Session 2

Power
Frédéric Godart
Fall 2018
 Three Lenses
Goal, Scope, Competitive Advantage(s), Logic

Strategy
Coordination Incentives

Environment Organization

Culture Politics
People’s actions
Buyers
Suppliers
Entrants
Substitutes
Competition Design
 Learning Goals for Today
• Understand what power is, where power
comes from, and how power influences
dynamics in organizations

• Experience how power is exercised

• Federated Science Fund Exercise

• Discuss (some of) the issues you raised in

your reading journals
 Overview of Today’s Class

POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE

Part 1. Dynamics of Power

Part 2. Exercise: Federated Science Fund
Part 3. Exercise Debrief
Part 4. Influence Techniques
Part 5. The Ethics of Power and Politics
 PART 1
DYNAMICS OF POWER
 Power Has Bad Press!

“Power tends to
corrupt, and
absolute power
Confirmed corrupts absolutely.
empirically Great men are
almost always bad
men,” Lord Acton,
1887
We Should Not Hold Our Noses at
Power Because…
1. If you’re powerful, you’ll live a happier and longer life
e.g., an actor who has won an Oscar lives on average four
years longer than those who have not

2. Power, because it causes increased visibility and fame,

can help generate income and wealth
e.g., the Clintons made 109 million USD between 2001 and
2009 via book deals and conferences

3. You’ll need power to accomplish things. Without power,

your ideas will go unheeded and may reach a dead end
e.g., Gandhi took the lead of the Congress Party and it
helped foster his non-violent agenda
 Things to Consider: Question

What is power? And what is

(organizational) politics?
 Power and Organizational Politics:
What Are We Talking About?

And?

And what about politics?

What is power, really?

• “the ability • ... It is based • Politics is

to have on the the art and
things your control of science of
way.” valuable analysing
(Pfeffer, resources and
2010b, p. exercising
87)—to get power
things done (Dahl)

BUT power “has been called an

‘essentially contested concept’”
(Lukes, 2005)
 Things to Consider: Question

What are the sources (or antecedents)

of power?
11

Key Sources (Antecedents) of

Power
Personal Positional

Authority (formal
Force (e.g.,
right to act
physical, legal,
derived from
military)
position)
Hard

Wealth (financial
and economic
capital)

Knowledge, Legitimacy (right

Appearance (e.g., Status (being
Skills, and to act conferred
attractiveness, well-regarded by
Abilities (KSAs) by others, either
height, logos, well-regarded
(human capital, directly or via
website) others)
partly inherited) regulations)
Soft

Influence (ability Reputation Information

to change (result of past (access to data
perceptions) actions) and facts)

Note: This framework can be adapted to individual, team, organizational, or national levels; no categorization is perfect
 Political Styles
Style 7 Style 8 Style 9
Initiates
Action Orientation

Style 4 Style 5 Style 6

Predicts

Style 1 Style 2 Style 3

Responds

Negative Neutral Positive

View of (Organizational) Politics

Source: DeLuca (1999); adapted. Note: no categorization is perfect.

 Discussion Questions

1. Where do you fit personally? (have a

courageous discussion about it!)
1. Where do you think most people fit?
2. Do you think there is an optimal
positioning (not only for you, but also
for your organization)?
 Political Styles (Q1)
Turf-builder Responsible Leader
Initiates - Machiavellian? - Obligation - Play Maker
- Has been burnt before - Constant Sense of - Impact Player
- Looks out for #1 Weariness - Mach in disguise?
- P&P is win/lose - P&P is win/win
Action Orientation

Protector Speculator Advisor

Predicts - File Builder - Grapeviner - Guide Others through
- Defensive - Politics as Game Show Organizational Maze
- Often “fence-sitter”

Cynic Fatalist Spectator

Responds - Warranted by personal - Very resilient - Politics as Soap Opera
experience - Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will - Let’s go for a drink
- I Told You So Be, Will Be) - Encourager
- Has an External Hobby

Negative Neutral Positive

View of Politics

Source: DeLuca (1999); adapted. Note: no categorization is perfect; they are a tool.
 Political Styles (Q2 and Q3)
Politically
Initiates
Savvy
Action Orientation

Predicts

This is a crowded space

Why are you

Responds
here? Move up!

Negative Neutral Positive

View of Politics

Source: DeLuca (1999); adapted. Note: no categorization is perfect.

So You’re Interested in Power… Be
Careful For Power Is Costly
• Increased visibility and public scrutiny
Cost 1 • “If you are going to misbehave in any way, do so before you
achieve a high-level position” (Pfeffer, 2010, p. 184).

Cost 2 • Significant loss of autonomy

Cost 3 • Additional time and effort required

Cost 4 • Emerging trust dilemmas

Cost 5 • Rising addiction to power

• More ethical issues of increasing

Cost 6 importance
 Attainment of Power
• Develop your sources of power
• Acquisition of powerful positions, skills and
knowledge, personal characteristics, valuable
relationships

• Make others (and yourself) think you have

power
• “Fake it until you make it”?
• People are often quick to assume the power of
others (Milgram experiment, education, wealth)

• Learn the interests of others

 Maintenance of Power
• Often, power is self-reinforcing

• As power increases, powerholders have more

opportunities to demonstrate, use, and develop
their sources of power

• In turn, people become more dependent on them

and obedient to them

• The spiral continues

 Loss of Power – External Factors
• Changes in dependence relationships
• Skills and knowledge becoming irrelevant

