Report_ Power And Political Behavior (part Ii)

CHAPTER 10 Power and Political Behavior PART 2

Power Analysis: A Broader View • Amitai Etzioni takes a more sociological orientation to power. Etzioni has developed a theory of power analysis. He says that there are three types of organizational power and three types of organizational power and three types of organizational involvement, or memberships, that will lead to either congruent or incongruent used of power.

Three type of organizational power • 1. Coercive power – influencing members by forcing them to do something under threat of punishment, or through fear and intimidation. • 2. Utilitarian power – influencing members by providing them with rewards and benefits.

Three type of organizational power • 3. Normative power – influencing members by using the knowledge that they want very much to belong to the organization and by letting them know that what they are expected to do is the “right” thing to do.

Three type of organizational membership • 1. Alienative member. The members have hostile, negative feelings about being in the organization. They don’t want to be there. Prisons are a good example of alienative memberships. • 2. Calculative membership. Members weigh the benefits and limitations of belonging to the organization. Businesses are good examples of organizations with calculative memberships.

Three type of organizational membership • 3. Moral membership. Members have such positive feelings about organizational membership that they are willing to deny their own needs. Organizations with many volunteer workers, such as the American Heart Association, are examples of moral memberships. Religious groups are another example.

SYMBOLS OF POWER • Organization charts show who has authority, but they do not reveal much about who has power. we will now look at two very different ideas about the symbols if power. The first one comes from Rosabeth Moss Kanter. It is a scholarly approach to determining who has power and who feels powerless. The second is a semiserious look an the tangible symbols of power by Micheal Korda.

POLITICAL BEHAVIOR IN ORGANIZATIONS • Like power, the term politics in organizations may conjure up a few negative images. However, organizational politics is nit necessarily negative; it is the use of power and influence in organizations. As people try to acquire power and expand their power base, they use various tactics and strategies. Some are sanctioned; others are not. Political behavior refers to actions nit officially sanctioned by an organization that are taken to influence others in order to meet one personal goals.

INFLUENCE TACTICS Influence is the process of affecting the thoughts, behavior, or feelings of another person. That other person could be the boss (upward influence), an employee (downward influence), or a coworker (lateral influence). There are eight basic types of influence tactics:

INFLUENCE TACTICS 1. Pressure - the person uses demands, treats, or intimidation to convince you to comply with a request or to support a proposal. 3. Upward appeals – the person seeks to persuade you that the request is approved by higher management, or appeals to higher management for assistance in gaining your compliance with the request.

INFLUENCE TACTICS 1. Exchange – the person makes an explicit or implicit promise that you will receive rewards or tangible benefits of you comply with a request or support a proposal, or reminds you of a prior favor to be reciprocated. 3. Coalition – the person seeks the aid of others to persuade you to do something or uses the support of others as an argument for you to agree also.

INFLUENCE TACTICS 1. Ingratiation – the person seeks to get you in a good mood or to think favorably of him or her before asking you to do something. 3. Rational persuasion – the person use logical arguments and factual evidence to persuade you that a proposal or request is viable and likely to result in the attainment of task objectives.

INFLUENCE TACTICS 1. Inspirational appeals – the person makes an emotional request or proposal that arouses enthusiasm by appealing to your values and ideals, or by increasing your confidence that you can do it. 3. Consultation – the person seeks your participation in making a decision or planning how to implement a proposed policy, strategy, or change.

MANAGING POLITICAL BEHAVIOR IN ORGANIZATION • Politics cannot and should not be eliminated from organizations. Managers can, however, take a proactive stance and manage the political behavior that inevitably occurs. Open communication is one key to managing political behavior. Another key is to clarify expectations regarding performance.