CH-10-12 Power and Influence in the Workplace – Organizational Behavior: Emerging Knowledge, Global Reality : Book Guide

This Document Contains Chapters 10 to 12 Chapter 10 Power and Influence in the Workplace SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 1. What role does countervailing power play in the power relationship? Give an example of one of your own encounters with countervailing power at school or work. Answer: Countervailing power is the power that the dependent person or group has over the more powerful party in the relationship. This power is weaker than the other party’s, but it is strong enough to keep the more powerful party in the relationship. For example, although your boss probably has the greater power in the work relationship, you have countervailing power by providing skills and knowledge that the company (and your boss) needs. This countervailing power is sufficient to keep you employed. At school, instructors typically (although not always) have more power over students. Students have countervailing power, however, in several ways. First, students are customers, and without them, instructors wouldn’t have work. Second, teacher ratings that students provide influence the instructor’s self-esteem and often salary. Third, student behavior influences the instructor’s ability to present knowledge in an effective way. If students are disruptive, the instructor cannot accomplish his or her goal. 2. Until recently, a mining company’s data resided in the department that was responsible for that information. Property data were on the computers in land administration, hydrocarbon data were in the well administration group, maps were found in the map department, and so on. The executive team concluded that this arrangement was dysfunctional, so the CEO announced that all information would be placed on a central server system so it is widely accessible. If someone needs a color map, for example, he or she can retrieve it from the central server without going through the map department. Rather than welcome the change, employees in several departments complained, offering several arguments why other groups should not have direct access to their data files. Some departments tried to opt out of the centralized server system. Using the model of sources and contingencies of power, explain why some groups opposed the central server model of data access. Answer: This incident actually occurred in a resources company and was a major challenge for those implementing the change. Students should answer this question by breaking it down into the power sources and contingencies. The main source of power at issue here is legitimate power and, in particular, control over information control. Each group had unilateral control (monopoly) over the distribution of the knowledge within their department (e. g. maps in the map department). Students should also recognize that employees elsewhere have legitimate power to request that information, and the department probably has an obligation to fulfill that request. However, these departments still experience power through the requesting process. Furthermore, if someone asks in an inconsiderate way, the department might fulfill the request more slowly or incompletely. Some students might also suggest that the old system generated more expert power. Because the information was housed in one group, they would likely have more detailed knowledge of that resource. Equally important as the sources of power are the contingencies of power in this incident. One key contingency is non substitutability. Under the old system, each department had a monopoly over the resource and possibly gained special knowledge on how to access that resource. As such, they were almost non substitutable. Under a central server system, on the other hand, information is easily ands quickly accessible by employees elsewhere, so the department staff lack control over the resource and therefore are more substitutable. Students would also point of centrality as a key factor. Under the old system, department staff affected others, whereas they likely have less immediate affect or on fewer employees when those people can retrieve the information without department assistance. Visibility might also play a role here because bypassing a department means they are less connected to the data and therefore less visible. Some students might also argue that discretion is relevant here such as that the department staff previously had discretion about whether, how, and when to release information. However, discretion is a relatively minor issue because the department ultimately had an obligation to distribute the knowledge. Some groups opposed the central server model due to the perceived loss of control over their data, fearing diminished status and influence within the organization. Additionally, they may view their data as a source of power and leverage, enhancing their bargaining position in interdepartmental negotiations. The centralized system threatens their autonomy and diminishes their ability to control access to valuable information, prompting resistance from these groups. 3. You have just been hired as a brand manager of toothpaste for a large consumer products company. Your job mainly involves encouraging the advertising and production groups to promote and manufacture your product more effectively. These departments aren’t under your direct authority, though company procedures indicate that they must complete certain tasks requested by brand managers. Describe the sources of power you can use to ensure that the production and advertising departments will help you make and sell toothpaste more effectively. Answer: As brand manager, you might be able to use most sources of power, depending on the circumstances. Here are some possible explanations. Legitimate Power. Although you do not have direct authority, you do have some legitimate power through the rules and procedures saying that the advertising and production groups must work with you to sell soda biscuits more effectively. If they refuse to cooperate, you have the legitimate right to seek redress from higher authorities. Reward Power. You probably don’t have direct control over merit increases or other financial rewards for the advertising and production people, but you do have reward power by using praise. Moreover, you might indirectly have reward power by making favorable comments about certain employees to more senior line managers who make financial reward decisions for advertising and production staff members. Coercive Power. You can make life difficult for advertising and production people by constantly nagging them for the promised work, or by criticizing their work. Indirectly, you can report to senior management about the poor performance of some people, which may affect their employment security. Although these forms of coercive power are available, you should be aware that these actions carry risks such as lack of future cooperation from advertising and production people. Expert Power. You have just been hired, so it is unlikely that the advertising or production people believe that you have much expertise. You might develop this source of power in the long term, however, by learning about effective brand management practices and applying impression management tactics to shape their opinion of your expertise. For example, you might gain expert power more quickly by being seen with someone whose expertise is respected. Referent Power. As a recent hire, it is unlikely that you currently have much, if any, of this power base over advertising and production employees. Moreover, given your different background, it is difficult to develop referent power with these groups. However, you might find common experiences (schools attended, hobbies) with some people in those departments, or you might develop common experiences by frequently interacting and networking with these people. 4. How does social networking increase a person’s power? What social networking strategies could you initiate now to potentially enhance your future career success? Answer: Social networking increases an individual’s power in three ways: Information access. You receive more valued information from others because there is trust among networkers to share information. Networks increase the volume as well as the speed of information received. Visibility. Networks makes you more salient to key decision makers. Your skills come to mind more quickly among network members than if you are not within the network. This visibility increases your potential power because it is a contingency of power. Referent power. Other network members identify more with you or at least have more respect and trust in you, so they are more motivated to agree to your wishes. As a student, you could use networking now to enhance your future career success. Students can cultivate social relationships with others who may be in a position to use their skills in the future. For example, by leading a Marketing club in your faculty that invites Marketing professionals to serve as guest speakers you would be gaining valuable contacts that may be able to hire you in the future. Students may also network with faculty and staff in the effort to ensure their skills and talents are recognized. In this way, students may be better positioned to receive valuable personal references that may assist with future job search efforts. Students may also successfully develop and maintain valuable contacts with other students. This network may benefit the individual by providing a source of potential employers and organizational contacts throughout the individual’s career. Social networking increases a person's power by expanding their access to resources, information, and opportunities through diverse connections. By building a strong network, one can gain influence, support, and visibility within professional circles, enhancing career prospects. Initiating strategies such as attending industry events, joining professional associations, actively engaging on social media platforms, and maintaining relationships with colleagues and mentors can cultivate a robust network conducive to future career success. 5. List the eight influence tactics described in this chapter in terms of how they are used by students to influence their college instructors. Which influence tactic is applied most often? Which is applied least often, in your opinion? To what extent is each influence tactic considered legitimate behavior or organizational politics? Answer: This question presupposes that students do and can influence instructors. Here are some of the ideas and examples that tend to arise with this question, based on the eight types of influence tactics discussed in the chapter: Silent Authority. This is probably the weakest form of influence. One example, however, would occur where a student waits outside an instructor’s office to meet the instructor. If the instructor is meeting with someone else or is on the telephone, he/she probably feels a degree of recognition of obligation to meet the waiting student as soon as possible. For example, the instructor might speed up to finish an otherwise leisurely telephone conversation. Assertiveness. Although a risky strategy, some students assert their concerns and demands for fair treatment after receiving a poor grade. They might urge the instructor to review the paper more carefully, remind the instructor of certain rules or criteria against which the paper should have been judged, and so forth. Exchange. Students often negotiate with instructors, with varying degrees of success. For example, a student might agree to be the first to give a presentation to class if he/she can submit a paper a few days later than the due date. Coalition formation. This strategy occurs when the instructor is about to do (or has already done) something that opposes the interests of some students. For example, one group of students approached the first author several years ago because they were fourth year students yet had received lower grades on a mid-term than many second year students who happened to be attending the same class. The idea was that if four people feel the same inequity, it must be a serious matter. Upward appeal. Upward appeal isn’t so much about appealing one’s grade in a normal appeal process (although it could fall into this category). Rather, this strategy refers to the threat of approaching higher authority, or implying that higher authority already agrees with the student. One example could occur when a student says he casually mentioned his/her concern to the Associate Dean, who generally agreed that the instructor’s actions were unacceptable. Another example could occur where students remind the instructor of certain philosophical standards at the college which would encourage the instructor to take one action rather than another action. A third example could occur where an upset student suggests that he/she and the instructor take the disagreement to someone higher in the organization to get their opinion. Ingratiation/Impression management. There are so many forms of this strategy that we cannot list them all here. One example of ingratiation is simple brown-nosing – “Gee, professor, it’s such a privilege to take this class with you. I waited until the semester you are teaching!” More subtle impression management occurs when a student makes it quite clear he/she has submitted reports on time, whereas many others are late. Another student might coincidentally carry a copy of the instructor’s latest book or most recent journal article around where the instructor happens to notice that the student has a copy of it. Persuasion. Presumably, this is a common strategy used by students. They might point out logical reasons why they should be assigned to a different project team or should have an assignment handed in late without penalty, for example. Information control. Although this would be a relatively weak or limited strategy for students, it is possible in some circumstances. For example, a student might claim that he/she did most of the work on a project where other team members have not had an opportunity to correct the instructor. The eight influence tactics are: 1. Rational persuasion 2. Inspirational appeals 3. Consultation 4. Ingratiation 5. Personal appeals 6. Exchange 7. Coalition tactics 8. Pressure In a college setting, students often use rational persuasion, consultation, and ingratiation to influence instructors. Rational persuasion is likely applied most often, while pressure tactics may be used least often due to their confrontational nature. Each influence tactic can be considered legitimate behavior if used ethically, but coalition tactics and pressure tactics may lean more towards organizational politics depending on their implementation. 