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WORK2218 Managing
Organisational Behaviour
Lecturer: Dr Ju Li Ng
Politics and Power
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› Define power and contrast leadership and power.
› Contrast the five bases of power.
› Explain the role of dependency in power relationships.
› Identify nine power or influence tactics and their contingencies.
› Show the connection between sexual harassment and the abuse of
power.
› Describe how politics work in organisations.
› Identify the causes and consequences of political behaviour.
› Determine whether a political action is ethical.
Learning Objectives
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– Power
• The capacity that A has to influence the behaviour of B so that
B acts in accordance with A’s wishes
– Dependency
• B’s relationship to A when A possesses something that B
requires
A definition of power
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Power and Political Behaviour are natural process in any group or
organisation
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The most important aspect of power is that it is a function of
dependency.
The general dependency postulate
– The greater B’s dependency on A, the greater the power A has over B
Dependency increases when resources are:
– Important
– Scarce
– Non-substitutable
Dependency: the key to power
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Bases of Power
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Formal Personal Power
Power based on an
individual’s position in
an organisation
Power based on an
individual’s individual
unique characteristics.
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Formal Power
Coercive
• A power base that is dependent on
fear
Reward
• Compliance achieved based on the
ability to distribute rewards that
others view as valuable
Legitimate
• The power a person receives as a
result of his or her position in the
formal hierarchy of an organisation
Example?
Example?
Example?
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Personal Power
Expert
• Influence based on special skills or
knowledge
Referent
Influence based on identification
with a person who has desirable
resources or personal traits.
Example?
Example?
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Reflection
• Which is the most
effective bases of power to
have? Why is this so?
• How do these power bases
influence team and/or
organisational outcomes?
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Which bases of power are most effective?
Research suggests that the personal sources of power are the most
effective.
– Both expert and referent power are positively related to employees’
satisfaction with supervision, their organisational commitment and their
performance.
– Reward and legitimate power seem to be unrelated to these outcomes.
– One source of formal power—coercive power—actually can backfire in
that it is negatively related to employee satisfaction and commitment.
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Power Tactics
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Power Tactics
› Power tactics are ways in which individuals translate power bases into
specific actions
• Relying on your authority position or saying that a
request accords with organisational policies or rulesLegitimacy
• Presenting logical arguments and factual evidence
to demonstrate a request is reasonableRational Persuasion
• Developing emotional commitment by appealing to
a target’s values, needs, hopes and aspirationsInspirational Appeals
• Increasing the target’s support by involving him or
her in deciding how to you will accomplish your
plan
Consultation
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Power Tactics
• Rewarding the target with benefits or favours
in exchange for following a requestsExchange
• Asking for compliance based on friendship or
loyaltyPersonal Appeals
• Using flattery, praise or friendly behaviour
prior to making a requestIngratiation
• Using warnings, repeated demands or
threatsPressure
• Enlisting the aid or support of others to
persuade the target to agreeCoalitions
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Discussion 2
• Which of the power tactics
are the most effective?
Why is this so?
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• Legitimacy
• Rational persuasion*
• Inspirational appeals*
• Consultation*
• Exchange
• Personal appeals
• Ingratiation
• Pressure**
• Coalitions
Power Tactics: Most Effective versus Least Effective
* Most effective
** Least effective
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Choice and effectiveness of influence tactics are moderated by:
– Sequencing of tactics
– Person’s skill in using the tactic
– The influence direction (upward, downward or lateral)
– Organisational culture
– Cultural preferences
– Political skill of the user
Factors influencing power tactics
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Preferred Power Tactics by Influence Direction
** Most effective
(Pressure is the least effective)
Upward Influence Downward Influence Lateral Influence
Rational persuasion Rational persuasion** Rational persuasion
Inspirational appeals** Consultation**
Pressure Ingratiation
Consultation Exchange
Ingratiation Legitimacy
Exchange Personal appeals
Legitimacy Coalitions
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Sexual Harassment: Unequal Power in the Workplace
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Any unwanted activity of a sexual nature that affects an individual’s
employment and creates a hostile work environment.
• Overt actions, like unwanted touching, are relatively easy to spot.
• Subtle actions, like jokes or looks, can cross over the line into
harassment.
• Sexual harassment isn’t about sex – it is about abusing an unequal
power relationship.
• Harassment can damage the well-being of the individual, work group
and organisation.
Sexual Harassment
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– Policy: Make sure that an active policy defines what constitutes sexual harassment, informs
employees they can be fired for sexually harassing another employee and establishes
procedures for how complaints can be made.
– Dealing with Complaints: Ensure that employees do not encounter retaliation if they issue a
complaint.
– Process:
– Investigate every complaint and include the legal and human resource departments.
– Make sure that offenders are disciplined or that their employment is terminated.
