Chapter Twelve: Power and Politics
Chapter Synopsis
This chapter focuses on the concept and sources of power. It begins with a definition of power
(legitimate, reward, coercive, expert, and referent) and its sources, followed by a discussion of
interpersonal power and structural power. The final segment of the discussion revolves around
“powerlessness” and its symptoms.
The chapter also touches on organizational politics, political tactics (rule evasion, personal-political,
educational, and organizational), and characteristics identified by top CEOs and managers as
essential for success. Game playing (insurgency game, sponsorship game, line-versus-staff game,
coalition-building game, and whistle blowing) is followed by a discussion of politics and the
influencing tactics managers can use.
Learning Objectives
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
• Distinguish between influence and power
• Give examples of interpersonal and structural power bases
• Discuss why some managers resist empowering employees
Chapter 12 – Power and Politics
Key Terms
influence—Transaction in which person B is induced by person A to behave in a certain way.
zone of indifference—When individuals accept orders from superiors without questioning their
authority.
reward power—An influence over others based on the hope of reward.
coercive power—Influence over others based on fear.
expert power—Capacity of influence related to some expertise, special skill, or knowledge.
referent power—Power based on a subordinate’s identification with a charismatic superior.
empowerment—Sharing power and authority with subordinates to increase their confidence and
effectiveness.
intimidation—An impression management tactic whereby individuals use threats and harassment to
appear powerful.
self-handicapping—Any action taken in advance of an outcome that is designed to provide either an
excuse for failure or credit for success.
Lecture Outline
The Chapter outline is organized to correspond with the PowerPoint slides.
The chapter title slide may be used as a background to introduce the class.
Learning objectives
Review the chapter learning objectives. These will be reviewed on the last slide of the
pack.
Introduction
Power is a pervasive part of the fabric of organizational life. Managers and nonmanagers
use it. They manipulate power to accomplish goals and, in many cases, to strengthen their
largely by understanding power, knowing how and when to use it, and being able to
anticipate its probable effects. The purpose of this chapter is to examine power and its uses
relationship between power and organizational politics.
The Concept of Power (1 of 3)
The terms power and influence are frequently used interchangeably in the management
literature; however, there is a subtle, yet important, difference between them. Influence is a
transaction in which person B is induced by person A to behave in a certain way. Like
influence, power involves a relationship between two people. Robert Dahl, a political
What is the difference between this definition of power and our definition of influence?
Power represents the capability to get someone to do something; influence is the exercise
to influence, while influence is power in action.
The Concept of Power (2 of 3)
We frequently speak of someone having power over someone else. While this is correct, it
is important to stress that power is not an attribute of a particular person. Rather, it is an
aspect of the relationship that exists between two (or more) people. No individual or group
can have power in isolation; power must exist in relation to some other person or group. If
A has power over B, it is, in part, because B is willing for that to be an aspect of the
relationship between them. If and when B no longer desires that to be part of the
relationship with A, A will no longer have power over B and no longer be able to influence
B’s behavior. Thus, obtaining, maintaining, and using power are all essential to influencing
the behavior of people in organizational settings.
The Concept of Power (3 of 3)
meaning one person in the relationship has more power than the other. Symmetry is a
property that can change over time, as a person or group gains or loses power. To
understand how power can shift, it is important to know where power is obtained.
Where Does Power Come From
Power is obtained in a variety of ways in an organization. Since power facilitates the
organization’s adaptation to its environment, the people and groups within the organization
that are able to assist in that adaptation are the ones that will hold power. Two important
categories of power in an organization are interpersonal and structural. Within each of
these two categories are several specific sources of power.
In what is considered a classic essay in the management and organizational behavior
power result from the nature of the organizational social system rather than from attributes
structure creates formal power and authority by specifying certain individuals to perform
specific tasks and make certain decisions.
EXHIBIT 12.1 Symptoms & Sources of Powerlesness
A number of organizational situations can serve as the source of either power or
powerlessness (not acquiring power). The powerful manager exists because he or she
allocates required resources, makes crucial decisions, and has access to important
information. He or she is likely to make things happen. The powerless manager, however,
lacks the resources, information, and decision-making prerogatives needed to be
training or developing subordinates. If these symptoms persist, it is likely that the
individual is powerless.