6. Consider a situation in which there is a only one female member on a team of six people, and she is generally excluded from informal gatherings of the team. What kind of influence tactics can she use to address this situation? Answer: Social networks generate social capital, the goodwill and resulting resources shared among members in a social network. A female team member in a situation as above is likely to miss opportunities and favors from team members for both expressive and instrumental purposes and it turns out to be a limitation. Perhaps it may e useful for her to understand the cultural situation first because socializing with male colleagues is in itself received very differently across cultures. She needs to approach the leader of the team to update her/him of the situation and to request for a mechanism wherein all work-related information is shared with her. She will need to be very watchful and diplomatic in all the formal meetings. 7. In the mid-1990s, the CEO of Apple Computer invited the late Steve Jobs (who was not associated with the company at the time) to serve as a special adviser and raise morale among Apple employees and customers. While doing so, Jobs spent more time advising the CEO on how to cut costs, redraw the organization chart, and hire new people. Before long, most of the top people at Apple were Jobs’ colleagues, who began to systematically evaluate and weed out teams of Apple employees. While publicly supporting Apple’s CEO, Jobs privately criticized him and, in a show of nonconfidence, sold the 1. 5 million shares of Apple stock he had received. This action caught the attention of Apple’s board of directors, who soon after decided to replace the CEO with Steve Jobs. The CEO claimed Jobs was a conniving back-stabber who used political tactics to get his way. Others suggest that Apple would be out of business today if he hadn’t taken over the company. In your opinion, were Steve Jobs’ actions examples of organizational politics? Justify your answer. Answer: This question refers to events in 1997 when Apple CEO Gil Amelio bought Next computers from Steve Jobs and invited Jobs to help build morale among employees. (Jobs co-founded Apple in the 1970s but was ousted in the 1980s). Within a year, Jobs had convinced Apple’s board to oust Amelio and install Jobs as an interim CEO. (Jobs didn’t need the position because he was already CEO of Pixar Animation Studios.) The answer to this question is definitely open for debate. The key point here is that organizational politics is in the eye of the beholder. Therefore, some students will agree with Amelio’s opinion of Jobs while others will disagree. What is important is how students justify their answers based on their knowledge of material they learned in the chapter. Some influence tactics are obviously recognized as political tactics by almost everyone. However, other influence activities may be viewed as political (as Amelio specifically accused Steve Jobs.) On the one hand, Jobs’s tactics were not as above-board as one might want. He did not explicitly tell Amelio that he didn’t trust his leadership to save Apple (which was in trouble at the time due to previous poor leadership). On the other hand, by the time Steve Jobs passed away in 2011, he was regarded as one of the greatest entrepreneurs and leaders in business. He turned Apple around and saved the company from almost certain demise. 8. This book frequently emphasizes that successful companies engage in organizational learning. How do political tactics interfere with organizational learning objectives? Answer: Selectively distributing information is one tactic that directly interferes with knowledge management. This includes such actions as: (a) withholding damaging information or making others look good; (b) avoiding the need to reveal information; (c) burying or obscuring damaging information; and (d) bringing in outside ‘experts’ to tip the scales toward your preference. Another political tactic that harms knowledge management is controlling information channels. This includes discouraging people from directly communicating with each other, as well as altering agendas so that certain information has little opportunity for open discussion. CASE STUDY: RESONUS CORPORATION By Steven L. McShane, based on an earlier case written by John A. Seeger Case Synopsis Frank Choy recently joined Resonus Corporation, a hearing aid designer and manufacturer, as director of engineering. Over the first eight months, he and has experienced several problems of coordination and cooperation with other work units and individuals. In particular, CEO Bill Hunt supports Doc Kalandry’s (the Research Director) request for last minute technology changes to the product in development. These delays cause Choy’s engineering services group to increase their costs and ultimately fail to achieve their time deadline for completing the engineering specifications for this product. Suggested Answers to Case Questions 1. What sources and contingencies of power existed among the executives and departments at Resonus? Answer: Students can analyze this case by examining the power dynamics among the key players, particularly Doc and Choy. The key issue here is why Choy and his team are unable to fulfill their work obligations of completing the engineering specification on time. Clearly, Doc Kalandry wields tremendous power, so his wishes are usually fulfilled, Doc’s power is through expert power and referent power. Hunt (and others) recognize Doc as an authority on the product’s technology. Furthermore, Hunt claims this expertise is a key factor in the company’s success. Doc also seems to have referent power, at least among some staff. His over-the-top enthusiasm and optimism is compelling. Doc also seems to have referent power over Hunt because of Hunt’s apparent identification with Doc’s department, where Hunt held his first job at Resonus. Doc also has all four contingencies of power in his favor. Hunt considers Doc unique and irreplaceable (non substitutable). Doc has considerable discretion because Hunt trusts his actions and allows him to ignore product development deadlines and other rules/procedures. Doc’s visibility is strong, due to his direct informal reporting relationship with the CEO and his quirky style (personal brand). Doc and his team also have considerable centrality. when they make changes and cause delays, Choy and other are directly and immediately affected. Similarly, if their product development efforts are poor, the company suffers in the marketplace. In contrast, Choy and his engineering services team have limited power. He is new to the organization, so has no referent power. He would have expertise to secure his senior position at Resonus, but this expertise isn’t mentioned by Hunt or in the case. the case also refers to perceptions that Choy’s team lack expertise (“We shouldn’t have to prove our ability all the time, but we spend as much time defending ourselves as we do getting the job done. ”) The organizational chart indicates that Doc reports to Choy, but this legitimate power does not exist in practice because of the informal reporting relationship from Doc to CEO Hunt. Regarding contingencies of power, Choy and his team have centrality -- their work affects production, sales, and others. However, this centrality does not extend to Doc or his team (i. e. they are unaffected by Choy’s work). But Choy seems to have limited discretion. He can’t dictate deadlines to Doc, his team needs to receive and respond to whatever doc’s team provides, and they can’t act without the output from Doc’s team. Students might note that Choy has visibility. However, Choy’s visibility is not about his sources of power. rather, he and his team have been visible for failing to achieve the set deadlines. This is not the “visibility” of one’s power referred to in the power model. Overall, Doc has considerably more power than does Choy, so Doc’s actions take priority and Choy’s team is unable to achieve their work objectives. At Resonus, sources of power among executives and departments included: 1. Expert Power: Executives possessed specialized knowledge and skills relevant to their roles. 2. Legitimate Power: Authority derived from formal positions within the organization. 3. Information Power: Control over critical information and data within respective departments. 4. Connection Power: Influence stemming from personal networks and relationships. Contingencies such as departmental autonomy, resource control, and perceived importance of departmental functions also influenced power dynamics. 2. What influence tactics were evident in this case study? Would you define any of these influence activities as organizational politics? Why or why not? Answer: The information about influence tactics in this case is more limited. Choy does not take any steps to influence others. On the contrary, he holds back, fearing that he might end up in the same boat has the previous two directors. Doc relies on persuasion, silent authority (his expertise), and possibly impression management to influence Hunt. Hunt relies mainly on silent authority, such as urging others to be more cooperative. But he also relied on assertiveness when firing the previous director of engineering. The sales director also seemed to rely on assertiveness, such as when he became furious with Choy. 3. Suppose you are a consultant invited to propose a solution to the problems facing this organization’s product delays. What would you recommend, particularly regarding power dynamics among the executives and departments? Answer: Almost every student first recommends that Doc should report to Choy and not to Hunt. In other words, Hunt should enforce the organizational chart (in which Doc is a direct report to Choy, not to Hunt). This is a valuable suggestion for debate, but it might not solve the underlying power dynamics problems. If Doc was required to report only to Choy, Doc might quit if Choy demanded strict time schedules. More likely, Hunt would side with Doc if the conflict became manifest (Doc might report to Choy, but Hunt would logically be the final arbitrator when the two disagree.) Alternatively, knowing Hunt’s desire for innovation at any cost and for his admiration of Doc (i. e. Doc’s referent power over Hunt), Choy might also give in to Doc’s poor time management of product development. Finally, Choy might have limited capacity to reject Doc’s requests for lastminute changes because Doc’s group seems to have more perceived expertise than does Choy or his engineering services group. Thus, public opinion would quickly shift away from Choy if he used his legitimate authority over Doc. A more likely solution for Choy here is a two stage strategy. First, Choy should use (initially subtle) persuasion tactics on Hunt regarding the value of production deadlines. Choy might show the costs of late product completion schedules, or he might refer to the collapse of other companies because they consistently released products that were late and flawed due to last-minute changes. Choy might be able to have Hunt speak with CEOs of other firms that have discovered the value of production schedule deadlines ands the false benefits (or high risks) of making last-minute changes. Choy might also find subtle ways to let Hunt and others know about Choy’s expertise, which would give him more power and influence, and would improve his persuasiveness. If the first stage (persuasion approach) is unsuccessful, Choy might have to apply the second stage, which is to be more assertive in his influence and less avoidance-oriented in his conflict handling style. Choy needs to assert the importance of product development deadlines while using a problem-solving style to resolve the requirement of these deadlines with Doc’s need to add new technology at the last minute. Quite likely, the interests are perfectly opposing, so Choy would revert to a more forceful style. Compromise might not work because Doc seems to ignore any middle ground options. As a consultant, I would recommend the following steps to address the power dynamics contributing to product delays: 1. Facilitate Collaboration: Organize cross-functional teams involving executives and departments to foster collaboration and shared responsibility for product development and delivery. 2. Clarify Roles and Responsibilities: Define clear roles and responsibilities for each department, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and minimizing conflicts over authority and decision-making. 3. Promote Communication and Transparency: Implement regular communication channels and platforms to facilitate information sharing and transparency across departments, reducing silos and enhancing cooperation. 4. Establish Performance Metrics: Develop performance metrics and KPIs that measure cross-functional teamwork and achievement of product delivery milestones, incentivizing collaboration and accountability. 5. Leadership Development: Provide leadership training and development programs to equip executives with skills in conflict resolution, negotiation, and team building, enabling them to effectively navigate power dynamics and foster a collaborative culture. By addressing power dynamics through these measures, the organization can streamline processes, improve decision-making, and accelerate product development timelines. Additional Case Question on Conflict Resonus Corporation is also an excellent case for discussion of the sources of conflict as well as ineffective conflict handling tactics. Conflict is discussed in the next chapter, so this additional question should be assigned only when the conflict topic has been covered. 