– Prevention and Awareness: Set up in-house seminars to raise employee awareness of the
issues surrounding sexual harassment.
Managerial actions to prevent sexual harassment
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Political behaviour
Activities that are not required as part of one’s formal role in the organisation, but that influence, or
attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages or disadvantages within the organisation
– Example
• withholding key information
• joining a coalition
• whistle-blowing
• spreading rumours
• leaking confidential information to the media
• exchanging favours with others in the organisation for mutual benefit
• lobbying on behalf of or against a particular individual or decision alternative
Politics: Power in Action
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Many managers report that some use of political behaviour is both ethical and necessary, as
long as it doesn’t directly harm anyone else.
– .
The Reality of Politics
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Individual Differences Different values, goals and interests (Chapter 2)
Organisational Factors
Limited resources, space, roles and responsibilities,
Climate and culture (ambiguity, uncertainties)
Politicking: Activities (influence) of political behaviours
Not all groups or organisations are equally political. In some organisations, for instance, politicking is overt
and rampant, whereas in others, politics plays a small role in influencing outcomes.
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At the individual level, researchers have identified certain personality traits, needs and
other factors likely to be related to political behaviour.
– Employees who are high self-monitors, possess an internal locus of control and have a
high need for power are more likely to engage in political behaviour.
Individual Factors
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High self-monitor: more sensitive to social cues, exhibits higher levels of social conformity and is
more likely to be skilled in political behaviour than the low self-monitor.
Locus of Control: Individuals with an internal locus of control, are more prone to take a proactive
stance and attempt to manipulate situations in their favour.
Machiavellian personality: characterised by the will to manipulate and the desire for power—is
comfortable using politics as a means to further his or her self-interest.
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Certain situations and cultures promote politics. Politicking is more likely to surface
when:
– An organisation’s resources are declining.
– The existing pattern of resources is changing.
– There is opportunity for promotions.
– Threatened with the loss of resources, people may engage in political actions to
safeguard what they have.
– Cultures characterised by low trust, role ambiguity, unclear performance
evaluation systems, zero-sum reward allocation practices, democratic decision
making, high pressures for performance, and self-serving senior managers will
also create breeding grounds for politicking.
Organisational factors
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– Role ambiguity means that the prescribed employee behaviours are
not clear. Therefore, there are fewer limits to the scope and functions
of the employee’s political actions.
– Subjective performance criteria create ambiguity.
– The more an organisation’s culture emphasises the zero-sum or
win/lose approach to reward allocations, the more employees will be
motivated to engage in politicking.
– Politicking by top management (role modelling by leaders) in a sense,
gives permission to those lower in the organisation to play politics by
implying that such behaviour is acceptable.
Organisational Factors (cont’d)
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Factors that influence political behaviour
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Discussion 3
• Is political behaviour bad?
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Politics is in the Eye of the Beholder
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Most employees have low-to-modest willingness to play politics and have the
following reactions to politics:
Employee Responses to Organisational Politics
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Defensive
Behaviours
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When employees see politics as a
threat, they often respond with
defensive behaviours— reactive
and protective behaviours to avoid
action, blame or change.
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It is difficult to tell ethical from unethical politicking.
Three questions help:
1. What is the utility of engaging in the behaviour?
2. Does the utility balance out any harm done by the action?
3. Does the action conform to standards of equity and justice?
When faced with an ethical dilemma regarding organisational politics, try to consider whether
playing politics is worth the risk, and whether others might be harmed in the process. If you
have a strong power base, recognise the ability of power to corrupt.
The Ethics of Behaving Politically
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The process by which individuals attempt to control the impression that others form of them is called
impression management (IM).
Most of the studies undertaken to test the effectiveness of IM techniques have related it to two
criteria:
• interview success
• performance evaluations
The evidence indicates that most job applicants use IM techniques focused on self-promotion.
In terms of performance ratings, ingratiation is positively related to performance ratings, meaning that
those who ingratiate with their supervisors get higher performance evaluations.
Impression Management
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Impression
Management
Techniques
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– An effective manager accepts the political nature of organisations. Some people are significantly more
politically astute than others, meaning that they are aware of the underlying politics and can manage impressions.
– Those who are good at playing politics can be expected to get higher performance evaluations and,
hence, larger salary increases and more promotions than the politically naïve or inept.
– The politically astute are also likely to exhibit higher job satisfaction and be better able to neutralise job
stressors.
– People respond differently to the various power bases.
– Expert and referent power are derived from an individual’s personal qualities. In contrast, coercion,
reward and legitimate power are essentially organisationally derived.
– Competence especially appears to offer wide appeal, and its use as a power base results in high
performance by group members.
– Managers and leaders that learn to recognise the different bases of power and also how to employ
power tactics would be more effective in the desired outcomes
Summary and Conclusion