PD Lecture 7 power and politics

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POWER AND POLITICS

LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Define power
 Explain the difference between power and
leadership
 Describe the bases of power
 Identify the causes and consequences of
political power

What is Power ?
Power is the ability of one
person to influence another to
act in accordance with his
wishes.

POWER
 Power is a crucial ingredient to effective
leadership.
 There are two sources of power:

POWER VS LEADERSHIP
Power Leaders
Used as a means for
achieving goals
Focuses on goal achievement
Requires follower dependency Requires goal compatibility
with followers
Used to gain lateral and
upward influence
Focuses influence downward

IMPORTANT FACTORS OF
POWER

FORMAL POWER
 Formal power is based on an individual’s
position in an organization.
 Four categories of formal power:

COERCIVE POWER
 Coercive power happens when a person who
has the control over a situation imposes a
penalty on his followers.
 Examples of penalty or fear are:
– Verbal abuse
– Loss of promotion
– Possibilities that name is dropped from dealing in
mega important projects
– Possibilities of job losses
– Delayed for promotion

REWARD POWER
 Reward power happens when a leader has the
ability and power to reward or share positive
values with the followers.
 Benefits or rewards can be given through
financial or non-financial rewards.
– Financial reward - pay rates, raises or bonuses
– Non-financial reward - recognition for a job well
done (a box of chocolates or gift vouchers),
opportunity to work in the organization’s mega
projects or trust in relationship

LEGITIMATE POWER
 Is a combination of both coercive and reward
power.
 It is derived from the position the person holds.
 The person who holds legitimate power is a
person who seats in formal authority to control
and uses organizational resources

INFORMATION POWER
 Information power is when a person has access to
the key information in the organization.
 Under information power, the person is in power as:
– He or she controls the flow of information to
others.
– He or she has the ability to manage and control
environmental uncertainties
• Uncertainties can be managed through prevention,
forecast and absorption

EXPERT POWER
 A person who obtains special skills, knowledge
or is an expert in certain areas. Having the
special skills, knowledge and the expertise
allows him or her to be in control.

REFERENT POWER
 The ability of a leader to influence a follower
because of the follower's loyalty, respect,
friendship, admiration, affection, or a desire to
gain approval.
 This situation happens when followers tend to
like and respect the leaders.

DEPENDENCY
 The more people depend on you, the more power you have on
them. The level of dependency is based on the alternatives
available and the level of importance which a person has.
 The key to power is the extent of dependency to power between
the person who wields it and the person who are influenced by it.
 The power dependency is influenced by three factors:
– Importance of a resource
– Scarcity of a resource
– Availability of substitute

ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
 Organizational politics generate political
behaviour.
 Political behaviour is defined as an activity which
is not required as part of one’s formal role.
 Political behaviour happens when people who
lack power wish to be involved or wish to
influence decision.
 There are two ways to it, either via legitimate or
illegitimate means.

TWO (2) Main Factors that
Influence Political Behaviour.
•Individual
It is noted that employees who possess high self-monitors, high locus of control,
and high need of power would be involved in political behaviour. This is
because individuals who have the above criteria believe that they are able to
control their environment and themselves in any situation. These are also
individuals who have high expectations for success and look forward to better
work offer and opportunities.
•Organisation
Situation which encourages organisational politics would be situations where
decisions are made based on uncertain or ambiguous evidence. Politics
creates behavior which at times would be disadvantage to the organisation.
Dissatisfaction due to incorrect decision-making processes, decline in employee
performance levels and unhealthy relationships would lead to high turnover in
organisations.

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