Transcript CHAPTER 13 Influence, Power, and Politics Introduction to

CHAPTER 13
Influence, Power,
and Politics
Introduction to
Industrial/Organizational
Psychology by Ronald E. Riggio
Defining Influence, Power,
and Politics
Influence is the ability to use social
forces to affect the behavior of others.
 Power is the use of some aspect of a
work relationship to compel another to
perform a certain action despite
resistance.
 Organizational politics are selfserving actions designed to affect the
behavior of others to achieve personal
goals.

Influence: The Use of Social Control

Choice of influence tactics is determined by the
situation, the status of individuals involved, and
other organizational characteristics like size.
 Higher-status persons are more likely to use
assertiveness or sanctions; lower-status
persons use rational appeals.
 Coworkers use ingratiation, exchange,
rationality, and coalitions.
 When seeking personal goals, subordinates
tend to use ingratiation; in seeking
organizational goals, subordinates use upward
appeals and rationality.
 Rationality is a more effective managerial
tactic; pressure tactics are least effective in
influencing subordinates.
Power: A Major Force in
Work Organizations

Power is derived from a variety of
sources of two main types.
Organizational power is power
derived from a person’s position in an
organization and from control over
important resources afforded by that
position.
 Individual power is power derived
from personal characteristics that are
of value to the organization, such as
expertise or ability.

Power: A Major Force in
Work Organizations

Power bases are sources of power
possessed by individuals in organizations.
• Coercive power is the use of punishment or
threats to affect behavior of others.
• Reward power results from having the ability
to offer something positive.
• Legitimate power involves formal authority
accompanying a position in an organization.
• Expert power is derived from having certain
work-related knowledge or skill.
• Referent power results from the fact that an
individual is respected, admired, and liked by
others.
Power: A Major Force in Work
Organizations
Power: A Major Force in
Work Organizations

Power dynamics in work organization
have several features.
• Differences in power distribution:
usually organizations are arranged in
a power hierarchy, with some people
having more power than others
(although low-status members can
have increased power through
individual sources, like expertise).
• Ways to increase power include
developing expertise, forming
relationships with higher-status
members, or forming coalitions.
Power: A Major Force in
Work Organizations

Power dynamics in work organization
have several features.
• Power and dependency relationships:
workers commonly depend on others
for work resources; those possessing
those resources have more power.
• Power and work outcomes: expert
power is related to effective job
performance; referent power is linked
to member satisfaction with the person
having the power; use of coercive
power decreases job satisfaction
among targets of power.
Power: A Major Force in
Work Organizations

Power dynamics in work organization
have several features.
• The power corollary: the concept that
for every exercise of power, there is a
tendency for the subject to react with a
return power play.
• Power and leadership: ideally, leaders
would possess all five forms of power
(legitimate, reward, coercive, referent,
and expert).
Organizational Politics
Functional politics are political
behaviors that help the organization to
attain its goals.
 Dysfunctional politics are political
behaviors that detract from the
organization’s ability to attain its
goals.

Organizational Politics

There are several causes of organizational
politics:
 Competition for power and resources.
 Subjective performance appraisals.
 Delay in measurement of work
outcomes.
 Compensation for inadequacies.
 Lack of cooperation and
interdependence.
 Increased group decision making.
Organizational Politics

Consequences of organizational politics can
be positive and negative.
May lead to increased job
performance if workers and
supervisors share similar goals (Witt,
1998)
 Lower job satisfaction
 Lower organizational commitment and
OCBs
 Poorer quality organizational
communication
 Higher absenteeism and turnover

Organizational Politics

There are several strategies for managing
organizational politics:
Remove ambiguity and uncertainty.
 Provide “slack” resources.
 Create a positive organizational
climate.
 Clarify personnel selection and
appraisal processes.
 Reward performance, not politics.

A Contingency Approach to
Organizational Politics
The form and incidence of
organizational politics changes across
an organization’s “life cycle” (Gray &
Ariss, 1985).
 Cobb (1984) proposes an “episodic
model of power” that examines use of
power in actual work settings.


The episodic model includes
consideration of aspects of the power
agent, target, and elements of the
power situation.