chapter 3: organizational power and politics copyright © 2015 pearson canada inc. 3- 1

Chapter 3:Organizational Power and Politics

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. 3- 1

Chapter Overview

• Power and politics—differing perspectives on use in organizations

• Power relationships in the workplace—sources of power of actors in units/departments

• Positive and negative perceptions of power and politics in workplace

• Organizational structures that empower employees

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. 3 - 2

Chapter Overview

• Organizational groups that exert power and how power operates

• How politics plays out in organizations• Strategies and games used in health care organizations• Types of situations that give rise to use of power and

politics


LO #1: Define power and politics and describe differing perspectives on their use in

organizations

• Power– “The ability to exert actions that either directly

or indirectly cause change in the behaviour and/or attitudes of another individual or group”

– In an organization—“the ability to mobilize resources (human and material) to get things done”



organizations

• Five bases of power that are most common:– Reward power– Coercive power– Legitimate power– Referent power– Expert power



organizations

• Politics– Tactical activities or strategies a person takes

to influence the decisions or actions of others– More likely to evoke a negative image than

power– Has been seen in organizations as essentially

illegitimate, and has been compared to an illness


LO #2: Analyze power relationships in the workplace and the sources of power of the actors or

units/departments of an organization

• Multiple factors affect power relations in an organization– Three groups of people in an organization

• Those who are naïve about power and influence in organization

• Those who are cynics• Those who are in between


LO #2: Analyze power relationships in the workplace and the sources of power of the actors or units/departments

of an organization

• Diversity or difference among people around goals, values, and perspectives– Cultural, professional – People are interdependent– Low interdependence and low diversity

• Easier to resolve conflict

– Multidisciplinary teams


LO #3: Debate the positive and negative perceptions of power and politics in the

workplace

• Power– Negative perceptions

• Dominance over others• Hold-over from pre-democratic periods where leader

was cruel tyrant• Social inequality, abuse and rule by elites• Westerners showed a negative association between

power and cooperation.• Differing cultural views of power may lead to

differing psychological and behavioural consequences in the workplace.



workplace

• Power– Positive perceptions

• Contributes to order and effectiveness• Westerners showed positive association between

power and reward

• Politics– Positive perceptions

• The constructive reconciliation of competing causes-by which diverse interests and views can be sorted out in a just way.



workplace

• Politics– Negative perceptions

• Competing interests and goals, jockeying for a favourable position, or approval of one over another

• When politics becomes dominant force in organization, it affects legitimate power.

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workplace

• Politics– Negative perceptions (cont’d)

• “A domain of activity in which participants attempt to influence organizational decisions and activities in ways that are not sanctioned by either the formal authority system of the organization, its accepted ideology or certified expertise”


LO #4: Discuss how an organization may be structured to empower employees

[insert Table 3.1 from text, p. 74]



• Empowerment– Workplace factors that give employees a sense of

power and more influence in the organization. – Factors Include the ability to act and to make

decisions in their positions– Requires support (supplies, resources, education and

information) and delegation to the employee


• Types of power used in organizations to empower employees– Expert power– Reward power– Referent power



LO #5: Describe the groups in organizations who can exert power and ways in which power can

operate

• Three groups have been described as being powerful or influential in hospital decision-making:– Board of trustees or directors– Senior administration of the hospital– Senior physician



operate

• Systems of Influence in Organizations– Internal coalition

• Top management• Operators• Line managers• Analysts• Support staff



operate

• Systems of Influence in Organizations– System of Authority

• Formal power that accrues to the holder of an official position, e.g., CEO

• They establish and design the hierarchy or chain of authority.

– System of Ideology• Beliefs about the organization that integrate personal

and institutional goals

• Involves a sense of mission and shared goals, traditions, identification, socialization, and loyalty



operate

• Systems of Influence in Organizations– System of Expertise

• Relies on professionals for the complex work required in the organization

• Relies on less bureaucratic form of organization

– System of Politics• Employees have delegated power that gives them

discretion to make decisions at some level. • Discretion in work makes the use of political power

possible.


LO #6: Discuss how politics plays out in organizations and the strategies and games that can be used in health

care organizations

• Political strategies– Ways in which people develop and use power

to their advantage to influence a decision and/or achieve goals

– Actors in political process consider their own sources of power and that of others to develop strategies



care organizations

• Political strategies – Push strategies

• Threaten or force others to change behaviour through assertiveness, sanctions, or blocking through non-cooperation

– Pull strategies• Positive motivation to influence behaviour through

recognition, benefits, or the satisfaction of needs and goals

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care organizations

• Political strategies – Persuasion strategies

• Appeal to logical reasoning or convincing others about behaviour in relation to goals

– Preventive strategies• Designed to prevent an issue from arising and may

involve focusing attention elsewhere, avoiding a topic, or leaving it off an agenda



care organizations

• Political strategies – Preparatory strategies

• Aimed at preparing the ground or creating the conditions favourable to other strategies and range from the way in which someone dresses to create an impression, to ordering the agenda in a favourable way, to simply pouring on the charm



care organizations

• Political games– Patterns of behaviours engaged in by political

actors who attempt to achieve their own ends, rather than the overall good of the whole organization

– “Game” is used because the pattern reflects a set of rules that may or may not be explicit

– Involves positions and moves by the players who set out with similar bases of power as they seek to “win”


LO #7: Identify the types of situations in health care organizations that give rise to use of power

and politics

• It is likely that you will engage in the exercise of power and politics.

• Certain conditions and events that are more apt to give rise to political behaviour.


LO #7: Identify the types of situations in health care organizations that give rise to use of power

and politics

– Strategic planning processes– Budgeting processes (capital and equipment)– Periods of constrained resources in health care

“downsizing”– Leadership change– Implementation of a change in work, reorganization,

re-engineering– Any process involving allocation of resources, such as

space and equipment



2. What factors about this committee might lead you to anticipate differences of opinion?



3. How might you influence committee members to consider and adopt your recommendation about the requirements for the position?



4. Can you anticipate other decisions that the committee will have to make as you proceed with your mandate? How might you prepare for each of them? What strategies and tactics might you use?



5. The committee did not decide to limit applications to those candidates with a master’s degree. Your committee selects three candidates to interview, based on the applications received. The medical director seeks you out to discuss the candidates prior to the interviews and says that she favours the one who has a master’s. She notes that your idea of this requirement was really a good one.

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6. How would you respond? Discuss this behaviour and your response in terms of power and politics.


chapter 3: organizational power and politics copyright © 2015 pearson canada inc. 3- 1

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