(cont’d)

Exchange. Making express or implied promises

Coalition tactics. Getting others to support


and trading favors.
your effort to persuade someone.
Pressure. Demanding compliance or using
intimidation or threats.
Legitimating tactics. Basing a request on
one’s authority or right, organizational rules or
policies, or express or implied support from
superiors.
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Three Influence Outcomes
Commitment
 enthusiastic agreement; initiative and
persistence
Compliance
 grudgingly complies; needs prodding
Resistance
 says ‘no’; makes excuses, stalls, argues
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
How to Turn Coworkers into
Strategic Allies




Mutual respect.
Openness.
Trust.
Mutual benefit.
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Two Types of Social Power
•
Social Power
• Ability to get things done with human,
informational and material resources
•
Socialized Power
• Directed at helping others
•
Personalized Power
• Directed at helping oneself
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Five Bases of Power
•
•
•
Reward power: Promising or granting rewards.
Coercive power: Threats or actual punishment.
Legitimate power: Based on position or formal
authority.
•
Expert power: Sharing of knowledge or
information.
•
Referent power: Power of one’s personality
(charisma).
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Employee Empowerment
Sharing various degrees of power with lowerlevel employees to better serve the customer
Degree of Empowerment
•
Power
Distribution
Influence
Sharing
Power
Sharing
Authoritarian
Power
Domination
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Consultation
Participation
Delegation
Randolph’s Empowerment Model
The Empowerment Plan
Share Information
Create Autonomy
Through Structure
Let Teams Become
The Hierarchy
Remember: Empowerment is not magic;
it consists of a few simple steps and
a lot of persistence.
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Organizational Politics
Organizational politics involves intentional acts
of influence to enhance or protect the self-interest of
individuals or groups.
Political Tactics:








Attacking or blaming others.
Using information as a political tool
Creating a favourable image.
Developing a base of support.
Praising others (ingratiation).
Forming power coalitions with strong allies.
Associating with influential people.
Creating obligations (reciprocity).
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Impression Management
Impression management is the process by
which people attempt to control or manipulate the
reactions of others to images of themselves or
their ideas.
Three categories of impression management
tactics:
1. Job-focused: manipulating information about
one’s performance
2. Supervisor-focused: praising and doing favours
for one’s supervisor
3. Self-focused: presenting oneself as a polite and
nice person
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Levels of Political Action in
Organizations
Distinguishing
Characteristics
Network
Level
Cooperative
pursuit of general
self-interests
Coalition
Level
Individual
Level
Cooperative
pursuit of group
interests in specific
issues
Individual pursuit
of general selfinterests
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Practical Tips for Managing
Organizational Politics




Reduce System Uncertainty
Reduce Competition
Break Existing Political Fiefdoms
Prevent Future Fiefdoms
© 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.