Chapter 10 Power and Influence in the Workplace Flashcards
power
is the capacity of a person, organization or a team to influence others
countervailing power
The capacity of a person, team, or organization to keep a more powerful person or group in the exchange relationship.
Sources of power
1) Legitimate (formal)
2) Coercive (formal)
3) Reward (formal)
4) Expertise (personal)
5) Referent (personal)
Contingencies of power
1) Substitutability
2) Centrality
3) Discretion
4) Visibility
Legitimate power
An agreement among organizational members that people in certain roles can request certain behaviours of others.
Zone of indifference
Legitimate power has restrictions; it gives the power holder the right to ask others to perform only a limited range and domain of behaviours, known as the “zone of indifference.”
Norm of reciprocity
A felt obligation and social expec- tation of helping or otherwise giving something of value to someone who has already helped or given something of value to you.
Employees also have legitimate power over their bosses and co-workers through _________________ as well as informal norms.
legal and administrative rights
legitimate power through information control
1) when your work is directly affected by the resources such as information, the information holder also holds power
2) information can be distributed in a way to sway people in the direction of the decision the information keepers want them to
Reward Power
is derived from the person’s ability to control the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove neg- ative sanctions
Employees have reward power over co-workers through __________________. They also have reward power over their bosses through __________________.
1) organizational citizenship behaviours, such as lending work resources or coaching others.
2) feedback they provide to the company about the boss’s leadership.
coercive power
the ability to apply punishment
(peer pressure applies)
Expert power
It is an individual’s or work unit’s capacity to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills valued by others.
Expertise can help companies cope with uncertainty in three ways:
1) prevention
2) forecasting
3) absorption
Referent Power
The capacity to influence others on the basis of an identification with and respect for the power holder.
Nonsubstitutability
power decreases as the number of alter- native sources of the resource increases.
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 as well as how quickly and severely they are affected
by that dependence.
Visibility
In other words, power increases with visibility. This visibility can occur, for example, by taking on people-oriented jobs and projects that require fre- quent interaction with senior executives.
Discretion
Another important contingency of power in organizations is the freedom to exercise judgment. This discretion involves mak- ing decisions without referring to a specific rule or receiving permission from someone else.
Social Networks
Social structures of individuals
or social units that are connected to each other through one or more forms of interdependence.
Social Capital
The knowledge edge, opportunities, and other resources available to members of a social network, along with the mutual support, trust, reciprocity, and coordination that facilitate sharing of those resources.
Structural Hoel
An area between two or more dense social network areas that lacks network ties.
3 factors that determine your centrality in your social network
1) betweenness
2) degree centrality (number of connections)
3) closeness
Influence
Any behaviour that attempts to alter someone’s attitudes or behaviour.
Types of Influence Tactics in organizations
Silent authority
Influencing behaviour through legitimate power without explicitly referring to that power base
Assertiveness
Actively applying legitimate and coercive power by applying pressure or threats
Information control
Explicitly manipulating someone else’s access to information for the purpose of changing their attitudes and/or behaviour
Coalition formation
Forming a group that attempts to influence others by pooling the resources and power of its members
Upward appeal
Relying symbolically or in reality on people with higher authority or expertise to support one’s position
Persuasion
Using logical arguments, factual evidence, and emotional appeals to convince people of the value of a request
Impression management (including ingratiation)
Actively shaping, through self-presentation and other means, the perceptions and attitudes that others have of us, which includes ingratiation (refers to the influencer’s attempt to be more liked by the targeted person or group)
Exchange
Promising benefits or resources in exchange for the target person’s compliance