1. Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 8/e
Stephen P. Robbins
Chapter 11
Power and Politics
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

2. Power
Refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B so that B does something he or she would not otherwise do
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

3. Power
Potential
Dependence
Discretion
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

4. Leadership and Power
Leaders use power as a way to attain group goals, and power is a means for facilitating their achievement
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

5. Bases of Power Formal Coercive Reward Legitimate Information
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

6. Reward power - complying will produce positive benefits
Coercive power - fear of the negative results that might occur if one failed to comply
Reward power - complying will produce positive benefits
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

7. Legitimate power - represents the formal authority to control and use organizational resources
usually incorporate Reward and Coercive powers
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

8. Information power - comes from access to and control over information
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

9. Bases of Power Personal Expert Referent Charismatic
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

10. Expert power - influence wielded as a result of expertise, special skill, or knowledge
Referent power - based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

11. Charismatic power - extension of referent power stemming from an individual’s personality and interpersonal style
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

12. The General Dependency Postulate
The greater B’s dependency on A, the greater the power A has over B
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

13. What Creates Dependency?
Dependency is increased when the resource you control is
Important
Scarce
Nonsubstitutable
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

14. Power in Groups: Coalitions
Seek to maximize their size  power
Works inversely with Barney’s RBV
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

15. Power and Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is about power
It’s about one person controlling or threatening another
Supervisor’s power over subordinates for rewards and job security
Co-worker’s influence in denial or delay of information
Subordinate’s highlighting gender stereotypes
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

16. Political Behavior
Activities that are not required as part of one’s formal role in the organization, but that influence, or attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

17. Factors Contributing to Political Behavior
Individual factors:
Authoritarian
High-risk propensity
High need for power
Autonomy
Security
Status
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

18. Factors Contributing to Political Behavior
Organizational factors:
Low trust
Role ambiguity
Unclear performance evaluation systems
Zero-sum reward allocation practices
Democratic decision making
High pressures for performance
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

19. Political Behavior
Very strong evidence that perceptions of organizational politics are negatively related to job satisfaction
Increased job anxiety and stress
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

20. Responding to Political Behavior
Defensive – mostly negative
Sensible – using it to your advantage
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

21. Techniques Used for Impression Management
Self-descriptions
Conformity
Accounts
Apologies
Acclaiming
Flattery
Favors
© 2005 Prentice-Hall

22. Is a Political Action Ethical?
© 2005 Prentice-Hall