Organizational Behavior

Nineteenth Edition

Chapter 13
Power and Politics

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Learning Objectives (1 of 2)
13.1 Contrast leadership and power.
13.2 Explain the three bases of formal power and the two
bases of personal power.
13.3 Explain the role of dependence in power relationships.
13.4 Identify influence tactics and their contingencies.

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Learning Objectives (2 of 2)
13.5 Identify the causes and consequences of abuse of
power.
13.6 Describe how politics work in organizations.
13.7 Identify the causes, consequences, and ethics of
political behavior.

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Contrast Leadership and Power (1 of 2)
• Power refers to the capacity, discretion, and means to
enforce one’s will over others.
– Power may exist but not be used.
• Probably the most important aspect of power is that it is a
function of dependence.
– A person can have power over you only if he or she
controls something you desire.

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Contrast Leadership and Power (2 of 2)
• Leadership and power:
– Goal compatibility
 Power does not require goal compatibility, merely
dependence.
– The direction of influence
 Leadership focuses on the downward influence on
one’s followers.

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Explain Formal Power and Personal
Power (1 of 2)
• Formal Power
– Coercive Power
– Reward Power
– Legitimate Power
• Personal Power
– Expert Power
– Referent Power

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Explain Formal Power and Personal
Power (2 of 2)
• Which Bases of Power Are Most Effective?
– It’s complicated!
 Different bases of power are effective depending
upon the perceptions and characteristics of the
dependent.
 Referent power can be an especially powerful
motivator.

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Explain the Role of Dependence in
Power Relationships (1 of 5)
• The General Dependence Postulate
– When you possess anything others require but that
you alone control, you make them dependent upon
you and, therefore, you gain power over them.
– Dependence, then, is inversely proportional to the
alternative sources of supply.

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Explain the Role of Dependence in
Power Relationships (2 of 5)
• What Creates Dependence?
– Importance
– Scarcity
– Nonsubstitutability

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Explain the Role of Dependence in
Power Relationships (3 of 5)
Exhibit 13.1 Three Common Small-Group Networks

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Explain the Role of Dependence in
Power Relationships (4 of 5)
Exhibit 13.2 Small-Group Networks and Effectiveness
Criteria

Criteria Networks
Chain Wheel All-Channel
Speed Moderate Fast Fast
Accuracy High High Moderate
Emergence of a Moderate High None
leader
Member Moderate Low High
satisfaction

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Explain the Role of Dependence in
Power Relationships (5 of 5)
Exhibit 13.3 An Organizational Sociogram

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Identify Influence Tactics and Their
Contingencies (1 of 5)
• Influence tactics:
– Legitimacy
– Rational persuasion
– Inspirational appeals
– Consultation
– Exchange
– Personal appeals
– Ingratiation
– Pressure
– Coalitions

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Identify Influence Tactics and Their
Contingencies (2 of 5)
• Some tactics are more effective than others.
– Rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, and
consultation are equally effective in influencing
performance at work.
– Pressure tends to backfire.
– Using ingratiation can improve relational outcomes of
influence at work.

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Identify Influence Tactics and Their
Contingencies (3 of 5)
Exhibit 13.4 Preferred Influence Tactics by Influence
Direction

Upward Influence Downward Influence Lateral Influence

Rational persuasion Rational persuasion Rational persuasion
Inspirational appeals Consultation
Ingratiation Ingratiation Exchange
Legitimacy Legitimacy Personal
appeals Coalitions

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Identify Influence Tactics and Their
Contingencies (4 of 5)
• Automatic and Controlled Processing of Influence
– Automatic processing: a relatively superficial
consideration of evidence and information that takes
little time or effort and makes use of heuristics.
– Controlled processing: a detailed consideration of
evidence and information relying on facts, figures, and
logic.
– Need for cognition: a personality trait of individuals
depicting the ongoing desire to think and learn.

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Identify Influence Tactics and Their
Contingencies (5 of 5)
• Applying Influence Tactics
– People differ in terms of their political skill: their
ability to influence others to enhance their own
objectives.
 The politically skilled are more effective users of
all the influence tactics.
– Cultures within organizations differ markedly: some are
warm, relaxed, and supportive; others are formal and
conservative.
 People who fit the culture of the organization tend
to obtain more influence.

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Causes and Consequences of Abuse
of Power (1 of 4)
• Does power corrupt?
– Power leads people to:
 Place their own interests ahead of others.
 React, especially negatively, to any threats to their
competence.
 See people as tools to obtain their instrumental
goals.
 Be more willing to denigrate others.
 Be overconfident in decision making.

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Causes and Consequences of Abuse
of Power (2 of 4)
• Sexual harassment: any unwanted activity of a sexual
nature that affects an individual’s employment and creates
a hostile work environment.
– Sexual harassment is more likely to occur when there
are large power differentials.
• Managers have a responsibility to protect their employees
from a hostile work environment.

