Power and Politics

Chapter 13 Overview

• Learning Objectives:
  • Understand power's meaning and nuances.
  • Recognize power's positive/negative aspects.
  • Identify sources of power.
  • Recognize influence tactics and manage impressions.
  • Analyze social networks.
  • Understand organizational politics' antecedents and consequences.
  • Consider ethics' role in power dynamics.
  • Explore cross-cultural influences.

Steve Jobs Case Study

• Powerful in transforming industries: computers, movies, music, retail, phones.
• Utilizes six types of power:
  1. Legitimate Power: As Apple's CEO.
  2. Expert Power: Market foresight.
  3. Reward Power: Financial influence.
  4. Information Power: Strategic industry insights.
  5. Coercive Power: Intimidation.
  6. Referent Power: Inspiring employees.
• Known for "reality distortion field"; influence extends even to rivals like Intel.

Basics of Power

• Definition: Ability to influence behaviors to achieve goals.
• Power visible in organizations; both positive (alignment, philanthropy) and negative effects (corruption).

Conformity

• People tend to follow group norms, sometimes engaging in unethical behaviors.
• Famous studies illustrating conformity:
  • Milgram Study: Obedience to authority tested through simulated shocks.
  • Asch Study: Conformity to group opinions about line lengths.
  • Zimbardo Study: Role influence in a simulated prison experiment.

Dependency & Power

• Power linked to dependency.
• Factors affecting dependency:
  1. Scarcity: Uniqueness of resources.
  2. Importance: Resource's value.
  3. Substitutability: Availability of alternatives.

Power to Influence

• Power Sources: Legitimate, reward, coercive, expert, information, referent.
• Influence Tactics: Rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, consultation, ingratiation, personal appeal, exchange, coalition tactics, pressure, legitimating tactics.
• Impression Management: Shaping perceptions through nonverbal cues, verbal communication, behavior, especially in job settings.

Influence Directions

• Upward Influence: Affecting higher-ups through alliances, rationality.
• Downward Influence: Inspiring lower-level employees with vision.
• Peer Influence: Encouraging collaboration, accountability.

Organizational Politics

• Definition: Informal efforts to influence within organizations.
• Can be seen negatively or positively.
• Antecedents: Individual (political skill, locus of control) and organizational (resource scarcity, ambiguity) factors.

Understanding Social Networks

• Social Networks: Visual maps of relationships crucial for information access.
• Network Analysis: Indirect (e-mails, observations) or direct (surveys).
• Key Roles: Central connectors, boundary spanners, peripheral specialists.
• Ties: Strength and type (strong vs weak) influence information flow.

Ethics and National Culture

• Ethics in Power: Risk of misuse due to concentrated power.
• Cultural Views: High vs low power distance affecting organizational structure and decision making.

Conclusion

• Power and politics are integral to organizations but require careful management to avoid negative consequences.
• Networks enhance power through connections and influence.
• Social networks and their analysis can provide insights into improving organizational communication and collaboration.

Exercises

• Ethical dilemmas and social network mapping exercises to enhance understanding and application of concepts.