BU288 Final

Five bases of individual power

legitimate power
reward power
coercive power
referent power
expert power

Legitimate power

Power derived from a person's position or job in an organization

based on level in organizations hiearchy

Reward power

Power derived from the ability to provide positive outcomes and prevent negative outcomes

Corresponds with positive reinforcement

Coercive power

Power derived from the use of punishment and threat

Generally ineffective and can provoke considerable employee resistance

Referent power

Power derived from being well liked by others (results in commitment)

Available to anyone in an organization who is well liked

Expert power

Power derived from having special information or expertise that is valued by an organization
(results in commitment)

Of all the bases of power, it is most consistently associated with employee effectiveness

Employee responses to the bases of power

Coercive power -> resistance
Reward power -> compliance
Legitimate power -> compliance
Expert power -> commitment
Referent power -> commitment

Ways to achieve power - activities to do

Extraordinary activities
Visible activities
Relevant activities

Ways to achieve power - cultivating the right people

Right people can include:
-Outsiders
-Subordinates (backed by cohesive team)
-Peers (favours can be asked from former associates)
-Superiors (mentors provide special info_

Empowerment

Giving people the authority, opportunity, and motivation to take initiative to solve organizational problems

Fosters job satisfaction, improved self-efficacy, and org. commitment, OCBs

Needs right amount of power to be effective

Influence tactics

Convert power into actual influence over others

-Assertiveness
-Ingratiation (flattery/polite)
-Rationality
-Exchange (doing/trading favours)
-Self Promotion

Self-promotion and ingratiation effective in job search/interviews

Ingratiation/rationality used for superiors

Need for Power (n Pow)

Need to have strong influence over others - personality characteristics

When it's responsible and controlled, its negative properties are not observed

Institutional Managers

Most effective type of managers, use their power for the good of the organization

-Adopt a participative or "coaching" leadership style

-Relatively unconcerned with how likeable they are

Personal power managers

Use their power for personal gain

Affiliative Managers

More concerned about being liked than with exercising power

Strategic Contingencies

Critical factors affecting organizational effectiveness that are controlled by a key subunit

Conditions:

-Scarcity (secure key scarce resources)

-Uncertainty (coping with it)

-Centrality (influence most subunits)

-Substitutability (not replaceable)

Organizational Politics

The pursuit of self-interest in an organization, whether it corresponds with organizational goals or not

Dimensions of Organizational Politics

Where/when is it most likely to occur:

-Middle and upper management
-Subunits w/ vague goals and complex tasks
-Scarce resources, uncertainty and important issues

Impacts of Organizational Politics

-Highly political climates result in lowered job satisfaction, commitment, and org. citizenship

-Takes a toll on the performance of older workers compared to younger workers, likely due to stress

Political skill

The ability to understand others at work and to use that knowledge to influence others to act in ways that enhance one's personal or organizational objectives

Four facets of political skill

Social astuteness (ability to "read" others)
Interpersonal influence (put others at ease)
Networking ability
Apparent sincerity

Networking

Developing informal social contacts to get their support when necessary

Methods
- Maintaining contacts (thank-you notes)
-Socializing
- Engaging in professional activities
- Increasing internal visibility (high profile work projects, important committees and task forces)

Networking insights

-Those high in self-esteem and extraversion are more likely to engage in it

-Increased in importance as people are more self-reliant to plot future careers

-Being central in a large network provides power if it is diverse and has many with power

Machiavellianism

A set of cynical beliefs about human nature, morality, and the permissibility of using various tactics to achieve one's ends

High Machs

- More likely to lie or deceit to achieve desired goals (ends justify means)

-Most effective in face-to-face/emotional circumstances

Reactive Politics

Concerns the defence or protection of self-interest

Methods:
-Avoiding actions (buck passing, stalling)
-Avoiding blame (buffing, scapegoating)

Ethics

Code of moral principles and values governing behaviour with respect to what is right and wrong

