CH-12-13 Leadership – Essentials of Organizational Behavior : Chapter Notes

This Document Contains Chapters 12 to 13 Chapter 12 Leadership Chapter Overview Leaders can make the difference between success and failure. In this chapter, we'll look at the basic approaches to determining what makes an effective leader and what differentiates leaders from non-leaders. Chapter Objectives After studying this chapter, the student should be able to: 1. Contrast leadership and management. 2. Summarize the conclusions of trait theories of leadership. 3. Identify the central tenets and main limitations of behavioral theories. 4. Assess contingency theories of leadership by their level of support. 5. Contrast charismatic and transformational leadership. 6. Describe the role of ethics and trust in authentic leadership. 7. Demonstrate the role mentoring plays in our understanding of leadership. 8. Address challenges to the effectiveness of leadership. 9. Describe how organizations can find or create effective leaders. Suggested Lecture Outline I. INTRODUCTION This chapter examines what it takes to be an effective leader and what differentiates leaders from non-leaders. II. WHAT IS LEADERSHIP? A. Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals. 1. The source of this influence may be formal, such as that provided by managerial rank in an organization. 2. Not all leaders are managers, nor are all managers leaders. Just because an organization provides its managers with certain formal rights is no assurance they will lead effectively. B. Nonsanctioned leadership—the ability to influence that arises outside the formal structure of the organization is often as important, or more important, than formal influence. C. Organizations need strong leadership and strong management for optimal effectiveness. 1. We need leaders today to challenge the status quo, create visions of the future, and inspire organizational members to want to achieve the visions. 2. We also need managers to formulate detailed plans, create efficient structures, and oversee day-to-day operations. III. TRAIT THEORIES A. Background. 1. Trait theories of leadership differentiated leaders from non-leaders by focusing on personal qualities and characteristics. 2. The Big Five Personality Framework and Trait Theory. When the existing trait theory research was organized around the Big Five personality framework (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience – see Chapter 5), a clearer picture began to emerge. a. Extraversion has been found to be the most important trait of effective leaders but more strongly related to leader emergence than to leader effectiveness. Sociable and dominant people are more likely to assert themselves in group situations. 1) But leaders need to make sure they’re not too assertive. 2) One study found leaders who scored very high on assertiveness were less effective than those who were moderately high. b. Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience also showed strong and consistent relationships to leadership, although not as strong as extraversion. 1) One reason is that conscientiousness and extraversion are positively related to leaders’ self-efficacy, which explained most of the variance in subordinates’ ratings of leader performance. 2) People are more likely to follow someone who is confident she’s going in the right direction. c. Agreeableness and Emotional Stability were not strongly correlated with leadership. d. Using the Big Five framework, leaders do appear to have key traits in common: they are extraverted (individuals who like being around people and are able to assert themselves without being too assertive), conscientious (disciplined individuals who keep the commitments they make), and open (individuals who are creative and flexible). 3. Based on the latest findings, we offer two conclusions. a. First, we can say that traits can predict leadership. b. Second, traits do a better job predicting the emergence of leaders and the appearance of leadership than distinguishing between effective and ineffective leaders. c. The fact that an individual exhibits the right traits and that others consider him a leader does not necessarily mean he will be an effective leader, successful at getting the group to achieve its goals. d. Based on the latest findings, we offer two conclusions. 1) First, traits can predict leadership. Twenty years ago, the evidence suggested otherwise. But this was probably due to the lack of a valid framework for classifying and organizing traits. The Big Five seems to have rectified that. 2) Second, traits do a better job predicting the emergence of leaders and the appearance of leadership than actually distinguishing between effective and ineffective leaders. The fact that an individual exhibits the traits and others consider that person to be a leader does not necessarily mean the leader is successful at getting his or her group to achieve its goals. IV. BEHAVIORAL THEORIES A. Trait theory provides a basis for selecting the right people for leadership. But you probably noticed trait theories don’t adequately explore the way leaders behave. B. Behavioral theories of leadership imply that we can determine leadership effectiveness by leader behavior, and perhaps train people to be leaders. C. The Ohio State Studies. 1. These studies attempted to find what behaviors substantially accounted for most of the leadership behavior described by employees. Beginning with over a thousand dimensions, researchers narrowed the list to two: a. Initiating Structure. This dimension refers to the extent to which a leader is likely to define and structure his or her role and those of employees in the search for goal attainment. It includes behavior that attempts to organize work, work relationships, and goals. b. Consideration. This dimension is the extent to which a person is likely to have job relationships that are characterized by mutual trust, respect for employees’ ideas, and regard for their feelings. D. The University of Michigan Studies. 1. Roughly contemporary to the Ohio State studies, this set of studies had similar research objectives: to locate behavioral characteristics of leaders that appeared to be related to measures of performance effectiveness. 2. They also came up with two dimensions of leadership behavior that were critical: a. Employee Oriented. Leaders who were employee-oriented were described as emphasizing interpersonal relations. They took a personal interest in the needs of their employees and accepted individual differences among members. b. Production Oriented. These leaders tended to emphasize the technical or task aspects of the job. Their main concern was in accomplishing their group’s tasks and the group members were seen as a means to that end. 3. Study Results. At one time, the results of testing behavioral theories were thought to be disappointing. a. However, a more recent review of 160 studies found the followers of leaders high in consideration were more satisfied with their jobs, were more motivated, and had more respect for their leader. Initiating structure was more strongly related to higher levels of group and organization productivity and more positive performance evaluations. E. A recent GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) project produced some useful preliminary insights on the type of team leaders who would be most effective in a given country. 1. Brazil. a. Such leaders would need to be team oriented, productive, and humane. b. They would be high in consideration and emphasize participative decision making. 2. France. a. Leaders are viewed more bureaucratically and are not expected to be humane or considerate. b. Leaders who are task oriented will do best, and they may act autocratically. 3. China. a. Both initiating structure and consideration are important. b. Leaders need to demonstrate politeness and consideration, and be unselfish. F. Summary of Trait Theories and Behavioral Theories. In general, research indicates there is validity for both the trait and behavioral theories. Parts of each theory can help explain facets of leadership emergence and effectiveness. 1. The first difficulty is in correctly identifying whether a trait or a behavior predicts a certain outcome. 2. The second difficulty is in exploring which combinations of traits and behaviors yield certain outcomes. 3. The third challenge is to determine the causality of traits to behaviors so that predictions toward desirable leadership outcomes can be made. 4. Perhaps you’re wondering whether conscientious leaders (trait) are more likely to be structuring (behavior), and extraverted leaders (trait) to be considerate (behavior). a. Unfortunately, we can’t be sure there is a connection. Future research is needed to integrate these approaches. 5. As important as traits and behaviors are in identifying effective or ineffective leaders, they do not guarantee success. a. Some leaders may have the right traits or display the right behaviors and still fail. b. The context matters, too. V. CONTINGENCY THEORIES A. Background. 1. While trait and behavioral theories contributed to our understanding of leadership, predicting leadership success proved to be more complex than thought so researchers began to focus on situational influences. a. The goal of such contingency theories was to match leadership style with work conditions in order to achieve leadership effectiveness. B. The Fiedler Contingency Model. 1. One of the first models of this type was developed by Fred Fiedler. 2. It proposes that effective group performance depends on the proper match between the leader’s style and the degree to which the situation gives control to the leader. 3. Identifying Leadership Style. Fiedler believes a key factor in leadership success is the individual’s basic leadership style. a. Fiedler created the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) questionnaire, which purports to measure whether a person is task or relationship oriented. 1) High LPC scores indicate a relationship-oriented leader; low LPC scores indicate a task-oriented one. 2) Middle scorers (about 16% of the population) fall outside the scope of this theory. b. Defining the Situation. Fiedler assumes an individual’s leadership style is fixed. This means if a situation requires a task-oriented leader and the person in the leadership position is relationship oriented, either the situation has to be modified or the leader has to be replaced to achieve optimal effectiveness. 1) After assessing an individual’s basic leadership style through the LPC questionnaire, the leader is matched with the situation. 2) Fiedler identified three contingency dimensions that defined the key situational factors that will determine the appropriate leadership style. a) Leader-member relations: the degree of confidence, trust, and respect members have in their leader. Measured as good or poor. b) Task structure: the degree to which the job assignments are structured or unstructured. Measured as high or low. c) Position power: the degree of influence a leader has over hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases. Measured as strong or weak. 3) The next step is to evaluate the situation in terms of these three variables. a) Fiedler states that the better the leader–member relations, the more highly structured the job, and the stronger the position power, the more control the leader has. b) A very favorable situation (in which the leader has a great deal of control) might include a payroll manager who is well respected and whose employees have confidence in her (good leader–member relations); activities to be done—such as wage computation, check writing, and report filing—that are specific and clear (high task structure); and provision of considerable freedom to reward and punish employees (strong position power). c) An unfavorable situation might be that of the disliked chairperson of a volunteer United Way fundraising team. In this job, the leader has very little control. c. Matching Leaders and Situations. Combining the three contingency dimensions yields eight possible situations in which leaders can find themselves. 1) Task-oriented leaders tend to perform better in situations that are either very favorable to them or which are very unfavorable (category I, II, III, VII, or VIII). 2) Relationship-oriented leaders perform better in moderately favorable situations (categories IV through VI). 3) Recently Fiedler has condensed these eight situations down to three based on the degree of control: task-oriented leaders perform best in situations of high and low control while relationship-oriented leaders perform best in moderate control situations. 