Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace Flashcards
Power (definition + characteristics)
= the capacity of a person, team, or organization to influence others.
Important characteristics of power:
- Power is not an act of changing someone’s attitudes/behaviors, it’s a potential to do so (= people have power they don’t use)
- Power is based on the target’s perception that the power holder controls a valuable and desired resource for a target
- Power involves asymmetric/unequal dependence of one party on another party
- All power relationships depend on some minimum level of trust
Boss & employee power relation (interdependence)
BOSS
- Power = assigns bonus, makes promotions, assigns job duties
- Dependence = his bonus depends on how well the employees do their job
EMPLOYEE
- Power = to do (or not to do) part of his job
- Dependance = his salary and career depend on the boss’ decision
Power vs. countervailing power
Person A –> Person B = POWER = Person B believes person A controls a resource that can help or hinder person B in achieving that goal. Person B is dependent on Person A (the power holder) to provide the resource so Person B can reach his goal.
Person B –> Person A = COUNTERVAILING POWER = Person B has enough countervailing power to keep Person A in the exchange relationship and ensure that A uses its dominant power judiciously
Sources of power (OVERVIEW)
- Legitimate power
- Expert power
- Reward Power
- Coercive power
- referent power
- Legitimate power (sources of power)
- definition
- 4 characteristics
= agreement that people in specific positions can request behavior from others.
Characteristics include:
a. Originates from formal job descriptions and informal rules of conduct
b. Zone of indifference = the set of behaviors that individuals are willing to engage in at the other person’s request (restriction to legitimate power, increases with the level of trust in the power holder)
c. Managers are not the only individuals having legitimate power, employees also have legitimate power over their bosses according to the norm of reciprocity = a felt obligation ad social expectation of helping or otherwise giving something of value to someone who has already helped or given something of value to you
d. Legitimate power through informational control includes
i. Gatekeepers (people who have the right to control information that others receive)
ii. 2 ways to gain power = by selectively distributing info or by framing the situation in a more positive light
- Expert power (sources of power)
- definition
- problem
- use to organizations
= capacity to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills that they value.
- Problem = mindless deference to expertise
- One of the forms of expert power = ability of coping with uncertainty
1. Organizations operate better in predictable environments
2. People gain power by using their expertise to (from highest to lowest importance): - Prevent environmental changes
- Forecast environmental changes
- Absorb environmental changes
- Reward power (sources of power)
= is derived from the person’s ability to control the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove negative sanctions
- Coercive power (sources of power)
= ability to apply punishment.
For example - firing an employee
- Referent power (sources of power)
= capacity to influence others through identification with respect to the power holder (associated with charisma). People have referent power when others identify with them, life them, or respect them.
(4) Power contingencies
- SUBSTITUTABILITY = power increases with substitutability, when power holder is a monopolist (resource has few or no other sources, and the resource has no substitutes). Non-substitutability, on the other hand, increases by differentiating the resource (= your personal brand, e.g., you are not the only person in an IT company, but you are the only one that knows Java language) and by increasing control over the resource.
- CENTRALITY = a contingency of power pertaining to the degree and nature of interdependence between the power holder and others. Centrality increases with the number of people dependent on you and the strength of this dependence (see below)-
- VISIBILITY = power doesn’t flow to unknown people in the organization. For exemple :
- High vs. Low = working in more visible work areas vs. Remote work
- High = educational diplomas and awards placed on the wall - DISCRETION = the freedom to exercise judgement, to make decisions without referring to a specific rule or receiving permission from someone else.
Influence (def)
= any behavior that attempts to alter another person’s attitudes or behavior.
Hard influence
- definition (what types of power)
- 5 types
=relies on positional power to force actions. Sources of power include legitimate, reward and coercive.
- Silent authority = power-holder’s request or mere presence influences behavior (legitimate power)
- Assertiveness = vocal authority, remining of work obligations, checking, bullying (legitimate ad coercive power) e.g., “You have to do this”
- Information control = withhold, filtering, restricting information
- Coalition forming = pooling member’s resources and power to influence others
- Coalition = a group that attempts to influence people outside the group by pooling the resources and power of its members
- Formed by people who lack sufficient power alone (e.g., our class vs. heather)
- 3 functions (1) pools resources (2) create sense that issue deserves attention because it has broad support (3) reinforces social identity - Upward appeal = claiming higher authority support or showing evidence of that support (e.g., saying something like “The dean things I am good for the position, so you should hire me” – this is different from actually having the proof)
Soft influence
- definition (what types of power)
- 3 TYPES
= relies more on personal sources of power and appeals to the target person’s attitudes and needs. Sources of power include referent and expert.
- Persuasion (see flashcard)
- Impression management = actively shaping the perceptions and attitudes that others have of us through self-presentation and other means
- e.g., Visual attributes of power (consider for example mean girls power)
- Self-presentation = symbols and behaviors
- Ingratiation = liking by/perceived similarity to target - Exchange = Involves promise of benefits or resources in exchange for the target person’s compliance with request (reciprocity!)
Persuasion (soft influence)
- definition
- works best in X environment
- difficult to persuade X people
- characteristics of effective persuaders
- message content
= The use of facts, logical arguments and emotional appeals to change another person’s beliefs and attitudes, usually for the purpose of changing the person’s behavior.
- e.g., “If you do this, we can learn more about our competitors and adjust our strategy”
- It is the most frequently used strategy for influence.
- It works best in media-rich and high social presence communication channels
- It is difficult to persuade audiences who have a high self-esteem and high intelligence
EFFECTIVE PERSUADERS:
- Have expertise and credibility
- Have nothing to gain from the influence attempt
- Mention limitations of the proposed opposition
- Mention positive aspects of alternative options
MESSAGE CONTENT:
- Limited to a few strong arguments
- Emotional appeals combined with logical and specific recommendations to overcome threats
- Pre-empt opposing arguments
Appropriate influence tactic depends on
- Soft tactics are generally more acceptable that hard tactics
- Appropriate influence tactic depends on
1) the influencer’s power base
2) the organizational positions and
3) values and expectations
