Power And Politics

The Success of high performing companies and organizations results as much from what happens behind the scenes as from leaders’ more visible actions.
Premise…

POWER AND POLITICS

What is power?

Power is…
The capacity of team, person or an organization to influence others.
The potential to influence others.
It requires one person’s perception of dependence on other.

Influenceablity of power…
Dependency.
Age.
Gender.
Personality.
Culture.

Dependency - the key to power
Importance.
Scarcity.
Non substitutability.

Power and Dependence
Person
A
Person B’s counterpower over Person A
Person
B’s Goals
Person A’s power over Person B
Person
B

Bases of power in organization.
1.Formal (positional).
2.Informal (personal) .

1. FORMAL POWER
Reward power.
Coercive power.
Legitimate power.
Process power.
Information power.
Representative power.

2.INFORMAL POWER
Expert power.
Rational persuasion.
Referent power.

CONSEQUENCES OF POWER
Commitment
Compliance
Resistance
Sources of Power
Consequences of Power
Expert
Power
Referent
Power
Legitimate Power
RewardPower
Coercive
Power

POWER TACTICS
Legitimacy
Rational persuasion
Inspirational appeals
Consultation
Exchange
Personal appeals
Ingratiation
Pressure
Coalitions

ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
Involves Intentional acts of influence to enhance or protect the self interest of individuals or groups.
Politics is a necessary function resulting from differences in the self interests of individuals.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE POLITICS
Individual factors.
Organizational factors.

1.INDIVIDUAL FACTORS
Authoritarian(Machiavellianism).
Self-monitoring.
High risk propensity.
Internal locus of control.
High need for power,status,security or autonomy.

2.ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS.
Competition.
Level in organization.
Low trust.
Role ambiguity and counter norms.
Unclear evaluation systems.
Democratic decision making.

FACTORS INFLUENCING POLITICAL BEHOLDER
Individual factors
Political Behavior
Low High
Favorable outcomes
Rewards
Averted punishments
Organizational factors

POLITICAL TACTICS
Attacking or blaming others.
Using information as a political tool.
Creating a favorable image.
Developing a base of support.
Association with influential people.
Creating obligations.

Response of politics in organization.
Organization politics may threaten employees…
Decreased job satisfaction.
Increased anxiety and stress.
Increased turnover.
Reduced performance.

Positive aspects of organizational politics.
Overcoming personnel inadequacies.
Coping with change.
Substituting for formal authority.

Defensive behavior.
Avoiding action.
overconforming, Buck passing, playing dumb, stretching, stalling.
Avoiding blame.
Buffing, Playing safe, Justifying, Scapegoating, Misrepresenting.
Avoiding Change.
prevention, self protection.

Ethical Guidelines for Political Behavior
Unethical
Ethical
Question 1
Is the action
motivated by
self-serving
interests which
exclude the
goals of the
organization?
Yes
Question 3
Is the political
activity fair
and equitable?
Yes
No
No
Unethical
Yes
Question 2
Does the political
action respect
individual rights?
No
Unethical

IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT.
The process by which people attempt to control or manipulate the reactions of others to images of themselves or their ideas.
Itis a behavior that people direct toward others to create and maintain desired perceptions of themselves.

Impression Management Techniques.
Conformity.
Excuses.
Apologies.
Self-promotion.
Flattery.
Favors.
Association.

Harvard BusinessReview
“Power and Politics in Organisational Life”
By – Abraham Zaleznik.

The Issue…
Companies undergo critical conflicts in organizational politics.
The competition for power is characteristic of all political structures.
A political pyramid exists when people compete for power in any economy.
Characteristics of all political structures is the incessant need to use whatever power one possesses.

Power relations
Organizational life within a political frame is a series of contradictions.
It deals with sources of authority and their distribution.
The formal organizational structures implements a coalition among key executives.

Knudsen’s case…
Knudsen –new comer was named the President of the company.
His power structure was dependent on forming an alliance with Iacocca.
Knudsen and Iacocca competed for power.
Knudsen’s case coalition failed.

Problem-solving approach
Organization structure is an instrument rather than an end.
Organization structure can be changed but should not be tinkered with.
Organization structure expresses the working coalition attached to the chief executive.
Organization structure represents a blend of people and job definitions.
Organization structure is a product of negotiation and compromise among executives who hold power bases.

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT
Perception of organizational politics.
By - Christopher P Parker
Stacy L Jackson.

Factor analysis of data from an organizational climate survey suggest that organizational politics is an important dimension of peoples' perceptions of the work environment.
Measures of perceived intergroup cooperation, clarity of roles and responsibilities, and fairness of rewards / recognition were most predictive of politics perceptions.

Gandz and Murray (1980) reported that 60% of their survey respondents agreed with the statement that "most casual conversation appears to be about things I would consider as workplace politics" .

REFERENCES
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 11th edition by Stephen P. Robbins
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 4th edition by Steven L McShane, Mary Ann Von Glinow & Radha R Sharma.
HBR – May-June 1970 , (Executive Power – Its use and misuse)
Article – journal of management,sept-oct 1995(perception of organizational politics).

By –
Karthiga. D
Makhzoom Razi

Power And Politics

by karthiga3 on Mar 31, 2010

Accessibility

Upload Details

Usage Rights

1 Embed 10

Statistics

Power And Politics — Presentation Transcript