Chapter 10 Power and Influence in the Workplace

Question 1

power

Answer 1

is the capacity of a person, organization or a team to influence others

Question 2

countervailing power

Answer 2

The capacity of a person, team, or organization to keep a more powerful person or group in the exchange relationship.

Question 3

Sources of power

Answer 3

1) Legitimate (formal)
2) Coercive (formal)
3) Reward (formal)
4) Expertise (personal)
5) Referent (personal)

Question 4

Contingencies of power

Answer 4

1) Substitutability
2) Centrality
3) Discretion
4) Visibility

Question 5

Legitimate power

Answer 5

An agreement among organizational members that people in certain roles can request certain behaviours of others.

Question 6

Zone of indifference

Answer 6

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.”

Question 7

Norm of reciprocity

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

Employees also have legitimate power over their bosses and co-workers through _________________ as well as informal norms.

Answer 8

legal and administrative rights

Question 9

legitimate power through information control

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Reward Power

Answer 10

is derived from the person’s ability to control the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove neg- ative sanctions

Question 11

Employees have reward power over co-workers through __________________. They also have reward power over their bosses through __________________.

Answer 11

1) organizational citizenship behaviours, such as lending work resources or coaching others.
2) feedback they provide to the company about the boss’s leadership.

Question 12

coercive power

Answer 12

the ability to apply punishment
(peer pressure applies)

Question 13

Expert power

Answer 13

It is an individual’s or work unit’s capacity to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills valued by others.

Question 14

Expertise can help companies cope with uncertainty in three ways:

Answer 14

1) prevention
2) forecasting
3) absorption

Question 15

Referent Power

Answer 15

The capacity to influence others on the basis of an identification with and respect for the power holder.

Question 16

Nonsubstitutability

Answer 16

power decreases as the number of alter- native sources of the resource increases.

Question 17

Centrality

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Visibility

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

Discretion

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

Social Networks

Answer 20

Social structures of individuals
or social units that are connected to each other through one or more forms of interdependence.

Question 21

Social Capital

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

Structural Hoel

Answer 22

An area between two or more dense social network areas that lacks network ties.

Question 23

3 factors that determine your centrality in your social network

Answer 23

1) betweenness
2) degree centrality (number of connections)
3) closeness

Question 24

Influence

Answer 24

Any behaviour that attempts to alter someone’s attitudes or behaviour.

Question 25

Types of Influence Tactics in organizations

Answer 25

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