Organizational Behavior, 18th Edition - Chapter 13 - Power and Politics PDF
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Uploaded by EffectiveRooster
Community College of Qatar
2019
Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge
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This document is a chapter from the 18th edition of the Organizational Behavior textbook, authored by Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge. It covers topics such as leadership, formal and personal power, and dependence in power relationships. The chapter also discusses influence tactics.
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Organizational Behavior Eighteenth Edition Chapter 13 Power and Politics Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Learning Objectives (1 of 2) 1...
Organizational Behavior Eighteenth Edition Chapter 13 Power and Politics Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Learning Objectives (1 of 2) 13.1 Contrast leadership and power. 13.2 Explain the three bases of formal power and the two bases of personal power. 13.3 Explain the role of dependence in power relationships. 13.4 Identify power or influence tactics and their contingencies. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Learning Objectives (2 of 2) 13.5 Identify the causes and consequences of abuse of power. 13.6 Describe how politics work in organizations. 13.7 Identify the causes, consequences, and ethics of political behavior. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Define Power and Contrast Leadership and Power (1 of 2) Power refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B, so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes. – Power may exist but not be used. Probably the most important aspect of power is that it is a function of dependence. – A person can have power over you only if he or she controls something you desire. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Define Power and Contrast Leadership and Power (2 of 2) Leaders use power as a means of attaining group goals. – Goal compatibility Power does not require goal compatibility, merely dependence. – The direction of influence. Leadership focuses on the downward influence on one’s followers. – Leadership research emphasizes style. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Explain Formal Power and Personal Power (1 of 2) Formal Power – Coercive Power – Reward Power – Legitimate Power Personal Power – Expert Power – Referent Power Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Explain Formal Power and Personal Power (2 of 2) Which Bases of Power Are Most Effective? – Personal sources are most effective. – Both expert and referent power are positively related to employees’ satisfaction with supervision, their organizational commitment, and their performance, whereas reward and legitimate power seem to be unrelated to these outcomes. – Coercive power can be damaging. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Explain the Role of Dependence in Power Relationships (1 of 3) The General Dependency Postulate – When you possess anything others require but that you alone control, you make them dependent upon you and, therefore, you gain power over them. – Dependence, then, is inversely proportional to the alternative sources of supply. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Explain the Role of Dependence in Power Relationships (2 of 3) What Creates Dependence? – Importance – Scarcity – Nonsubstitutability Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Explain the Role of Dependence in Power Relationships (3 of 3) Exhibit 13-1 An Organizational Sociogram Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Identify Power or Influence Tactics and their Contingencies Influence tactics: – Legitimacy – Rational persuasion – Inspirational appeals – Consultation – Exchange – Personal appeals – Ingratiating – Pressure – Coalitions Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Identify Nine Power or Influence Tactics and their Contingencies (1 of 4) Some tactics are more effective than others. – Rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, and consultation are most effective when the audience is highly interested in the outcomes. – Pressure tends to backfire. – Both ingratiation and legitimacy can lessen the negative reactions from appearing to “dictate” outcomes. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Identify Nine Power or Influence Tactics and their Contingencies (2 of 4) Exhibit 13-2 Preferred Power Tactics by Influence Direction Upward Influence Downward Influence Lateral Influence Rational persuasion Rational persuasion Rational persuasion Blank Inspirational appeals Consultation Blank Pressure Ingratiation Blank Consultation Exchange Blank Ingratiation Legitimacy Blank Exchange Personal appeals Blank Legitimacy Coalitions Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Identify Nine Power or Influence Tactics and their Contingencies (3 of 4) People in different countries prefer different power tactics. – Individualistic countries see power in personalized terms and as a legitimate means of advancing their personal ends. – Collectivistic countries see power in social terms and as a legitimate means of helping others. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Identify Nine Power or Influence Tactics and their Contingencies (4 of 4) Applying Power Tactics – People differ in terms of their political skill: their ability to influence others to enhance their own objectives. The politically skilled are more effective users of all the influence tactics. – Cultures within organizations differ markedly: some are warm, relaxed, and supportive; others are formal and conservative. People who fit the culture of the organization tend to obtain more influence. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Causes and Consequences of Abuse of Power (1 of 4) Does power corrupt? – Power leads people to place their own interests ahead of others. – Powerful people react, especially negatively, to any threats to their competence. – Power leads to overconfident decision making. – Power doesn’t affect everyone in the same way, and there are even positive effects of power. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Causes and Consequences of Abuse of Power (2 of 4) Sexual harassment: any unwanted activity of a sexual nature that affects an individual’s employment and creates a hostile work environment. – Organizations have generally made progress in the past decade toward limiting overt forms of sexual harassment. Managers have a responsibility to protect their employees from a hostile work environment, but they also need to protect themselves. