McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved1

Power and

Influence in the

Workplace

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

McShane/Von Glinow OB

5eCopyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights

reserved.

Power, Influence & Politics in the RCMP

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

(RCMP) human resources director

Denise Revine and her boss Chief

Superintendent Fraser Macauley,

(see photo) had their careers

derailed when they reported that

pension funds had been

misappropriated. A Canadian

government report concluded the

RCMP suffered from the “absolute

power exercised by the

Commissioner.”

10-3

The Meaning of Power

Power is the capacity of a

person, team, or organization to

influence others.

• Potential, not actual use

• People have power they don’t

use -- may not know they

possess

• A perception

10-4

Power and Dependence

Resource

desired by

person B

Person B’s countervailing

power over Person A

Person A Person A’s control of resource valued

by Person B

Person B

Person A’s power over Person B

10-5

Model of Power in Organizations

Contingencies

of Power

Power

over others

Sources

of Power

Legitimate

Reward

Coercive

Expert

Referent

10-6

Sources of Power

Agreement that people in

certain roles can request

certain behaviors of others

Based on job descriptions and

mutual agreement

Legitimate power range (zone

of indifference) varies across

national and org cultures.

Legitimate

10-7

Sources of Power

Ability to control the allocation of

rewards valued by others and to

remove negative sanctions

Operates upward as well as

downward

Reward

Legitimate

10-8

Sources of Power

Ability to apply punishment

Exists upward as well as

downward

Peer pressure is a form of

coercive power

Legitimate

Coercive

Reward

10-9

Sources of Power

The capacity to influence

others by possessing

knowledge or skills that they

value

More employee expert power

over companies in knowledge

economy

Legitimate

Expert

Reward

Coercive

10-10

Sources of Power

Occurs when others identify

with, like, or otherwise respect

the person

Associated with charismatic

leadership

Legitimate

Referent

Reward

Coercive

Expert

10-11

DeCourcy’s Trendspotting Power

Colleen DeCourcy has

developed a reputation as a

trendspotter, giving her

considerable information power

in the advertising industry. “Her

knowledge of the digital

landscape, grounded in

creativity, make her an

invaluable additional to TBWA,”

says DeCourcy’s boss.

10-12

Information and Power

Control over information flow

• Based on legitimate power

• Relates to formal communication

network

Coping with uncertainty

• More power to those who can

help firms cope with uncertainty

- Prevention

- Forecasting

- Absorption

10-13

Power Through Control of Information Flow

This person has high information control

These people individually have low information control

Wheel formation

All-channels formation

10-14

Contingencies of Power

Contingencies

of Power

Substitutability

Centrality

Discretion

Visibility

Power

over others

Sources

of Power

10-15

Increasing Nonsubstitutability

Few/no alternatives to the resource

Increase nonsubstituability by controlling the

resource

• exclusive right to perform medical procedures

• control over skilled labor

• exclusive knowledge to repair equipment

Differentiate resource from others

10-16

Centrality

Degree and nature of interdependence

between powerholder and others

Centrality is a function of:

• How many others are affected by you

• How quickly others are affected by you

10-17

Discretion and Visibility

Discretion• The freedom to exercise judgment

• Rules limit discretion, limit power

• Also a perception – acting as if you have discretion

Visibility• Symbols communicate your power source(s)

- Educational diplomas

- Clothing etc (stethoscope around neck)

• Salience

- Location – others more aware of your presence

10-18

Social Networking and Power

Cultivating social relationships with others to

accomplish one’s goals

Increases power through:

• social capital

• referent power

• visibility and centrality contingencies

10-19

Influencing Others

Influence -- any behavior that attempts to alter

someone’s attitudes or behavior

• Applies one or more power bases

• Process through which people achieve

organizational objectives

• Operates up, down, and across the organizational

hierarchy

10-20

Assertiveness • Actively applying legitimate and coercive power (“vocal authority”)

• Reminding, confronting, checking, threatening

Silent

Authority• Following requests without overt influence

• Based on legitimate power, role modeling

• Common in high power distance cultures

more

Types of Influence

10-21

Coalition

Formation

• Group forms to gain more power than individuals alone

1. Pools resources/power

2. Legitimizes the issue

3. Power through social identity

more

Types of Influence (con’t)

Information

Control• Manipulating others’ access to information

• Withholding, filtering, re-arranging information

10-22

Upward

Appeal• Appealing to higher authority

• Includes appealing to firm’s goals

• Alliance or perceived alliance with higher status person

more

Types of Influence (con’t)

Persuasion• Logic, facts, emotional appeals

• Depends on persuader, message content, message medium, audience

10-23

Types of Influence (con’t)

Exchange • Promising or reminding of past benefits in exchange for compliance

• Includes negotiation and networking

Ingratiation/

Impress. Mgt.• increaseliking by, or perceived similarity to

the target person

10-24

Consequences of Influence Tactics

people oppose the behavior desired by the influencer

motivated by external sources (rewards) to implement request

identify with and highly motivated to implement request

Resistance Compliance Commitment

10-25

Consequences of Influence Tactics

Resistance Compliance Commitment

Persuasion

Ingratiation &impression mgt

Exchange

Soft Influence Tactics

Hard Influence Tactics

Silent authority

Upward appeal

Coalition formation

Information control

Assertiveness

10-26

Contingencies of Influence Tactics

“Soft” tactics generally more acceptable than

“hard” tactics

Appropriate influence tactic depends on:

• Influencer’s power base

• Organizational position

• Cultural values and expectations

10-27

Organizational Politics

Behaviors that others perceive as self-

serving tactics for personal gain at the

expense of other people and possibly

the organization.

10-28

Conditions

Supporting

Organizational

Politics

Scarce

Resources

Complex and

Ambiguous

Decisions

Tolerance of Politics

OrganizationalChange

Conditions for Organizational Politics

10-29

Minimizing Political Behaviour

1. Introduce clear rules for scarce resources

2. Effective organizational change practices

3. Suppress norms that support or tolerate

self-serving behavior

4. Leaders role model organizational

citizenship

5. Give employees more control over their

work

6. Keep employees informed10-30

Power and

Influence in the

Workplace

10-31

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

McShane/Von Glinow OB

5eCopyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights

reserved.