UGBA105: UGBA105: Organizational BehaviorOrganizational Behavior

Professor Jim LincolnProfessor Jim LincolnWeek 7: Week 7:

Power, politics, & networks in Power, politics, & networks in OrganizationsOrganizations

Walter A. Haas School of BusinessUniversity of California, Berkeley

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Power and Politics:Power and Politics:Class AgendaClass Agenda

• Review forms of power in organizations• Consider how power and politics can be good as well

as bad for organizations • Discuss managing politics “up” and “down” • Analyze power as the management of resource

dependencies• Examine political and networking strategies for

advancing your goals over the opposition

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Strategy (diversification; innovation)

Input

Environment(Competition, change)

Resources(munificence)

History (age, conditions at founding)

OutputSystems

Unit

Individual

InformalOrganization

(Culture, leadership, networks, politics)

Tasks (technologies, work flows)

People(ability, skills, motivation, biases)

FormalOrganization

(job titles, departments,

reporting hierarchy, IT & HR systems

We’re still with the informal We’re still with the informal organization organization

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Power and politics in organizationsPower and politics in organizations

• Power: a “dirty word?”

“Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”

• What is it?

• And politics?

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Power as a dirty wordPower as a dirty word

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.”

John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (1834–1902): Letter to Mandell Creighton, April 5, 1887. Reprinted in Acton, Essays on Freedom and Power, ed. Gertrude Himmelfarb, pp. 335–36 (1972).

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Leadership is power; but is all Leadership is power; but is all power leadership?power leadership?

Leadership: • Influencing others with charisma and vision• Developing committed “followership”

Other ways of getting & exercising power:1. 2...

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Contrasts in presidential powerContrasts in presidential power

John F. Kennedy

35th PresidentTerm of office:

1/20/1961 - 11/22/1963

Lyndon B. Johnson

36th President Term of office:

11/22/1963 - 1/20/1969

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More powerful politiciansMore powerful politicians

“Boss” Tweed Sen. Everett Dirksen

Representative Tom DeLay

Republican Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas turned himself in at Republican Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas turned himself in at the sheriff's office in Houston and was fingerprinted, the sheriff's office in Houston and was fingerprinted, photographed and released on $10,000 bail on conspiracy photographed and released on $10,000 bail on conspiracy and money laundering charges. This is his mug shot.and money laundering charges. This is his mug shot.

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Niccolo Machiavelli Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)(1469-1527)

“…(A) wise prince ought to adopt such a course that his citizens will always in every sort and kind of circumstance have need of him.., then he will always find them faithful."

“No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution."

“He who is the cause of another becoming powerful is ruined”

"Hence it is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it or not according to necessity. "

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What’s power for? What’s power for?

1. The classical rational model • Managers devise programs (“standard operating

procedures”) so that ….. are made “by the book”

• Higher level …. are uncertain and require problem-solving search

2. The political model …. is unplanned and disorderly. It occurs without clear

rules and behind the scenes. It results from conflicts in which one side prevails over others

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HP’s messy (and very public) politicsHP’s messy (and very public) politicsBoardroom DuelBehind H-P Chairman's Fall,Clash With a Powerful DirectorThe Cautious Patricia DunnAnd Flashy Tom Perkins Were a Combustible PairWSJ, G. Anders and A. MurrayOctober 9, 2006

Fiorina: Board intrigue familiar. Fired chief executive at HP describes 'veil of dysfunction'

B. Pimentel, SF Chronicle,

Tuesday, October 10, 2006 C. Fiorina: Tough Choices: A

Memoir, 2006

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Managing power and politicsManaging power and politics

• Politics isn’t pretty, but it is real, pervasive, & manageable

• How to analyze and navigate the political terrain

• How to manage power and politics– “Managing down” (From the organization’s perspective)

– “Managing up” (From the employee’s perspective)

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H. Ross Perot H. Ross Perot Founder and CEO, Electronic Data Services and Founder and CEO, Electronic Data Services and

Presidential Candidate, 1992 and 1996Presidential Candidate, 1992 and 1996

“If someone as blessed as I am is not willing to clean out the barn, who will?”

“Business is not just doing deals; business is having great products, doing great engineering, and providing tremendous service to customers.”

Perot ran for president of the United States in 1992 as an independent candidate, winning 19 percent of the vote—one of the largest percentages ever for an independent candidate. He ran again in 1996 on the Reform Party ticket.