4. Analyze this case in terms of the sources of conflict and conflict handling styles. Your answer should also briefly identify incidents of manifest conflict. There is clear evidence of conflict in this case. Choy is experiencing conflict with Doc Kalandry and with CEO Bill Hunt, even though the conflict is not manifest and Doc and hunt might not be aware of this conflict. Choy perceives that Doc’s actions are interfering with the engineering services’ ability to perform their job, such as completing engineering specification on time. Hunt is also a partner in this conflict because of his support for Doc’s requests. Most structural sources of this conflict are at work here: • Incompatible goals -- Doc and Hunt want to push new technology into the product, whereas Choy and his department want to get the engineering specifications ready on time. As Doc adds more technological changes to the product, Choy’s group is less able to achieve their goals. • Differentiation -- Doc and Hunt seem to value innovation and have low priority for timeliness or predictable production scheduling. • Interdependence -- Choy’s team is dependent on Doc to prepare the final product design work. This seems to be sequential interdependence because the work is passed from Doc’s group to Choy’s group, not back and forth. • Scarce resources -- The main scarcity here is time. Doc is using up time that Choy’s team needs to get the specifications completed for production. • Ambiguous rules -- Although the company has some clear procedures for handover of work, these structural rules and processes are not followed. Hunt allows Doc to ignore the product development schedule. Hunt also discourages bureaucracy (rules and procedures), preferring informal relationships among the managers (i. e. give and take), which makes the rules and regulations less clear. • Communication -- Less central to this case, but some communication problems exist in that managers are not forming a mutual understanding of their differences. for instance, Choy wants to raise his concerns to Hunt (and possibly to others), but does not do so. In addition to these structural sources of conflict, the case illustrates the problem of the avoiding style of conflict. the avoiding style is clearly emphasized by CEO Bill Hunt (“I’m sure we can resolve these differences if we just learn to get along better” and “I spent too much time smoothing out arguments”). The problem with Hunt pushing this style is that the underlying causes of the conflict (see the conflict sources above) are not addressed, which results in frustration, stress, and late deadlines. TEAM EXERCISE: DECIPHERING THE NETWORK Purpose This exercise is designed to help students interpret social network maps, including their implications for organizational effectiveness. Materials The instructor will distribute the three social network diagrams to each student. These student handouts are provided over the three pages following these instructor notes. Ideally, print these diagrams in color. Instructions (Smaller Classes) The instructor will organize students into teams (typically four to seven people, depending on class size). Teams will examine each social network diagram to answer the following questions: 1. What aspects of this diagram suggest that the network is not operating as effectively as possible? Answer: In examining the social network diagram, look for signs of inefficiency such as isolated clusters or individuals with limited connections. Additionally, identify any key nodes or groups that are disconnected from the broader network, hindering the flow of information and collaboration. 2. Which people in this network seem to be most powerful? Least powerful? What information or features of the diagram lead you to this conclusion? Answer: In analyzing the social network diagram, consider individuals who serve as central connectors, bridging different groups or nodes within the network. These individuals are likely the most powerful due to their ability to influence information flow and communication pathways. Conversely, individuals on the periphery or with few connections may be deemed least powerful, as they have limited access to information and influence within the network. Look for patterns of connectivity, node centrality, and cluster cohesion to identify power dynamics within the network. 3. If you were responsible for this group of people, how would you change this situation to improve their effectiveness? Answer: To improve the effectiveness of the group depicted in the social network diagram, consider implementing the following strategies: 1. Foster Communication: Encourage regular communication and collaboration among members by establishing clear channels and platforms for sharing information and ideas. 2. Facilitate Connections: Organize team-building activities or networking events to strengthen interpersonal relationships and build trust among members. 3. Promote Inclusivity: Ensure that all members have equal opportunities to contribute and participate in group discussions and decision-making processes, fostering a sense of belonging and ownership. 4. Provide Training and Support: Offer training sessions or workshops on communication skills, conflict resolution, and team dynamics to enhance members' ability to work effectively together. 5. Evaluate and Adapt: Regularly assess the effectiveness of the group's dynamics and processes, soliciting feedback from members and making adjustments as needed to optimize performance and collaboration. After teams have diagnosed each social network map, the class will debrief by hearing each team’s assessments and recommendations. Instructions (Larger Classes) This activity is also possible in large classes by projecting each social network diagram on a screen and giving students a minute or two to examine the diagram. The instructor can then ask specific questions to the class, such as pointing to a specific individual in the network and asking whether he or she has high or low power, what level of centrality is apparent, and whether the individual’s connections are mainly strong or weak ties. The instructor might also ask which quadrant on the map indicates the most concern and then allow individual students to provide their explanation why. Comments for Instructors This activity can be very engaging, particularly after students have read this chapter or attended the lecture on the basics of social network analysis. Here are suggested answers for each of the three social network diagrams: Bank Consultants This diagram shows that the three consulting groups have limited informal networking with each other, which implies limited communication, collaboration, or information sharing. A high degree of networking exists within two of the groups (business services and information systems), but relatively low networking within the organizational consulting group (where four distinct clusters are apparent). This diagram identifies a few individuals with considerable centrality, particularly the information systems group person at the bottom left of that group. Most of the organizational consulting group seems to have fairly low power through networking (the most powerful seems to be the person at far right of that group), but the lowest power is apparent among a few employees at the top far left of the information systems group. One person (possibly a newcomer) has no network linkage. This diagram suggests that if any collaboration exists, it is occurring somewhat more between the business services and organizational consulting group. Retail Managers This diagram shows informal networking (communication) among district managers, the four regional directors, and the vice-president. One important observation is that the diagram suggests the organization is quite hierarchical, because many employees interact mainly through the formal reporting ties. In the top right and bottom left groups, for example, two managers in each group network only with their boss. Furthermore, regional directors communicate mainly with their boss (vice-president); only two regional managers have any meaningful networking with other regional managers. Students should notice the lack of networking from district managers to the vice-president, likely another strong indicator of strong hierarchical culture. Interestingly, there is one exception, and that individual also has several connections with peers both within and between regional groups. Another observation is that the degree of networking among district managers is varied and generally low. The bottom right group is particularly well networked within the group (several connecting lines that are also short) but still minimal ties with people in other regions. Coincidentally, this regional director is also the most networked with other directors, suggesting that this director is a savvy networker who encourages the same among staff. In contrast, the top right group has minimal networking, implying that cohesion among district managers within this region is quite low. In fact, one manager in this group has stronger connections to district managers in the adjacent (top left) group, suggesting perhaps that this individual may have recently transferred from that group. This diagram suggests that the regional directors tend to be the most powerful because information flows through them (high betweenness) to people in other regions. The bottom right director seems to be the most powerful among these, both in the number of connections (high degree) and direct connection to two other regional directors (higher betweenness). Those with the least power are the several district managers with only one link, invariably to their regional director. Two Merged Firms This diagram reveals that the integration of the two merged firms is far from successful. Financial professionals continue to interact mainly with their peers from the same previous firm. The diagram shows some ties with people from the other organization, possibly due to work requirements, but these ties are typically limited and weak. The “Company 1” analysts are peripheral in the clusters dominated by “Company 2” analysts, and vice versa. Student should observe a second noteworthy feature of this network structure, namely that the Company 2 analysts seem to be much better networkers than are the Company 1 analysts. This is apparent by the number of ties and short distance in those ties among Company 2 staff. Why this difference? Most likely, Company 2 staff enjoyed a culture of networking and high social cohesion, whereas Company 1 was less so. This diagram shows a few very powerful individuals, particularly the two people near the middle center and bottom center of the exhibit. Not surprisingly (given the observations above), all of the most powerful people through networking were former Company 2 staff. The Company 1 staff universally have little centrality (few ties, long ties, limited betweenness), so they have the least networking power. TEAM EXERCISE: MANAGING YOUR BOSS Purpose This exercise is designed to help students apply influence tactics to real situations, in this case influencing people above them in the hierarchy. Materials None. Instructions (Smaller Classes Only) The instructor will organize students into teams (typically four to seven people, depending on class size). Teams will identify specific strategies to influence people above them in the organizational hierarchy. Teams should consider each of the various influence tactics to determine specific practices that might change the attitudes and behavior of their bosses. During this team discussion, students should determine which influence tactics are most and least appropriate for managing their bosses. Teams should also consider relevant concepts from other chapters, such as perceptions (Chapter 3), emotions and attitudes (Chapter 4), motivation (Chapter 5), and (if already covered in the course) conflict (Chapter 11). The class will regroup, and each team will present specific recommendations for influencing people in higher positions. Comments for Instructors This activity receives very active discussion in MBA classes, as well as in classes where students have had a reasonable amount of work experience. However, it is an excellent learning activity even for those without work experience because it requires them to think through the sources and contingencies of power. Some editions of this book have a Global Connections feature that provides some information about how to manage bosses. This feature is a good starting point because it highlights several key strategies. But there are many upward influence practices that could not be packed into that case study. Students might answer this assignment by working through the sources and contingencies of power. Here are some ideas organized in that way: Sources of Power Reward power: Be an asset, not a liability to your boss. Do your job well. Be solution-oriented, not problem-oriented. Discover and offer strengths that you have to aid your bosses weaknesses (e. g. working with numbers when your boss is less numbers-oriented). Adapt to your boss’s style and values. For example, discover how your boss prefers to communicate and use that approach (which gives your boss more positive experiences). Referent power: Build the relationship by discovering similarities (common past, interests, etc). Build trust by being reliable (trustworthy -- e. g. fulfill promises). Help convey your boss’s competencies to others (i. e. help your boss develop his/her career opportunities -- a form of indirect ingratiation). Try to think more like your boss -- increase your empathy of his/her situation and convey that awareness. Legitimate power: Clarify mutual expectations with your boss (work standards, work capacity). This ensures that you are doing what your boss expects and you have a right to oppose requests that fall outside those boundaries. Find ways to develop reciprocity, such as by supporting your boss when that support is needed (and appropriate). By coming to his/her aid, your boss may feel more reciprocal obligation to help you in future. Expert power: Develop new knowledge that makes your boss more dependent on you (e. g. develop a social network with others in the company that provide insight into the company that your boss would value.) Use your knowledge and experience to persuade your boss when necessary. Coercive power: Coercive power should never be used directly when managing your boss. It may occur indirectly when your boss becomes dependent on you and you legitimately cannot assist (e. g. vacation, other work deadlines). However, you should also develop an exit strategy when you eventually realize that your boss is a problem. If your boss puts undue pressure on you (and others) or engages in severe bullying tactics, use the exit strategy before you lose your boss’s favor. Contingencies of Power Non substitutability: In subtle ways, let your boss discover your unique knowledge and abilities, inferring that you are the “go to” person for that knowledge or skill. Keep up to date in your professional knowledge so you have more value than others in your position. Visibility: Introduce yourself to your new boss. Be sure you show up to meetings and events where your boss is present. Speak up for your boss when the opportunity arises at meetings (and where the boss’s position is valid). Use subtle symbols in your workspace to demonstrate your value to the organization and possibility similarities to your boss (e. g. same school, home town). Centrality: In some situations, it may be appropriate and desirable to arrange your work such that you boss is quickly affected if you are unavailable to perform it. For example, be the key person to provide information in executive reports or to assist with new projects. In other words, create a situation where your boss quickly realizes your value when you aren’t available to assist (vacation, busy on other projects, etc). Discretion: It is less clear how employee discretion plays a role in managing your boss. SELF-ASSESSMENT: HOW DO YOU INFLUENCE COWORKERS AND OTHER PEERS? Purpose This exercise is designed to help students understand different forms of influence when working with coworkers (i. e. , people at the same organizational level), as well as estimate their preference for each influence