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Causes and Consequences of Abuse
of Power (3 of 4)
• Mangers should:
– Make sure an active policy defines what constitutes
sexual harassment, informs employees they can be
fired for sexually harassing another employee, and
establishes procedures for how complaints can be
made.
– Reassure employees that they will not encounter
retaliation if they issue a complaint.

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Causes and Consequences of Abuse
of Power (4 of 4)
• In addition, managers should:
– Investigate every complaint and include the legal and
human resource departments.
– Make sure offenders are disciplined or terminated.
– Set up in-house seminars to raise employee
awareness of the issues surrounding sexual
harassment.

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Describe How Politics Work in
Organizations (1 of 3)
• Political behavior: activities that are not required as part
of one’s formal role in the organization, but that influence
the distribution of advantages within the organization.
– Outside of one’s specified job requirements.
– Encompasses efforts to influence decision-making
goals, criteria, or processes.
– Includes such behaviors as withholding information,
whistle-blowing, spreading rumors, and leaking
confidential information.

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Describe How Politics Work in
Organizations (2 of 3)
• The reality of politics
– People view politics differently
 Reactive
 Reluctant
 Strategic
 Integrated perception

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Describe How Politics Work in
Organizations (3 of 3)
• Grapevine: an organization’s informal communication
network.
– The grapevine and gossip are viewed negatively by
most people.

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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (1 of 14)
Exhibit 13.5 Factors That Influence Political Behavior

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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (2 of 14)
• Factors Contributing to Political Behavior Acquiescence
– Reciprocity
– Consistency/commitment
– Social proof
– Liking
– Authority
– Scarcity
– Unity

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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (3 of 14)
Exhibit 13.6 Employee Responses to Organizational Politics

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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (4 of 14)
Exhibit 13.7 Defensive Behaviors

Avoiding Action
Overconforming. Strictly interpreting your responsibility by saying things like
“The rules clearly state...”or “This is the way we’ve always done it.”
Buck passing. Transferring responsibility for the execution of a task or decision
to someone else.
Playing dumb. Avoiding an unwanted task by falsely pleading ignorance or
inability.
Stretching. Prolonging a task so that one person appears to be occupied—for
example, turning a two-week task into a 4-month job.
Stalling. Appearing to be more or less supportive publicly while doing little or
nothing privately.

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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (5 of 14)
Avoiding Blame

Bluffing. Rigorously documenting activity to project an image of competence and

thoroughness, known as “covering your rear.”

Playing safe. Evading situations that may reflect unfavorably. It includes taking
on only projects with a high probability of success, having risky decisions
approved by superiors, qualifying expressions of judgment, and taking neutral
positions in conflicts.

Justifying. Developing explanations that lessen one’s responsibility for a

negative outcome and/or apologizing to demonstrate remorse, or both.

Scapegoating. Placing the blame for a negative outcome on external factors that
are not entirely blameworthy.

Misrepresenting. Manipulation of information by distortion, embellishment,

deception, selective presentation, or obfuscation.

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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (6 of 14)

Avoiding Change
Prevention. Trying to prevent a threatening change from occurring.
Self-protection. Acting in ways to protect one’s self-interest during change by
guarding information or other resources.

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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (7 of 14)
• Voice and silence
– Voice: informal, discretionary communication of
suggestions, concerns, or opinions about work-related
issues to people who might be able to take appropriate
action.
– Silence: involves the discretionary withholding of
suggestions, concerns, or opinions about work-related
issues from those who might be able to do something
about it.

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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (8 of 14)
Exhibit 13.8 Impression Management (I M) Techniques
Conformity
Agreeing with someone else’s opinion to gain their approval is a form of
ingratiation.
Example: A manager tells their supervisor, “You’re absolutely right on
your reorganization plan for the western regional office. I couldn’t agree
with you more.”
Favors
Doing something nice for someone to gain that person’ s approval is a
form of ingratiation.
Example: A salesperson says to a prospective client, “I’ve got two tickets
to the theater tonight that I can’t use. Take them. Consider it a thank-you
for taking the time to talk with me.”
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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (9 of 14)
Excuses
Explaining a predicament-creating event aimed at minimizing the
apparent severity of the predicament is a defensive IM technique.
Example: A sales manager says to their supervisor, “We failed to get the
ad in the paper on time, but no one responds to those ads anyway.”
Apologies
Admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and simultaneously
seeking to get a pardon for the action is a defensive IM technique.
Example: An employee says to their supervisor, “I’m sorry I made a
mistake on the report. Please forgive me.”

