Topic: Power & Politics

By: Kwesi Amponsah-Tawiah, PhD

OBJECTIVES

What is power?
How does one get it?
What does it mean to empower
employees?
How can we be effective at office
politics?

Power and Politics

Power
The capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B
so that B acts in accordance with As wishes
Exists as a potential or fully actualized influence over
a dependent relationship
Dependency
Bs relationship to A when A possesses something that
B requires
The greater B's dependence, the more power A has
Politics
Behaviour to influence or attempt to influence the
distribution of advantages and disadvantages within
the organization.

Leadership and Power

Power
Does not require goal
acceptance

Leadership
Requires goal
agreement

Focuses on intimidation

Maximizes importance of
lateral and upward
influence

Research Focus

Leadership styles and

relationships with
followers

Focuses on downward
influence
Minimizes importance of
lateral and upward
influence
Research Focus

Power tactics for

gaining compliance

Bases of Power: Formal

Power

Established by an individuals position in

an organization
Three bases:

Coercive Power

Reward Power

A power base dependent on fear of negative results

Compliance achieved based on the ability to

distribute rewards that others view as valuable

Legitimate Power

The formal authority to control and use resources

based on a persons
position in the formal hierarchy
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Bases of Power: Personal

Power

Power that comes from an individuals

unique characteristics these are the
most effective

Expert Power

Influence based on special skills or knowledge

Referent Power

Influence based on possession by an

individual of desirable resources or personal
traits
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Evaluating the Bases of

Power

Coercive power: Tends to result in negative

performance responses from individuals, decreases
satisfaction, increases mistrust, and creates fear.
Legitimate power: Does not have a negative effect,
but does not generally stimulate employees to improve
their attitudes or performance, and it does not generally
result in increased commitment.
Reward power: May improve performance in a variety
of situations if the rewards are consistent with what the
individuals want as rewards.
Expert power :Relies on trust that all relevant
information is given out honestly and completely.

Leaders Use of Power

The least effective power bases are the

ones most likely to be used by managers

Coercive, legitimate, and reward

Easiest to implement

Effective leaders use referent and/or

expert power

Dependency: The Key to

Power

The General Dependency Postulate

The greater Bs dependency on A, the greater the

power A has over B

Possession/control of scarce organizational resources

that others need makes a manager powerful

Access to optional resources (e.g., multiple suppliers)

reduces the resource holders power

Dependency increases when resources are:

Important

Scarce

Nonsubstitutable
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Increasing Dependency

To increase the dependency of others on

you, you need to

Control things viewed as important

The resources must be viewed as scarce
The resource must have few or no
substitutes (nonsubstitutability)

Power Tactics

Power Tactics

Ways in which individuals translate power

bases into specific actions
Nine influence tactics:

Legitimacy
Rational persuasion*
Inspirational appeals*
Consultation*
Exchange
Personal appeals
* Most effective
Ingratiation
(Pressure is the least effective)
Pressure
Coalitions

Preferred Power Tactics by

Influence Direction
Upward Influence

Downward Influence

Lateral Influence

Rational persuasion

Rational persuasion

Rational persuasion

Inspirational appeals

Consultation

Pressure

Ingratiation

Consultation

Exchange

Ingratiation

Legitimacy

Exchange

Personal appeals

Legitimacy

Coalitions

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Factors Influencing Power

Tactics

Choice and effectiveness of

influence tactics are moderated by:

Sequencing of tactics

Softer to harder tactics work best

Political skill of the user

The culture of the organization

Culture affects users choice of tactic

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Sexual Harassment: A
Case of Unequal Power

Sexual Harassment:
Any unwanted activity of a sexual nature
that affects an individuals employment and
creates a hostile work environment
Overt actions, like unwanted touching,
are relatively easy to spot
Subtle actions, like jokes or looks, can
cross over the line into harassment
Sexual harassment isnt about sex: it is about
abusing an unequal power relationship
Harassment can damage the well-being of
the individual, work group, and organization

Examples of Sexual
Harassment

Disagreement as to what specifically

constitutes sexual harassment
Includes

Unwanted physical touching

Recurring requests for dates when it is
made clear the person isnt interested
Coercive threats that a person will lose
her or his job if she or he refuses a
sexual proposition

Examples of Sexual
Harassment

More subtle forms (harder to interpret)

Unwanted looks or comments

Off-colour jokes
Sexual artifacts such as nude calendars in
the workplace
Sexual innuendo
Misinterpretations of where the line
between being friendly ends and
harassment begins

Make sure a policy against it is in place.

Ensure that employees will not encounter
retaliation if they file a complaint.
Investigate every complaint and include
Managerial
Actions
Prevent
the
human resource
andto
legal
departments.
Sexual Harassment
Make sure offenders are disciplined or
terminated.
Set up in-house seminars and training.
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Delegation and
Delegation
is the process of entrusting
Empowerment

authority and responsibility to others.

Delegation can go upwards or laterally.
Most delegation is downwards:

It is the authorisation to undertake

activities that would otherwise be
carried out by someone in a more senior
position
Delegation is a social skill

Benefits of delegation

Makes best use of managers time

Means of training and development
Improves strength of the workforce
Encourages development of specialist
knowledge and skills
Provides job satisfaction
Encourages individual participation

Reasons for lack of

delegation
Managers
may fear that the subordinate
is not capable of doing a sufficient job.
Managers may fear being blamed for
subordinates mistakes.
Managers may fear that the subordinate
will do too good a job.
Managers may find it hard to trust
others.