tactic in this context. Instructions Students are asked to think about the occasions when a coworker disagreed with them, opposed their preference, or was reluctant to actively support their point of view about something at work. These conflicts might have been about company policy, assignment of job duties, distribution of resources, or any other matter. Students are asked what they did over the past six months to try to get the coworker to support your preference? (Note: Students who have not been in the workforce recently can complete this self-assessment exercise thinking about influencing another student instead of a coworker.) Feedback for the Coworker Influence Scale Influence refers to any behavior that attempts to alter someone’s attitudes or behavior. There are several types of influence, including the eight measured by this instrument. This instrument assesses preferences for using each type of influence on coworkers and other people at a similar level as the respondent’s position in the organization. Persuasion: Persuasion refers to using logical and emotional appeals to change others’ attitudes. This is one of the most widely used influence strategies toward others in any position (e. g. , co-workers, bosses, subordinates). Silent authority: The silent application of authority occurs when someone complies with a request because the target person is aware of the requester’s legitimate or expert power. This influence tactic is very subtle, such as making the target person aware of the status or expertise of the person making the request. Exchange: Exchange involves the promise of benefits or resources in exchange for the target person’s compliance with your request. This tactic also includes reminding the target of past benefits or favors with the expectation that the target will now make up for that debt. Negotiation is also part of the exchange strategy. Assertiveness: Assertiveness involves actively applying legitimate and coercive power to influence others. This tactic includes demanding that the other person com- ply with your wishes, showing frustration or impatience with the other person, and using threats of sanctions to force compliance. Information control: Information control involves explicitly manipulating others’ access to information for the purpose of changing their attitudes and/or behavior. It includes screening out information that might oppose your preference and embellishing or highlighting information that supports your position. According to one survey, more than half of employees believe their co-workers engage in this tactic. Coalition formation: Coalition formation occurs when a group of people with common interests band together to influence others. It also exists as a perception, such as when you convince someone else that several people are on your side and support your position. Upward appeal: Upward appeal occurs when you rely on support from people higher up the organizational hierarchy. This support may be real (senior management shows support) or logically argued (you explain how your position is consistent with company policy). Ingratiation: Ingratiation is a special case of impression management in which you attempt to increase the perception of liking or similarity to another person in the hope that they will become more supportive of your ideas. Flattering the co-worker, becoming friendlier with the co-worker, helping the co-worker (with expectation of reciprocity), showing support for the co-worker’s ideas, and asking for the co-worker’s advice are all examples of ingratiation. Scores on the eight Coworker Influence Scale dimensions range from 3 to 15. Higher scores indicate that the person has a higher preference for and use of that particular tactic. Norms vary from one group to the next. The following table shows norms from a sample of 225 MBA students. Most are from Australia, but some completed courses in Singapore and many of these people originate from other regions (Europe, South America, Asia, North America). The average age is about 31 years old and two-thirds would be male. To read this chart, consider the top 10 percentile for Assertiveness. The score is 9, indicating that 10 percent of people score 9 or above and 90 percent score below 9 on this dimension. Keep in mind that these scores represent self-perceptions. Evaluations from others (such as through 360-degree feedback) may provide a more accurate estimate of your preferred influence tactics. Coworker Influence Scale Norms Percentile Persuasion Silent authority Exchange Assertiveness Average Score 12. 3 9. 7 7. 4 5. 8 Top 10 percentile 15 12 10 9 Top 25th percentile 14 11 9 7 Median (50th percentile) 12 10 8 5 Bottom 25th percentile 11 8 6 4 Bottom 10 percentile 10 7 4 3 Coworker Influence Scale Norms (con’t) Percentile Information control Coalition formation Upward appeal Ingratiation Average Score 7. 3 8. 0 7. 9 8. 8 Top 10 percentile 10 11 11 12 Top 25th percentile 9 10 9 11 Median (50th percentile) 7 8 8 9 Bottom 25th percentile 6 6 6 6 Bottom 10 percentile 5 4 5 5 BONUS CLASS EXERCISE: BINGO NETWORKING (U. S. EDITION) Purpose To improve student networking by practicing how to learn how to meet and quickly acquire information from other people. Materials Distribute the Bingo card with rules in the student handout sheet to every student. Be sure students have a pen or pencil to initial other students’ Bingo cards. This activity requires sufficient space for small group social interaction. Instructions This exercise is similar to classic Bingo except the boxes are filled with initials of other people in class who satisfy the condition in that box. For example, only students who have ridden a horse within the past five years can initial the third box under “G”. Before beginning the game, you need to decide how the game should end and how or whether it is won. The classic option is that the game ends when one person calls out “Bingo” (i. e. first person to have initials along a row, column, or diagonal). However, this approach can be too rushed for networking. Alternatively, announce that the game ends after a set time (e. g. 20 minutes) and the winner(s) are those with the most completed rows, columns, and diagonals. A third option is not to have winners at all. Instead, focus on the debriefing topics. Distribute the Bingo sheets to students and explain the rules to them: Formally introduce yourself to each person you meet (e. g. say your name, shake hands). You cannot volunteer information about yourself, only answer specific questions asked (NOT “Which of these boxes apply to you?”). When someone satisfies one of the boxes, get that person to initial the box. You cannot initial any boxes on your own card. The goal is to get initials along one or more entire rows, columns, or diagonals. Be sure students understand that their interaction with others should be more like a conversation than an urgent treasure hunt. Although the information should be collected quickly, it should also occur respectfully. This includes ending the conversation politely. Comments for Instructors Although students will be focused on getting their Bingo cards initialed, the debriefing should focus on the fine art of approaching people and either providing or receiving valuable information from them quickly, yet respectfully. Ask students how they accomplished this and what they would do differently to improve their respectfulness or efficiency at getting information. Discuss the all-important first statement after the person introduces themselves. Also, be sure the consider the interesting dynamic where both parties are seeking different information from each (i. e. they likely have different objectives for the conversation). Finally, consider the delicate task of withdrawing from the conversation. This is likely less of a concern in this activity (where both parties are eager to discover the traits of other people), but there is an element of politely ending the conversation. Source: Bingo networking is based on a widely discussed activity with no known original source. RULES 1. Formally introduce yourself to each person you meet (e. g. say your name, shake hands). 2. You cannot volunteer information about yourself, only answer specific questions asked (NOT “Which of these boxes apply to you?”). 3. When someone satisfies one of the boxes, get that person to initial the box. 4. You cannot initial any boxes on your own card. 5. The goal is to get initials along one or more entire rows, columns, or diagonals. Chapter 11. Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 1. Distinguish task conflict from relationship conflict and explain how to apply the former, with minimal levels of the latter. Answer: The distinction between task (constructive) and relationship conflict is one of perceptions and emotions toward the conflict. Task-related conflict occurs when the parties view the conflict experience as something separate from them. Differences of opinion are viewed as constructive events in which the parties can learn different perspectives and possibly develop new ideas. Relationship conflict, on the other hand, occurs when the parties view their differences as threatening personal attacks. Rather than focusing on the issue, each party starts to see the other person as the problem. The discussion becomes emotionally charged, so that perceptual biases are introduced and information processing is impeded. One way to encourage task conflict and minimize relationship conflict is by keeping the participants focussed on the issue and its resolution as opposed to individuals. With this in mind experts have identified three strategies: Emotional intelligence. Participants are less likely to resort to personal attacks when they have high emotional intelligence. Such individuals are known to have control over their emotions, and are better able to use the emotions of others as information. Cohesive teams. Members in such teams tend to be more forgiving of team mates with differing view points. This allows them to avoid felling personally offended when others within the team voice opposing arguments. Supportive team norms. If the team encourages frank and open debate while discouraging personal attacks, it can help minimize if not avoid relationship conflict. The norms may include an acceptance of appropriate humor to maintain positive relations. 2. The chief executive officer of Creative Toys, Inc. , read about cooperation in Japanese companies and vowed to bring this same philosophy to the company. The goal is to avoid all conflict, so that employees would work cooperatively and be happier at Creative Toys. Discuss the merits and limitations of the CEO’s policy. Answer: This question addresses the idea that conflict can be both good and bad for organizations. To effectively manage conflict, organizational leaders must find interventions that alter the level and form of conflict in ways that maximize its benefits and minimize its dysfunctional consequences. Task conflict is a form of conflict that benefits decision making. This constructive conflict helps people to recognize problems, to identify a variety of solutions, and to better understand the issues involved. Conflict is also a catalyst for change and improved decision making. It occurs when people raise new perspectives of issues and these emerging views are debated. Under certain conditions, conflict between work teams is beneficial to the extent that it builds commitment to the team. Of course, not all conflict is beneficial. When managed poorly, conflict encourages organizational politics by motivating people to attack or undermine the activities of their adversaries. This relationship conflict results in frustration, job dissatisfaction, and stress. Unbridled conflict may cause employees to escape from the situation through turnover or absenteeism. 3. Conflict among managers emerged soon after a French company acquired a Swedish firm. The Swedes perceived the French management as hierarchical and arrogant, whereas the French thought the Swedes were naive, cautious, and lacking an achievement orientation. Identify the source(s) of conflict that best explain this conflict, and describe ways to reduce dysfunctional conflict in this situation. Answer: The most apparent process to minimize conflict in this situation would be some form of structured dialogue. Specifically, the Swedes and French managers need to diplomatically bring out their concerns and understand the other party’s rationale for their behavior. We emphasize “structured” dialogue because informal dialogue (without a facilitator) may increase the risk of conflict escalation. One dialogue-type strategy is intergroup mirroring, which is described as a supplemental lecture later in this instructor’s manual chapter. The process begins with a relationship audit in which consultants meet with individuals and groups of employees to identify the employment-connected relationships that have caused the current disruption and disagreement In this situation, relationship restructuring would involve interviews by consultants with representatives from the Swedish company and French company. Information collected from the relationship audit is used to evaluate the relationships, such as communication deficiencies, misaligned expectations, corporate culture shifts, and so on. This would identify the sources of the conflict, which may be either structural problems or the way each side communicates with the other side. Although intergroup mirroring and other dialogue-type interventions can reduce dysfunctional conflict, students should be able to think of factors in this situation that may interfere with the process. One problem might be that either the Swedes or the French employees might be less willing to discuss the conflict due to cultural values. Some cultures discourage open discussion of conflict, and this might occur here. Another problem may be that the conflict is due to fundamental differences between the parties, such as cultural differences in communication, or stereotypes of each other. These are more difficult to change than are structural causes of conflict. NOTE: This incident is described in M. Raynaud and M. Teasdale, “Confusions and Acquisitions: Post Merger Culture Shock and Some Remedies,” IABC Communication Journal, 9 (May-June 1992), pp. 44-45. 4. You have just been transferred from one unit of the organization to another unit. On the last day of work in the first unit, your current manager calls your new manager, informing her that you are a tough candidate and that you possess an attitude. The would-be manager calls you, providing you with the information, and expresses apprehension. How would you resolve this conflict? Answer: The two types of conflicts, task and relationship seem to exist here. The present manager apparently has reported about some task-related issue as well as the relationship issue. Task conflict occurs when people focus on task related issues and show respect for other points of view and is more productive. However, in the relationship conflict, there is diversion from the task related issue towards personality clashes and other interpersonal incompatibility, gender a common source for this. An option to you is to analyze what is the source of the conflict and be honest and have an honest and transparent conversation with the new manager, understand his/her expectations from you and clarify the possible sources of allegations by the previous manager. 