• Major changes in technology or society

 Loss of Power – Internal Factors
• Hubris

• Viewing and treating others as means to an

end or taking them for granted, causing them
to retaliate

• Being less attentive to others’ perspectives

and interests

• Losing touch with reality

 PART 2
POWER DYNAMICS EXERCISE:
Federated Science Fund
 Federated Science Fund
• Three-party negotiation
• Each party tries to maximize his or her outcome
• Individual Preparation (5 minutes)
• What are the facts?
• What is my power?
• How can I leverage my power in the negotiation?
• What is the best strategy in this negotiation?
• If you have questions, raise your hand and I
will come to you
 Federated Science Fund
• Negotiation (about 40 minutes)
• Find the other two parties for the exercise (your
group number is in the upper right)
• Find a place to negotiate
• Two parties can have a private conversation for a
maximum of 5 minutes – after 5 mins, the excluded
party can interrupt
• SEAL THE DEAL
• At least two signatures needed on the results form
• When you are finished, come back to the room to
give me your results form—please write clearly!
• All results will be shared publicly
 PART 3
POWER DYNAMICS EXERCISE:
Debrief
 Federated Science Fund: Debrief
• What were your strategies?
• What tactics did you use to negotiate for
resource distribution?
• Who had a partner who was particularly
effective in the negotiations? What did they
do?
• How many groups had private conversations?
• How was the final arrangement ultimately
reached?
 Distribution of Power
• Who had the most power? Why?

• Stockman
• Most powerful, least dependent
• Turbo
• Middle power, middle need
• United
• Least powerful, most dependent, but also least to
lose
• Power differences between representatives?
Team # Stockman Turbo United Total

2 Results
3

10

11

12

13

14

15
 Federated Science Fund: Debrief
• System of equations:
• S + T = $440,000
• S + U = $380,000
• T + U = $300,000

• S = $260,000; T = $180,000;
U = $120,000
• S + T + U = $560,000 BUT
• S + T + U = $480,000 (in exercise)

• $560,000 > $480,000; $80,000 short

 Potential “Fair” Solution 1
• Equal Reduction
• Step 1: Solve the system of equations
• Stockman = 260k
• Turbo = 180k
• United = 120k
• Step 2: Calculate the amount you are short and divide by
number of parties
• 80k / 3 = 26,666.67
• Step 3: Reduce each party’s share equally
• Stockman = 233,333
• Turbo = 153,333
• United = 93,333
 Potential “Fair” Solution 2
• Equitable Reduction
• Step 1: Solve the system of equations
• Stockman = 260k
• Turbo = 180k
• United = 120k
• Step 2: Calculate the amount you are short
• 80k
• Step 3: Reduce each party’s share proportionially
• Stockman = 260k – (80k * .464) = 222,880
• Turbo = 180k – (80k * .322) = 152,240
• United = 120k – (80k * .212) = 102,880
 Potential “Fair” Solution 3
• Pivotal Power: Determine Value Added
(Shapley Model: a solution concept in
cooperative game theory)
• Note here that order matters
Order of Stockman Turbo added United added
Joining added value value value
STU 0 440 40
SUT 0 100 380
TSU 440 0 40
TUS 180 0 300
UST 380 100 0
UTS 180 300 0
Shapley 196.67 156.67 126.67

31
 Fairness Norms
• All of these (and others) are potentially “fair”
• Depends on which fairness norms a group
will employ and how closely will stick to them

• When do you think each fairness norm is

likely to be employed?
• Equality (blind justice)
• Equity (contribution-based justice)
• Need (social welfare/need-based justice)

• Other fairness or distribution norms?

 What is a Coalition?
• Two or more parties working together to
achieve one or more goals
 Building Coalitions
• To build coalitions
• Find those who honor commitments (trust!)
• Take timing into account (want to join early or
late?)
• Be aware of risks of initiating a coalition
• Offer to divide resources fairly
• Build relationships
• Know other parties’ alternatives to joining,
consequences of joining and not joining, and
interests
 Issues in Coalitions
• Coalitions are inherently fragile and
instrumental
• Members can switch allegiance easily
• Once trust is broken, it is almost impossible to
re-establish
• Different conceptualizations of power
• What you add to the coalition
• What you can obtain elsewhere (alternative)
• Different conceptualizations of what is “Fair”
 Maintaining Coalitions
• To strengthen coalitions
• Develop procedural rules
• Build interpersonal, long-term relationships
• Consider reputations and honor each other’s
commitment
• Block others’ coalitions
• Understand each other’s interests
 PART 4
INFLUENCE TECHNIQUES
 Influence Techniques
• What are some specific, evidence-based
techniques shown to influence the behaviors
of others?

• Reciprocity • Consistency
• Scarcity • Liking
• Authority • Consensus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdCzN7RYbw
 PART 5
THE ETHICS OF
POWER AND POLITICS
40

Leadership to Solve the Power

Dilemma?
“A key task of power holders and leaders is to facilitate social
coordination and cooperation to enhance group success. Self-
serving behaviors undermine this goal and therefore jeopardize
the ability of power holders to maintain their power. Collective,
group-serving behaviors, by contrast, strengthen power holders’
power by furthering the interests of the individuals and group,
rather than the interests of the power holder alone.”

Anderson and Brion, 2014

 Power in Organizations: Summary
• Power is the ability to have your way, even
when you need the best efforts of others who
would prefer a different course of action

• Power comes from asymmetric dependence

• Your position, personal attributes, and
relationships create others’ dependence on you

• Power can be gained through influencing

others’ (and your own) perceptions of you

• Power can be built by forming coalitions

 Next Class
• Political Lens 2: Social Networks
• Relationships as a source of power
• Reading journal
• Class network
• Simulation!