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Organizational Power
and HR Politics

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Learning Objectives

1. Describe the organizational power and its role to better

manage people
2. Identify the sources of organizational power

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3. Understand how to use it through authority and resources

control

What is Organizational Power?

Organizational power: the ability of one person or a
group to overcome resistance by others to achieve a
desired objective or result

Conflict and power are intimately related

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What is Organizational Power? (cont.)

Organizational power: is also the capacity to persuade

a group to work toward the accomplishment of a
company's organizational goals. It depends on the
personality traits of the individual exercising the power.

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Sources of Organizational Power

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Sources of Organizational Power

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Authority: power that is legitimized by the legal and

cultural foundations on which an organization is based
the

deliberate

decentralization

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Empowerment:
authority

Control over resources: as the organization controls more

and more resources in its environment, power within an
organization comes from the control of resources

Sources of Organizational Power (cont.)

Control over information: access to strategic
information and the control of the information are sources
of considerable power

Nonsubstitutability: if no one else can perform the

tasks that a person or subunit performs, that person or
subunit is nonsubstitutable

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Sources of Organizational Power (cont.)

Centrality: the subunits that are most central to resource
flows have the ability to reduce the uncertainty facing
other subunits

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Control over uncertainty: a subunit that can actually

control the principal sources of uncertainty has significant
power

Changes in contingencies facing the organization alter

which subunits have this power

Sources of Organizational Power

Unobtrusive power: controlling the premises of decision making

Unobtrusive power: the power flowing from the ability to

control the premises behind decision making

The power of a coalition resides in its ability to control the

assumptions, goals, norms, or values that managers use to
judge alternative solutions to a problem

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Types of Individual Power

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Individual Power

Position Power

Personal Power

Legitimate power
Reward power
Coercive power

Referent power
Expert power

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Using Power: Organizational Politics

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Organizational politics: activities taken within organizations to

acquire, develop, and use power and other resources to obtain ones
preferred outcomes in a situation in which there is uncertainty or
disagreement about choices
Tactics for playing politics

Increasing indispensability: become indispensable to the

organization

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Using Power: Organizational Politics (cont.)

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Tactics for playing politics (cont.)

Increasing nonsubstitutability: develop specialized

skills or knowledge that enables one to control a crucial
contingency facing the organization

Increasing centrality: accept responsibilities that

enhance ones reputation or that of ones function

Associating with powerful managers:

supporting a powerful manager who is clearly on the
way to the top

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Using Power: Organizational Politics (cont.)

Tactics for playing politics (cont.)
Building and managing coalitions

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Influencing decision making

o Forming relationships with stakeholders and other subunits

around some common issue
o Skills in coalition building are important
o Must be circumspect in the use of power

Controlling the agenda

o By setting the agenda, managers can control the issues and

problems to be considered

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Bringing in an outside expert

o Use supposedly neutral outsiders to support the views of the

coalitions

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Using Power: Organizational Politics (cont.)

Costs and benefits of organizational politics
To manage organizational politics and gain its benefits, an
organization must establish a balance of power in which
alternative views and solutions can be offered and
considered by all parties and dissenting views can be
heard

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Balance of power should shift over time toward the party

that can best manage the uncertainty and contingencies
confronting the organization

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Using Power: Organizational Politics (cont.)

Costs and benefits of organizational politics (cont.)

If balance of power does not encourage allocation of

resources to where value is created, the organization suffers

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If powerful managers can suppress views against their

interests, debates become restricted, checks and balances
fade, bad conflict increases, and organizational inertia
increases

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Maintaining a Balance of Power

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Reward Power

Reward power is used by offering rewards to encourage

better performance from employees within the
organization. Increases in salary and awards given based
on things such as attendance or productivity are examples
of reward power.

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The rewards given should be proportionate to the task or

work performance.

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A manager who has worked effectively in his position for a

year without a raise will feel undervalued if another
employee receives a salary increase for something such as
good attendance.
If rewards are given too frequently, employees may only
work effectively when a reward is offered.

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Coercive Power

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Coercive power relies on the management's ability to

punish, threaten or discipline unacceptable behavior. The
goal in using coercive power is to convince employees
through fear to work toward reaching the organizational
objectives. Threats of demotion, suspension or decrease in
pay are examples of coercive power.
Disciplinary actions should be proportionate to the
infractions in order for this type of organizational power to
work.
This decreases morale and may cause employees to either
quit or lower productivity.

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Combining Coercive and Reward Power

Typically, organizations will use more than one type of

power to effectively work toward organizational goals.
What works the best together will depend on the
organization and its employees.

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Using coercive power may decrease the effectiveness of

reward power if it is not balanced carefully.

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Employees may begin to lose morale when coercive power

is overused, making the rewards meaningless. This can
result in lower productivity and employees doing only what
is necessary to complete their designated tasks.

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Conclusions

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With power it is possible:

Intercede favorably on behalf of someone in trouble

Get a desirable placement for a talented subordinate
Get approval for expenditures beyond the budget
Get items on and off agendas
Get fast access to decision makers
Maintain regular, frequent contact with decision makers
Acquire early information about decisions and policy shifts

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Copyright

This didactic material is meant for the personal use of the student only, and is
copyrighted. Its reproduction, even for a partial utilization, is strictly forbidden
in compliance with and in force of the law on Authors rights.

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