Empowerment (1 of 2)
Empowerment has been defined by Conger and Kanungo as “a process of enhancing
feelings of self-efficacy among organizational members through the identification of
conditions that foster powerlessness and through their removal by both formal
organizational practices and informal techniques of providing efficacy information.”
Despite the common sense appeal of empowering employees, empowerment is not
universally embraced for a number of reasons, such as the ones listed on this slide
Empowering Others
There are a number of activities management can use to increase the effectiveness of their
empowerment activities
.
Stages of Empowerment
The empowerment process is presented in a staged sequence within organizations. The first
stage involves identifying the conditions existing in the organization that lead to feelings of
powerlessness on the part of organizational members. These conditions could find their
origin in organizational factors (such as poor communications or highly centralized
resources), management styles (such as authoritarianism), reward systems (nonmerit-based
rewards, low incentive value rewards), or the nature of the jobs (low task variety,
unrealistic performance goals). The diagnoses completed in the first stage lead to the
implementation of empowerment strategies and techniques in the second stage. Use of
results in feelings of empowerment in the fourth stage. This is because increasing self-
efficacy strengthens effort–performance expectancies. You will recall from the discussion
of expectancy theory in Chapter 5 that this means increasing the perceived probability of
successful performance, given effort. Finally, the enhanced empowerment feelings from
stage four are translated into behaviors in the fifth and final stage. These behavioral
consequences of empowerment include increased activity directed toward task
accomplishment.
Power
The primary focus to this point has been on individual power and how it is obtained.
However, it is also important to consider subunit or interdepartmental power. A sub-unit
(business unit or strategic business unit) is a semiautonomous part of an overall
organization that is a center for coordinated actions. Its organization is usually based on a
product line or product lines, and it competes against specific competitors. Sub-unit power
is the focus of the strategic contingency theory developed by Hickson. A strategic
contingency is an event that is extremely important for accomplishing organizational goals
centrality of the subunit, and (3) the substitutability of the subunit.
Coping with Uncertainty
Unanticipated events can create problems for any organization or subunit. It is, therefore,
the subunits most capable of coping with uncertainty that typically acquire power. There
are three types of coping activities.
The relation of coping with uncertainty to power was expressed by Hickson as follows:
“The more a subunit copes with uncertainty, the greater its power within the organization.”
Centrality
The findings of a number of research studies strongly suggest that centrality can be a
significant source of subunit power. The subunits that are most central to the flow of work
in an organization typically acquire power. No subunit has zero centrality since all subunits
are somehow interlinked with other subunits. A measure of centrality is the degree to
which the work of the subunit contributes to the final output of the organization. Since a
subunit is in a position to affect other subunits, it has some degree of centrality and
therefore power. Also, a subunit possesses power if its activities have a more immediate or
urgent impact than those of other subunits.
Substitutability
Substitutability refers to the ability of other subunits to perform the activities of a particular
subunit. If an organization has or can obtain alternative sources of skill, information, and
Training subunits lose power if training work can be done by line managers or outside
consultants. On the other hand, if a subunit has unique skills and competencies that would
subunits. Hickson et al. capture the importance of substitutability power when they propose
that the lower the substitutability of the activities of a subunit, the greater is its power
within the organization.
The Illusion of Power
Admittedly, some individuals and subunits have vast amounts of power to get others to do
things the way they want them done. However, there are also illusions of power. Imagine
that one afternoon your supervisor asks you to step into his office. He starts the meeting:
“You know we’re really losing money using that Beal stamping machine. I’d like you to do
a job for the company. I want you to destroy the machine and make it look like an
accident.” Would you comply with this request? After all, this is your supervisor, and he is
in charge of everything—your pay, your promotion opportunities, your job assignments.
electrical shocks of varying intensity to other subjects. Ostensibly the experiment was
designed to study the effects of punishment on learning. In reality, the studies focused on
obedience to authority.
EXHIBIT 12.3 Results of Milgram’s Classic Experiment in Obedience
Exhibit 12.3 displays the surprising results. At the experimenter’s direction, 26 of 40
subjects, or 65 percent, continued to increase the intensity of the shocks they thought they
were administering to another person all the way to the maximum voltage even though the
control panel indicated increasing voltage dosages as “intense,” “extreme,” “danger,” and
“severe shock.” Additionally, screams could be heard coming from the booth, and the
subject allegedly receiving the shock begged the experimenter to stop the project. Despite
this, and even though the subjects were uncomfortable administering the shocks, they
continued.