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Causes and Consequences of Abuse of Power (3 of 4) Mangers should: – Make sure an active policy defines what constitutes sexual harassment, informs employees they can be fired for sexually harassing another employee, and establishes procedures for how complaints can be made. – Reassure employees that they will not encounter retaliation if they issue a complaint. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Causes and Consequences of Abuse of Power (4 of 4) In addition, managers should: – Investigate every complaint and include the legal and human resource departments. – Make sure offenders are disciplined or terminated. – Set up in-house seminars to raise employee awareness of the issues surrounding sexual harassment. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Describe How Politics Work in Organizations (1 of 2) Political behavior: activities that are not required as part of one’s formal role in the organization, but that influence the distribution of advantages within the organization. – Outside of one’s specified job requirements. – Encompasses efforts to influence decision- making goals, criteria, or processes. – Includes such behaviors as withholding information, whistle-blowing, spreading rumors, and leaking confidential information. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Describe How Politics Work in Organizations (2 of 2) OB POLL Importance of Organizatoinal Politics from Source: Based on D. Crampton, “Is How Americans Feel about Their Jobs Changing?” (September 28, 2012), http://corevalues.com/employee-motivation/is-how-americans-feel-about-their-jobs-changing. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Causes and Consequences of Political Behavior (1 of 7) Exhibit 13-3 Factors That Influence Political Behavior Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Causes and Consequences of Political Behavior (2 of 7) Exhibit 13-4 Employee Responses to Organizational Politics from Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Causes and Consequences of Political Behavior (3 of 7) Exhibit 13-5 Defensive Behaviors Avoiding Action Overconforming. Strictly interpreting your responsibility by saying things like “The rules clearly state...”or “This is the way we’ve always done it.” Buck passing. Transferring responsibility for the execution of a task or decision to someone else. Playing dumb. Avoiding an unwanted task by falsely pleading ignorance or inability. Stretching. Prolonging a task so that one person appears to be occupied—for example, turning a two-week task into a 4-month job. Stalling. Appearing to be more or less supportive publicly while doing little or nothing privately. Avoiding Blame Bluffing. Rigorously documenting activity to project an image of competence and thoroughness, known as “covering your rear.” Playing safe. Evading situations that may reflect unfavorably. It includes taking on only projects with a high probability of success, having risky decisions approved by superiors, qualifying expressions of judgment, and taking neutral positions in conflicts. Justifying. Developing explanations that lessen one’s responsibility for a negative outcome and/or apologizing to demonstrate remorse, or both. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Causes and Consequences of Political Behavior (4 of 7) [Exhibit 13-5 Continued] Scapegoating. Placing the blame for a negative outcome on external factors that are not entirely blameworthy. Misrepresenting. Manipulation of information by distortion, embellishment, deception, selective presentation, or obfuscation. Avoiding Change Prevention. Trying to prevent a threatening change from occurring. Self-protection. Acting in ways to protect one’s self-interest during change by guarding information or other resources. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Causes and Consequences of Political Behavior (5 of 7) Impression management (IM): the process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others form of them. – Mostly high self-monitors. – Impressions people convey are not necessarily false – they might truly believe them. – Intentional misrepresentation may have a high cost. The effectiveness of IM depends on the situation. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Causes and Consequences of Political Behavior (6 of 7) The Ethics of Behaving Politically – Questions to consider: What is the utility of engaging in politicking? How does the utility of engaging in the political behavior balance out any harm (or potential harm) it will do to others? Does the political activity conform to standards of equity and justice? Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Causes and Consequences of Political Behavior (7 of 7) Exhibit 13-7 Drawing Your Political Map Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Implications for Managers (1 of 2) To maximize your power, increase others’ dependence on you. For instance, increase your power in relation to your boss by developing a needed knowledge or skill for which there is no ready substitute. You will not be alone in attempting to build your power bases. Others, particularly employees and peers, will be seeking to increase your dependence on them, while you are trying to minimize it and increase their dependence on you. Try to avoid putting others in a position where they feel they have no power. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Implications for Managers (2 of 2) By assessing behavior in a political framework, you can better predict the actions of others and use that information to formulate political strategies that will gain advantages for you and your work unit. Consider that employees who have poor political skills or are unwilling to play the politics game generally relate perceived organizational politics to lower job satisfaction and self-reported performance, increased anxiety, and higher turnover. Therefore, if you are adept at organizational politics, help your employees understand the importance of becoming politically savvy. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Copyright This work is protected by United States copyright laws and is provided solely for the use of instructors in teaching their courses and assessing student learning. Dissemination or sale of any part of this work (including on the World Wide Web) will destroy the integrity of the work and is not permitted. The work and materials from it should never be made available to students except by instructors using the accompanying text in their classes. All recipients of this work are expected to abide by these restrictions and to honor the intended pedagogical purposes and the needs of other instructors who rely on these materials. Copyright © 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.