5. You are a special assistant to the commander-in-chief of a peacekeeping mission to a war-torn part of the world. The unit consists of a few thousand peacekeeping troops from the United States, France, India, and four other countries. The troops will work together for approximately one year. What strategies would you recommend to improve mutual understanding and minimize conflict among these troops? Answer: Multicultural forces minimize conflict by ensuring that troops eat and socialize together. Various social activities can occur, such as mixed sports teams (although finding a common sport can be a problem!). Special dialogue sessions can help troops overcome stereotypes of each other. In these sessions, people from each representative country would discuss their backgrounds and how they think about their role in the peacekeeping activity. You will also need to assess and address other issues that could potentially create conflict e. g. need for resources, task interdependence issues, ensuring roles and procedures are clear. 6. The chief operating officer (COO) has noticed that production employees in the company’s Mexican manufacturing operations are unhappy with some of the production engineering decisions made by engineers in the company’s headquarters in Chicago. At the same time, the engineers complain that production employees aren’t applying their engineering specifications correctly and don’t understand why those specifications were put in place. The COO believes that the best way to resolve this conflict is to have a frank and open discussion between some of the engineers and employees representing the Mexican production crew. This open dialogue approach worked well recently among managers in the company’s Chicago headquarters, so it should work equally well between the engineers and production staff. Based on your knowledge of communication and mutual understanding as a way to resolve conflict, discuss the COO’s proposal. Answer: The chief operating officer (COO) should be very cautious about launching into an intervention to improve communication and mutual understanding between these two groups. The problem is that, as the textbook warns, communication and mutual understanding interventions may fail when the parties have high differentiation, as is the case here. Furthermore, the Mexican culture has more conflict avoidance than occurs in the United States, which could further aggravate the situation. Instead, the COO should first try to find ways to reduce differentiation, such as by having both groups perform an interesting task or team-building together (e. g. Habitat for Humanity volunteering day). Even if differentiation is reduced, the national culture differences call for subtle forms of “getting to know you” events, such as social and task-related activities where each party comes to appreciate the uniqueness of the other group. 7. Describe the inquisitional approach to resolve disputes between employees or work units. Discuss its appropriateness in organizational settings, including the suitability of its use with a multigenerational workforce. Answer: By applying the inquisitional approach, managers dominate the intervention process as well as make a binding decision. Specifically, inquisitional managers control all discussion about the conflict, ask questions to the disputing parties, and decide which information to select or ignore. The inquisitional approach is generally inappropriate in typical organizational settings. One problem is that managers tend to collect limited information about the problem using this approach, so their imposed decision may produce an ineffective solution to the conflict. Another problem is that employees tend to think that the procedures and outcomes of inquisitions are unfair because they have little control over this. In an organizational setting with a multigenerational workforce, the inappropriateness of the inquisitional approach is even more evident. In such a workforce there already exists some tension between young and older workers, which has the potential to induce generational conflict. Using the inquisitional approach with its inherent lack of perceived fairness would exacerbate rather than mitigate conflict. The inquisitional approach may be successful in work environments where employees have a high power distance, and are more accepting of autocratic management styles. However, younger employees in North America have different attitudes about work and the role of their superiors, which generally favor participative and more egalitarian management styles. 8. Jane has just been appointed as purchasing manager of Tacoma Technologies, Inc. The previous purchasing manager, who recently retired, was known for his “winner-take-all” approach to suppliers. He continually fought for more discounts and was skeptical about any special deals that suppliers would propose. A few suppliers refused to do business with Tacoma Technologies, but senior management was confident that the former purchasing manager’s approach minimized the company’s costs. Jane wants to try a more collaborative approach to working with suppliers. Will her approach work? How should she adopt a more collaborative approach in future negotiations with suppliers? Answer: The best strategy when entering negotiations is to begin with a cautious win-win orientation. This means that Jane should enter the negotiations with a problem-solving style by sharing information slowly. However, she should carefully watch for evidence that the suppliers are responding with problem-solving behaviors. If suppliers do not reciprocate with a problem-solving style, then Jane should retreat somewhat from the problem solving approach, perhaps shifting to more of a compromising style. She should return to a more problem solving approach later, again being cautious and watching for reciprocal behaviors from suppliers. 9. You are a new program manager with responsibility for significant funding and external relations, and because of downsizing issues in your area, you have lost two valuable employees (actually 1. 5, because the second person is on half time now; she used to be your manager and was the person under whom you trained). You have been in the new job approximately two weeks; however, you have been in the unit for more than a year and seen how systems are man- aged, from your manager’s perspective. You now have her job. Out of the blue, a senior person (not in your area) comes to you and says he is taking most of your space (when the company had to let the 1. 5 people go). He doesn’t ask your permission, nor does he seem the least bit concerned with what your response is. What do you do? Answer: You are in a tricky situation, because a superior from a different area is asserting his right to your area. You have checked around but your boss has not been informed, but the senior management seem to approve. You go to your boss and inform her of the untenable situation. She then begins to “yell” at the senior person, but he shifts blame to several others. The boss then goes to these several others and uses the logic of the sensitivity of the materials, the ongoing criticality of the project to make the point. This whole process has rattled the remaining people in the unit, and you have “mirrored” your boss’ voice, by yelling at them. The result was that everyone in your until felt that you were “forcing” a decision down their throats. In reflecting on the OB course you recently had had, you realized that perhaps a better strategy would be to aim for a win-win one, or something called problem solving. Actually, the boss was using that technique, but you hadn’t realized it at the time, unable to decouple “what someone says” and “why they say it”. Problem solving is a critical step in dealing with real time conflict, and it takes skill and practice to perfect it. CASE STUDY: CAR WARS AT WOLFSBURG Case Synopsis This case describes the conflict between executives at Volkswagen (VW) and Porsche and, in particular, between Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and VW chairman Ferdinand Piëch. The case describes Porsche’s attempted takeover of VW, the different beliefs and values of the top executives, and the unexpected result of the takeover effort. Suggested Answers to Case Questions 1. Identify and discuss the sources of conflict between Porsche and Volkswagen executives. Answer: One very apparent source of conflict is differentiation -- the different beliefs and values between Wiedeking and Piëch. Wiedeking and his Porsche executive team are fans of lean management as well as cost control systems. They impersonally cut products that fail to achieve profits. VW chairman Ferdinand Piëch as more emotional connection with engineering excellence and is willing to forego short-term profits for long-term improvements in engineering excellence. Another source of conflict is goal incompatibility. In this case, Porsche’s goal of taking control of VW interferes with VW’s desire to remain independent, which is apparent from VW’s reaction to the takeover attempt. There is also likely some evidence of conflict due to communication problems. The case implies that Wiedeking is quick to criticize VW executives for the company’s inefficiency. These harsh words escalate the conflict because they are seen as attacking individual competence (i. e. relationship conflict), not just suggesting way to improve the company (task-related conflict). 2. Describe the conflict handling styles used by Wendelin Wiedeking and Ferdinand Piëch. Were they appropriate in this situation? Answer: Wendelin Wiedeking’s conflict style seems to be one of forcing, because he apparently speaks bluntly about VW’s weaknesses and initiated the hostile takeover. Ferdinand Piëch’s style is a little less apparent. However, one statement he made about Porsche executives also suggests that he relies on forcing more than other styles. Of course, these seasoned executives likely rely on the full range of conflict handling styles, but they are not apparent in the public documentation. TEAM EXERCISE: THE CONTINGENCIES OF CONFLICT HANDLING These exercise notes are derived from the original article by Gerard A. Callanan and David F. Perri, West Chester University Of Pennsylvania. To get the full benefit of this exercise, instructors should read the original article: G. A. Callanan and D. F. Perri, “Teaching Conflict Management Using a Scenario-Based Approach,” Journal of Education for Business, 81 (Jan/Feb 2006), pp. 131-139. Purpose This exercise is designed to help you understand the contingencies of applying conflict handling styles in organizational settings. Instructions Step 1: Participants will read each of the five scenarios presented below and select the most appropriate response from among the five alternatives. Each scenario has a situationally correct response. Step 2 (Optional): The instructor may ask each student to complete the Dutch Test for conflict handling self-assessment in this chapter (Self-Assessment 13. 5) or a similar instrument. This instrument will provide an estimate of your preferred conflict handling style. Step 3: As a class, participants give their feedback on the responses to each of the scenarios, with the instructor guiding discussion on the contextual factors embodied in each scenario. For each scenario, the class should identify the response selected by the majority. In addition, participants will discuss how they decided on the choices they made and the contextual factors they took into account in making their selections. Step 4: Students will compare their responses to the five scenarios with their results from the conflict handling self assessment. Discussion will focus on the extent to which each person’s preferred conflict handling style influenced their alternatives in this activity, and the implications of this style preference for managing conflict in organizations. Suggested Solutions to Scenarios The authors present a model in which the three main contingencies are: 1. Criticality – how important the issue is to you and the other party; 2. Status/power incongruity – the relative power of the two parties in the dispute 3. Perceived aggressiveness of the other party – the extent to which the other party appears to be assertive or cooperative Scenario 1 In this situation, the criticality of the central conflict issue is moderate for both parties. Organizational power of the two parties is moderate and perceived as equal. Further, there is no evidence of perceived aggressive intent on the part of the other party. The combination of these contextual factors, as well as a time constraint for resolution of the disagreement, makes compromise the appropriate choice of conflict-handling strategy. Preferred alternative: #4 -- You decide to meet Kathy Gordon halfway in order to reach an agreement. You advise Jane to pursue her MBA in accounting or finance, but also recommend she minor in organizational behavior by taking electives in that field. Scenario 2 The central issue in this scenario is vital to both of the two parties in the conflict, as well as the organization as a whole. It can be inferred, based on position title, that both parties possess relatively high degrees of organizational power. The other party displays a moderate degree of aggressive intent in the conflict. The combined effect of these contextual factors makes collaboration the most appropriate choice of conflict- handling strategy. Preferred alternative: #5 -- You try and reach a consensus that addresses each of your concerns. You agree to work harder at hiring more minority applicants and request that the EEO officer agree to help find the most qualified minority candidates available. Scenario 3 This scenario describes an issue with high criticality to the individual. Organizational power of the individual is moderate to high, whereas the power of the opposing party is low to moderate. In addition, there is a clear indication of aggressive intent on the part of the opposing party. All of these situational characteristics make competitiveness the most suitable choice of conflict- handling strategy. Preferred alternative: #2 -- Tell Bill Jones that unless you have the data from his department on your desk by tomorrow morning, you will be forced to go over his head to compel him to give you the numbers. Scenario 4 In this incident, the central issue is highly critical to the other party, but is of little consequence to