Political Strategies and Tactics
Individuals and subunits continually engage in politically oriented behavior. By politically
blocked. In the language of organizational theory, political behavior results in the
displacement of power.
EXHIBIT 12.4 Personal Characteristics of Effective Organizational Politicians
A number of studies have been conducted to explore political behavior and perceptions in
organizations. A study that assessed the political skill of about 700 employees suggested
that political skill can be accurately broken down into four distinct factors: social
astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, and apparent sincerity. A related
study found that of these four factors, social astuteness (i.e., being sensitive to others) is the
strongest predictor of supervisor ratings and leadership effectiveness. Being sensitive to the
needs and feelings of others is an important survival skill in to-day’s office environment.
Another study of political behavior was conducted in the electronics industry in Southern
California. A total of 87 managers (30 chief executive officers, 28 higher-level staff
managers, and 29 supervisors) were interviewed and asked about a number of aspects of
political behavior. A total of 13 characteristics were identified as being important, headed
by articulateness, sensitivity, and social adeptness. As Exhibit 12.4 shows, there was a
fairly high level of agreement between the three levels of managers on what characteristics
were regarded as important.
Playing Politics
The managers in the study described above were aware of political behavior because it was
part of their organizational experiences. As the researchers noted, the study was not
Reasons Games are Played
Chapter 12 – Power and Politics
Political behavior in organizations has been described by many researchers in terms of
game playing. Henry Mintzberg has identified several types of political games played in
organizations. These games, played at all organizational levels by both managers and
organizational change (the whistle-blowing game).
Political Influence Tactics
Influence is what playing politics is all about. Individuals and groups engage in political
behavior to influence the perceptions or behaviors of other individuals and groups.
Accordingly, the means or tactics used to accomplish this have been the focus of much
what they wanted them to do.
EXHIBIT 12.5 Frequency of Outcomes for the Use of Political Influence Tactics
Not all these tactics are equally effective in bringing about desired results. Exhibit 12.5
shows the results of one study that assessed the effectiveness of each tactic. Over 500 cases
involving the use of influence tactics were analyzed in terms of leading to one of three
outcomes:
1. Commitment results when you agree internally with the decision, action, or request, are
enthusiastic about it and are likely to exert unusual effort to carry out the request.
2. Compliance occurs when you carry out the request but are apathetic about it and make
As can be seen from the exhibit, inspirational appeals and consultation were more effective
than the rest of the tactics, with inspiration resulting in commitment 90 percent of the time
unskillful manner or if the request being made is clearly objectionable.
Impression Management (1 of 2)
Impression management refers to the actions individuals take to control the impressions
that others form of them. Impression management is universal. Employers do it, as do
employees; students do it with professors and professors do it with students; parents and
children do it with each other. Research suggests that a significant part of behavior in
section represent attempts at impression management. Consultation, for example, is used to
create the impression that you are participative and that you want, value, and respect input
from the person you are trying to influence. Ingratiation is designed to project an
impression of you as a nice, thoughtful, or friendly person. Impression management has
Impression Management (2 of 2)
After reviewing 20 years of research on impression management behaviors, researchers
found that effectively managing the way others see us is linked to a variety of favorable
Self-Handicapping
One very effective impression management technique, self-handicapping, is designed to
make the best of an as yet undetermined outcome. Self-handicapping refers to any action
Ethics, Power, and Power (1 of 2)
Issues of power and politics often involve ethical issues as well. For example, if power is
used within the formal boundaries of a manager’s authority and within the framework of
organizational policies, job description, procedures, and goals, it is really non-political
power and most likely does not involve ethical issues. When the use of power is outside the
Ethics Power, and Politics (2 of 2)
Managers confront ethical dilemmas in their jobs because they frequently use power and
politics to accomplish their goals. Each manager, therefore, has an ethical responsibility.
Researchers have developed a framework that allows a manager to integrate ethics into
political behavior. These researchers recommend that a manager’s behavior must satisfy
certain criteria to be considered ethical.