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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (10 of 14)
Self-Promotion
Highlighting your best qualities, downplaying your deficits, and calling
attention to your achievements is a self-focused IM technique.
Example: A salesperson tells their supervisor, “Micah worked
unsuccessfully for three years to try to get that account. I sewed it up in
six weeks. I’m the best closer this company has.”
Enhancement
Claiming that something you did is more valuable than most other
members of the organizations would think is a self-focused IM technique.
Example: A journalist tells their editor, “My work on this celebrity divorce
story was really a major boost to our sales” (even though the story only
made it to page 3 in the entertainment section).

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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (11 of 14)
Flattery
Complimenting others about their virtues in an effort to make yourself
appear perceptive and likeable is an assertive IM technique.
Example: A new sales trainee says to their peer, “You handled that
client’s complaint so tactfully! I could never have handled that as well as
you did.”
Exemplification
Doing more than you need to in an effort to show how dedicated and
hard working you are is an assertive IM technique.
Example: An employee sends an e-mail from a work computer while
working late so that the supervisor will know how long they have been
working.
Source: Based on M. C. Bolino, K. M. Kacmar, W. H. Turnley, and J. B. Gilstrap, “A Multi-Level Review
of Impression Management Motives and Behaviors,” Journal of Management 34, n o. 6 (2008): 1080–
109.

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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (12 of 14)
• The Ethics of Behaving Politically
– Questions to consider:
 What is the utility of engaging in politicking?
 How does the utility of engaging in the political
behavior balance out any harm (or potential harm) it
will do to others?
 Does the political activity conform to standards of
equity and justice?

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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (13 of 14)
OB POLL Networking Key Factor in Employee Advancement

Source: Based on CNBC-SurveyMonkey, Workplace Happiness Index, July 2019,

https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/cnbc-workplace-happiness-indexjuly-2019/;
see also J. Andrews, “Working Hard No Longer Enough to Get a Promotion. Here’s How to
Stand Out,” CNBC , July 19, 2019,

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/19/working-hard-is-not-enough-to-get-a-promotion-heres-ho
w-to-stand-out.html
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Causes and Consequences of
Political Behavior (14 of 14)
Exhibit 13.9 Drawing Your Political Map

Source: Based on D. Clark, “A Campaign Strategy for Your Career,” Harvard Business
Review (November 2012): 131–4.

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Implications for Managers (1 of 5)
• Consider cultivating multiple bases of power and
selectively (yet ethically) drawing upon them when the
situation calls for it.
• In managing your business, unit, team, or career, consider
the network of dependence and communication (e.g., the
grapevine) between people and organizations and use this
information to guide strategic decisions.
• As a manager, inspirational appeals work very well in
inspiring subordinates toward a common goal. As an
employee, rational persuasion is the most effective
approach when managing upward, and ingratiation is most
effective with coworkers.

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Implications for Managers (2 of 5)
• In general, it is best to avoid pressure tactics and
defensive behaviors.
• The sequencing of influence tactics matters—it is better to
start with “softer” influence tactics (e.g., inspirational
appeals) and move to “harder” tactics (e.g., coalitions) if
the softer tactics fail.
• Understand that people process influence attempts both
automatically and in a controlled fashion—leverage your
influence attempts in a way that accommodates and
recognizes both types of processing.

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Implications for Managers (3 of 5)
• Influence and politics are skills to be learned— work to
develop your skill and cultivate motivation for political
influence.
• For those reluctant to engage in politics, try to reframe the
behavior (to yourself or to others) as prosocial or to help
others.
• To reduce the likelihood of problematic political behavior,
try to reframe resource allocation fairly, avoiding a zero-
sum approach where possible.

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Implications for Managers (4 of 5)
• Both voice and silence are strategic influence behaviors—
although they may be more or less appropriate depending
on the situation, in general, voice is a preferable behavior,
and silence can be a damaging behavior. Try to foster an
environment where people feel safe sharing and voicing
their concerns and avoiding environments that dissuade
people from sharing.

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Implications for Managers (5 of 5)
• Everyone engages in I M to some extent, and it can be
very effective earlier on in a business relationship.
However, as time passes, others may be more likely to
recognize that you are using these techniques, and they
can backfire.
• Pick your battles. Not all situations require political
behavior to be solved. Whenever confronted with a
situation that might require political influence, ask yourself
several questions. Is it worth it? Can others be harmed by
my political behavior? Can I engage in political behavior
while also following standards for justice and ethics?

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Discussion Questions
1. Have you ever experienced or observed an abuse of
power in the workplace? Discuss the situation: how it
occurred and how it was resolved. What does the
experience tell you about power differentials in the
workplace?
2. Many managers believe that politics is a major part of
organizational life. Do you agree? Is using political
behavior in the workplace ethical as long as it doesn’t
hurt anyone directly?
3. Think about your own political map. What are your
ambitions and who has the power to help you achieve
them?

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