the individual. There is no evidence of aggressive intent on the part of the other party, and the other party has a relatively higher degree of organizational power. The combination of these situational factors makes accommodation the most appropriate choice of conflict-handling strategy. Preferred alternative: #1 -- Agree to accept the raw material in the different format. Scenario 5 The central issue in this scenario is not critical to either party. Aggressive intent is not present, and the organizational power of each of the par- ties is relatively low. Based on this combination of contextual factors, avoidance is the most suitable choice of conflict-handling strategy. Preferred alternative: #2 -- Tell Beth Hanson you will deal with the matter in a few days, after you have addressed the more pressing issues. Comments to Instructors In addition to completing the five scenarios, this exercise suggests that students complete the Conflict Handling self assessment (also in this chapter). This instrument estimates the student’s preferred conflict handling style. In the context of this exercise, students can see how their choice of alternatives matches their preferred conflict handling style. As part of this process, the class may want to identify the conflict handling style for each alternative of the five scenarios. This labeling would occur AFTER students have indicated their preferred solutions to the scenarios. TEAM EXERCISE: UGLI ORANGE ROLE PLAY Purpose This exercise is designed to help students understand the dynamics of interpersonal and intergroup conflict as well as the effectiveness of negotiation strategies under specific conditions. Instructions Preparation. The instructor should make sufficient copies of the role descriptions presented on the following pages. Approximately 40% of the students are Dr. Roland, 40% are Dr. Jones, and 20% are observers. Students must not see the other roles until the end of the role play. The location should have enough space for several concurrent negotiations where the participants will not hear the others. The location should also allow each team to privately discuss prenegotiation strategy. In-Class Instructions. The class is divided into an even number of teams. Each team has three members plus a fourth person who serves as an observer (e. g. , six observers if there are six teams). One-half of the teams will take the role of Dr. Roland and the other half will be Dr. Jones. This exercise may also be conducted using individuals rather than teams, but the process loses the interesting discussion of the pre-negotiations. After students have been assigned to a Dr. Roland team, a Dr. Jones team, or as an observer for one of these teams, the instructor will read the following: “I am Cardoza, the owner of the remaining Ugli Oranges. My fruit-exporting firm is based in South America. My country does not have diplomatic relations with your country, although we have strong trade relations. I understand that the Dr. Jones and Dr. Roland teams will negotiate with each other before making an offer to me. Members of each team are given ten minutes to learn their role and decide negotiating strategy. After reading their roles and discussing strategy, each Dr. Jones team is matched with a Dr. Roland team to conduct negotiations. Negotiations should take place in a quiet area away from other negotiations. The instructor should set a time limit (e. g. 15 minutes for negotiations.) At the end of the negotiations, the observers will describe the process and outcomes in their negotiating session. The instructor will then invite other participants to describe their experiences and the implications for conflict management. Discussion Issues The Ugli Orange exercise provides a unique situation of nearly perfect win-win bargaining because the Dr. Roland team only wants the rind whereas the Dr. Jones team only wants the juice. In effect, both teams can get all they need without significantly interfering with the other party’s needs. The speed of the negotiations depends on the extent that the parties are willing to share information. In practice, students usually assume a win-lose orientation and their negotiation strategies reflect this approach. They try persuasion (which side’s cause is more humanitarian) and power (who can pay more). The integrative relationship tends to become apparent accidentally as one side says “We need the Ugli orange rinds because. . . ”. The other side often replies, “Oh, we only need the juice!”, and the negotiations turn to the easier task of determining a distribution schedule. However, I have witnessed several negotiations where the other party will not reveal the complementary nature of the relationship and, instead, will use this information as a power base. For example, if the Dr. Jones team mentions it requires the juice, the Dr. Roland team might not acknowledge that it needs the rind. Instead, it will reluctantly ‘give’ the juice to the other side in return for a portion of Dr. Jones’s royalties or a cash payment. As part of the agreement for being so generous, the Dr. Roland team asks for every other part of the orange so that they "may still get some value from the orange". This tactic is very effective for one-time negotiations, but students should be aware of the risks if the parties must negotiate in the future. PARTICIPANT HANDOUT One way to start the post-negotiation discussion is to have observers of the successful negotiations explain what happened. Members of the failed negotiations (where the parties maintained a win-lose orientation) are caught completely off-guard by the true situation. The discussion should then turn to preferred negotiation strategies, the value and risks of information sharing, and the use of power in negotiations. Role of Dr. Roland You are Dr. P. W. Roland. You work as a research biologist for a pharmaceutical firm. The firm is under contract with the United States government to do research on methods to combat enemy uses of biological warfare. Recently several World War II experimental nerve gas bombs were moved from the U. S. to a small island just off the U. S. coast in the Pacific. In the process of transporting them, two of the bombs developed a leak. The leak is presently controlled by government scientists who believe that the gas will permeate the bomb chambers within two weeks. They know of no method of preventing gas from getting into the atmosphere and spreading to other islands, and very likely to the West Coast as well. If this occurs, it is likely that several thousand people will incur serious brain damage or die. You've developed a synthetic vapor that will neutralize the nerve gas if it is injected into the bomb chamber before the gas leaks out. The vapor is made with a chemical taken from the rind of the Ugli orange, a very rare fruit. Unfortunately, only 4,000 of these oranges were produced this season. You've been informed on good evidence that R. H. Cardoza, a fruit exporter in South America, possesses 3,000 Ugli oranges. The chemicals from the rinds of this number of oranges would be sufficient to neutralize the gas if the serum is developed and injected efficiently. You have also been informed that the rinds of these oranges are in good condition. You have been informed that Dr. J. W. Jones is also urgently seeking purchase of Ugli oranges, and is aware of Cardoza's possession of the 3,000 available. Dr. Jones works for a firm with which your firm is highly competitive. There is a great deal of industrial espionage in the pharmaceutical industry. Over the years, your firm and Dr. Jones' have sued each other for violations of industrial espionage laws and infringement of patent rights several times. Litigation on two suits is still in process. The United States government has asked your firm for assistance. You've been authorized by your firm to approach R. H. Cardoza to purchase the 3,000 Ugli oranges. You have been told Cardoza will sell them to the highest bidder. Your firm has authorized you to bid as high as $250,000 to obtain the rind of the oranges. Before approaching Cardoza, you have decided to talk to Dr. Jones to influence Jones so that Jones will not prevent you from purchasing the oranges. Role of Dr. Jones You are Dr. J. W. Jones, a biological research scientist employed by a pharmaceutical firm. You have recently developed a synthetic chemical useful for curing and preventing Rudosen. Rudosen is a disease contracted by pregnant women. If not caught in the first four weeks of pregnancy, the disease causes serious brain, eye, and ear damage to the unborn child. Recently there has been an outbreak of Rudosen in your country, and several thousand women have contracted the disease. You have found, with volunteer patients, that you recently developed synthetic serum cures Rudosen in its early stages. Unfortunately, the serum is made from the juice of the Ugli orange which is a very rare fruit. Only a small quantity (approximately 4,000) of these oranges was produced last season. No additional Ugli oranges will be available until next season, which will be too late to cure the present Rudosen victims. You've demonstrated that your synthetic serum is in no way harmful to pregnant women. Consequently, there are no side effects. Your government has approved of the production and distribution of the serum as a cure for Rudosen. Unfortunately, the present outbreak was unexpected and your firm had not planned on having the compound serum available for six months. Your firm holds the patent on the synthetic serum and is expected to be a highly profitable product when it is generally available to the public. You have recently been informed on good evidence that R. H. Cardoza, a South American fruit exporter, possesses 3,000 Ugli oranges in good condition. If you could obtain the juice of all 3,000 you would be able to both cure present victims and provide sufficient inoculation for the remaining pregnant women in your country. No other areas in the region currently have a Rudosen threat. You have recently been informed that Dr. P. W. Roland is also urgently seeking Ugli oranges and is also aware of Cardoza's possession of the 3,000 available. Dr. Roland is employed by a competing pharmaceutical firm. Roland has been working on biological warfare research for the past several years. There is a great deal of industrial espionage in the pharmaceutical industry. Over the past several years, Dr. Roland's firm and yours have sued each other for infringement of patent rights and espionage law violations several times. You have been authorized by your firm to approach Cardoza to purchase the 3,000 Ugli oranges. You have been told Cardoza will sell them to the highest bidder. Your firm has authorized you to bid as high as $50,000 to obtain the juice of the 3,000 available oranges. Role of Observer Please observe the negotiations of the team to which you are assigned, including the pre-negotiations. You will be a silent observer throughout the negotiation process. After Dr. Roland and Dr. Jones complete their negotiations, you and the other observer for this negotiation should be prepared to answer the following questions for general class discussion. In observing, look for the following: 1. What conflict orientation (win-win, win-lose) did the team adopt before meeting with the other party? 2. To what extent did the team share information with the other party? 3. Did the parties trust each other? 4. When one party disclosed information, to what extent did the other party reciprocate by disclosing information? 5. Did either party use the information as a power base to secure a better outcome for itself? If so, how? 6. How was negotiation progress affected by each team’s initial conflict orientation? SELF-ASSESSMENT: WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED CONFLICT-HANDLING STYLE? Purpose This self-assessment is designed to help students to identify their preferred conflict handling style. Overview and Instructions People have preferred ways to handle conflicts that they experience. Researchers have identified five conflict handling styles, and this self-assessment estimates the extent to which you prefer to use each of these conflict handling styles. Students are asked to read each statement in this self-assessment and indicate how well the statement reflects the way they tend to act in a conflict with someone else. Feedback for the Conflict Handling Style Self-Assessment This self-assessment estimates the extent to which the person prefers to use each of the five conflict handling styles identified in the conflict management literature: yielding, compromising, forcing, problem solving, and avoiding. Yielding Yielding involves giving in completely to the other side's wishes, or at least cooperating with little or no attention to your own interests. This style involves making unilateral concessions, unconditional promises, and offering help with no expectation of reciprocal help. Compromising Compromising involves looking for a position in which your losses are offset by equally valued gains. It involves matching the other party’s concessions, making conditional promises or threats, and actively searching for a middle ground between the interests of the two parties. Forcing Forcing tries to win the conflict at the other's expense. It includes “ hard” influence tactics, particularly assertiveness, to get one’s own way. Problem Solving Problem solving tries to find a mutually beneficial solution for both parties. Information sharing is an important feature of this style because both parties need to identify common ground and potential solutions that satisfy both (or all) of them. Avoiding Avoiding tries to smooth over or avoid conflict situations altogether. It represents a low concern for both self and the other party. In other words, avoiders try to suppress thinking about the conflict. Conflict Handling Scale Norms Scores on the five Conflict Handling Scale dimensions range from 4 to 20. Higher scores indicate that the person has a higher preference for and use of that particular conflict handling style. Norms vary from one group to the next. The following table shows norms from a sample of 225 MBA students. Most are from Australia, but some completed courses in Singapore and many of these people originate from other regions (Europe, South America, Asia, North America). The average age is about 31 years old and two-thirds would be male. To read this chart, consider the top 10 percentile for Yielding. The score is 14, indicating that 10 percent of people score 14 or above and 90 percent score below 14 on this dimension. Keep in mind that these scores represent self-perceptions. Evaluations from others (such as through 360-degree feedback) may provide a more accurate estimate of your preferred conflict handling style. Percentile Yielding Compromising Avoiding Forcing Problem solving Top 10 percentile 14 16 14 16 19 Top 25th percentile 13 15 12 15 17 Median (50th percentile) 12 13 10 13 16 Bottom 25th percentile 10 12 8 11 15 Bottom 10 percentile 9 10 7 10 13 Average Score 11. 