MGMT2100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: P21, Wield, Ingratiation
L5 POWER AND POLITICS
Power
Power is:
- The apait to produe iteded ad foresee effets o others. Wrog, 9, p
- The probability that a person will act as another person wishes.
- The greater B’s depede o A, the greater the poer A has over B. (The General Dependency
Postulate)
- The more people rely on you, the more power you have over them
- Power is intended influence.
- Power may exist but need not be used.
- Probably the most important aspect of power is that it is a function of dependency.
- A person can have power over you only if he or she controls something you desire.
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Formal Power
- Legitimate: this power is derived from your rank or position, whether in an organisation, family or
other social group
- Reward/Coercive (usually goes with legitimate power): being able to reward or punish people for
doing what is required
- Resource (Gatekeepers): When you have control over valued resources, withholding or bestowing
these resources can be used as forms of either punishment or reward e.g. secretary, payroll people,
supplies staff, junior HR staff
Personal Power
- Expert: expert power is derived from having unique, in-depth information or skill
- Referent:
o Charisa: the gift or poer ofte assoiated ith leadership oeted to appearance,
emotions and status)
o Netorkig: if ou do ot hae harisa the ou a rel o Netork poer. Related to ho
ou ko ad ho ou ko the. Ofte ties the iforal poer strutures are ore
important than the formal structures.
o Persuasion (ability to): compared to other forms of power, persuasion can have give and take,
and resemble a communication interaction more than a wield power. Ifyou can persuade
somone, and not have to use other forms of power, you will have a better chance at gaining
compliance.
o Persuasion
▪ Oe’s ailit to persuade is ofte liked to their rediilit ad itegrit
▪ Integrity: soundness of moral character; an honest person
▪ Credibility: the objectively determined truthfulness, follow-through, and accuracy of a
perso Nesler et al, 99 •
▪ The amount of credibility you have is determined by how much belief, confidence and
faith other people have in you.
▪ A person with high credibility is consistently both honest and accurate in his/her
communications.
▪ People with high credibility are perceived to have more power.
Which Bases of Power are More Effective?
- Personal sources are often more effective than formal power
- Both epert ad referet poer are positiel related to eploees’ satisfatio ith supervision,
their organisational commitment, and their performance, whereas reward and legitimate power seem
to be unrelated to these outcomes.
- Coercive power usually backfires.
How to Increase Perceived Power?
- To create dependency, you should communicate…
o Importance
o Scarcity
o Nonsubstitutability
Influence Tactics
- Commitment
o The highest goal and the most successful outcome
o The target of the influence attempt is enthusiastic about carrying out the request and thus
makes a full effort towards doing so.
- Compliance
o The influence attempt is only partially successful
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