Organizational Behaviour: Power and Politics

Organizational
behaviour
Power and politics
Power
Relationship between power and politics
Which one of them will make a fortune?
A
B
 Intelligent, ambitious, average family
background  Intelligent, ambitious, average family
background
 Aggressively social, popular
 Quiet, reserved, noticed but neither liked
 Adjusts to people but not circumstances nor disliked
 Uniformly excellent grades  Adjusts to circumstances but not to
 Image is sunny cheerful (private world people
roles reversed)  Irregular grades
 Image is grimly earnest (private world
roles reversed)
B
Maker of the exchange tool called money
Money maker Money appropriator

 Discoverer, how to use knowledge to  Non-creative, acquire an unearth share of
organize material resources and human the wealth created by others
labour into an enterprise producing  Rich by manipulation and social
marketable goods
manoeuvring, redistributes and switches
 Translates the source into wealth wealth from owner’s pocket to own
pocket
 Independent judgement / innovator
 Social dependence/ politician
 Employer mentality with grim face and
creased forehead  Employee mentality with cheerful face
and clean forehead
Wealth is the product of man’s intellect –
power mostly lie in wealth than money
Power
 Capacity that A has to influence the behaviour of B so that B acts in accordance to

A’s wishes.
 Intensity of influence depends on dependence of B of A based on alternatives that
B perceives and importance B places on the alternatives to A’s control (teacher-
student/ student-parent/ boss-subordinate)
 5 bases of power by French and Raven: 3 types of formal and 2 types of informal
power
Types of power – power bases
 Formal
 Coercive: dependent on fear of the negative results from failing to comply (threat of
physical sanctions like pain, frustration, controlling by force basic physiological needs)
 Reward: based on ability to distribute rewards that others view as valuable
 Legitimate: power as a result of his or her position in the formal hierarchy of an
organization
 Personal
 Expert: influence based on special skills or knowledge
 Referent: influence based on identification with a person who has desirable resources
or personal traits (admiration of others)
 Which power do you think is the strongest?
Power tactics/ dynamics (bases into
actions)
 Legitimacy: authority position or citing policies
Personal appeals: asking for compliance based

 Rational persuasion: logical and factual argument to on friendship or loyalty
show reasonability
 Ingratiation: using flattery, praise before a
 Inspirational appeals: emotional commitment by
request
appealing target’s values, needs, hopes, aspirations
 Pressure: using warnings, demands and threats
 Consultation: increasing support by involving the
target in deciding how to accomplish plan  Coalitions: Enlisting aid or support of others to
 Exchange: rewarding the target with benefit in

persuade target to agree
exchange for a request  Political skills: ability to influence others in
such a way as to enhance one’s objectives
without detection (maybe negative in unbiased
organizations)
Which are the Rational/

stronger tactics? inspirational/ Pressure tactics Combination of Cultural
consultation least effective two or more is difference in
possible power tactics
Rajat Gupta: A case in point
 Headed McKinsey & Co.

 Philanthropist, had dinners with US president
 He had all – wealth, reputation, status, influence, network
 People said about him: modest, egoless, family oriented servant leader – integrity
beyond reproach
 2011: FBI finds Gupta in multiple conversation with convicted Galleon Group
founder Raj Rajaratnam – manipulation of business in their conversations/ money
laundering to Gallen
 Did power corrupt Gupta’s values? Or was he opposite and pretentious?
 Former (as his wife says/ as he says- wealth and power made him want more)
 Power is seductive
Politics
Politics
 Activities that are not required as part of person’s formal role in the organization
but that influence or attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and
disadvantages within the organization (power to affect goals, criteria, process for
decision-making/ unsanctioned behaviour)
 Kinds of politics: withholding key information from decision makers, joining a
coalition, whistleblowing, spreading rumours, leaking confidential information to
media, exchanging favours for mutual benefit, lobbying for or against individual
 Can no-politics organization exist?
 Difficult because of scarcity of positions / competition
 Facts to allocate are open to interpretation (what is good performance?)
Individual: Factors contributing to political behaviour
• High self-monitors
• Internal locus of control
• Org. investment
• Perceived job alternatives
• Expectations of success
Political behaviour Favourable outcome

Rewards / averted punishments
Low ----------------- high
Organization:
• Reallocation of resources
• Promotion opportunities
• Low trust
• Role ambiguity
• Unclear performance evaluation
system
• Zero-sum reward practices
• Democratic decision making
• High performance pressures
• Self-serving senior managers
Decreased job satisfaction
Organizational politics may Increased anxiety and stress

threaten employees
Increased turnover
Reduced performance
Impression management techniques
 Conformity: agreeing with someone else’s opinion to gain approval

 Favours: doing something nice for someone to gain approval
 Excuses: explanation of a predicament-creating event to minimize apparent
severity of the predicament
 Apologies: admitting responsibility of undesirable event and seeking pardon
 Self-promotion: highlighting one’s best quality, downplaying deficits
 Enhancement: claiming something you did is more valuable than others
 Flattery: complementing others profusely
 Exemplification: doing more than you need to show how hard working you are

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Organizational

Money maker Money appropriator

 Capacity that A has to influence the behaviour of B so that B acts in accordance to

 Exchange: rewarding the target with benefit in

Which are the Rational/

 Headed McKinsey & Co.

Political behaviour Favourable outcome

Organizational politics may Increased anxiety and stress

 Conformity: agreeing with someone else’s opinion to gain approval

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