Chapter 18 POWER, POLITICS, AND CONFLICT. CHAPTER 18 Power, Politics, and Conflict Copyright © 2002 Prentice-Hall Power and Politics Power: The ability

chapter

1818POWER, POLITICS,

AND CONFLICT

CHAPTER 18 Power, Politics, and Conflict

Copyright © 2002 Prentice-Hall

Power and Politics• Power: The ability of one

person or group to cause another person or group to do something that they otherwise might not have done.

• Organizational Politics: Activities in which managers engage to increase their power and to pursue goals that favor their individual and group interests.

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The Dark Side of Power and Politics

Power and politics often have negative connotations because people associate them with attempts to use organizational resources for personal advantage and to achieve personal goals at the expense of other goals.

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The Bright Side• Managers can use power to

control people and other resources so that they cooperate and help to achieve an organization’s current goals.

• Managers can use power to engage in politics and influence the decision-making process to help promote new, more appropriate organizational goals.

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Insert Figure 18.1 here



Sources of Individual Power

Formal individual power is the power that stems from a person’s position in an organization’s hierarchy.

Informal individual power is the power that stems from personal characteristics.

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Sources of Formal Power• LegitimateLegitimate: The power to control and use

organizational resources to accomplish organizational goals.

• RewardReward: The power to give pay raises, promotion, praise, interesting projects, and other rewards to subordinates.

• CoerciveCoercive: The power to give or withhold punishment, such as suspension, termination, or even the withholding of praise and goodwill.

• InformationInformation: The power that stems from access to and control over information.

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Sources of Informal Power

• ExpertExpert: Informal power that stems from superior ability or expertise.

• ReferentReferent: Informal power that stems from being liked, admired, and respected.

• CharismaticCharismatic: An intense form of referent power that stems from an individual’s personality or physical or other abilities, which induce others to believe in and follow that person.

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Advice to Managers• Recognize that power and politics influence all

behavior in organizations and that it is necessary to develop the skills to be able to understand and manage them.

• Analyze the sources of power in the function, division, and organization in which you work to identify powerful people and the organization’s power structure.

• To influence organizational decision making and your chances of promotion, try to develop a personal power base to increase your visibility and individual power.

• Recognize that power and politics influence all behavior in organizations and that it is necessary to develop the skills to be able to understand and manage them.

• Analyze the sources of power in the function, division, and organization in which you work to identify powerful people and the organization’s power structure.

• To influence organizational decision making and your chances of promotion, try to develop a personal power base to increase your visibility and individual power.

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Organizational Conflict

The struggle that arises when the goal-directed behavior of one person or group blocks the goal-directed behavior of another person or group.

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Sources of Organizational Conflict• Differentiation

– Differences in functional orientation

– Status inconsistencies

• Task relationships– Overlapping authority

– Task interdependence

– Incompatible evaluation systems

• Scarcity of resources

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Pondy’s Stages• Latent conflict: There is no actual conflict; however, the

potential for conflict to arise is present because of the sources of conflict previously identified.

• Perceived conflict: Each party searches for the origins of the conflict, defines why the conflict is emerging, analyzes the events that led to its occurrence, and constructs a scenario that accounts for the problems it is experiencing with other parties.

• Felt conflict: The parties in conflict develop negative feelings about each other.

• Manifest conflict: One party decides how to react to or deal with the party that it sees as the source of the conflict, and both parties try to hurt each other and thwart each other’s goals.

• Conflict aftermath: Every conflict episode leaves a conflict aftermath that affects the way both parties perceive and respond to a future conflict episode.

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Conflict Management Techniques

Organizational-level techniquesModifying differentiation and integration

Employing integrating mechanismsCreating a common vision

Organizational-level techniquesModifying differentiation and integration

Employing integrating mechanismsCreating a common vision

Group-level techniquesPhysically separating work groups

Revising rules and standard operating proceduresProviding common goalsEmploying negotiation

Group-level techniquesPhysically separating work groups

Revising rules and standard operating proceduresProviding common goalsEmploying negotiation

Individual-level techniquesBringing in outside help to give advice and counsel

Providing education and sensitivity trainingMoving people around

Individual-level techniquesBringing in outside help to give advice and counsel

Providing education and sensitivity trainingMoving people around

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Negotiation NegotiationNegotiation is a process in which groups with

conflicting interests meet together to make offers, counteroffers, and concessions to each other in an effort to resolve their differences.

Third-party negotiatorThird-party negotiator is an outsider skilled in handling bargaining and negotiation.– MediatorMediator - a neutral third party who tries to help

parties in conflict reconcile their differences.

– ArbiterArbiter - a third party who has the authority to impose a solution to a dispute.

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Advice to Managers• Recognize that conflict is an enduring part of

organizational behavior, and develop the skills to be able to analyze and manage it.

• When conflict occurs, try to identify its source and move quickly to intervene to find a solution before the problem escalates.

• Whenever you make an important change to role and task relationships, always consider whether the change will create conflict. Recognize that good organizational design can prevent conflict from emerging.

• Recognize that the appropriateness of a conflict management strategy depends on the source of the conflict.

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Chapter 18 POWER, POLITICS, AND CONFLICT. CHAPTER 18 Power, Politics, and Conflict Copyright © 2002 Prentice-Hall Power and Politics Power: The ability