4 13. 2 10. 3 12. 9 15. 9 Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 1. Why is it important for top executives to value and support shared leadership? Answer: Emerging views of leadership support the idea that leadership needs to be developed at all levels of an organization. In a recent study, only 8 percent of executives in large firms indicated their organizations had enough leadership. Effective leaders are responsible and their success may be determined, by their ability to teach and empower employees to take leadership roles. In increasingly dynamic, team-based organizations, an organization’s competitive success may be determined by employees’ ability to understand the business environment and take action consistent with organizational goals. Characteristics associated with leadership such as self-confidence, emotional intelligence, integrity are increasingly being used by organizations to select employees for positions at all levels within an organization (not just management and executive positions). 2. Transformational leadership is the most popular perspective of leadership. However, it is far from perfect. Discuss the limitations of transformational leadership. Answer: Circular definition of effective leadership. One problem with the transformational leadership perspective is that some researchers define this concept in terms of the leader’s success. They suggest that leaders are transformational when they successfully bring about change, rather than whether they engage in certain behaviors we call transformational. This is circular logic, because it means that all successful leaders use the transformational style. Universal approach to leadership. The transformational leadership model still implies a universal rather than contingency approach to leadership. Only very recently have writers begun to explore the idea that transformational leadership is more appropriate or effective in some situations than others. For example, it may be less effective in some cultures. Cross-cultural differences. Implicit in the discussion about the universal nature of transformational leadership is the notion that it applies across cultures. Yet we know that leadership includes behaviors and communication styles that might be inconsistent with some cultures. However, preliminary evidence suggests that transformational leadership is applicable across cultures. 3. This chapter distinguished charismatic leadership from transformational leadership. Yet charisma is identified by most employees and managers as a characteristic of effective leaders. Why is charisma commonly related to leadership? In your opinion, are the best leaders charismatic? Why or why not? Answer: This is an open-ended question that will encourage students to question their notions of leadership. Instructors may find it useful to begin the discussion by having students brainstorm to define what is meant by the term charisma. The next question would be: Is a leader who is viewed as charismatic to some also viewed as charismatic to others as well? One does not have to be charismatic to be a successful leader. Nonetheless, being viewed as charismatic is an advantage in securing the support of followers. There have been suggestions made that charismatic leaders produce dependent followers, whereas transformational leaders produce followers who are more empowered and therefore less dependent on the leader. Charisma is commonly associated with leadership because charismatic leaders often possess qualities that inspire and captivate followers, such as confidence, vision, and charisma. Charismatic leaders are adept at articulating a compelling vision and rallying others around it, which can engender trust, loyalty, and motivation among followers. However, while charisma can be a powerful leadership trait, the best leaders are not necessarily always charismatic. Effective leadership encompasses a range of attributes, including emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, and interpersonal skills, which may or may not be accompanied by charisma. Ultimately, the effectiveness of a leader depends on their ability to inspire and empower others, regardless of whether they possess charismatic qualities. 4. Consider your favorite teacher. What people-oriented and task-oriented leadership behaviors did he or she use effectively? In general, do you think students prefer an instructor who is more people-oriented or task-oriented? Explain your preference. Answer: NOTE: This question relates directly to a study that looked into the preferred leadership style of university students. See V. V. Baba, “Serendipity in Leadership: Initiating Structure and Consideration in the Classroom,” Human Relations 42 (1989), pp. 509-25. For this discussion, it may be useful for students to work in groups and write down critical events that characterized effective and ineffective leadership from teachers. Then, the class can compare these critical events to the features of people-oriented and task-oriented leadership. In general, instructors will probably find that students value both people-oriented and task-oriented leadership in teachers. Particularly important is the idea that each style is probably more or less important in different situations. For example, people-oriented leadership would be more valuable in stressful situations (just before the exam!). Notice that it is difficult to discuss these two styles of leadership without moving into path-goal theory and its contingency approach. Another observation is that, given a forced choice, students will prefer a task-oriented leader. As noted in the textbook, research has found that college students apparently value task-oriented instructors because they want clear course objectives and well-prepared lectures that abide by the course objectives. My favorite teacher demonstrated both people-oriented and task-oriented leadership behaviors effectively. People-oriented behaviors included being approachable, supportive, and empathetic towards students' needs and concerns. Task-oriented behaviors involved setting clear expectations, providing structured lessons, and offering constructive feedback to facilitate learning. In general, students may prefer an instructor who balances both people-oriented and task-oriented leadership styles. While people-oriented behaviors foster a supportive and engaging learning environment, task-oriented behaviors ensure clarity, organization, and academic rigor. Personally, I appreciate instructors who prioritize building rapport and understanding with students while also maintaining high standards and expectations for academic performance. This balanced approach encourages student success while also nurturing personal growth and development. 5. Your employees are skilled and experienced customer service representatives who perform nonroutine tasks, such as solving unique customer problems or meeting special needs with the company’s equipment. Use pathgoal theory to identify the most appropriate leadership style(s) you should use in this situation. Be sure to fully explain your answer, and discuss why other styles are inappropriate. Answer: According to path-goal theory, the most appropriate leadership styles in this situation are participative and achievement-oriented. Employees have the skill and experience to provide meaningful ideas, and the non-routine task structure gives employees discretion over their work activities. This discretion is necessary for the participative leadership style because it gives employees more freedom to implement their ideas. Achievement-oriented leadership is appropriate here because employees have the skills and experience necessary to attempt challenging goals. Directive leadership is inappropriate here because it introduces too much supervisory control for skilled and experienced employees. Supportive leadership is probably unnecessary in this situation. The work isn't too challenging (employees have the necessary skills and experience) nor is it too boring (employees have non-routine tasks). 6. Identify a current political leader (e. g. , president, governor, mayor) and his or her recent accomplishments. Now, using the implicit leadership perspective, think of ways that these accomplishments of the leader may be overstated. In other words, explain why they may be due to factors other than the leader. Answer: Generally, students should be able to take a successful political leader and use the three elements of the romance perspective to explain how this leader may be less responsible for success than we imagine. The three perceptual processes that affect the way that people view leaders and the effects of leaders on their environments are as follows: Attributing leadership. When observing others, we tend to attribute events more to the person than the situation because we are less sensitive to situational influences. Leaders reinforce this perceptual bias by taking more credit than they deserve for favorable events. Stereotyping leadership. Employee expectations and stereotypes regarding characteristics of effective leaders influence their evaluation of leaders. It’s usually difficult to objectively evaluate a leader’s long-term effectiveness, so people tend to evaluate leaders by whether they act like leaders, that is, whether their behaviors conform to the leadership stereotype. Romance of leadership. In Western society, people want to believe that leaders make a difference because it simplifies their explanation of organizational events. It also maintains their illusion of control because they want to believe that life events are generated from people rather than from uncontrollable natural forces. Let's consider the example of a mayor who recently implemented a city-wide sustainability initiative, resulting in a significant reduction in carbon emissions. While the mayor may receive praise for these accomplishments, the implicit leadership perspective suggests that other factors could have contributed to the success of the initiative. For instance, the dedication and efforts of city council members, community activists, and environmental organizations may have played crucial roles in advocating for and implementing the sustainability measures. Additionally, advancements in technology and public awareness about environmental issues could have also influenced the outcome. Therefore, while the mayor may be credited with the initiative's success, it's essential to acknowledge the collective efforts and external factors that contributed to its achievements. 7. Find two newspaper ads for management or executive positions. What leadership competencies are mentioned in these ads? If you were on the selection panel, what methods would you use to identify these competencies in job applicants? Answer: This is an open-ended exercise which could be used as an activity with subsequent class discussion. The main objective is to help students identify the competencies organizations are looking for when hiring managers and/or executives. The competency perspective of leadership should be self-evident. Encourage students to compare the competencies identified in the newspaper ads with the leadership competencies identified below: Personality -- Higher levels of extroversion (outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive) and conscientiousness (careful, dependable, and self-disciplined) Self-concept -- The leader’s self-beliefs and positive self-evaluation about his/her own leadership skills and ability to achieve objectives. Drive--The leader’s inner motivation to pursue goals. Integrity--The leader’s truthfulness and tendency to translate words into deeds. Leadership motivation--The leader’s need for socialized power to accomplish team or organizational goals. Knowledge of the business--The leader’s tacit and explicit knowledge about the company’s environment, enabling the leader to make more intuitive decisions. Cognitive and practical Intelligence--The leader’s above average cognitive ability to process information (cognitive intelligence) and ability to solve real-world problems by adapting to, shaping, or selecting appropriate environments (practical intelligence). Emotional intelligence--The leader’s ability to monitor his or her own and others’ emotions, discriminate among them, and use the information to guide his or her thoughts and actions. 1. "Seeking a Chief Executive Officer: Candidates must demonstrate strategic vision, effective decision-making, and strong team leadership skills." 2. "Hiring a Senior Manager: Key competencies include excellent communication, problem-solving abilities, and a track record of driving organizational growth." To identify these competencies in applicants, I'd use structured behavioral interviews, reference checks focusing on leadership experiences, and possibly assessment centers for practical simulations. 8. How do you think emotional intelligence, cognitive and practical intelligence influence authentic leadership? Answer: Leadership is about influencing, motivating and enabling others to contribute towards effectiveness of organizations, while authentic leadership refers to how well leaders are aware of, feel comfortable with, and act consistently with their self-concept. Emotional intelligence helps leaders to perceive and express emotion , assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion and regulate emotion in themselves and others. Since emotions influence human decision making, the ability to understand and express emotions is likely to allow the leader to be herself / himself and also to allow others to see the leader as being authentic. Cognitive and practical intelligence project the competence and combined with emotional intelligence will demonstrate authentic leadership. 