4) Using the Model to Improve Leadership Effectiveness. Because Fiedler believes an individual’s leadership style is fixed, there are really only two ways to improve leader effectiveness: a) Change the leader to fit the situation. If a group situation rates highly unfavorable but is currently led by a relationship-oriented manager, the group’s performance could be improved under a manager who is task oriented. b) Change the situation to fit the leader. This can be done by restructuring tasks or increasing/decreasing the power the leader has to control factors such as salary increases, promotions, and disciplinary actions. 4. Evaluation. Considerable evidence supports substantial parts of Fiedler's model. a. If we use only three categories rather than the original eight, there is ample evidence to support Fiedler’s conclusions. b. But the logic underlying the LPC questionnaire is not well understood, and respondents’ scores are not stable. c. The contingency variables are also complex and difficult for practitioners to assess. VI. OTHER CONTINGENCY THEORIES A. Although the Fiedler model is the most researched contingency theory, two others deserve discussion: situational leadership and path-goal theory. 1. Situational Leadership Theory. Situational leadership theory (SLT) focuses on the followers. It says successful leadership depends on selecting the right leadership style contingent on the followers’ readiness, the extent to which followers are willing and able to accomplish a specific task. 2. A leader should choose one of the following four behaviors depending on follower readiness. a. If followers are unable and unwilling to do a task, the leader needs to give clear and specific directions. b. If followers are unable but willing, the leader needs to display high task orientation to compensate for followers’ lack of ability and high relationship orientation to get them to “buy into” the leader’s desires. c. If followers are able but unwilling, the leader needs to use a supportive and participative style. d. If followers are both able and willing, the leader doesn’t need to do much. 3. SLT has intuitive appeal. It acknowledges the importance of followers and builds on the logic that leaders can compensate for their limited ability and motivation. a. Yet, research efforts to test and support the theory have been relatively disappointing. Possible explanations include internal ambiguities and inconsistencies in the model itself as well as problems with research methodology. 4. Path-Goal Theory. Developed by Robert House, path-goal theory extracts elements from the Ohio State leadership research on initiating structure and consideration, and the expectancy theory of motivation. 5. Path-goal theory suggests it’s the leader’s job to provide followers with information, support, or other resources necessary to achieve goals. 6. The theory predicts: a. Directive leadership yields greater satisfaction when tasks are ambiguous or stressful than when they are highly structured and well laid out. b. Supportive leadership results in high performance and satisfaction when employees are performing structured tasks. c. Directive leadership is likely to be perceived as redundant by employees with high ability or considerable experience. 7. The match between leadership style and situation can be individualistic and mercurial. Some tasks may be both stressful and highly structured, and employees may have high ability or experience in some tasks and not others. 8. Studies indicate that leaders who set goals enable conscientious followers to achieve higher performance but may cause stress for workers who are low in conscientiousness. 9. Altogether, the foundations of path-goal theory have merit. Directive or supportive leadership does matter to followers’ performance, and leaders need to be aware of their important facilitating role. 10. Additionally, path-goal theory, like SLT and other contingency theories, reminds us that the effectiveness of leaders depends to a large degree on their followers. VII. CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP AND TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP A. In this section, we present two contemporary leadership theories—charismatic leadership and transformational leadership—which have a common theme: they view leaders as individuals who inspire followers through their words, ideas, and behaviors. B. Charismatic Leadership. 1. What Is Charismatic Leadership? a. Max Weber, a sociologist, defined charisma (from the Greek for “gift”) more than a century ago as “a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which he or she is set apart from ordinary people and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. 1) These are not accessible to the ordinary person and are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader.” 2) Weber argued that charismatic leadership was one of several ideal types of authority. 2. House’s Charismatic Leadership Theory. a. In this theory, followers are believed to make attributions of heroic or extraordinary leadership abilities when they observe certain behaviors. b. The charismatic characteristics identified by the research so far are: 1) vision, 2) a willingness to take personal risks to achieve that vision, 3) sensitivity to followers’ needs, and 4) exhibiting behaviors that are out of the ordinary. 3. Are Charismatic Leaders Born or Made? a. Individuals are born with traits that make them charismatic. In fact, studies of identical twins have found they score similarly on charismatic leadership measures, even if they were raised in different households and had never met. b. Personality is also related to charismatic leadership; charismatic leaders are likely to be extraverted, self-confident, and achievement oriented. c. Although a small minority thinks charisma is inherited and cannot be learned, most experts believe individuals can be trained to exhibit charismatic behaviors. 1) After all, just because we inherit certain tendencies doesn’t mean we can’t learn to change. 4. How Charismatic Leaders Influence Followers. a. It begins with articulating an appealing vision, a long-term strategy for attaining a goal by linking the present with a better future for the organization. 1) Desirable visions fit the times and circumstances and reflect the uniqueness of the organization. b. A vision is incomplete without an accompanying vision statement, a formal articulation of an organization’s vision or mission. 1) Charismatic leaders may use vision statements to imprint on followers an overarching goal and purpose. 2) They then communicate high performance expectations and express confidence that followers can attain them. 3) This enhances follower self-esteem and self-confidence. c. Through words and actions the leader conveys a new set of values and sets an example for followers to imitate. 1) One study of Israeli bank employees showed charismatic leaders were more effective because their employees personally identified with them. 2) Charismatic leaders also set a tone of cooperation and mutual support. d. Finally, the charismatic leader engages in emotion-inducing and often unconventional behavior to demonstrate courage and conviction about the vision. Followers “catch” the emotions their leader is conveying. 5. Does Effective Charismatic Leadership Depend on the Situation? a. There are strong correlations between charismatic leadership and high performance and satisfaction among followers, but such results may be situationally dependent. 1) Charisma appears to be most successful when the follower’s task includes ideology or the environment involves a high degree of stress and uncertainty. 2) Additionally, charisma, given its need for a vision, is more often associated with high-level executives than with low-level managers. Also, charisma affects some followers more than it does others. 3) Finally, people are especially receptive to charismatic leadership when they sense a crisis, when they are under stress, or when they fear for their lives. 4) Top executives create vision. It is more difficult to utilize a person’s charismatic leadership qualities in lower-level management jobs or to align new vision with the specific top-management goals of the organization. a) While charismatic leadership may be more important in the upper echelons of organizations, it is also clear that its effects are not confined to high-level leaders, as it can be effective from a distance, or from close range. 5) Some personalities are especially susceptible to charismatic leadership. a) For instance, an individual who lacks self-esteem and questions his self-worth is more likley to absorb a leader’s direction rather than establish his own way of leading or thinking. For these people, the situation may matter much less than the charismatic qualities of the leader. 6. The Dark Side of Charismatic Leadership. a. Unfortunately, charismatic leaders who are larger than life don’t necessarily act in the best interests of their organizations. 1) Many have used their power to remake companies in their own image and allowed their own interest and personal goals to override the goals of the organization. 2) The results at companies such as Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, and HealthSouth were leaders who recklessly used organizational resources for their personal benefit, and executives who violated laws and ethical boundaries to inflate stock prices and allow leaders to cash in millions of dollars in stock options. b. We don’t mean to suggest charismatic leadership isn’t effective; overall it is. 1) But a charismatic leader isn’t always the answer. a) Success depends, to some extent, on the situation and on the leader’s vision. C. Transformational Leadership. 1. Leadership Types. This theory of leadership divides leaders into two types, based on their methods and outcomes: a. Transactional Leaders: those who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements. These leaders were described in the Ohio State studies and Fiedler's model. b. Transformational Leaders: those who inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the organization and are capable of having a profound or extraordinary effect on their followers. c. Transactional and transformational leadership aren’t opposing approaches to getting things done. They complement each other, though they’re not equally important. 1) Transformational leadership builds on transactional leadership and produces levels of follower effort and performance beyond what transactional leadership alone can do. 2) But the reverse isn’t true. So if you are a good transactional leader but do not have transformational qualities, you’ll likely only be a mediocre leader. 3) The best leaders are transactional and transformational. d. Full Range of Leadership Model. Exhibit 12-4 shows the full range of leadership model. e. The first four: 1) Laissez-faire is the most passive and therefore least effective of leader behaviors. 2) Management by exception—active or passive—is slightly better than laissez-faire, but it’s still considered ineffective. 3) Management-by-exception leaders tend to be available only when there is a problem, which is often too late. 4) Contingent reward leadership can be an effective style of leadership but will not get employees to go above and beyond the call of duty. f. Only with the four remaining styles—all aspects of transformational leadership—are leaders able to motivate followers to perform above expectations and transcend their self-interest for the sake of the organization. 1) Individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and idealized influence all result in extra effort from workers, higher productivity, higher morale and satisfaction, higher organizational effectiveness, lower turnover, lower absenteeism, and greater organizational adaptability. g. Based on this model, leaders are generally most effective when they regularly use each of the four transformational behaviors. 2. Evaluation of Transformational Leadership. a. Transformational leadership has been impressively supported at various job levels and in disparate occupations. b. Transformational leadership isn’t equally effective in all situations, however. 1) It has a greater impact on the bottom line in smaller, privately held firms than in more complicated organizations. 2) The personal nature of transformational leadership may be most effective when leaders can directly interact with the workforce and make decisions than when they report to an external board of directors or deal with a complex bureaucratic structure. 3) Another study showed transformational leaders were more effective in improving group potency in teams higher in power distance and collectivism. 4) Where group members are highly individualistic and don’t readily cede decision-making authority, transformational leadership might not have much impact. 5) Like charisma, transformational leadership can be learned. 6) One study of Canadian bank managers found branches managed by those who underwent transformational leadership training performed significantly better than branches whose managers did not receive training. 