BA105: Organizational Behavior

Professor Jim Lincoln Week 11: Lecture Power, politics, and networks

Class agenda
Today: lecture on power, politics, and networks in organizations
Thursday: discuss Donna Dubinsky & Apple computer case

Power and politics in organizations

Power: a dirty word? What is it?
The capacity to get people to do what they would not otherwise do

How does power differ from authority?

Authority is legitimate power. Three types (Max Weber):
Charismatic
Authority that derives from personalistic qualities (vision, force of personality)

Traditional
Institutionalized charisma

Legal-rational
The power of an office based on law or other formal rules

And politics?
The social relations of interest formation, power-seeking and wielding, and decision-making
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Leadership is power; but not all power is leadership

Leadership: Influencing others with charisma and vision Developing committed followership Other forms of power:
Leveraging the formal organization
Exercising authority Designing and implementing systems

Trading on scarce skills or resources Maneuvering, manipulation

Niccolo Machiavelli 1469-1527

"For injuries ought to be done all at one time, so that, being tasted less, they offend less; benefits ought to be given little by little, so that the flavour of them may last longer."
"Therefore a wise prince ought to adopt such a course that his citizens will always in every sort and kind of circumstance have need of him, and then he will always find them faithful. " "Hence it is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it or not according to necessity. " "We have not seen great things done in our time except by those who have been considered mean; the rest have failed. " He who is the cause of another becoming powerful is ruined" One of the most efficacious remedies that a prince can have against conspiracies is not to be hated and despised by the people No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.
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Were there any good organizational politicians in the cases we have examined?

Politics as a form of organizational decision-making

Administrative model Garbage can model Political/bargaining model

Classical administrative theory on decision making

Managers devise programs (standard operating procedures) so that decisions can be made by the book Such routine or programmed decisions are delegated down the hierarchy; exceptions are managed by higher-ups

Higher level decisions are nonroutine, uncertain, risky, require problem-solving search

The garbage can model of decision making

(Cohen, March, & Olson)

Preferences, criteria, alternatives, decisions, etc., are jumbled together as if dumped into a garbage can
Many decisions are stumbled into or forced by past decisions Preferences/intensions/criteria are afterthoughts or rationalizations

Random decision may not necessarily be bad

May contribute to learning
Throwing a lot of stuff against the wall and seeing what sticks
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The bargaining/political model of decision-making

Decisions are made through:
Bargaining and negotiation
Orderly (open, rule-bound, & mediated) conflict aimed at reaching a solution agreeable to both sides

Power and politics

Can be disorderly (behind the scenes, no rules, unmediated) conflict in which one side prevails over others and thus imposes a solution
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Game theory
Game theory is the general theory of strategic behavior
Rational decision-making given

uncertainty as to what other players will do The payoff to a strategic decision depends on the other players move
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Bonnies decision tree

If Clyde Confesses
Bonnie Confess 4 Years in Prison Best Strategy Not Confess 8 Years in Prison

If Clyde Does Not Confess

Bonnie Confess 1 Year in Prison Best Strategy Not Confess 3 Years in Prison

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Issues in power and politics

Politics may not be pretty, but it is real, pervasive, and must be managed
Myth of the business organization as efficient, rational, and apolitical

How to analyze and navigate the political terrain

Map out the actors, interests, goals, resource/power bases, strategies, alliances, decision events

How to manage power and politics

From the organizations perspective
Contain & channel politics in productive ways

From the participants perspective

How to be savvy; a player; on the winning side
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What kinds of politics are bad?

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Bob Ebeling
Manager of the Rocket Ignition System at Morton-Thiokol

We did our level best, but it wasnt good

enough...The decision to recommend a launch was pre-ordained by others, by NASA leaning on our upper management. The deck was stacked. I was so sure that Challenger was doomed that I asked my daughter, Leslie, then 33, to my office to watch a super colossal disaster unfold on live TV...and then I prayed
The fact that he foresaw disaster and could not stop it has tortured him since.

What conditions give rise to organizational politics?

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Can organizational politics ever be a positive force?

