 The ability of one person or group to

cause another person or group to do

something that they otherwise might not
have done.
 Power is not only what you have, but
what the enemy thinks you have
 Power is the capacity of a person, team,
or organization to influence others.
 Leadership and power are not the same
• leadership focuses on a
downward influence
that seeks goal
satisfaction.
• power seeks to create a
dependency with
influence downward,
upward or laterally
 Coercive

Reward
The Bases
Legitimate
of Power
Expert

Referent
Formal power is the power that stems from a
person’s position in an organization’s hierarchy
 Coercive power
 The power to give or withhold punishment,
such as suspension, termination, or even the
withholding of praise and goodwill.
 Reward power
 The power to give pay raises, promotion,
praise, interesting projects, and other
rewards to subordinates.
 Legitimate power
 The power to control and use organizational
resources to accomplish organizational goals.
 Information power
 The power that stems from access to and control over
information.
 Informal power is the power that stems
from personal characteristics.
 Expert power
 Informal power that stems from superior ability or expertise.
 Referent power
 Informal power that stems from being liked, admired, and
respected.
 Dependency gives power its influence

The greater the dependency an individual or

a group has to another person or an
organization, the greater the intensity of
power
 WHAT CREATES DEPENDENCY?

Importance Scarcity Number of

of the of the Viable
Resource Resource Substitutes
 Importance
It must be important
Importance of the resource to the organization
The things you control must be important
 Scarcity
It must be scarce
Scarcity of the resource
A resource must be perceived as scarce
 No substitutability
It must be non-substitutable
No substitutability of the resource
The resource cannot be substituted with something else
 Legitimacy
• Exchange
 Rational Persuasion
 Inspirational Appeals
• Personal Appeals
 Consultation • Ingratiation
• Pressure
 Coalition
• Coalition
 Rational Persuasion
 Logical arguments and factual evidence
 Expert Power
 Inspirational appeal
 Arouse enthusiasm by appealing to values ideals and aspirations
 Referent power
 Consultation
 Need your support so will seek your assistance or modify your
proposal to get it.
 Reward, coercive or legitimate
 Ingratiation
 Getyou in a good mood before asking you for
something
 Reward Power
 Exchange
 Quid pro Quo
 Reward Power
 Personal Appeal
 Appeals to your feelings of loyalty and friendship
 Referent or Reward Power
 Consists of a group of people to combine their
resources with the aim of increasing their
bargaining power
 Coalition in organizations can take decision & also
implement
 Coalition may form due to high degree of
interdependence of the departments
 Coalitions are also formed to protect the interest of
the employee
 The Supreme Court of Canada defines sexual harassment
as

Unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature in the workplace that

negatively affects the work environment or leads to adverse
job-related consequences for the employee.
 Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual
advances, request for sexual favors, or any other contact
of a sexual nature
 Harasser threatens job security or safety through coercive
or legitimate power
 Unwanted jokes, gestures, offensive words on clothing,
and unwelcome comments and repartee
 Sexual harassment is an issue of one having power over
another (and it is illegal)
 Activities in which managers engage to
increase their power and to pursue goals that
favor their individual and group interests.
 The use of power to influence
decisions that achieve desired
outcomes.
 POWER IN ACTION

Legitimate
Political
Behavior
Illegitimate

Limited Resources
The Reality
of Politics
Ambiguous Decisions
LEGITIMATE POLITICAL ILLEGITIMATE POLITICAL
BEHAVIOR BEHAVIOR

 Includes  Includesdeliberately
forming
organizational coalitions, breaking news, not
networking, adhering to conforming to the
rules strictly procedures, Whistle
blowing
INDIVIDUAL FACTORS WHICH CONTRIBUTE
TO POLITICAL BEHAVIOR
 Organizational Factors that
Contribute to Political Behavior

Reallocation of resources Zero-sum reward

Promotion opportunities Practices

Low trust Democratic decision

making
Role ambiguity
High performance
Unclear performance pressure

 evaluation system Self-serving senior

managers
Political behavior is the
method that organization
members use to
demonstrate power.
Political behavior is not
bad; in fact, it is quite
necessary for healthy
organizations. However,
there are acceptable and
unacceptable political
behaviors.
Impression management is
a form of political
behavior that influences
how others see oneself.
Impression management is
a way to influence others’
acceptance of one.
 CONFORMITY:
agreeing with another’s opinion to get their approval

 EXCUSES:
Explanations of a predicament-creating event aimed at minimizing the
apparent severity of the predicament

 APOLOGIES:
Admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and simultaneously
seeking to get a pardon for the action

 SELF PROMOTION:
Highlighting one' best qualities downplaying one' deficits and
calling attention to one’ achievements.
 FLATTERY:
Complimenting others on their virtues in an effort
to make oneself appear perceptive and likeable

 FAVORS:
Doing something nice for someone to gain that
person’s approval

 ASSOCIATION:
Enhancing or protecting one’s image by
managing information about people and things with
which one is associated