Chapter 13: Power & Politics Flashcards
Define Power:
An individual’s or group’s potential to influence another person’s or group’s behaviour.
Name the three Needs according McClelland’s Need Theory.
- Need for Affiliation
- Need for Achievement
- Need for Power
Describe the term: Need for Power
A desire to be in control of, influence or be responsible for others
Name the two types of Power in Organisations.
a) Position Power
b) Personal Power
List the three Position Powers:
- Legitimate power
- Reward power
- Coercive power
Name the four Personal Powers:
- Expert power
- Informational power
- Referent power
- Persuasive power
Define: Position power.
Based on one’s position in the organization
Position Power:
Describe the three:
- Legitimate power: based on a person’s holding of managerial position rather than anything that the manager is or does as a person.
- Reward power: involves the use of rewards to influence and motivate employees.
- Coercive power: based on fear or a desire to avoid punishment.
Define: Personal Power
Based on the person’s individual characteristics and stays with a person regardless of his job or organisation.
Personal Power:
Describe the four:
- Expert power: based on an individual’s knowledge/expertise.
- Informational power: power that is derived from control over information.
- Referent power: based on a manager’s charisma or attractiveness to others.
- Persuasive power: the ability to use logic and facts to persuade others.
Define the concept: Influence tactic
How people translate their power to affect the behaviour of others
Influence in Organisations
Name and explain the nine influence tactics and responses:
- Coalition: Getting help from others to persuade someone to do something, telling the person you are trying to convince about the support of others.
- Consultation: Asking the person for advice to solve the problem, mutually setting goals to increase commitment, being willing to modify goals/solutions based on feedback.
- Exchange: Offering to exchange something of value now or in the future for cooperation.
- Integration: Flattering/praising someone to put them in a good mood and more likely to help, using humour, the influencer is seen as more credible if this tactic is used early on.
- Inspirational Appeals: Appealing to the persons aspirations, values, ideals; increasing people’s confidence to increase motivation.
- Legitimating Tactics: Enhancing one’s formal authority, referring to rules, precedents or official documents, should be used early.
- Personal Appeals: Asking for a personal favour, asking someone to do something because we are friends.
- Pressure: Coercion, persistent follow-ups, reminders to gain influence, can breed resentment.
- Rational Persuasion: Using logic and facts to persuade someone.
Influence in Organisations
Name and explain the 4 Responses to influence attempts.
- Commitment: Endorsing, becoming actively involved.
- Compliance: Going along with what the influencer wants without being personally committed.
- Passive Resistance: Rejecting the influence attempt but not getting in the influencer’s way.
- Active Resistance: Rejecting the influence attempt and actively trying to stop the influencer, or trying to change the influencer’s attitude.
Influence in Organisations
Define: Persuasion
A way to get someone to do something because they want to do it and because they are being forced to.
List seven recommendations for being more persuasive:
- Build credibility – skills and relationships, good posture, tone of voice, confidence
- Do not begin with a hard sell – start off easy, something people can accept
- Search for shared ground – be willing to compromise
- Develop compelling positions – a few convincing arguments
- Connect with people emotionally - don’t use logic only
- Create a continuous feedback loop – incorporate audience feedback
- Be patient – people rarely change on the first try
Define what Upward Persuasion is used for.
Upward influence is used to influence superiors
List the six primary Influence Tactics:
- Ingratiation
- Exchange
- Rational persuasion
- Coalition formation
- Assertiveness – using aggression, nagging and verbal confrontations
- Upward Appeals – appealing to superiors for intervention
List and briefly explain the four Upward Influence styles:
- Shotgun – assertive, aggressive, bargaining
- Tactician – reason, logic, average influence, knowledge base
- Bystander – little influence
- Ingratiator – friendliness
Organisational Politics:
Define: Organisational Politics
Social influence attempts directed at those who can provide rewards that will help promote or protest the self-interest of the actor.
Name and briefly explain nine common Political Tactics in organisations (identified by Eugene McKenna):
- Controlling information : restricting information to certain people.
- Controlling lines of communication : establishing gatekeepers to restrict access to information.
- Using outside experts : outside consultants may seem neutral, but are paid and directed by management to “do their bidding”.
- Controlling the agenda : To ensure that only certain topics are discussed.
- Game playing : leaking information, getting friends to provide feedback.
- Image building : enlisting “spin doctors” to project a desirable image.
- Building coalitions : befriending powerful others/starting small subgroups to promote specific aims.
- Controlling decision parameters : trying to influence decisions before they are made.
- Eliminating political rivals : may mean them getting promoted to get them out of the way.
Organisational Politics
Define: Impression management
The process of portraying a desired image or attitude to control the impression others form of us.
List 10 ways to detect Impression Management Behaviours
- Elevated speaking pitch
- Speech errors
- Speech pauses
- Negative statements
- Eye shifting
- Increased pupil dilation
- Blinking
- Tactile manipulation
- Leg fidgeting
- Less hand gesturing
