Lecture 8 - Power & Politics Flashcards
What Is Power?
‘The capacity of an individual or group to modify the conduct of other individuals or groups in a manner which they desire and without having to modify their own conduct in a manner which they do not desire.’ (Tawney 1931, p229)
‘A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do.’ (Dahl 1957, p203)
What is the role of organisational power?
Power does not exist in isolation
There must be a possibility that power can be exercised
Power is situational
Few people have no power
What matters is the relative amount of power compared to the other party.
Authority - delegated from above, comes with the job.
What are the five bases of power and whose theory is it?
Power often comes from several sources
Reward power - control of the distribution of rewards
Coercive power - compel someone to behave in a particular way
Legitimate power
Referent power
Expert Power
What are the contextual bases of power?
Organisational structure
Knowledge and Information
Resources
Decision- making - how it is done
Networks
Organisational culture
External environment
What are the power tactics and whos theory is it?
A comprehensive picture of the tactics that are used by supervisors and managers to influence each other and their subordinates.
Reason
Friendliness
Coalitions
Bargaining
Assertiveness
Higher Authority
Sanctions
Power - an overview
The tactic must be appropriate to the circumstances
Aggressive managers often get the least compliance
Managers who are legitimate experts can undermine perceptions if they try to create an illusion that they are experts on everything
Occupational bias
Power bases need to be nurtured
What is Organisational Conflict?
‘Involves those activities taken within organisations to acquire, develop and use power and other resources to obtain one’s preferred outcome in a situation where there is uncertainty or decensus about choice.’ (Pfeffer, 1981 Cited Rollinson, 2002)
Organisational power is focussed on what people do to acquire it.
Politics refers to situations of uncertainty
Desensus of choice -political process used to resolve an issue.
What is involved in a rational model?
Behaviour guided by clear goals
Choices made on basis of reason
Rational decision-making
What is involved in the political model?
Different parties have their own set of interests
Power & influence required in reaching decisions
non-rational decision-making
Factors giving rise to Political Behaviour?
Individual factors - personality characteristics,
authoritarian personality, a risk taker
Organisational factors - include:Ambiguous goals
Scarce resources
Technology and the environment
Role ambiguity
Low trust
What Political Strategies used and whose theory is it?
Baron & Greenberg, 2000
Controlling access to information
Cultivating a favourable impression
Developing a base of support
Blaming and attacking others
Aligning oneself with more powerful others
An Overview
Political behaviour can never be eliminated as rewards are too high
Need to removed the dysfunctional effects (Moorhead & Griffin, 1995)
Open up communication
Reduce uncertainty
Be aware
