Organizational Behaviour: Concepts,

Controversies, Applications

Chapter 8 Power and

Politics

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 1. Define power

2. Explain the three bases of

formal power and the two
bases of personal power.

6. Explain what
empowerment is, and the
factors that lead to it.
Learning 7. Describe how politics work
Outcomes (1 of 2) in organizations.

8. Apply impression
management techniques.

9. Identify the causes,

consequences, and ethics
of political behaviour.

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 Power
A capacity that A has to
influence the behaviour of
B, so that B acts in
accordance with A’s
wishes.

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Differences Leadership Power

Requires goal
Goal Compatibility Only needs dependence
congruence
A Definition of Power (2 of 2)
Focuses on Concerned with influence in
Direction of Influence
downward influence all directions

Broader topic: focuses on

Emphasizes
Research Emphasis tactics used by individuals
leadership style
and groups

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 Bases of Power (1 of 2)

Formal Power
● Coercive Power
○ Power that is based on fear
● Reward Power
○ Power based on the ability to provide benefits or rewards to people
● Legitimate Power
○ Power based on relative position in the organizational hierarchy

Personal Power
● Expert Power
○ Power based on a person’s experience and knowledge
● Referent Power
○ You like the person and enjoy doing things for him or her

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 Effective Power Bases
1. Expert and referent power are positively
related to performance and commitment
2. Reward and legitimate power are unrelated
to organizational outcomes
3. Coercive power is negatively related to
employee satisfaction and commitment

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 Empowerment: The
freedom and ability of
employees to make
decisions and
commitments
Empowerment is about
Empowerment: enabling individuals or
groups to access
Giving Power to personal or collective
power, authority, and
Employees influence, allowing
them to engage
effectively with others,
institutions, or society
Empowerment as
delegating decision
making within a set
of clear boundaries

7
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Characteristics of Empowered People (2
of 2)

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 The ability to influence
others in such a way
as to enhance their
own objectives

Research indicates that:

• Politically skilled
individuals use
influence tactics
Political Skill •
more effectively
Political skills
appear to be more
effective when
stakes are high
• Politically skilled
people are able to
exert influence
without others
detecting it

9
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Politics: Power
in Action
Legitimacy
Rational persuasion
Political behaviour refers Inspirational appeals
to those activities that Consultation
influence, or attempt to Exchange
influence, the distribution Personal appeals
of advantages and Ingratiation

disadvantages within the Pressure

Coalitions
organization.

10
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 Power Tactics

Influence Tactic Effectiveness

Most effective
Rational persuasion
Inspirational appeals
Consultation
Least effective
Pressure
Combining tactics increases effectiveness
Direction, sequencing, individual skill, and
organizational culture modify effectiveness

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Power Tactics (4 of 6)

Preferred Power Tactics by Influence Direction

Upward Influence Downward Influence Lateral Influence

Rational persuasion Rational persuasion Rational persuasion
Coalitions Inspirational appeals Consultation
Blank

Pressure Ingratiation
Blank

Consultation Exchange
Blank

Ingratiation Legitimacy
Blank

Exchange Personal appeals

Blank

Legitimacy Coalitions

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Types of Political Activity

Attacking or blaming others

Using information

Managing impressions

Building support for ideas

Praising others

Building coalitions

Associating with influential people

Creating obligations

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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behaviour (3 of 7)
Exhibit Employee Responses to Organizational
Politics

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 Impression Management

● The process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others

form of them
● Researchers have compared applicants who use two distinct approaches in job
interviews
○ Self promotion: promoting one’s accomplishments
○ Ingratiation: complimenting the interviewer and finding areas of
agreement

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 Impression Management
through communication
methods

Presentations
Cover letter and Resume
Interviews

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Presentation skills

● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8eLdbKXGzk

● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeT4UUpIwgo

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Resume and
cover letter

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https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3nH70uRf89/?igsh=d
HdscXk2YjRybG5w

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 AI Tools for Creating Your Resume

● 1. Rezi
● 2. Kickresume
● 3. ChatGPT
● 4. Skillroads
● 5. Jobscan
● 6. Resume.co
● 7. ResumeNerd
● 8. Grammarly's AI Resume Skills Generator
● 9. Career.io Resume Builder
● 10. TealHQ AI Resume Builder
● 11. JasperAI Resume Generator
● Elevate your resume with AI tools

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Keep in mind

KEEP IN MIND!!!
ChatGPT is not a psychic looking into a crystal
ball.

It's up to you to provide the appropriate resume

details, as the quality of the generated output
depends on the quality of your input.

The more specific information you provide, the

more specific answers you'd get. ChatGPT will
try, but it can't fabricate your whole work history.

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 Prompt to modify CV
• I want you to act as a resume reviewer. I will provide you with my resume, and you look provide
me with feedback on it. Include feedback on the following points: - What appropriate sections to
add for making my resume more readable. - How to make my resume easier to scan. - What kind
of numbers and results can I add to my resume. - What type of action verbs should I choose. - Am
I using too many buzzwords and how to replace them, if so. Do you acknowledge?

• Your role would be to thus paste your resume.

• Header - name, current job title, and email;
• Education - all relevant degrees, institutions, locations, start-end dates, and any
extra information you deem would be necessary for ChatGPT to understand
your background;
• Experience - start and end dates, company description, a narrative about what
you did with a focus on skills and achievements;
• Certificates - include all;
• Technical Skills - as a list;
• Soft Skills - with a focus on the outcomes of using the skills;
• Most Proud Of - looking at the big picture achievements for the business;
• Various resume sections - to shine a more detailed light on your experience.

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Tailor your resume to the job description with ChatGPT

● I'm going to provide you with a job description for a job I'm
interested to apply for. You're going to read the job description
and understand the key requirements for the position – including
years of experience, skills, position name. After that I'm going to
give you my resume. You'll go over it and provide feedback based
on how tailored my resume is for the job.

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Interviews

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