CHANGE MANAGEMENT

1. L E C T U R E 5 : P O W E R , P O L I T I C S A N D C O N F L I C T
Managing Change for
Organisational Development
[HRM 521]

2. The Meaning of Power
Power is the capacity of a
person, team, or organization
to influence others.
 The potential to influence
others
 People have power they don’t
use and may not know they
possess
 Power requires one person’s
perception of dependence on
another person
C. Price, Vancouver Province

3. Model of Power in Organizations
Power
over Others
Contingencies
Of Power
Sources
Of Power
Legitimate
Reward
Coercive
Expert
Referent

4. 4

5. Five Bases of Power
 Organizational Power:
 Reward power: Promising or granting rewards
 Coercive power: Threats or actual punishment
 Legitimate power: Based on position or formal authority
 Personal Power:
 Expert power: Sharing of knowledge or information
 Referent power: Power of one’s personality (charisma)

6. 6
Personal Power Model*
1. Company
friendships
2. Desirable personal
traits
3. Opportunity
4. Perceived
expertise
5. Information
6. Personal
Confidence
7. Status
8. Seniority
9. Interpersonal
Skills
* Richard Byrd –Guide to Personal Risk
Taking
* Challenger Gray & Christmas article:
http://challengeratworkblog.blogspot.co
m/2009/05/5-risk-taking-exercises-for-
nice-girls.html

7. 7

8. Increasing
Nonsubstitutability
Controlling
Tasks
Controlling
Knowledge
Differentiation
Controlling
labor
Increasing Nonsubstitutability

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13. Commitment
Consequences of Power
Reward
Power
Legitimate
Power
Coercive
Power
Expert
Power
Referent
Power
Resistance
Compliance
Sources
of Power
Consequences
of Power

14. 17-14
Political
Strategies
for
Increasing
Power

15. 17-
15
Political Strategies for Gaining and Maintaining Power
Strategies
Controlling Uncertainty Reduce uncertainty for others in the firm
Being Irreplaceable Develop valuable special knowledge or
skills
Being in a Central
Position
Have decision-making control over the
firm’s crucial activities and resources
Generating Resources Hire skilled people or find financing when
it is needed
Building Alliances Develop mutually beneficial relations
with others inside and outside the
organization

16. 17-16
Political
Strategies
for
Exercising
Power

17. 17-
17
Strategies for Exercising Power
Strategies
Relying on Objective
Information
Providing impartial information causes
others to feel the manager’s course of
action is correct.
Bringing in an Outside
Expert
Using an expert’s opinion to lend
credibility to manager’s proposal
Controlling the Agenda Influencing those issues included (and
those dropped) from the decision
process.
Making Everyone a
Winner
Making sure that everyone whose
support is needed benefits personally
from providing that support.

18. The Evolution of Power
No empowerment
- Authoritarian power (domination)
- Influence sharing (consultation)
- Power sharing (participation)
- Power distribution (delegation)
High empowerment
© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1998

19. The Evolution of Power: From Domination to
Delegation
None
High
Power Distribution
Followers granted
authority to make
decisions.
Power Sharing
Manager/leader and
followers jointly
make decisions.
Power Distribution
Followers granted
authority to make
decisions.
DegreeofEmpowerment
Authoritarian
Power
Manager/leader
imposes decisions.
Domination Consultation Participation Delegation

20. 17-
20
Organizational Conflict
 Organizational Conflict
 The discord that arises when goals, interests or values of
different individuals or groups are
incompatible
and those people
block or thwart
each other’s efforts
to achieve their
objectives.

21. 17-
21
Organizational Conflict
 Organizational Conflict
 Conflict is inevitable given the wide range of goals for the
different stakeholder in the organization.

22. Types of Conflict
22

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23
The Effect of Conflict on Organization Performance

24. 24

25. 17-
25
Types of Conflict

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26
Types of Conflict
 Interpersonal Conflict
 Conflict between individuals due to differences in their
goals or values.
 Intragroup Conflict
 Conflict within a
group or team.

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27
Types of Conflict
 Intergroup Conflict
 Conflict between two or more teams, groups or
departments.
 Managers play a key role in resolution of this conflict
 Interorganizational Conflict
 Conflict that arises across organizations.

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30
Sources of Conflict

31. 17-
31
Sources of Conflict
 Different Goals and Time Horizons
 Different groups have differing goals and focus.
 Overlapping Authority
 Two or more managers claim authority for the same
activities which leads to conflict between the managers
and workers.

32. 17-
32
Sources of Conflict
 Scarce Resources
 Managers can come into conflict over the allocation of
scare resources.
 Status Inconsistencies
 Some individuals and groups have a higher organizational
status than others, leading to conflict with lower status
groups.