7) Other studies show similar results. 8) The GLOBE study links a number of elements of transformational leadership with effective leadership, regardless of country. This conclusion is very important because it disputes the contingency view that leadership style needs to adapt to cultural differences. 3. What elements of transformational leadership appear universal? Vision, foresight, providing encouragement, trustworthiness, dynamics, positiveness, and proactiveness top the list. a. The GLOBE team concluded that “effective business leaders in any country are expected by their subordinates to provide a powerful and proactive vision to guide the company into the future, strong motivational skills to stimulate all employees to fulfill the vision, and excellent planning skills to assist in implementing the vision.” 4. A vision is important in any culture, then, but the way it is formed and communicated may need to vary by culture. D. Transformational Leadership and Transactional Leadership. a. Transformational leadership is more strongly correlated than transactional leadership with lower turnover rates, higher productivity, lower employee stress and burnout, and higher employee satisfaction. b. Transformational leadership theory is not perfect. 1) There are concerns about whether contingent reward leadership is strictly a characteristic of transactional leaders only. 2) And contrary to the full range of leadership model, the 4 I’s in transformational leadership are not always superior in effectiveness to transactional leadership (contingent reward leadership sometimes works as well as transformational leadership). E. Transformational Leadership and Charismatic Leadership. 1. In considering transformational and charismatic leadership, you will have noticed some commonalities. a. Charismatic leadership places somewhat more emphasis on how leaders communicate while transformational leadership focuses more on what is communicated. b. At their heart, both theories focus on the ability of leaders to inspire followers, and some of the ways they do this are the same in both theories. Because of this some researchers believe the concepts are interchangeable. VIII. AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP: ETHICS AND TRUST One area left out of charismatic and transformational leadership theories is the role of ethics and trust in leadership effectiveness. A. What Is Authentic Leadership? Authentic leaders know who they are, what they believe in and value, and act on those values and beliefs openly and candidly. 1. Their followers consider them ethical people. The primary quality produced by authentic leadership, therefore, is trust. 2. Authentic leaders share information, encourage open communication, and stick to their ideals. The result: people come to have faith in them. 3. Because the concept is new, there has been little research on authentic leadership. a. However, it’s a promising way to think about ethics and trust in leadership because it focuses on the moral aspects of being a leader. b. Transformational or charismatic leaders can have a vision and communicate it persuasively, but sometimes the vision is wrong (as in the case of Hitler), or the leader is more concerned with his or her own needs or pleasures, as were Dennis Kozlowski (ex-CEO of Tyco) and Jeff Skilling (ex-CEO of Enron). B. Ethics and Leadership. For better or worse, leadership is not value-free. In assessing leadership effectiveness, we need to address the means a leader uses to achieve goals as well as the content of those goals. 1. The role of the leader in creating the ethical expectations for all members is crucial. Therefore, although every member of an organization is responsible for ethical behavior, many initiatives aimed at increasing organizational ethical behavior are focused on the leader. 2. Ethics and leadership intersect at a number of junctures. a. Transformational leaders have been described as fostering moral virtue when they try to change the attitudes and behaviors of followers. b. Charisma, too, has an ethical component. Unethical leaders use their charisma to enhance power over followers, directed toward self-serving ends. 3. Ethical leaders use it in a socially constructive way to serve others. a. Leaders who treat their followers with fairness, especially by providing honest, frequent, and accurate information, are seen as more effective. b. Because top executives set the moral tone for an organization, they need to set high ethical standards, demonstrate those standards through their own behavior, and encourage and reward integrity in others while avoiding abuses of power, such as giving themselves large raises and bonuses while seeking to cut costs by laying off long-time employees. 4. Leadership is not value free. a. In assessing its effectiveness we need to address the means a leader uses in trying to achieve goals, as well as the content of those goals. b. Scholars have tried to integrate ethical and charismatic leadership by advancing the idea of socialized charismatic leadership—leadership that conveys other centered (not self centered) values by leaders who model ethical conduct. Socialized charismatic leaders are able to bring employee values in line with their own values through their words and actions. C. Servant Leadership. Scholars have recently considered ethical leadership from a new angle by examining servant leadership. 1. Servant leaders go beyond their own self-interest and focus on opportunities to help followers grow and develop. They don’t use power to achieve ends; they emphasize persuasion. 2. Characteristic behaviors include listening, empathizing, persuading, practicing stewardship, and actively developing followers’ potential. 3. What are the effects of servant leadership? One study of 123 supervisors found that it resulted in higher levels of commitment to the supervisor, self-efficacy, and perceptions of justice, which were all related to organizational citizenship behavior. The relationship between servant leadership and follower organizational citizenship behavior appears to be stronger when followers are focused on being dutiful and responsible. 4. Servant leadership increases team potency (a belief that one’s team has above-average skills and abilities), which in turn leads to higher levels of group performance. 5. A study with a nationally representative sample found higher levels of citizenship associated with a focus on growth and advancement, which in turn was associated with higher levels of creative performance. 6. Servant leadership may be more prevalent and more effective in certain cultures. In particular, the East Asian prototype is more like a servant leader, which might mean servant leadership is more effective in these cultures. D. Trust and Leadership 1. Trust is a psychological state that exists when you agree to make yourself vulnerable to another because you have positive expectations about how things are going to turn out. Although you aren’t completely in control of the situation, you are willing to take a chance that the other person will come through for you. 2. Trust is a primary attribute associated with leadership; breaking it can have serious adverse effects on a group’s performance. 3. Followers who trust a leader are willing to be vulnerable to the leader’s actions, confident their rights and interests will not be abused. a. Transformational leaders create support for their ideas in part by arguing that their direction will be in everyone’s best interests. b. People are unlikely to look up to or follow someone they perceive as dishonest or likely to take advantage of them. 4. In a simple contractual exchange of goods and services, your employer is legally bound to pay you for fulfilling your job description. But today’s rapid reorganizations, diffusion of responsibility, and collaborative team-based work style mean employment relationships are not stable long-term contracts with explicit terms. Rather, they are more fundamentally based on trusting relationships than ever before. a. You have to trust that if you show your supervisor a creative project you’ve been working on, she won’t steal the credit behind your back. b. You have to trust that extra work you’ve been doing will be recognized in your performance appraisal. c. In contemporary organizations, where less work is closely documented and specified, voluntary employee contribution based on trust is absolutely necessary. d. And only a trusted leader will be able to encourage employees to reach beyond themselves to a transformational goal. E. What Are the Consequences of Trust? 1. Trust between supervisors and employees is related to a number of positive employment outcomes. 2. Here are just a few of the most important outcomes that research has shown: a. Trust encourages taking risks. 1) Whenever employees decide to deviate from the usual way of doing things, or to take their supervisors’ word on a new direction, they are taking a risk. 2) In both cases, a trusting relationship can facilitate that leap. b. Trust facilitates information sharing. 1) One big reason employees fail to express concerns at work is that they don’t feel psychologically safe revealing their views. 2) When managers demonstrate they will give employees’ ideas a fair hearing and show they are concerned enough to actively make changes, employees are more willing to speak out. c. Trusting groups are more effective. 1) When a leader sets a trusting tone in a group, members are more willing to help each other and exert extra effort for one another, which further increases trust. 2) Conversely, members of mistrusting groups tend to be suspicious of each other, are constantly on guard against exploitation, and restrict communication with others in the group. 3) These actions tend to undermine and eventually destroy the group. d. Trust enhances productivity. 1) The bottom-line interest of companies also appears positively influenced by trust. 2) Employees who trust their supervisors tend to receive higher performance ratings. 3) Mistrust focuses attention on the differences in member interests, making it difficult for people to visualize common goals. 4) People respond by concealing information and secretly pursuing their own interests. IX. LEADING FOR THE FUTURE: MENTORING A. A mentor is a senior employee who sponsors and supports a less-experienced employee, a protégé. 1. Successful mentors are good teachers. They present ideas clearly, listen well, and empathize with protégés’ problems. B. Mentoring relationships, whether formal ot informal, serve career functions and psychosocial functions. C. In formal mentoring relationships, protégé candidates are identfied according to assessments of leadership potential; then they are matched with leaders in corresponding organizational functions. D. Informal relationships happen much the same, but organically: first a less experienced, lower-level employee who appears to have potential for future develepment is identified. The protégé is often then tested with a particularly challenging assignment. If performance is acceptable, the leader will develop the mentoring relationship. 1. In both formal and informal mentoring, the goal is to show the protégé how the organization really works outside its formal structures and procedures. E. Research indicates that employers should establish mentoring programs because they benefit both mentors and protégés. F. Although begun with the best intentions, formal mentoring relationships are not as effective as informal ones, perhaps due to poor planning, design, and communication. 1. Mentors must see the relationship as beneficial to themselves and the protégé, and the protégé muct feel he has some input into the relationship. 2. Formal mentoring programs are most likely to succeed if they appropriately match the work style, needs, and skills of protégé and mentor. G. You might assume mentoring is valuable for objective outcomes like compensation and job performance, but research suggets the gains are primarily psychological. 1. Research further indicates that while mentoring can have an impact on career success, it is not as much of a contributing factor as ability and personality. a. It may feel nice to have a mentor, but it doesn’t appear that having a good mentor, or any mentor, is critical to your career. 2. Mentors may be effective, not because of the functions they provide, but because of the resources they can obtain; a mentor connected to a powerful network can build relationships that will help the protégé advance. a. Network ties, whether built through a mentor or not, are a significamt predictor of career success. b. If a mentor is not well-connected or not a very strong performer, the best mentoring advice in the world will not be very beneficial. X. CHALLENGES TO THE LEADERSHIP CONSTRUCT While leadership is important, leaders cannot do everything. What follows are two perspectives that challenge the widely accepted belief in the importance of leadership. A. Leadership as an Attribution. As you may remember from Chapter 6, attribution theory examines how people try to make sense of cause-and-effect relationships. The attribution theory of leadership says leadership is merely an attribution people make about other individuals. 