1. Utilitarian outcomes. The manager’s behavior results in optimization of satisfaction of
other words, it respects basic human rights of free consent, free speech, and freedom of
Chapter 12 – Power and Politics
conscience, privacy, and due process.
3. Distributive justice. The manager’s behavior respects the rules of justice. It does not
treat people arbitrarily but rather equitably and fairly.
What does a manager do when a potential behavior cannot pass the three criteria? The
behavior may still be considered ethical in the particular situation if it passes the criterion
overwhelming factors in the nature of the situation, such as conflicts among criteria (e.g.,
criteria (e.g., a manager uses questionable means to achieve a positive result), or an
inability to employ the first three criteria (e.g., the manager acts with incomplete or
inaccurate information).
Using Power to Manage Effectively
Nothing gets done in any organization until someone makes it happen. Making the right
things happen is what a manager’s job is all about. To be effective, a manager must
successfully influence the activities of other organizational members. As we pointed out at
the start of this chapter, influence requires the exercise of power. To influence successfully,
power must be used effectively.
Important Power Considerations
Organizational theorist and researcher Jeffrey Pfeffer has identified several important
considerations in using power to manage effectively. We close this chapter with a look at
Pfeffer’s conclusions in this regard:
Understand that to get things done you must have power, and in the case of those who
oppose you, you must have more power than they do. This means it is essential that you
know where power comes from and how these sources of power can be nurtured. It is
important to recognize that there is nothing wrong with the acquisition and use of power if
it is done in a professional and ethical manner. However effective you are as a manager,
increasing your influence will further increase your effectiveness. Finally, recognize the
strategies and tactics through which organizational power is developed and used. This
approaches available to us, and use what is likely to be effective.”
In Review, Did We…
Instructors may wish to refer to the learning objectives to facilitate a review of the chapter
concepts.
Summary of Key Points
❑ Power is the capability one party has to affect the actions of another party. Influence is a
transaction in which one party induces another party to behave in a certain way. Another way
of making the distinction is to think of power as the potential to influence, and influence as
power in action.
❑ Organizational structure creates power by specifying certain individuals to perform certain
tasks. Three important forms of structural power include (1) access to resources, (2) ability to
affect decision-making processes, and (3) having access to relevant and important
information.
❑ The strategic contingency approach addresses subunit power. A strategic contingency is an
event or activity that is extremely important for accomplishing organizational goals. The
strategic contingency factors that have been disclosed by research include coping with
uncertainty, centrality, and substitutability.
❑ Individuals with very little or no real power may still influence others because they appear to
be powerful. This is the illusion of power that was clearly illustrated in the Milgram
experiments on obedience.
Review and Discussion Questions
1. Think about a previous job you have held. Which, if any, were the sources of your power?
Did you attempt to increase your power? If so, how?
Ans: Student answers will vary depending on their individual experience.
2. What is meant by the term empowerment? Why is empowerment a concept that is resisted
by some and rejected by others?
Ans: Empowerment means encouraging and/or helping individuals and groups to make decisions
that affect their work environment. It is resisted by some, and rejected by others, because:
1. Managers fear the loss of power, control, and authority.
5. Not everyone wants to be empowered.
3. What is your opinion regarding whether ethics should be taught in business schools? Why
or why not?
Ans: Student answers will vary however may touch upon the means used to determine if an activity
is ethical.
4. Assume that the printing process is a strategic contingency for a publishing company, and
that only one group of employees knows how to operate the printing press. How could the
environment be changed to more evenly balance power within the printing department?
Ans: The more individuals in the organization who can use the printing press, the less vulnerable the
5. How the illusion of power can be just as effective as actual power was clearly illustrated in
the “obedience to authority” experiments of Milgram. Can you think of other examples where
people have responded to the illusion of power? Does this happen in organizations?
Ans: Students may cite several examples, such as complying with the norms of a group that the
individual perceives to be more powerful than it really is. Subjecting oneself to the degradation of a
jobs).
6. Political games are played at all organizational levels by both managers and non-managers.
Identify the purposes for which these games are played.
7. A number of frequently used influence tactics were discussed in the text. Have many have
you witnessed being played in organizations of which you are a member? What other tactics
have you seen used?