33. 17-
33
Sources of Conflict
 Task Interdependencies
 One member of a group or a group fails to finish a task that
another member or group depends on, causing the waiting
worker or group to fall behind.
 Different Evaluation or Reward Systems
 A group is rewarded for achieving a goal, but another
interdependent group is rewarded for achieving a goal that
conflicts with the first group.

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35. Thomas-Kilman Conflict Handling Model (1974)

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36
Conflict Management Strategies
 Compromise
 each party is concerned about their goal accomplishment
and is willing to engage in give-and-take exchange to reach
a reasonable solution.
 Collaboration
 parties try to handle the conflict without making
concessions by coming up with a new way to resolve their
differences that leaves them both better off.

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37
Conflict Management Strategies
 Accommodation
 one party simply gives in to the other party
 Avoidance
 two parties try to ignore the problem and do nothing to
resolve the disagreement

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38
Conflict Management Strategies
 Competition
 each party tries to maximize its own gain and has little
interest in understanding the other’s position

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39
Strategies Focused on Individuals
 Increasing awareness of the sources of conflict
 Increasing diversity awareness and skills
 Practicing job rotation
 Using permanent transfers or dismissals when
necessary

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44
Organizational Politics
 Political strategies
 Specific tactics used to increase power and use it
effectively to influence and gain the support of other
people while overcoming resistance

45. Organisational Politics
2
Political behaviour in organisations can be defined as
those activities that are not required as part of one’s
formal role in the organization, but that influence, or
attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages
and disadvantages within the organisation.

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49. Organizational Politics
 Attempts to influence others using
discretionary behaviors to promote personal
objectives
 Discretionary behaviors -- neither explicitly
prescribed nor prohibited
 Politics may be good or bad for the
organization

50. Keeping Politics in Check
 Organizational politics cannot be eliminated
 Political maneuvering should be managed to keep
it constructive and within reasonable bounds
 “People can focus their attention on only so many
things. The more it lands on politics, the less
energy –emotional and intellectual- is available to
attend to the problems that fall under the heading
of real work.” -Abraham Zaleznik

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54. Definitions
2
 Positive Politics
 Having practical wisdom
 Being prudent, shrewd, & diplomatic
 Being expedient as a plan of action
 Process of gaining support
 Negative Politics
 Factional scheming for power & status
 Being crafty or unscrupulous

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59. Conditions
Supporting
Organizational
Politics
Scarce
Resources
Complex and
Ambiguous
Decisions
Personal
Characteristics
Tolerance of
Politics
Conditions for Organizational Politics

60. Types of
Organizational
Politics
Managing
impressions
Attacking and
blaming
Creating
obligations
Cultivating
networks
Types of Organizational Politics
Controlling
information
Forming
coalitions

61. 61
Plain Old Influence
 The ‘elite’ get the most
based on the number of
shared values or
attributes they possess:
 Wealth
 Physical Attractiveness
 Skill & knowledge
 Personality
 History
 Background or experience
 Attitude
Which gets them access
to:
 People
 Information
 Resources

62. Impression management
 Conformity: agreeing with another’s opinion to get their approval
 Excuses: Explanations of a predicament-creating event aimed at
minimizing the apparent severity of the predicament
 Apologies: Admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and
simultaneously seeking to get a pardon for the action
 Acclamations: Explanation of favourable events to maximize the
desirable implications for oneself.
 Flattery: Complimenting others on their virtues in an effort to make
oneself appear perceptive and likeable
 Favours: Doing something nice for someone to gain that person’s
approval
 Association: Enhancing or protecting one’s image by managing
information about people and things with which one is associated.

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Core Concept
 Political Savvy
 Calculating probable changes in influence and the influential
under changing conditions
 Recognize quickly the changing landscape
 May require you to adjust so you remain a leader not an
outcast or a has been

64. Political Antics Top the “Most
Unethical List”: Survey Results
Gender discrimination
in recruitment or hiring
Arrangements with vendors
leading to personal gain
Nonperformance factors
used in appraisals
Gender discrimination
in compensation
Not maintaining
confidentiality
Using discipline
inconsistently
Gender discrimination
in promotion
Sexual
harassment
Allowing differences in pay
due to friendships
Hiring, training, or promoting
based on favouritism
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Situation
Percentage Responding with a 4 or 5 on a five-Point Scale
Measuring Degree of Seriousness (where 5=“very great”)
(22.6)
(23.1)
(23.5)
(25.8)
(26.4)
(26.9)
(26.9)
(28.4)
(30.7)
(30.7)
Potentially
political
behaviours

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66. Controlling Political Behavior
Peer Pressure
Against Politics
Remove
Political Norms
Free Flowing
Information
Manage Change
Effectively
Provide
Sufficient
Resources
Introduce
Clear Rules
Hire
Low-Politics
Employees
Increase
Opportunities
for Dialogue

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