1. Thus we attribute to leaders intelligence, outgoing personality, strong verbal skills, aggressiveness, understanding, and industriousness. 2. At the organizational level, we tend to see leaders, rightly or wrongly, as responsible for extremely negative or extremely positive performance. 3. Attribution theory suggests what’s important is projecting the appearance of being a leader rather than focusing on actual accomplishments. a. Leader-wannabes who can shape the perception that they’re smart, personable, verbally adept, aggressive, hardworking, and consistent in their style can increase the probability their bosses, colleagues, and employees will view them as effective leaders. B. Substitutes and Neutralizers to Leadership. This theory holds that leadership actions are often irrelevant when trying to explain organizational outcomes. 1. Experience and training are among the substitutes that can replace the need for a leader’s support or ability to create structure. a. Organizational characteristics such as explicit formalized goals, rigid rules and procedures, and cohesive work groups can also replace formal leadership, while indifference to organizational rewards can neutralize its effects. 2. Neutralizers make it impossible for leader behavior to make any difference to follower outcomes. 3. We’ve introduced a number of variables—such as attitudes, personality, ability, and group norms—that affect employee performance and satisfaction. a. It’s simplistic to think employees are guided to goal accomplishments solely by the actions of their leader. b. Leadership is simply another independent variable in our overall OB model. 4. There are many possible substitutes for and neutralizers of many different types of leader behaviors across many different situations. a. Moreover, sometimes the difference between substitutes and neutralizers is fuzzy. b. If I’m working on a task that’s intrinsically enjoyable, theory predicts leadership will be less important because the task itself provides enough motivation. But does that mean intrinsically enjoyable tasks neutralize leadership effects, or substitute for them, or both? c. Another problem is that while substitutes for leadership (such as employee characteristics, the nature of the task, and so forth) matter to performance, that doesn’t necessarily mean that leadership doesn’t. XI. FINDING AND CREATING EFFECTIVE LEADERS A. Selecting Leaders. 1. The process organizations go through to fill management positions is an exercise in the identification of effective leaders. a. You might begin by reviewing the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to do the job effectively. b. Personality tests can identify traits associated with leadership-extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. c. High self-monitors are better at reading situations and adjusting their behavior accordingly. d. Candidates with high emotional intelligence should have an advantage, especially in situations requiring transformational leadership. 2. Experience is a poor predictor of leader effectiveness, but situation-specific experience is relevant. a. In electronic communication, writing skills are likely to become an extension of interpersonal skills. B. Training Leaders. 1. How can managers get more from their training budgets? a. Leadership training is likely to be more successful with high-self monitors. b. Organizations can teach implementation skills. c. We can teach skills such as trust building and mentoring. d. Behavioral training through modeling exercises can increase an individual’s ability to exhibit charismatic leadership qualities. e. Leaders should engage in regularly reviewing their leadership after key organizational events. f. Leaders can be trained in transformational leadership skills that have bottom-line results. XII. IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS A. For maximum leadership effectiveness, ensure that your preferences on the initiating structure and consideration dimensions are a match for your work dynamics and culture. B. Hire candidates who exhibit transformational leadership qualities and who have demonstrated success in working through others to meet a long-term vision. 1. Personality tests can reveal candidates higher in extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness, which may indicate leadership readiness. C. For management role, hire candidates whom you believe are ethical and trustworthy; and train managers in your organization’s ethical standards. D. Seek to develop trusting relationships with followers because, as organizations have become less stable and predictable, strong bonds of trust are replacing bureaucratic rules in defining expecations and relationships. E. Consider investing in leadership training such as formal courses, workshops, rotating job responsibilities, coaching, and mentoring. XIII. KEEP IN MIND A. Leaders can influence a group toward the achievement of goals. B. Best leaders are ethical and authentic in addition to being charismatic. XIV. SUMMARY A. Leadership plays a central part in our understanding of group behavior because it’s the leader who usually directs us toward our goals. B. Knowing what makes a good leader should thus be valuable in improving group performance. 1. The early search for a set of universal leadership traits failed. However, recent efforts using the Big Five personality framework show strong and consistent relationships between leadership and extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. 2. The behavioral approach’s major contribution was narrowing leadership into task-oriented (initiating structure) and people-oriented (consideration) styles. 3. By considering the situation in which the leader operates, contingency theories promised to improve on the behavioral approach, but only LPC theory has fared well in leadership research. 4. Research on charismatic and transformational leadership has made major contributions to our understanding of leadership effectiveness. Discussion Questions 1. What are the differences between leadership and management? Answer: Management is about coping with complexity. It brings order and consistency to an organization by drawing up formal plans, designing rigid organizational structures, and monitoring results against the plans. Leadership is about coping with change. Leaders establish direction by developing a vision of the future; then they align people by communicating this vision and inspiring them to overcome hurdles. Both must exist in order to achieve organizational outcomes effectively. 2. List and describe the traits of effective leaders. Answer: Using the Big Five framework, effective leaders do appear to have some key traits in common: they are extraverted (individuals who like being around people and are able to assert themselves), conscientious (disciplined individuals who keep the commitments they make), and open (individuals who are creative and flexible). 3. Define and give examples of the Ohio State leadership dimensions. Answer: There are two leadership dimensions; initiating structure and consideration. Initiating Structure: refers to the extent to which a leader is likely to define and structure his or her role and those of employees in the search for goal attainment. It includes behavior that attempts to organize work, work relationships, and goals. Consideration: is the extent to which a person is likely to have job relationships that are characterized by mutual trust, respect for employees’ ideas, and regard for their feelings. People high in consideration show concern for followers’ comfort, well-being, status, and satisfaction. 4. Compare and contrast trait and behavioral theories. Answer: The primary difference between leadership behavior theories and trait theories is that traits cannot be taught. Thus, trait studies attempted to identify people who had the natural characteristics necessary to be good leaders: the focus was on selection. Behaviors on the other hand, can be learned. So behavioral studies attempt to find the correct actions leaders take. By teaching these behaviors, anyone could be trained to be a better leader: the focus is on what should be trained. Both sets of theories attempted to help organizations find (or develop) better leaders; it is their methodology that differs. 5. Describe Fiedler's contingency model. Answer: The Fiedler contingency model proposes that effective group performance depends on the proper match between the leader’s style and the degree to which the situation gives control to the leader. Leadership style is identified through the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) questionnaire, which purports to measure whether a person is task- or relationship-oriented. High LPC scores indicate a relationship-oriented leader; low LPC scores indicate a task-oriented leader. Fiedler assumed that an individual’s leadership style is fixed. The situation is defined by three contingency dimensions: (1) leader-member relations: the degree of confidence, trust, and respect members have in their leader, (2) task structure: the degree to which the job assignments are structured or unstructured, and (3) position power: the degree of influence a leader has over hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases. The combination of the measurements of these three dimensions creates eight potential situations that a leader might face. Task-oriented leaders tend to perform better in situations that are either very favorable to them or very unfavorable (category I, II, III, VII, or VIII). Relationship-oriented leaders perform better in moderately favorable situations (categories IV through VI). Recently Fiedler has condensed these eight situations down to three based on the degree of control: task-oriented leaders perform best in situations of high and low control while relationship-oriented leaders perform best in moderate control situations. In order to improve leader effectiveness an organization must either (1) change the leader to fit the situation or (2) change the situation to fit the leader. This second solution can be achieved by restructuring tasks or increasing/decreasing the power the leader has to control factors such as salary increases, promotions, and disciplinary actions. 6. Define the characteristics of a charismatic leader. Answer: The charismatic characteristics identified by House are: vision, a willingness to take personal risks to achieve that vision, sensitivity to followers’ needs, and exhibiting behaviors that are out of the ordinary. Charismatic leaders influence followers by: (1) Articulating an appealing vision: a long-term strategy on how to attain a goal or goals. (2) Communicating values. (3) Modeling behavior aligned with the new set of values: being an example for followers to imitate. (4) Engaging in emotion-inducing and often unconventional behavior to demonstrate courage and convictions about the vision. 7. Contrast transformational with transactional leaders. Answer: Transformational leaders are those who inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the organization and are capable of having a profound or extraordinary effect on their followers. Transactional leaders are those who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements. In a sense, transformational leaders reflect what is popularly known as “leadership,” while transactional leaders reflect “management.” 8. Identify when leadership may not be necessary. Answer: According to the Substitutes and Neutralizers to Leadership Theory, the following variables can either neutralize or substitute for leadership: (1) employees with greater experience, training, professional orientation, or indifference toward organizational rewards, (2) jobs that are inherently unambiguous and routine or that are intrinsically satisfying, and/or (3) organizations with explicit, formalized goals, rigid rules and procedures, and cohesive work groups. 9. Does charismatic/transformational leadership generalize across cultures? Answer: In general, yes, it does, but its expression may vary depending on the culture. A recent GLOBE project indicated that the desire for charismatic leadership appears to be universal. Exercises 1. Self-analysis. Based on your Big Five personality profile, what leadership traits do you possess? Do you think you would be a good leader? Why or why not? (If you have not already completed this personality test in an earlier chapter, search the Internet for a free version of the Big Five personality test and take it.) 2. Web Crawling. Search the Internet to find three sources that believe that leadership is necessary for organizations to be effective and three sources that do not. Concisely summarize the two arguments and then provide your opinion on the matter. 