A systematic approach to
delegation
Four questions to ask before delegating:

What tasks could be performed better by

others?
What opportunities are there for learning
and development through delegation?
How and to whom should the
responsibility be given?
What forms of monitoring and control
would be most appropriate?

Main stages in the process of

delegation

The Concept of
Empowerment
Empowerment
is:

Allowing employees greater freedom,

autonomy, and self control over their
work, and responsibility for decision
making.

Todays leaders understand that you have to give

up control to get results. Thats what the talk of
empowerment is about.
Gretton

Empowerment: Giving
Power to Employees

The freedom and the ability of employees to

make decisions and commitments
Managers disagree over definition of
empowerment

Empowerment as delegating decision making

within a set of clear boundaries
versus
Empowerment as a process of risk taking and
personal growth

Conditions for True

Empowerment

Clear definition of the values and

mission of the company
Company must help employees acquire
the relevant skills
Employees need to be supported in their
decision making, and not criticized when
they try to do something extraordinary
Employees need to be recognized for
their efforts

The decision-making process can be

speedier
It releases creative and innovative
capacities
It provides for greater job satisfaction,
motivation and commitment
It enables employees to gain a greater
sense of achievement
It reduces unnecessary layers of
management and the checking of
operations

Characteristics of
Empowered People

Sense of self-determination

Sense of meaning

Employees feel that their work is important to them;

They care about what they are doing

Sense of competence

Employees are free to choose how to do their work; They

are not micromanaged

Employees are confident about their ability to do their

work well; They know they can perform

Sense of impact

Employees people believe they can have influence on

their work unit; Others listen to their ideas

Politics: Power in Action

Political Behavior

Activities that are not required as part of ones

formal role in the organization, but that influence, or
attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages
or disadvantages within the organization

Legitimate Political Behavior

Normal everyday politics - complaining,

bypassing, obstructing

Illegitimate Political Behavior

Extreme political behavior that violates the

implied rules of the game: sabotage, whistleblowing, and symbolic protest

Why Do We Get Politics?

Politics is a natural result of resource scarcity

Limited resources lead to competition and
political behaviors
Judgments on quality differ markedly based on
the observers perception
Blaming others or fixing responsibility
Covering your rear or documenting
decisions
Perfectionist or attentive to detail
Most decisions are made under ambiguous
conditions
Lack of an objective standard encourages
political maneuvering of subjective reality

Factors Influencing
Political Behaviour
Individual factors

High self-monitors
Internal locus of control
High Mach
Organizational investment
Perceived job alternatives
Expectations of success
Political behaviour

Organizational factors

Reallocation of resources
Promotion opportunities
Low trust
Role ambiguity
Unclear performance
evaluation system
Zero-sum reward practices
Democratic decision making
High performance pressures
Self-serving senior managers

Low

High

Favourable outcomes
Rewards
Averted punishments

Employee Responses to
Organizational Politics

Most employees have low to modest

willingness to play politics and have the
following reactions to politics:

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Defensive Behaviors

Employees who perceive politics as a threat have

defensive reactions
May be helpful in the short run, dangerous in
the long run
Types of defensive behaviors
Avoiding Action

Over conforming, buck passing, playing

dumb, stalling
Avoiding Blame

Bluffing, playing safe, justifying,

scapegoating
Avoiding Change

Prevention, self-protection

Impression Management (IM)

Techniques

The process by which individuals attempt to control the

impression others form of them

Conformity

Excuses

Complimenting others about their virtues in an effort to make oneself appear

perceptive and likable.

Favours

Explanation of favorable events to maximize the desirable implications for oneself.

Flattery

Admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and simultaneously seeking to get a

pardon for the action.

Acclamations

Explanations of a predicament-creating event aimed at minimizing the apparent

severity of the predicament.

Apologies

Agreeing with someone elses opinion in order to gain his or her approval.

Doing something nice for someone to gain that persons approval.

Association

Enhancing or protecting ones image by managing information about people and

things with which one is associated.

The Ethics of Behaving

Politically

It is difficulty to tell ethical from

unethical politicking
Three questions help:

What is the utility of engaging in the

behavior?
Does the utility balance out any harm done
by the action?
Does the action conform to standards of
equity and justice?

Answers can be skewed toward either

viewpoint

Global Implications

Politics Perceptions

Preference for Power Tactics

Negative consequences to the perception of

politics seem to be fairly widespread
The choice of effective tactics is heavily
dependent on the culture of the country in
which they are to be used

Effectiveness of Power Tactics

Still open to debate; too little research has

been done

Summary and Implications

Power is a two-way street.

Few employees relish being powerless in their
jobs and organization.
People respond differently to various power
bases.

Employees working under coercive managers are unlikely to

be committed,
and more likely to resist the manager.

Expert power is the most strongly and

consistently related to effective employee
performance.

Summary and Implications

The power of the manager may also

play a role in determining job
satisfaction.
The effective manager accepts the
political nature of organizations.
The more political that employees
perceive an organization, the lower their
satisfaction.

Summary and Managerial

Implications

Increase your power by having others depend

on you more.
Expert and referent power are far more
effective than is coercion.
Greater employee motivation, performance,
commitment, and satisfaction
Personal power basis, not organizational
Effective managers accept the political nature
of organizations.
Political astuteness and IM can result in higher
evaluations, salary increases, and promotions.
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Thank You.
Questions????????