BA 5201 Organization and Management Organization Theory and
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Transcript BA 5201 Organization and Management Organization Theory and
BA 5201
Organization and Management
Power and politics
Instructor: Çağrı Topal
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Authority
Rationally based formal right to make
decisions and influence behavior through
instructions or directions to implement those
decisions based on formal organizational
relationships
Based on private property ownership
Associated with the responsibility to protect
the interest of the organization and the
owner
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Managerial authority
Right to make and enforce decisions
Possessed by all managers
Larger with the increase in the hierarchical
level
Based on the principle of parity of authority
and responsibility
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Staff authority
Right to make suggestions and
recommendations
Possessed by everyone in an organization
Based on the assumption that individuals
should know best about their jobs
Not exercised much in practice
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Situational authority
Right to make binding decisions within a very
restricted area or scope
Containing elements of both managerial and
staff authority
Delegated to an expert staff by a manager
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Operative authority
Right to determine certain components of
the work and to work without undue
supervision
Regarding specific tasks and duties and work
conditions
Applying to all levels
Supposed to be reasonably exercised
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Power
Potential or actual ability to impose one’s will
on others
Ability of one person to affect the behavior
of someone else in a desired way
Influence that does not necessarily depend on
but nevertheless may extend from formal
organizational relationships
Not necessarily reflecting hierarchical
relationships
Based on single individual characteristics or
dependency relationships
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Individual bases
Rational or legal or traditional power
Acceptance that its exercise, by another
person, agrees with some set of rules or laws
or traditions considered legitimate by both
parties
Called legitimate power
Function of culture when tradition-based
Identical with authority when rule- or lawbased
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Individual bases
Reward power
Ability to control and dispense benefits to
others
Ability to shape the behavior of others by the
act of dispensing or withholding benefits
Based on the size of the reward and the
belief that it will be dispensed
Depending on the measurement of the
behavior to be rewarded
Indicating a dependency relationship
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Individual bases
Coercive power
Ability to coerce into something or punish
another person
Effective to the extent that punishments are
considered as punishing actually, strong
enough, and likely
Depending on the measurement of desired
behaviors or task accomplishments
Changing behaviors
Potentially leading to avoidance and
estrangement
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Individual bases
Referent power
Identification with a person in a power
position
Not depending on explicit recognition
Indicating role modeling
Observed in hero worship or
master/apprentice relationship
Creating strong commitment
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Individual bases
Charismatic power
Influence or power based on one’s
personality
Involving no special effort
Helping followers attain personal goals
Possible to involve referent power
Indicating leadership qualities
Easily attracting others
Retained long after loss of official power
positions or life
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Individual bases
Expert power
Based on knowledge or special skills or
academic and professional credentials
Irrespective of hierarchical positions
Involving a dependency relationship
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Dependency bases
Control of resources
Power of individuals or departments who
control critical or scarce resources within an
organization
Influencing organizational decisions through
control of resources
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Dependency bases
Solving critical contingencies
Power through possessing and using
information, knowledge, and special skills
Solving key problems facing an organization
or reducing uncertainty
Depending on the degree of pervasiveness of
threats or uncertainty
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Dependency bases
Substitutability
Power of individuals and departments with
non-substitutable or difficult-to-substitute
skills, expertise, and resources
Outside availability and insiders’ loss of
power
New dependency relationships with outsiders
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Dependency bases
Location in the organization
Being located near power sources
Controlling the availability of decision-makers
Network centrality and access to critical
information
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Dependency bases
Position in the organization
Power based on formal dependency
relationships between hierarchical levels
Emergence of informal dependencies
• Scarcity of expertise at middle and lower
levels due to downsizing
• Reliance on sophisticated new technologies
used by lower levels
• Longer organizational tenure
• Vacuum created by a transition in
leadership
• Following organizational rules strictly
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How to assess power
Power determinants
Consequences of decisions made by various
organizational actors
Power symbols
Representational indicators of power
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Dominant coalition in power
Group holding extensive power and authority
that may be separate from formal power
Key group of decision-makers
In-group members
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Stickiness of power
Individuals or groups trying to retain power
as long as possible
Transition of power problematic and costly
Existing dominant coalitions reframing
problems in line with their competencies
New coalitions emerging and struggling for
power
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Politics and power
Different groups different interests and goals
Stakeholder-specific effectiveness
Uncertainty and bounded rationality
Dissociation of formal and informal power
Organizational politics: those activities taken
within the organization to acquire, develop,
and use power and other resources to obtain
one’s preferred outcomes in a situation in
which there is uncertainty or a lack of
consensus about choices
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Rational vs. political organizations
Agreement on goals vs. multiple and
conflicting goals
Compatibility vs. incompatibility between
formal and informal power, and centralized vs.
decentralized power
Low to moderate uncertainty overcome by
more information vs. extensive uncertainty
resulting in power games with information
Rational-economic decision-making vs.
bounded rational decision-making
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