3. Teamwork. Split the class into small groups of four. Half of these teams will elect a leader who will act as a transactional leader. The other half will select leaders who will act as transformational leaders. Give each team three decks of cards that have been shuffled together and randomly stacked. Call the leaders together and inform them of their team’s task. The task of each group is to sort and sequence the pile into the original three separate decks of cards (ordered by suit and rank: A♠-K♠, A♣-K♣, A♥-K♥, and A♦-K♦). This activity is a race between teams. The winning team will be the one that completes the task the fastest and the most accurately. Every card that is found to be out of place is a thirty-second penalty. Review with the leaders the differences between transactional and transformational leadership before allowing them to start the exercise. Allow the leaders to act in the way they see fit, based on their style of leadership. Time each team. At the end of the activity, have the competing teams check each other's results for accuracy. Average the time taken by each type of leader’s teams. Was there a difference? Why or why not? Address these questions to the team members, not the team leaders. Ask the team members of each type of leader how they felt during the activity. Ask the team leaders how they felt about their team members and the activity. Hold a discussion on the effects of these two types of leadership on the results of this activity. 4. Analyzing Your Organization (Cumulative Project). Analyze the leadership in your organization using the theories discussed in this chapter as a framework. Pick one or more theories that you think applies most to your organization, and actually write a case study on it. For example, if you think that the Fiedler model is what is driving the leadership in your organization, write a paper discussing why this is the case. For example, you may have a strong task-oriented leader who is very effective because the situational variables are either very high or very low. 5. What Characterizes a Leader? This exercise will show students different leadership styles in a fun way. It requires some significant preparation on the instructor’s part. a. Rent one or more of the following movies: i. Karate Kid - Good for contingency leadership. ii. Lawrence of Arabia - Good for charismatic/visionary leadership. iii. Hoosiers - Good for transactional leadership. b. Preview the film(s) you will use in class and note where the following sections are. (By previewing, you will reduce viewing time to fifteen to twenty minutes out of each film.) i. Karate Kid: (1) When Miagi has Daniel washing, sanding, and painting, only to show him that he has learned karate: high task/low relationship. (2) When they are on the inlet fishing and Daniel is standing on the boat practicing: moderate task/moderate relationship. And (3) the tournament at the end of the film: high relationship/low task direction. ii. Lawrence of Arabia: (1) The beginning of the film when Lawrence gets his assignment and declares it is fun. (2) When he is first riding in the desert and won’t drink his water except when his guide does. (3) When he is talking the tribal leader into riding across the desert to attack the port city and (4) later when he talks the second tribal leader into joining them. The pattern shows the development, execution, and creation commitment to a vision. iii. Hoosiers: (1) When Gene Hackman is first coaching the players and tells them to leave if they don’t want to work. (2) Choose one or two scenes where he is dictating to them how to play: my way or the highway. Be sure to close with (3) the tournament game where the players finally have enough confidence to tell him they want to do something different and he lets them. This last scene is important to show that transactional leadership does work; you just may not like the method. c. Lead a discussion after watching the clips from each film. As an alternative, watch the entire movie(s), stopping the video periodically and discussing the elements of leadership displayed to that point. 6. Name That Leader! Before even beginning the discussion of leadership, have students name/identify who they think are or have been great leaders. This list can include past, present, and future leaders; male and female leaders; living or deceased leaders of the following categories: business leaders, governmental leaders (domestic and international), ethnic leaders, and religious leaders from any/all denominations. Try to encourage a wide variety of leaders, even some leaders that would not be considered socially acceptable, such as Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and cult leaders such as Jim Jones and Charles Manson, because they will lead into the discussion. While they were not exactly nice people, they were able to influence the behavior of others to act in a certain manner. After the class has generated a relatively lengthy list (twenty or more), have the students identify why all of the people on this list are or were leaders, and what characteristics do they all have in common. Write the list on the board. This can lead into an interesting discussion on trait theory. 7. Ethical Leadership. Have the class search for news stories on ethical breakdowns by current leaders. Discuss the events in the context of why the breakdowns occurred. Was it due to a wrong style, such as using charisma when it did not work? Discuss the concept of traits and behaviors in the context of what makes a great leader. For example, can one behave unethically in their personal lives, but still be a great leader? Suggested Assignments 1. Ask students to look at the list of famous quotes from well-known leaders from history. They may use the Internet to find these leaders. 2. Once the leaders are identified, ask students to write a short paper about two to four of these leaders to describe their leadership characteristics in terms introduced in the chapter. Who Said That? Name That Leader 1. I have a dream. 2. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. 3. I have not yet begun to fight. 4. The buck stops here. 5. Read my lips. 6. [In response to a female heckler who claimed he was drunk.] And you, madam, are ugly. But I shall be sober in the morning. 7. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. 8. Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country. 9. Give me liberty or give me death. 10. In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. 11. If you judge people, you have no time to love them. 12. Walk softly and carry a big stick. Who Said That? Name That Leader: Answer Key 1. I have a dream. -Martin Luther King, Jr. 2. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. -Franklin D. Roosevelt 3. I have not yet begun to fight. -John Paul Jones 4. The buck stops here. -Harry S. Truman 5. Read my lips. -George H.W. Bush 6. [In response to a female heckler who claimed he was drunk.] And you, madam, are ugly. But I shall be sober in the morning. -Winston Churchill 7. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. -Eleanor Roosevelt 8. Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country. -John F. Kennedy 9. Give me liberty or give me death. -Patrick Henry 10. In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. -Thomas Jefferson 11. If you judge people, you have no time to love them. -Mother Teresa 12. Walk softly and carry a big stick. -Teddy Roosevelt Chapter 13 Power and Politics Chapter Overview For anything to be accomplished in an organization people must use both power and politics. While often looked at as negative aspects of organizations, both power and politics are the means by which organizations and individuals get objectives accomplished. Chapter Objectives After studying this chapter, the student should be able to: 1. Define power. 2. Contrast leadership and power. 3. Describe the five bases of power. 4. Identify nine power or influence tactics and their contingencies. 5. Determine how power affects people. 6. Define organizational politics and describe why politics exist in organizations. 7. Identify the causes and consequences of political behavior. 8. Determine whether a political action is ethical. 9. Describe the political mapping process and its advantages. Suggested Lecture Outline I. INTRODUCTION A. This chapter will examine how power shapes group goals and resource allocation as well as the individual use of political skills to achieve goals. II. A DEFINITION OF POWER A. Power: a capacity that one person has to influence the behavior of another so that the other acts in accordance with the first person's wishes. 1. Power requires a dependency relationship: the greater the dependency, the greater the power that exists. a. Dependence is based on alternatives and their desirability. b. Alternatives. Dependence is increased as a number of alternatives decrease. Control over an alternative gives power. c. Desirability. The more desirable an alternative is, the more dependent a person (target) is on the person (controller) who controls the alternative and therefore the more power the controller has. III. CONTRASTING LEADERSHIP AND POWER A. Similarities. The concepts of leadership and power are closely intertwined. Leaders use power as a means of attaining group goals. B. Differences. Power and leadership differ in three major areas: 1. Power does not require goal compatibility, merely dependence. a. Leadership requires some congruence between the goals of the leader and those being led. 2. Leadership focuses on the downward influence over one's followers. a. It minimizes the importance of lateral and upward influence patterns. Power is concerned with all directions of influence. 3. Leadership research tends to emphasize the style leaders take. a. Research on power is a broader topic and focuses on tactics for gaining compliance. 4. Power research looks at the power exerted by individuals, as well as that used by groups. IV. BASES OF POWER A. There are two general groupings of power sources: formal and personal. 1. Formal Power. a. This source of power comes from an individual's position in an organization. b. It is based on the ability to coerce or reward, or from formal authority. 1) Coercive Power. a) This power base is driven by fear. b) A target reacts to this power out of fear of the negative results that would occur if he or she fails to comply. c) It rests on the application, or threat of application, of physical sanctions (pain, frustration, or threatening lower order needs). 2) Reward Power. a) The opposite of coercive power, this source of power is based on producing positive benefits for the target who complies. b) Rewards can be financial (pay or bonuses) or nonfinancial (recognition, interesting assignments, or preferred work shifts). 3) Legitimate Power. a) In formal groups and organizations, this common base of power is the formal authority to control and use organizational resources based on structural position. b) It is based on member acceptance of the position, not simply the power to coerce and reward given with that position. 2. Personal Power. a. This power stems from an individual's unique characteristics. b. There are two bases of personal power: 1) Expert Power. a) This is influence wielded because of expertise, special skill, or knowledge. b) This has become a powerful source of influence as the world becomes more technologically oriented. 2) Referent Power. a) This power is based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits. b) It develops out of admiration of another and the desire to be like that person: followers wish to please a person with referent power. c) This source of power is closely aligned with charisma. B. Which Bases of Power Are Most Effective? 1. Personal Power. a. Both expert and referent power are positively related to employee satisfaction with supervision, organizational commitment, and performance. 2. Formal Power. a. Reward and legitimate power are unrelated to organizational outcomes. b. Coercive power is negatively related to employee satisfaction and commitment. V. POWER TACTICS A. Defined: Power tactics are what people use to translate power bases into specific actions that influence others. 1. Power tactics are more immediate in nature than power bases, although they are similar concepts. 2. In fact, over time, successfully applied power tactics can result in the accumulation of a power base. B. Nine Influence Tactics: 1. Legitimacy. Relying on one's positional authority or stressing the request is in accordance with organizational policies and rules. 2. Rational Persuasion. Presenting logical arguments and factual evidence to demonstrate the request is reasonable. 