Ans: Student answers will vary. Use this question to stimulate class discussion. Note the differences
8. The use of power and politics often involve ethical issues. What are the criteria that may be
used to determine the extent to which a manager’s behavior is ethical? Are there ever
legitimate exceptions to these criteria?
Ans: One set of criteria to use in determining the ethics of a manager’s behavior involves
considering:
9. Which power would you prefer to develop for yourself: expert power or legitimate power?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these sources of power? Explain.
Ans: Student answers will vary, depending on how they view each type of power and whether or not
Expert power is a personal characteristic of individuals who deal in technical, medical,
administrative, or personal matters. It is a power than can be held for as long as the person remains
an expert in the field and the field does not become obsolete. In other words, the power is not job or
company dependent; the holder takes it with him or her where ever they go. Plus, orders coming
10. When was the last time you engaged in impression management? Was it effective? Why or
why not? How might you use impression management to get a promotion? To receive a better
grade in a course?
Ans: Student answers will vary.
EXERCISE 12.1: Empowerment Profile
Purpose
To provide students an opportunity to assess their personal feelings of empowerment.
The Exercise in Class
This interesting exercise is worthwhile in:
1. providing the opportunity for political self-assessment (some students will be rather
uncomfortable with their results)
2. helping students understand the concept of empowerment at a personal level.
Because it is a personal profile, this exercise is best assigned for students to do outside of class.
values people who think for themselves and take personal responsibility for their actions.
EXERCISE 12.2: How Political Are You?
Purpose
To help students explore the implications of some of their attitudinal and behavioral
patterns, and to consider what these patterns suggest about their interest in office
politics.
Chapter 12 – Power and Politics
understanding. In general, the more responses recorded in the “mostly true” column, the
more political one can be said to be.
CASE 12.1: The Power and Politics of Privacy on Social Networking Sites
1. What is your opinion regarding these online privacy issues? To what extent are you
concerned about how your personal information on websites such as Facebook, Twitter or
Google is used? Explain.
2. Looking back at the section on “political influence tactics” in this chapter, which tactics did
Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg use after he changed the original terms of use in 2009?
Describe.
Ans: The two tactics that Zuckerberg used after changing the original terms of use on Facebook were
Zuckerberg could use feedback on the site to help persuade other users to support his decisions.
3. Of the stakeholders listed in the last paragraph of the case, which group do you think is
most powerful in terms of shaping the future direction of online privacy issues? Explain.
Ans: Student answers will vary. Power represents the capability to get someone to do something.
Users represent power in that they are the reason all of the other groups exist. However, their power
Chapter 12 – Power and Politics
Teaching Hints and Tips
Lecture Ideas
1. To enhance understanding of French and Raven’s five bases of interpersonal power, have
students identify a leader for whom they have worked and then assess the leader’s power in
terms of the five bases. In discussing their power profiles, have them consider:
2. Use an article on self-managed teams to illustrate the methods of empowerment alluded to in
3. Students should be able to provide numerous examples of subunit/departmental power based
on substitutability, centrality, and in particular, the ability to cope with a key strategic
contingency. Ask your students: in an organization in which you’ve worked, what department
was the most powerful? Why? What impact did this have on morale and on the way people did
their jobs?
4. Most people at some point have experienced an illusion of power, believing that someone or
5. Ask students to recall examples of political game playing in organizations. Ask them to cite
examples that may not be fit neatly into the games discussed in the chapter. What effects did
these games have on the players, on the observers, and the organization?
Project Ideas and Suggested Class Speakers
1. To get students to think about how managers might work out ethical dilemmas, especially
those related to power and politics, ask them to write a mini-case about some real or
hypothetical issue that an entry level employee or beginning manager might face. The
assignment should include an explanation of how the student would reason through the
Chapter 12 – Power and Politics
2. Invite an executive director of a non-profit agency to your class as a guest, specifying that your
purpose is to have that person talk with students about power, politics, and leadership. Non-
Term Paper Topics
1. (Selected example): A Profile of the Use of Referent Power
2. The Five Bases of Interpersonal Power: An Overview of Research
3. Negotiations: Study of the Resolution of a Public Policy Dispute.
4. Power in Washington: What is the Impact of Political Power on Corporate America and Visa
Versa?
5. Topic for Term Paper Debate: Is Politics Really Necessary in Organizations?