Power Tactics

Module-4
Power Tactics
There are 9 organizational power tactics.
These tactics are ways in which individuals translate
power bases into specific actions.
Influence Tactics
•Rational persuasion. A tactic that is used to try and convince
someone with a valid reason, rational logic, or realistic facts.
•Inspirational appeals. A tactic that builds enthusiasm by
appealing to emotions, ideas and/or values.
•Consultation. A tactic that focuses on getting others to
participate in the planning process, making decisions, and
encourage changes.
Influence Tactics
•Ingratiation. A tactic that emphasizes on getting someone in a
good mood prior to making a request. It includes being friendly,
helpful, and using praise or flattery.
•Personal appeals. A tactic that refers to friendship and loyalty
while making a request.
•Exchange. A tactic that suggests that making express or
implied promises and trading favours.
Influence Tactics
•Coalition tactics. Refers to a tactic that prescribes getting
others to support your effort to persuade someone.
•Pressure. A tactic that focuses on demanding compliance or
using intimidation or threats.
•Legitimating tactics. This tactic suggests that basing a
request on one’s authority or right, organizational rules or
policies, or express or implied support from superiors, is a best.
Kurt Lewin’s Three stage model
Approaches to Managing Organizational
Change
 Three stage model

• One of the cornerstone models for

understanding organizational change was
developed by Kurt Lewin back in the
1940s, and still holds true today.
• His model is known as Unfreeze – Change
– Refreeze, refers to the three-stage
process of change he describes.
• Kurt Lewin, a physicist as well as social
scientist, explained organizational change
using the analogy of changing the shape of
a block of ice.
Three stage model
 Three stage
model
Kurt Lewin

Unfreezing Moving Refreezing

• Provide rationale • Provide information • Implement new

for change that suspects evaluation systems
• Create minor proposed changes • Implement new
levels of • Bring about actual hiring and promotion
guilt/anxiety about shifts in behavior systems
not changing
• Create sense of
psychological
safety concerning
change
 Three stage model
• Unfreezing is the process which involves finding a
method of making it possible for people to let go of
an old pattern that was counterproductive in some
way.
• Unfreezing is necessary to overcome the strains of
individual resistance and group conformity.
• Unfreezing can be achieved by the use of these
three methods.
– Increase the driving forces that direct behavior away
from the existing situation or status quo.
– Decrease the restraining forces that negatively
affect the movement from the existing equilibrium.
– Find a combination of the two
methods listed above.
 Three stage model
• Movement stage involves a process of change in thoughts,
feeling, behavior, or all three, that is in some way more
liberating or more productive.
• Once team members have opened up their minds, change
can start. The change process can be dynamic and, if it is
to be effective, it will probably take some time and involve a
transition period.
• In order to gain efficiency, people will have to take on new
tasks and responsibilities, which entail a learning curve
that will at first slow the organization down.
• A change process has to be viewed as an investment, both
in terms of time and the allocation of resources: after the
new organization and processes have been rolled out.
 Three stage model
• Change will only reach its full effect if
it’s made permanent. Once the
organizational changes have been
made and the structure has regained
its effectiveness, efforts should be
made to cement them and make sure
the new organisation reaches the
standard.
• “Re-freezing” gives people the
opportunity to thrive in the new
organization and take full
advantage of the change.
Changing People: Some Basic Steps
S ep 3:
t Refreezing
Incorporating the
changes,
creating and
maintaining a new
organizational system
Step 2: Changing
Attempting to
create a new
state of affairs

S ep 1:
Unfreezing
t Recognizing
the need for
change
 Case study
• The oil company had three
divisional offices in the West,
located in Seattle, San Francisco,
and Los Angeles.
• The decision was made to
consolidate the divisions in to a
single regional office to be
located in San Francisco.
transferring 15
• The reorganization
employees,meant eliminating
ove 0
some
r duplicate
manageri
al positions, and instituting
a new hierarchy of
 UNFREEZING

• The status quo can be considered to be an

equilibrium state. To move from this equilibrium to
overcome the pressures of both individual
resistance and group conformity unfreezing is
necessary. It can be achieved in one of three ways.
• The driving forces, which direct behavior away from
the status quo, can be increased.
• The restraining forces, which hinder movement from
the existing equilibrium, can be decreased.
• A third alternative is to combine the first two
approaches.
 Movement
• The oil company’s management could expect
employee resistance to the consolidation. To deal
with that resistance, management could use
positive incentive to encourage employees to
accept the change, such as these;
• Increase in pay can be offered to those who
accept the transfer.
• The company can pay liberal moving expenses.
• Management might offer low cost mortgage
funds to allow employees to buy new homes in
San Francisco.
 Movement

• Employees could be counseled

individually.
Each concerns
employee’
apprehensions an
s coul d
d be heard
• Assuming that
specifically and
most of the fears
clarified. are unjustified, the counselor could assure the employees that there was
nothing to fear and then demonstrate, through tangible evidence, that restraining forces are unwarranted.
• If resistance is extremely high, management mat have to resort to both reducing resistance and increasing
the attractiveness of the alternative if the unfreezing is to be successful.
• To be effective, change has to happen quickly. Organizations that build up to change do less well than
those that get to and through the movement stage quickly.
 Refreezing
• Once the consolidation change has been
implemented, if it is to be successful, the
new situation needs to be refrozen so that it
can be sustained over time.
• Unless this last step is taken, there is a very
high chance that the change will be short
lived and that employees will attempt to
revert to the previous equilibrium state.
• The objective of refreezing, then, is to
stabilize the new situation by balancing the
driving and restraining forces.