3. Inspirational Appeals. Developing emotional commitment by appealing to a target’s values, needs, hopes, and aspirations. 4. Consultation. Increasing the target’s motivation and support by involving him or her in deciding how the plan or change will be done. 5. Exchange. Rewarding the target with benefits or favors in exchange for following a request. 6. Personal Appeals. Asking for compliance based on friendship or loyalty. 7. Ingratiation. Using flattery, praise, or friendly behavior prior to making the request. 8. Pressure. Using warnings, repeated demands, and threats. 9. Coalitions. Enlisting the aid of other people to persuade the target or using the support of others as a reason for the target to agree. C. Not all tactics are equally effective. 1. Rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, and consultation tend to be the most effective tactics. 2. Pressure is the least effective of all nine tactics. 3. Effectiveness is increased by using more than one type of tactic at the same time or sequentially, so long as the tactics are compatible. 4. Tactic effectiveness is modified by the direction of the influence. a. Inspirational appeals and pressure work best as downward influencing tactics. b. Personal appeals and coalitions are most effective as lateral influence attempts. 5. You’re more likely to be effective if you begin with “softer” tactics that rely on personal power, such as personal and inspirational appeals, rational persuasion, and consultation. 6. If these fail, you can move to “harder” tactics, such as exchange, coalitions, and pressure, which emphasize formal power and incur greater costs and risks. 7. Interestingly, a single soft tactic is more effective than a single hard tactic, and combining two soft tactics or a soft tactic and rational persuasion is more effective than any single tactic or combination of hard tactics. 8. The effectiveness of tactics depends on the audience. a. People especially likely to comply with soft power tactics tend to be more reflective, are intrinsically motivated, have high self-esteem, and have greater desire for control. b. People likely to comply with hard power tactics are more action oriented and extrinsically motivated and are more focused on getting along with others than with getting their own way. 9. People in different countries prefer different power tactics. a. Those from individualistic countries tend to see power in personalized terms and as a legitimate means of advancing their personal ends, whereas those in collectivistic countries see power in social terms and as a legitimate means of helping others. 1) Research has also shown that individuals in Western, individualistic cultures tend to engage in more self-enhancement behaviors (such as self-promotion) than individuals in more collectivistic Eastern cultures. 10. People differ in their political skill, or their ability to influence others to enhance their own objectives. 11. The politically skilled are more effective users of all of the influence tactics. a. Political skill also appears more effective when the stakes are high—such as when the individual is accountable for important organizational outcomes. 12. The politically skilled are able to exert their influence without others detecting it, a key element in being effective (it’s damaging to be labeled political). 13. Finally, we know cultures within organizations differ markedly—some are warm, relaxed, and supportive; others are formal and conservative. a. The organizational culture in which a person works will have a bearing on which tactics are considered appropriate. Some cultures encourage participation and consultation, some encourage reason, and still others rely on pressure. b. People who fit the culture of the organization tend to obtain more influence. 1) Specifically, extraverts tend to be more influential in team-oriented organizations, and highly conscientious people are more influential in organizations that value working alone on technical tasks. c. Part of the reason people who fit the culture are influential is that they are able to perform especially well in the domains deemed most important for success. In other words, they are influential because they are competent. So the organization itself will influence which subset of power tactics is viewed as acceptable for use. VI. HOW POWER AFFECTS PEOPLE A. Does power corrupt? B. There is currently evidence that there are corrupting aspects of power. Research suggests that power leads people to place their own interests ahead of others. Why does this happen? 1. Interestingly, research suggests that power not only leads people to focus on their self-interests because they can, but it also liberates people to focus inward and thus come to place greater weight on their goals and interests. 2. Power also appears to lead individuals to “objectify” others and to see relationships as more peripheral. C. Powerful people react – especially negatively – to any threats to their competence. They’re more willing to denigrate others. 1. People given power are more likely to make self-interested decisions when faced with a moral hazed. 2. Power also leads to overconfident decision making. D. Power doesn’t affect everyone in the same way. There are some positive effects of power. 1. The toxic effects of power depend on one’s personality. Research suggests that if we have an anxious personality, power does not corrupt us because we are less likely to think that using power benefits us. 2. Power doesn’t corrupt those with anxious personalities because they are less likely to think that using power benefits them. 3. The corrosive effects of power can be contained by organizational systems. 4. We have the power to blunt the negative effects of power. 5. The people who are most likely to abuse power are those who are low in status and gain power. Why is this the case? It appears that having low status is threatening, and this fear is used in negative ways if power is given. E. As you can see, there are factors that can ameliorate the negative effects of power. But there also appear to be general positive effects. 1. Power energizes and leads to approach motivation. It can also enhance people’s motivation to help others, at least for certain people. a. One study found, for example, that values toward helping others translated into actual work behavior only when people felt a sense of power. 2. This study points to an important insight about power. It is not so much that power corrupts, as it reveals. a. Supporting this line of reasoning, another study revealed that power led to self-interested behavior only for those with a weak moral identity; power actually enhanced their moral awareness. VII. POLITICS: POWER IN ACTION A. Definition of Organizational Politics: 1. Occurs when employees convert their power into action. 2. Employees with good political skills have the ability to use their bases of power effectively. B. Definition of Political Behavior. 1. Political behavior is activities that are not required as part of one's formal role in the organization, but that influence, or attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization. 2. This definition includes these key elements: a. Outside of Job. Political behavior is outside one’s specified job requirements. b. Use of Power. The behavior requires some attempt to use one's power bases. C. The Reality of Politics. 1. Interviews with experienced managers show that most believe political behavior is a major part of organizational life. 2. Many managers report some use of political behavior is both ethical and necessary, as long as it doesn’t directly harm anyone else. 3. Managers describe politics as a necessary evil and believe someone who never uses political behavior will have a hard time getting things done. 4. Most managers indicate they had never been trained to use political behavior effectively. 5. But why, you may wonder, must politics exist? a. Organizations are made up of individuals and groups with different values, goals, and interests. b. This sets up the potential for conflict over the allocation of limited resources, such as departmental budgets, space, project responsibilities, and salary adjustments. c. If resources were abundant, then all constituencies within the organization could satisfy their goals. d. But because they are limited, not everyone’s interests can be satisfied. e. Furthermore, gains by one individual or group are often perceived as coming at the expense of others within the organization (whether they are or not). f. These forces create real competition among members for the organization’s limited resources. g. Maybe the most important factor leading to politics within organizations is the realization that most of the “facts” used to allocate the limited resources are open to interpretation. h. It is in the large and ambiguous middle ground of organizational life—where the facts don’t speak for themselves—that politics flourish. i. Finally, because most decisions have to be made in a climate of ambiguity—where facts are rarely fully objective and thus are open to interpretation—people within organizations will use whatever influence they can to taint the facts to support their goals and interests. j. Therefore, to answer the question of whether it is possible for an organization to be politics free, we can say “yes”— 1) if all members of that organization hold the same goals and interests, 2) if organizational resources are not scarce, and 3) if performance outcomes are completely clear and objective. 4) But that doesn’t describe the organizational world in which most of us live. VIII. CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF POLITICAL BEHAVIOR A. Factors Contributing to Political Behavior. There are a number of factors that appear to encourage political behavior: some are individual characteristics and others are the results of the organization's culture or internal environment. 1. Individual Factors. a. At the individual level, researchers have identified certain personality traits, needs, and other factors likely to be related to political behavior. b. In terms of traits, we find that employees who are high self-monitors, possess an internal locus of control, and have a high need for power are more likely to engage in political behavior. 1) The high self-monitor is more sensitive to social cues, exhibits higher levels of social conformity, and is more likely to be skilled in political behavior than the low self-monitor. c. Because they believe they can control their environment, individuals with an internal locus of control are more prone to take a proactive stance and attempt to manipulate situations in their favor. 1) Not surprisingly, the Machiavellian personality—characterized by the will to manipulate and the desire for power—is comfortable using politics as a means to further his or her self-interest. d. In addition, an individual’s investment in the organization, perceived alternatives, and expectations of success influence the degree to which he or she will pursue illegitimate means of political action. 1) The more a person expects increased future benefits from the organization, the more that person has to lose if forced out and the less likely he or she is to use illegitimate means. 2) The more alternative job opportunities an individual has—due to a favorable job market or the possession of scarce skills or knowledge, a prominent reputation, or influential contacts outside the organization—the more likely that individual is to risk illegitimate political actions. 3) Finally, if an individual has a low expectation of success in using illegitimate means, it is unlikely he or she will attempt to do so. a) High expectations of success in the use of illegitimate means are most likely to be the province of both experienced and powerful individuals with polished political skills and inexperienced and naïve employees who misjudge their chances. 2. Organizational Factors. This is the most influential set of factors leading to political behavior. a. When an organization’s resources are declining or when the existing patterns of resource distribution are changing, the likelihood of political behavior increases. 1) This is especially true in periods of downsizing. b. The availability of promotions is one of the most political aspects of any organization and is most likely to cause political behavior. c. Cultures evidencing the following characteristics are more likely to experience political behaviors. 1) Low levels of trust (also increases the likelihood of illegitimate political actions). 2) The more ambiguous a worker’s role, the fewer limits there are to the scope and functions of the employee’s political actions. 