Processes Outcomes

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Politics as empowerment: Getting things done with and through others

The modern flat, lean, horizontal organization

power & politics

Power is no longer packaged as authority roles People have a mandate to get power and use it Few bureaucratic impediments to political maneuvering
Influence, brokering, networking, alliance formation
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Apples lack of formal structure networks and politics

Things are done by committees, meetings, consensus. We have very few policies, systems, or controls. What we do is get a team of experts together and make a decision.
--Apple employee in finance

Apple is dominated by personality. We are low on systems, and high on the human side. There are very few formal rules or processes.
--Another Apple employee

Apple is highly relationship and network oriented. If you know the right people you can get things donethere are lots of inner circles. Management by coercion doesnt work here.. There is a lot of politicslike everywhere-but lack of rules and policies may make it more important here. Most organizations have their smoke-filled rooms; Apple does too. The difference is that here if you want into the argument, you can find your way in.
--Apple HR manager
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Power and politics as the management of resource dependencies

Assumption: power comes from leveraging resources in relationships to reduce dependence Types of resources How are resources converted into power?

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Implementing power
Determine your interests & goals What resources/power base do you control? How can you expand or fortify it?
Analyze/trace your resource dependencies; who do you need to work with and through to achieve your goals?
What are their interests and goals? What resources/power bases do they control? Will they support you or oppose you? Are they allied or organized?

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Strategies
Devise a strategy for exercising power to achieve your goals
Anticipate the oppositions moves (strategies & tactics) and plan your response

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Bureaucratic strategies
Resist rationalization or pursue rationalization Make selective use of objective criteria Invoke outside experts or authorities Appeal to an external constituency

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Manage decision events (e.g., meetings)

Control whats on the agenda Control the order of consideration Control the decision alternatives

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Monopolistic strategies
Claim your resources are critical Restrict supply

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Networking Strategies
Network widely
Work the halls Get good at small talk (learn the culture) Cultivate friendships

Build coalitions
Get others obligated to you Logroll: You scratch my back and Ill scratch yours

Prevent or break up their coalitions

Exploit structural holes
My enemys enemy is my friend

Divide and conquer

Coopt potential opposition

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A technical definition of a network

A population of nodes (people, etc.) and the ties (edges, arcs) relating them

1 2 4 3 7 5 8 M=
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0

2 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0

3 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0

4 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0

5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
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8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

A fragmented (clique-ridden) network Company A 1 4 2 8 5 6

3
9 12 10

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Networking: The process of managing and expanding ones personal networks

Are you a systematic, self-conscious networker? What do you need to do to become one?
Take stock of (map) your existing network
Evaluate its strength and weaknesses

What new ties will add the most value in expanding/strengthening your network?
How can you go about building them? Should you sever some old ones?

Can shy people be good networkers? What about IT?

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Networking strategy: Be central!

9 8 15 5 14 12 13 3 U 2

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10
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Networking strategy: Be a broker!

(bow tie structure)
4 11 U 6 12

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Networking strategy: Forge weak ties!

1 4 3 9 12 10 U 8 5 6

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Managing networks up: Exploit structural holes

(My enemys enemy is my friend)

+ C

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Managing the informal organization:

If the formal organization is the skeleton of a company, the informal is the central nervous system Krackhardts and Hansons network study of a California computer company
Similar to Fireart case: Failure of an interdepartmental strategic task force to make headway.
Reason: Leader Tom Harris was central in the network of technical advice but peripheral in the trust network CEOs solution: find someone central in the trust network Bill Benson-- to share leadership with Harris

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Conclusions: Power, politics, & networking

For the employee:
You can be competent, work hard, do your job, accomplish goals. AND STILL LOSE
To people better at organizational politics than you

For the organization:

Power, politics, and networks are not all bad and can be good But they have to be understood and managed
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Thursday: Donna Dubinsky case

Who were the allies and adversaries in this conflict? What were the reasons for the conflict? What resources did the parties bring to bear? What strategies were used? Who prevailed and why? Does the gender of the protagonists have any relevance here? Why or why not? How might the debate over the distribution system have been better managed? How did Apples culture, structure, and the leadership styles of the executive team shape the evolution of the conflict? In terms of the congruence model, was incongruence or poor fit among the pieces of Apples architecture a cause of the conflict? Was it leveraged or exploited in any way by the players?
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Donna Dubinskys 10 lessons

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Get your go-to-hell money together Pick your boss well Negotiate with two or more options Treat people with respect Dont dwell on sunk costs Challenge convention Dont fight every battle Know your competitors Think global Dont overestimate others
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