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Managers’ attitudes toward workplace politicsManagers’ attitudes toward workplace politics

% Agree

Workplace politics are common to most organizations 92.3%

Successful executives must be good politicians 89.0%

The higher you go in organizations, the more political the climate becomes

76.2%

Powerful executives don’t act politically 15.7%

You have to be political to get ahead in organizations 69.8%

Top management should try to get rid of organizational politics 48.6%

Politics help organizations function effectively 42.1%

Organizations free of politics are happier than those with politics 59.1%

Politics in organizations are detrimental to efficiency 55.1%

Ganz and Murray “The Experience of Workplace Politics” Academy of Management Journal 23 (1980)

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The myth of the “good employee” The myth of the “good employee”

• Keep your nose clean and to the grindstone

• Assume that the smartest, best, and hardest-working people inevitably win in the end

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What personal qualities are likely to serve What personal qualities are likely to serve you well in organizational politics?you well in organizational politics?

•

•

•

•

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Where do organizational politics come from?Where do organizational politics come from?

•

•

•

•

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What are the downsides to What are the downsides to organizational politics?organizational politics?

• From the organization’s perspective– Processes

– Outcomes

• From the participant’s perspective

Bob Ebeling: Bob Ebeling: Manager of the Rocket Manager of the Rocket Ignition System at Morton-ThiokolIgnition System at Morton-Thiokol

“We did our level best, but it wasn’t good enough...The decision to recommend a launch was pre-ordained by others, by NASA leaning on our upper management. The deck was stacked.”

“I was so sure that Challenger was doomed that I asked my daughter, Leslie, then 33, to my office to watch a super colossal disaster unfold on live TV...and then I prayed”

That he foresaw disaster and could not stop it has tortured him since.

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What are the upsides (if any)?What are the upsides (if any)?

• Positive processes

• Positive outcomes

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Which kind of organization has the Which kind of organization has the most politics?most politics?

• The vertical or mechanistic model?

• The horizontal or organic model?

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How should you manage How should you manage power and politics “down”? power and politics “down”?

•

•

•

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Power and politics as the management Power and politics as the management of resource dependenciesof resource dependencies

(Or how to trade on scarce resources)(Or how to trade on scarce resources)• Assumption: power comes from leveraging resources in order to

to reduce dependence

• A’s dependence on B for resource C is:– Directly proportionate to B’s need of C – Inversely proportionate to the number of alternative suppliers of C

• So: A has power over B if:– B is dependent on A– A is not dependent on B

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What kinds of resources can you What kinds of resources can you leverage?leverage?

• • •

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U

3

5

4

6

15

12

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Network position as a resource:Network position as a resource:

David Mechanic: "Sources of power of lower participants in complex organizations." Administrative Science Quarterly 7(1962):349 64.

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Political strategiesPolitical strategies

Having a power base is not enough! – The next step is devising political strategies to

advance goals and overcome opposition• Anticipate the opposition’s moves (strategies &

tactics) and plan your response

(Cal last Saturday?)(Cal last Saturday?)

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Political strategiesPolitical strategies

• Monopolistic strategies

• Bureaucratic strategies

• Manage decision-making events

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Restructurings for political endsRestructurings for political ends

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Networking strategiesNetworking strategies

• Network widely

• Position yourself

• Build coalitions

• Prevent or break up their coalitions

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Networking strategy: Networking strategy: Be central; be a broker!Be central; be a broker!

U

3

5

4

6

15

12

11

31

1

U4

3

5

68

79

1012

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Networking strategy: Networking strategy: Forge “weak” ties! Forge “weak” ties!

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Networking strategy: Networking strategy: Exploit structural holesExploit structural holes

(My enemy’s enemy is my friend)(My enemy’s enemy is my friend)

A

B

C

A

B

C

-

+

-

-

-

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Conclusions:Conclusions:Power, politics, & networkingPower, politics, & networking

• For the employee: – You can be competent, work hard, do your job,

accomplish goals….– AND STILL LOSE

• To people better at organizational politics than you

• For the organization:– Power, politics, and networks are not all bad

and can be good– But they have to be understood and managed

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Wednesday:Wednesday:Donna Dubinsky caseDonna Dubinsky case

Who were the allies and adversaries in this conflict? What were the reasons for the conflict? What resources did the parties bring to bear? What strategies were used? Who prevailed and why? Does the gender of the protagonists have any relevance here? Why or why not? How might the debate over the distribution system have been better managed? How did Apple’s culture, structure, and the leadership styles of the executive team shape the evolution of the conflict? Was “incongruence” or poor alignment among the various parts of Apple’s organization a cause of the conflict? Was it leveraged or exploited in any way by the players?

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• xxx

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Donna Dubinsky’s 10 lessonsDonna Dubinsky’s 10 lessons

1. Get your “go-to-hell” money together2. Pick your boss well3. Negotiate with two or more options4. Treat people with respect5. Don’t dwell on sunk costs6. Challenge convention7. Don’t fight every battle8. Know your competitors9. Think global10. Don’t overestimate others