3) The more organizations use subjective criteria in performance appraisal, emphasize a single outcome measure, or allow significant time to pass between the time of an action and its appraisal, the greater the likelihood that an employee can get away with politicking. (1) Subjective performance criteria create ambiguity. (2) The use of a single outcome measure encourages individuals to do whatever is necessary to “look good” on that measure, but that often occurs at the expense of good performance on other important parts of the job that are not being appraised. (3) The time lapse between an action and its appraisal is also a relevant factor. (4) The longer the time, the more unlikely it is that the employee will be held accountable for political behaviors. 4) The use of zero-sum or win-lose reward allocation practices, which forces employees to compete with each other for a limited reward. 5) When there are high pressures for performance, especially when employees are held strictly accountable for outcomes and have great pressure upon them to look “good.” 6) When the firm is being led by poor example: self-serving senior managers who use political behaviors make such behavior acceptable throughout the organization. B. How Do People Respond to Organizational Politics? 1. In our previous discussion in this chapter of factors that contribute to political behavior, we focused on the favorable outcomes. a. But for most people—who have modest political skills or are unwilling to play the politics game—outcomes tend to be predominantly negative. b. Exhibit 13-2 summarizes the extensive research on the relationship between organizational politics and individual outcomes. 1) Very strong evidence indicates, for instance, that perceptions of organizational politics are negatively related to job satisfaction. 2) The perception of politics also tends to increase job anxiety and stress. 3) This seems due to the perception that, by not engaging in politics, a person may be losing ground to others who are active politickers or, conversely, to the additional pressures felt from having entered into and competing in the political arena. 4) When politicking becomes too much to handle, it can lead employees to quit. c. Researchers have also noted several interesting qualifiers. 1) First, the politics-performance relationship appears to be moderated by an individual’s understanding of the “hows” and “whys” of organizational politics. a) “An individual who has a clear understanding of who is responsible for making decisions and why they were selected to be the decision makers would have a better understanding of how and why things happen the way they do than someone who does not understand the decision-making process in the organization.” b) When both politics and understanding are high, performance is likely to increase because the individual will see political actions as an opportunity. (1) This is consistent with what you might expect among individuals with well-honed political skills. (2) But when understanding is low, individuals are more likely to see politics as a threat, which would have a negative effect on job performance. 2) Second, political behavior at work moderates the effects of ethical leadership. 3) Third, when employees see politics as a threat, they often respond with defensive behaviors—reactive and protective behaviors to avoid action, blame, or change. a) Exhibit 13-3 provides some examples of these behaviors. b) Defensive behaviors are often associated with negative feelings toward the job and work environment. c) Employees may find that defensiveness protects their self-interest, but in the long run it wears them down. d) People who consistently rely on defensiveness find that, eventually, it is the only way they know how to behave. (1) At that point, they lose the trust and support of their peers, bosses, employees, and clients. C. Impression Management (IM). 1. The process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others form of them is called impression management (IM). a. Being perceived positively by others should have benefits for people in organizations. b. It might, for instance, help them initially to get the jobs they want in an organization and, once hired, to get favorable evaluations, superior salary increases, and more rapid promotions. c. In a political context, it might help sway the distribution of advantages in their favor. 2. Who is most likely to use or not use this concept? a. The high self-monitor is the most likely to employ this concept. b. Low self-monitors tend to present images of themselves that are consistent with their personalities, regardless of the beneficial or detrimental effects for them. c. In contrast, high self-monitors are good at reading situations and molding their appearances and behavior to fit each situation. d. Exhibit 13-4 summarizes some of the most popular and provides an example of each. 3. Keep in mind that the impressions people use IM to convey are necessarily false (although, of course, they sometimes are true). a. Excuses, for instance, may be offered with sincerity. b. Referring to the example in Exhibit 13-4, you can actually believe that ads contribute little to sales in your region. c. But misrepresentation can have a high cost. 1) If you “cry wolf” once too often, no one is likely to believe you when the wolf really comes. 2) So the impression manager must be cautious not to be perceived as insincere or manipulative. 3) People don’t like to feel others are manipulating them through impression management, so such tactics should be employed with caution. d. Are there situations in which individuals are more likely to misrepresent themselves or more likely to get away with it? 1) Yes—situations characterized by high uncertainty or ambiguity provide relatively little information for challenging a fraudulent claim and reduce the risks associated with misrepresentation. 4. The increasing use of telework may be increasing the use of IM. a. Individuals who work remotely from their supervisors engage in high levels of IM relative to those who work closely with their supervisors. 5. Most of the studies undertaken to test the effectiveness of IM techniques have related it to two criteria: interview success and performance evaluations. a. The evidence indicates most job applicants use IM techniques in interviews and that it works. 1) In one study, for instance, interviewers felt applicants for a position as a customer service representative who used IM techniques performed better in the interview, and they seemed somewhat more inclined to hire these people. 2) Moreover, when the researchers considered applicants’ credentials, they concluded it was the IM techniques alone that influenced the interviewers—that is, it didn’t seem to matter whether applicants were well or poorly qualified. 3) If they used IM techniques, they did better in the interview. Some IM techniques work better than others in the interview. 4) Researchers have compared applicants whose IM techniques focused on promoting their accomplishments (called self-promotion) to those who focused on complimenting the interviewer and finding areas of agreement (referred to as ingratiation). 5) In general, applicants appear to use self-promotion more than ingratiation. What’s more, self-promotion tactics may be more important to interviewing success. 6) Applicants who work to create an appearance of competence by enhancing their accomplishments, taking credit for successes, and explaining away failures do better in interviews. 7) These effects reach beyond the interview: a) Applicants who use more self-promotion tactics also seem to get more follow-up job-site visits, even after adjusting for grade-point average, gender, and job type. 8) Ingratiation also works well in interviews; applicants who compliment the interviewer, agree with his or her opinions, and emphasize areas of fit do better than those who don’t. b. In terms of performance ratings, the picture is quite different. 1) Ingratiation is positively related to performance ratings, meaning those who ingratiate with their supervisors get higher performance evaluations. 2) However, self-promotion appears to backfire: a) Those who self-promote actually seem to receive lower performance evaluations. b) There is an important qualifier to this general result. (1) It appears that individuals high in political skill are able to translate IM into higher performance appraisals, whereas those lower in political skill are more likely to be hurt by their IM attempts. (2) Another study of 760 boards of directors found that individuals who ingratiate themselves to current board members (express agreement with the director, point out shared attitudes and opinions, compliment the director) increase their chances of landing on a board. (3) What explains these results? (a) If you think about them, they make sense. (b) Ingratiating always works because everyone—both interviewers and supervisors—likes to be treated nicely. (c) However, self-promotion may work only in interviews and backfire on the job because, whereas the interviewer has little idea whether you’re blowing smoke about your accomplishments, the supervisor knows because it’s his or her job to observe you. (d) Thus, if you’re going to self-promote, remember that what works in an interview won’t always work once you’re on the job. c. Are our conclusions about responses to politics globally valid? 1) Almost all of our conclusions on employee reactions to organizational politics are based on studies conducted in North America. 2) The few studies that have included other countries suggest some minor modifications. IX. THE ETHICS OF BEHAVING POLITICALLY A. Ethical Guidelines for Political Behavior. 1. While there are no clear-cut standards to differentiate ethical from unethical politicking, answering the following questions may prove helpful. a. Realize, however, that the answers to these questions are often argued in ways to make unethical practices seem ethical. b. This is especially true for powerful people who are articulate and persuasive. 2. What is the utility of engaging in the behavior? 3. How does the utility of engaging in the political behavior balance out any harm (or potential harm) it will do to others? 4. Does the political activity conform to the standards of equity and justice? a. Sometimes it is difficult to weigh the costs and benefits of a political action, but its ethicality is clear. b. The department head who inflates the performance evaluation of a favored employee and deflates the evaluation of a disfavored employee—and then uses these evaluations to justify giving the former a big raise and nothing to the latter—has treated the disfavored employee unfairly. 5. Unfortunately, powerful people can become very good at explaining self-serving behaviors in terms of the organization’s best interests. a. They can persuasively argue that unfair actions are really fair and just. b. Our point is that immoral people can justify almost any behavior. c. Those who are powerful, articulate, and persuasive are most vulnerable to ethical lapses because they are likely to be able to get away with unethical practices successfully. d. When faced with an ethical dilemma regarding organizational politics, try to consider whether playing politics is worth the risk and whether others might be harmed in the process. e. If you have a strong power base, recognize the ability of power to corrupt. f. Remember that it’s a lot easier for the powerless to act ethically, if for no other reason than they typically have very little political discretion to exploit. X. MAPPING YOUR POLITICAL CAREER A. You can use the concepts presented in this chapter in some very tangible ways we have outlined. However, there is another application: You. 1. One of the most useful ways to think about power and politics is in terms of your own career. Think about your career in your organization of choice. a. What are your ambitions? Who has the power to get you there? What is your relationship with these people? 2. The best way to answer these questions is with a political map, which can help you sketch out your relationships with the people upon whom your career depends (see Exhibit 13-5). XI. IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS A. If you want to get things done in a group or an organization, it helps to have power. B. As a manager who wants to maximize your power, you will want to increase others’ dependence on you. 1. You can, for instance, increase your power in relation to your boss by developing knowledge or a skill she needs and for which she perceives no ready substitute. C. You will not be alone in attempting to build your power bases. 1. Others, particularly employees and peers, will be seeking to increase your dependence on them, while you are trying to minimize it and increase their dependence on you. D. Try to avoid putting others in a position where they feel they have no power. E. By assessing behavior in a political framework, you can better predict the actions of others and use that information to formulate political strategies that will gain advantages for you and your work unit. F. Consider that employees who have poor political skills or are unwilling to play the politics game generally relate perceived organizational politics to lower job satisfaction and self-reported performance, increased anxiety, and higher turnover. 