MGT ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR Dr. K. A. S. P. Kaluarachchi Senior Lecturer Department of Management and Organization Studies Faculty of Management and Finance University of Colombo 1

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:  Define the concept of power in organizations  Identify the types of power in organizations  Define the concept of organizational politics  Identify major areas of politics in organizations  Identify some political strategies in organizations 2 10/8/2015

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 How do you get others to carry out your wishes?  The potential to successfully influence another  The capacity to have a desired effect on others  The social influence 4 10/8/2015

Power is the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance (Weber, 1947) For Pfeffer (1992) it is the potential ability to influence behavior, to change the course of events, to overcome resistance, and to get people to do things that they would not otherwise do Barnard (1938) defined power in terms of informal authority 5 10/8/2015

 Reward power (ability to control resources and rewards on others)  Coercive power (the source of power depends on fear)  Legitimate power (gives the legitimate right to the agent to influence the others)  Expert power (the extent to which others attribute knowledge and expertise of the power holder)  Referent power (comes from the desire on the part of the other persons to identify the agent holding power) 6 10/8/2015

For Toffler (1990) companies are always engaged in internal political struggles, power struggles, infighting, and so on. That’s normal life. Organizational politics consists of intentional acts of influence undertaken by individuals or groups to enhance or protect their self-interest when conflicting courses of action are possible (Gray & Arris, 1985) 7 10/8/2015

Resources – higher the degree of political behavior when how critical and scare the resources are Decisions – ambiguous, uncertain, and long-range strategic decisions lead to more politics than routine decisions Goals – more political behavior when the goals become more ambiguous and complex Technology and external environment – more complex the internal technology of the organization, more likely to be political behavior. The same is true for organizations operating in turbulent external environments Change – both planned and unplanned change efforts can also stimulate political behaviors in organizations 8 10/8/2015

Keep alliances with powerful people – the formation of coalitions (alliances) is critical to the acquisition of power in organizations Embrace or demolish – Machiavellian principles can be applied as strategies of power gain in modern organizations Divide and rule – a widely known political and military strategy can also apply to the acquisition of power in modern organizations Manipulate classified information – how information is managed can provide power to the holding positions Make a quick showing – involves looking good on some projects or tasks right way in order to get the right people’s attention 9 10/8/2015

Use IOUs – power seekers do other people favors in return of back favor Camel’s head in the tent – taking one step at a time Wait for a crisis situation – situations in which bad news get attention Take counsel with caution – allowing subordinates to participate in decision making process while keeping power with the manager Use resource dependence – use bargaining power of resource sharing in hand with others 10 10/8/2015

Thank you very much! 11 10/8/2015