A Definition of Power

Power
A capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B so
that B acts in accordance with As wishes.

Dependency

Bs relationship to A when A possesses something that

B requires.

Bases of Power & Influence Tactics

Rational Persuasion
EXPERT

Inspirational Appeals

REFERENT

Consultation
Personal Appeals

LEGITIMATE
COERCIVE
REWARD

Ingratiation
Coalition Tactics
Pressure Tactics

Legitimising Tactics
Exchange

Vertical Sources of Power

Formal Position
Resources
Control of Decision Premises and Information
Network Centrality

Horizontal Power
Dependency

Nonsubstitutability

Centrality

Department Power

Financial Resources

Coping with Uncertainty

What Creates Dependency

Importance of the resource
to the organization
Scarcity of the resource

Power in Groups: Coalitions

Coalitions

Clusters of individuals
who temporarily come
together to achieve a
specific purpose.

Seek to maximize their

size to attain influence.
Seek a broad and diverse
constituency for support
of their objectives.
Occur more frequently in
organizations with high
task and resource
interdependencies.
Occur more frequently if
tasks are standardized
and routine.

Politics: Power in Action

Political Behavior
Activities that are not required as part of ones
formal role in the organization, but that influence, or
attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages
or disadvantages within the organization.
Legitimate Political Behavior
Normal everyday politics.
Illegitimate Political Behavior
Extreme political behavior that violates the implied
rules of the game.

Conflict
A process that begins when one party perceives that
another party has negatively affected, or is about to
negatively affect something that the first party cares
about.
Functional: Supports the goals of the group and
improves its performance

Dysfunctional: hinders group performance

Conflict and Unit Performance

Why Conflict ?
Size, specialization, and composition of the group
act as forces to stimulate conflict.
The greater the ambiguity in precisely defining
where responsibility for actions lies, the greater the
potential for conflict to emerge.
The diversity of goals among groups is a major
source of conflict.
Too much reliance on participation may also
stimulate conflict.
Reward systems create conflict when one members
gain is at anothers expense.

Collaborating

Competing

Assertiveness

Assertive

Dimensions of Conflict-Handling Intentions

Unassertive

Compromising

Avoiding

Accommodating

Uncooperative

Cooperative
Cooperativeness

Sources of Conflict
Rational vs. Political Model
Sources of
Potential
Inter-group
Conflict

When Conflict Is

low

Rational Model
Consistent across
participants

Goal
Incompatibility
Differentiation
Task
Interdependence
Limited
Resources

Centralized

Orderly, logical,
rational
Norm of efficiency

Extensive,
systematic, accurate

When Conflict Is
Organization
Variables
Goals
Power and
Control
Decision
Process
Rules and
Norms
Information

HIGH

Political Model
Inconsistent, pluralistic
within the organization
Decentralized, shifting
coalitions and interest
groups
Disorderly, result of
bargaining and interplay
among interests
Free play of market forces,
conflict is legitimate and
expected
Ambiguous, information used
and withheld strategically