1. Therefore, if you are adept at organizational politics, help others understand the importance of becoming politically savvy. XII. KEEP IN MIND A. Informal, expert, and referent power are the most important to acquire. B. Use consultation and inspirational appeals. C. IM techniques’ effectiveness depends on the setting. XIII. SUMMARY A. An effective manager accepts the political nature of organizations. 1. Some people are more politically astute than others, meaning that they are aware of the underlying politics and can manage impressions. 2. Those who are good at playing politics can be expected to get higher performance evaluations, and hence, larger salary increases and more promotions than the politically naïve or inept. 3. The politically astute are also likely to exhibit higher job satisfaction and be better able to neutralize job stressors. B. Few employees relish being powerless in their job and organization. People respond differently to the various power bases. Expert and referent power are derived from an individual’s personal qualities. C. In contrast, coercions, reward, and legitimate power are essentially organizationally derived. D. Competence especially appears to offer wide appeal, and its use as a power base results in high performance by group members. Discussion Questions 1. Contrast leadership and power. Answer: Power and leadership differ in three major areas: (1) Goal Compatibility. Power does not require goal compatibility, merely dependence. Leadership requires some congruence between the goals of the leader and those being led. (2) Direction of Influence. Leadership focuses on the downward influence over one's followers. It minimizes the importance of lateral and upward influence patterns. Power is concerned with all directions of influence. (3) Research Emphasis. Leadership research tends to emphasize the style leaders take. Research on power is a broader topic and focuses on tactics for gaining compliance. Power research looks at the power exerted by individuals, as well as that used by groups. 2. Define the five bases of power. Answer: Formal Power. This source of power comes from an individual's position in an organization and has three bases associated with it. (1) Coercive Power. This power base is driven by fear. A target reacts to this power out of fear of the negative results that would occur if one fails to comply. It rests on the application, or threat of application, of physical sanctions (pain, frustration, or threatening lower order needs). (2) Reward Power. The opposite of coercive power, this source of power is based on producing positive benefits for the target who complies. Rewards can be financial or nonfinancial (recognition, interesting assignments, or preferred work shifts). (3) Legitimate Power. In formal groups and organizations, this common base of power is the formal authority to control and use organizational resources based on structural position. It is based on member acceptance of the position, not of the person filling the position. Personal power stems from an individual's unique characteristics. There are two bases of personal power: (1) Expert Power. This is influence wielded as a result of expertise, special skill, or knowledge. (2) Referent Power. This power is based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits. It develops out of admiration of another and the desire to be like that person: followers wish to please a person with referent power. This source of power is closely aligned with charisma. 3. List and define nine influence tactics. Answer: (1) Legitimacy: relying on one's positional authority or stressing the request is in accordance with organizational policies and rules. (2) Rational Persuasion: presenting logical arguments and factual evidence to demonstrate the request is reasonable. (3) Inspirational Appeals: developing emotional commitment by appealing to a target’s values, and needs, hopes, and aspirations. (4) Consultation: increasing the target’s motivation and support by involving him or her in deciding how the plan or change will be done. (5) Exchange: rewarding the target with benefits or favors in exchange for following a request. (6) Personal Appeals: asking for compliance based on friendship or loyalty. (7) Ingratiation: using flattery, praise, or friendly behavior prior to making the request. (8) Pressure: using warnings, repeated demands, and threats. (9) Coalitions: enlisting the aid of other people to persuade the target or using the support of others as a reason for the target to agree. 4. Describe the effective use of influence tactics. Answer: Rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, and consultation tend to be the most effective tactics. Typically, these “softer” tactics are more effective than “harder” tactics (exchange, coalitions, and pressure). Pressure is the least effective of all nine tactics. Effectiveness is increased by using more than one type of tactic at the same time or sequentially, so long as the tactics are compatible. Inspirational appeals and pressure work best as downward influencing tactics. Personal appeals and coalitions are most effective as lateral influence attempts. The only tactic that is effective across all organizational levels is rational persuasion. Power tactics are more likely to be successful if the target perceives it to be a socially acceptable form of influence behavior. The most effective method to use is to begin with “softer” tactics that rely on personal power (personal inspirational appeals, rational persuasion, and consultation) before moving to “harder” tactics that emphasize formal power and involve greater risks and costs (exchange, coalitions, and pressure). 5. List the individual and organizational factors that stimulate political behavior. Answer: Individual factors: (1) personal traits, (2) situational factors (investment in the organization, the number of perceived alternatives, and expectations of success). Organizational factors: (1) amount and stability of organizational resources, (2) availability of promotions, (3) organizational cultures with performance evaluation systems that are unclear, subjective, focused on one outcome measure, have long delays between action and appraisal, and/or are ambiguous; low levels of trust; ambiguous roles; zero-sum or win-lose reward allocation practices; democratic decision making; high pressures for performance; and/or self-serving senior managers. 6. Identify and describe the seven techniques for managing the impression one makes on others. Answer: (From Exhibit 13-4) (1) Conformity: agreeing with someone else's opinion in order to gain his or her approval. (2) Excuses: explanations of our predicament-creating event aimed at minimizing the apparent severity of the predicament. (3) Apologies: admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and simultaneously seeking to get a pardon for the action. (4) Self-Promotion: highlighting one's best qualities, downplaying one's deficits, and calling attention to one's achievements. (5) Flattery: complementing others on their virtues in an effort to make one appear perceptive and likeable. (6) Favors: doing something nice for someone to gain that person's approval. (7) Association: enhancing or protecting one's image by managing information about people and things with which one is associated. 7. List the three questions that can help determine if a political action is ethical. Answer: (1) What is the utility of engaging in the behavior? (2) How does the utility of engaging in the political behavior balance out any harm (or potential harm) it will do to others? (3) Does the political activity conform to the standards of equity and justice? Exercises 1. Self-analysis. What are your formal and personal bases of power? Create a written plan for increasing your power for all five bases. Submit to your instructor for comment. 2. Web Crawling. Use the Internet to look up three articles on an instance of abuse of power in a corporate, government, religious, or other organizational environment. Using the articles as a reference and the terms from this chapter, describe what you believe happened in this abuse situation. 3. Teamwork. Assign students to teams based on their favorite television drama. The television show must have a wide range of characters in a work-type setting. As individuals, each team member will watch a minimum of one hour of the program, observing and identifying the use of power by the drama’s characters. Have the students keep a journal in which they identify the character, the action they see taking place, and describe enough of the scene that they can discuss this example with their team. Have the teams meet and summarize their individual observations. Teams will elect a spokesperson, who will provide a 10-minute overview of their findings on the uses of power in the program. 4. Analyzing Your Organization (Cumulative Project). Keep a journal for one week in which you observe the political behaviors and impression management strategies of your co-workers. Meetings are an excellent time to observe these behaviors. In a meeting, examine the reactions of participants toward those that have the power, versus those that don’t. For example, did the participants tend to agree with the members that have power regardless of the quality of their ideas and comments? Did those that did not have power tend to be interrupted often? Type up the journal and be prepared to discuss it in class. Specific examples should be given anonymously due to the ethical implications of the behaviors you will be observing. Suggested Assignment Name That Power Base! The goal is for students to recognize through practice what the different bases of power look like in a real situation. Choose students to role-play the two positions, SGA Representative and President of your university. Let the students role-play for ten to twelve minutes. Adjust the time as you see fit. The rest of the class should observe the role-play and note: a. What power base was used by each person? b. What else could they have done to make the position more powerful? c. What did they do that didn’t fit that power perspective? d. Did they choose the most appropriate power base for this situation? Why? Once the role-play is completed, have the class discuss the following: a. Was this the only effective power base that could be used by the SGA? b. How did the choice of power bases on the part of the SGA Representative and the President affect the outcome of the negotiation? Power Play Situation You are a member of the Student Government Association’s (SGA) executive body at your college or university. You are an elected student representative, an executive-level officer, but not the President of the SGA. You represent students in the business program/school. This program is a major source of revenue for the University. The program’s graduates tend to become wealthy alumni who make generous contributions. The business school/program and SGA have built a close relationship with a number of these alumni. You also have been part of an undergraduate team that has enticed 20 percent more large corporations to interview at your campus through networking and personal contacts with the executives of these organizations. The administration has implemented a campus-wide policy affecting all undergraduates that you want changed. [You may choose a current issue on campus, or leave the particulars ambiguous.] This policy is a special pain for business students. The policy came out of administration/alumni talks over the last year. Your President is a strong but reasonable person, who doesn’t easily change direction but is willing to hear someone’s perspective. The President is a bit feared by students, respected by faculty, and doesn’t have the best relationship with alumni. SGA Representative: choose one of the five power bases and negotiate the elimination of, or modification of, this policy. Choose the one you think has the most credibility given this situation. Talk, negotiate, and so on, as you think appropriate given this base of power. Do not make overt statements that will give away your power base. President: choose a power base in response to the SGA representative. Choose the one you think has the most credibility given this situation. Talk, negotiate, and so on, as you think appropriate given this base of power. Do not make overt statements that will give away your power base. Instructor Manual for Essentials of Organizational Behavior Stephen P. Robbins, Timothy A. Judge 9789332587984, 9780133920819, 9780133973013, 9781292090078, 9781292090184, 9780134523859, 9780132968508