9. You hear two people debating the merits of women as leaders. One person claims that women make better leaders than do men because women are more sensitive to their employees’ needs and involve them in organizational decisions. The other person counters that though these leadership styles may be increasingly important, most women have trouble gaining acceptance as leaders when they face tough situations in which a more autocratic style is required. Discuss the accuracy of the comments made in this discussion. Answer: The first statement -- that women are more sensitive to employee needs -- represents a traditional gender stereotypic view of women in these roles. It may be true to the extent that women generally tend to be more sensitive than men to nonverbal cues and the ability to empathize. However, research suggests that women are generally no more or less likely to apply the people-oriented leadership style. In this respect, the statement is false. The second statement -- that most women have trouble gaining acceptance as leaders when they face tough situations where a more autocratic style is required -- is generally true. Women may be as skilled as men at applying the autocratic style, but they receive more resistance and unfavorable responses from followers. This reflects the tendency of followers to stereotype leaders, and to give unfavorable evaluations to those who violate the stereotype. CASE STUDY: A WINDOW ON LIFE Case Synopsis LaCrosse Industries in Eau Claire, Wisconsin manufactures wood-framed windows. Gilbert LaCrosse, the company founder, continually reinforced the need to make quality windows because they provided “a window on life” for so many families. He consistently repeated this point by talking with all employees at every convenience. He began taking pictures of people looking through LaCrosse windows and this led to the company’s popular marketing campaign. LaCrosse also actively involved employees in organizational decisions. Eventually, the company’s continued success depended on expansion to other parts of the country, so a majority share was sold to Build-All Products, a conglomerate with international marketing expertise in building products. Build-All brought in Jan Vlodoski to oversee production while LaCrosse met with developers around North America. Vlodoski was a less participative and more directive manager who tried to shift the emphasis from product quality to inventory cost efficiency. Inventory costs were reduced, but product rejects increased markedly during the first year. Employee morale dropped significantly and some people quit in spite of the poor labor market. After 18 months, LaCrosse realized that Build-All’s actions were inconsistent with his vision of the company, while Build-All was not sufficiently pleased with the company’s return on equity (not quite the 18 percent required by Build-All). This company does not exist as described. It is a composite of a few situations that the author knows about, both in terms of the company’s growth, experience following acquisition, and leadership of the founder. Suggested Answers to Case Questions 1. Identify the symptoms indicating that problems exist at LaCrosse Industries, Inc. Answer: The main symptoms of this case were that employee morale dropped significantly, product quality was lower, and some valued employees quit. 2. Use one or more leadership theories to analyze the underlying causes of the current problems at LaCrosse Industries. What other organizational behavior theories might also help to explain some of the problems? 2A. Ineffective Managerial Leadership Answer: From a path-goal leadership perspective, LaCrosse was clearly more effective than Vlodoski. The employees seem to have high ability and experience due to their long tenure (low turnover) with the organization. The task is structured and employees receive training to perform their tasks well. They also seem to have an internal locus of control to the extent that they actively help the organization and take initiatives on their own. Under these conditions, participative and achievement oriented leadership styles are most appropriate and directive leadership is least effective. LaCrosse applies participative leadership because he involves employees in decisions affecting them (e. g. selecting raw materials and deciding whether to sell the business). Vlodoski applies a highly directive leadership style by sending task requirements to supervisors and staff members and by requiring more precise accounting of employee actions (especially the use of raw materials). He announced new procedures for purchasing production supplies which eliminated the participation of production leaders and limited the autonomy of the company’s purchasing experts. We know from path-goal theory that directive leadership is ineffective when employees have high ability and experience in the job. In fact, this style might reduce job satisfaction and motivation under these conditions. This is apparent here as employees are dissatisfied with Vlodoski’s actions. 2B. Transformational Leadership and Org. Culture LaCrosse’s effective transformational leadership style built a strong organizational culture around the dominant value of maintaining the highest product quality. The company also has a somewhat egalitarian and employee involvement value system. Over the years, LaCrosse has created a vision for his company that employees should try to produce the highest quality windows. LaCrosse has communicated this vision effectively around the social values of life and family. Specifically, he has created a meaningful metaphor called “a window on life” and has pictured families looking through LaCrosse Industries windows. LaCrosse effectively models his vision. He “walks the talk” through his actions on the production floor and in his dealings with clients. He gets out of his office to demonstrate his commitment to the quality vision. It is also apparent that he “positions” himself by being consistent with the quality theme. That is, LaCrosse does not seem to deviate from this overarching goal. LaCrosse is also a transformational leader because he has been able to effectively build commitment toward the “window on life” vision. He demonstrates his enthusiasm for quality windows and communicates the company’s successes to his employees. The “window on life” metaphor and LaCrosse’s effective modeling of the vision also builds commitment. The strength of LaCrosse Industries’ culture clashed with the goals and priorities of Build-All Products. This case therefore demonstrates how an acquisition can undermine organizational culture. 2C. Employee Involvement The employee involvement model (see Chapter 7) may be applied here to evaluate the effectiveness of Vlodoski’s decision process, particularly his decisions regarding inventory controls. We do not know whether Vlodoski has much knowledge of this industry, but he is new to LaCrosse Industries and has not attempted to understand the existing process. Although Vlodoski used Build-All procedures, the decision to apply these procedures versus continue with the company’s existing practices is actually unstructured. It is evident that employees were not committed to Vlodoski’s decisions. It is probable that subordinates’ goals are congruent with the goals of LaCrosse Industries but not necessarily with Build-All. They value product quality over inventory cost control, but were also motivated by profit sharing. Due to the strong organizational culture and long tenure of most employees, it is reasonable to infer that they would have little conflict over this issue. Finally, we know that employees have high ability and many years of experience. Based on this analysis, Vlodoski should have at least consulted with employees about the possible shift from product quality to cost efficiency. If the issue pertains to goal congruence with the organizational effectiveness of LaCrosse Industries rather than Build-All, then the decision might even be given to employees to decide. 2D. Managing Organizational Change (Relates to Chapter 15) Vlodoski’s actions of shifting organizational priorities (and organizational culture) from product quality to inventory cost efficiency was ineffectively handled. Aside from the unknown wisdom of this change, he increased the driving forces by introducing new procedures, new directives, and management controls (goals, reports) without sufficiently destabilizing the restraining forces. The restraining forces include direct costs (employees may have feared losing their profit share if product rejects increased), breaking routines (employee long-time actions of choosing raw materials), and team inertia (breaking norms and expectations regarding product quality). Resistance mainly took the form of employee turnover and compliance without commitment to the change. 3. What should Gilbert LaCrosse do in this situation? Answer: Build-All is not satisfied with its investment and LaCrosse wants the company to have its original cultural values. Moreover, the company seems to operate better with LaCrosse's values and with him as its corporate leader. Consequently, LaCrosse should buy back the company, perhaps with employee ownership, if a reasonable price can be arranged with Build-All. LaCrosse should spend more time at headquarters to rebuild the organization's culture. He also needs to hire and train leaders who will reinforce these cultural values. LaCrosse also needs to prepare for his succession. This is a very difficult process, because founders do not give up ownership easily, and because LaCrosse has been the source of the company's value system. LaCrosse needs to arrange a distribution system, perhaps signing an agreement with a distribution company, so that products can be sold to a larger market area. The company also needs to introduce some financial controls, but do so in a way that will not undermine the cultural values of quality and employee involvement that have made LaCrosse Industries successful in the past. TEAM EXERCISE: LEADERSHIP DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS Purpose This exercise is designed to help students learn about the different path-goal leadership styles and when to apply each style. Instructions The exercise begins with students individually writing down two incidents in which someone had been an effective manager or leader over them. The leader and situation might be from work, a sports team, a student work group, or any other setting where leadership might emerge. For example, students might describe how their supervisor in a summer job pushed them to reach higher performance goals than they would have done otherwise. Each incident should state the actual behaviors that the leader used, not just general statements (e. g. , “My boss sat down with me and we agreed on specific targets and deadlines, then said several times over the next few weeks that I was capable of reaching those goals. ”) Each incident only requires two or three sentences. After everyone has written their two incidents, the instructor will form small groups (typically between 4 or 5 students). Each team will answer the following questions for each incident presented in that team: 1. Which path-goal theory leadership style(s) --directive, supportive, participative, or achievement-oriented -- did the leader apply in this incident? Answer: Incident 1: My team captain in a community soccer league sat down with each player to set individual improvement goals for the season, offering support and guidance throughout. This aligns with the supportive leadership style as the captain provided encouragement and assistance to help us achieve our goals. Incident 2: During an internship, my supervisor regularly sought input from the team when making decisions, valuing our perspectives and fostering a collaborative atmosphere. This reflects the participative leadership style, involving team members in the decision-making process to enhance commitment and motivation. 2. Ask the person who wrote the incident about the conditions that made this leadership style (or these styles, if more than one was used) appropriate in this situation? The team should list these contingency factors clearly and, where possible, connect them to the contingencies described in path-goal theory. (Note: the team might identify path-goal leadership contingencies that are not described in the book. These, too, should be noted and discussed.) Answer: After the teams have diagnosed the incidents, each team will describe to the entire class its most interesting incident as well as its diagnosis of that incident. Other teams will critique the diagnosis. Any leadership contingencies not mentioned in the textbook should also be presented and discussed. Incident 1: The coach's directive leadership style was suitable as it provided clarity and structure, crucial during intense game situations where quick decisions were needed. This style helped reduce uncertainty and clarified expectations, aligning with the path-goal theory's contingency of task structure. Incident 2: The leader's participative style was effective due to the complex nature of the project, requiring diverse perspectives and collaboration. This approach enhanced team cohesion and commitment, resonating with the path-goal theory's contingency of follower characteristics and task complexity. Comments for Instructors This experiential exercise may sound rather mundane, but some teams can develop interesting examples regarding the value of different leadership styles. The exercise is an excellent diagnostic tool, because students must fit their reality based examples with the path-goal leadership module. There is also a possibility that an incident identifies a contingency for a leadership style that has not yet been discussed in the path-goal literature. Moreover, some teams may have difficulty fitting a particular leader behavior into one of the four path-goal leadership styles. This is because the four styles are not exhaustive. The instructor can make the exercise more competitive by having other teams listen to an incident, then attempt to evaluate it. After some discussion, the team from which the example originated can present its analysis of the incident. SELF-ASSESSMENT: DO LEADERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE? Purpose This assessment is designed to help students assess their beliefs about the influence of leaders. Overview and Instructions Students are asked to read each statement in this self-assessment and check the box that best indicates their personal belief about that statement. After completing this assessment, the class can discuss the relevance and level of implicit leadership theory. Feedback for the Romance of Leadership Self-Assessment Romance of leadership is a phenomenon in which followers (and possibly other stakeholders) want to believe that leaders make a difference in the organization’s success. People with a high romance of leadership score attribute the causes of organizational events much more to its leaders and much less to the economy, competition, and other factors beyond the leader’s short-term control. Romance of Leadership Scale Norms The romance of leadership scale ranges from 10 to 50, with higher scores indicating that the person has a higher belief that leaders make a difference in the organization’s success. The following norms are derived from a large sample of European employees with an average age in the mid 30s and work experience averaging about 15 years. However, these norms should be viewed with caution because the romance of leadership scale is a recent development and norms for any instrument can vary from one group to the next. Romance of leadership score Interpretation 38 to 50 Above average romance of leadership 27 to 37 Average romance of leadership 10 to 26 Below average romance of leadership Solution Manual for Organizational Behavior: Emerging Knowledge, Global Reality Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow 9780077862589, 9781259280634, 9781259562792, 9780071077989