Common themes of ethical behaviours

Honest communication (advertise honestly)
Fair treatment (equitable pay)
Special consideration (long-term employees)
Fair competition (avoid price fixing)
Responsibility to organization (not acting in self-interest)
CSR
Respect for law (follow labour laws)

Bounded Ethicality

Psychological process by which people come to engage in behaviour that violates their own ethical standards

-People prone to ethical blind spots

-If things are going well, less inclined to be alert for ethical volations

Two main causes of Unethical Behaviours

"bad apple"- personality causes
"bad barrel"- situational causes

Bad Apple - Personality Causes of Unethicality

Personality

- External locus of control

- Strong economic values

Need for power

Machiavellianism

Risk taking

Moral identity

Bad Barrell - Situational Causes of Unethicality

Gain

- Anticipation of reward/bonus

- If underpaid significantly

Extreme performance pressure

- Become self-protective in the face of challenging goals

Role conflict

- Reward system can heighten conflicts of interest

Strong organizational identification

Competition

- Both situations with extreme high/low competition

Organizational and industry culture

- Conduct of peers can influence unethical behaviour

- Corporate codes/cultures can punish or reward unethical behaviour

Deaf ear syndrome

Inaction or complacency of organizations in the face of charges of sexual harassment

Strategies to make better ethical decisions

Identify the impact of the decisions

- Cost/benefit analysis

- Stakeholders

Organizational systems

- Disclosure mechanisms reward ethical actions and punish unethical actions

- Code of ethics/committee

- Training programs

Choices

- What other alternatives

Ethical Behaviour Decision Criteria

Utilitarian

- If delivers the greatest good to the greatest number of people

Rights

- Respects the fundamental rights shared by humans (charter, free speech)

Justice

- If it is fair and impartial in its treatment of people

Advantages and Disadvantages of Ethical Behaviour Decision Criteria

Utalitarian

+ Promotes efficiency, productivity

- Difficult to apply values that aren't easily quantifiable

Rights

+ Protects individuals freedom and privacy

- Creates overly regulated society

Justice

+ Protects interests of under represented and less powerful

- Definition of fairness is ambiguous

Signaling Theory - Ethics

Ethical leaders promote ethical conduct through communication, reinforcement, and decision making

Positively related to:

- Subordinate ethical behaviour

- Job satisfaction

- Organizational commitment

Negatively related to:

- Subordinate work stress

- Turnover

What organizations can change

Goals and strategies
Technology
Job design
Structure
Processes
Culture
People

Three stages of org. change

Unfreezing
Changing
Refreezing

Unfreezing

Recognition that current state of affairs is unsatisfactory

Methods:
-Employee attitude surveys
-Customer surveys
-Accounting data

Change

Implementation of a program/plan to move org. or members to more satisfactory state

People must have capability, opportunity, and motivation to change

Refreezing

Conditions that exist when newly developed behaviours, attitudes, or structures become an enduring part of the organization

Organizational Learning

The process through which an organization acquires, develops, and transfers knowledge throughout the organization

Two methods of organizational learning

Knowledge acquisition

- Acquisition and interpretation of exisiting knowledge external to org.

Knowledge development

- Learning occurs when org. members share experiences and knowledge/when new knowledge is distributed

Learning Organization

Organization that has systems and processes for creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge to reflect new knowledge and insights

Failure is a more important determinant - stimulates greater information search/acquisition

Four dimensions of a learning organization

Vision/support

- Leaders communicate clear vision of org. strategy and goals

Culture

- Culture for continuous learning

Learning systems/dynamics

- Employees challenged to problem solve

Knowledge management/infrastructure

- Systems to acquire, store, distribute knowledge

Problems that occur in org. change

Diagnosis

Resistance

Evaluation and institutionalization

Causes of resistance

-change is resisted by those at whom it is targeted (both unfreezing and change)

How can organizations deal with resistance

- Good communication if there are misunderstandings
-Involving those impacted by change in the change process
-Transformational leaders are good at overcoming change

Resistance and time

Champions - highly supportive of change
Converts - converted over time
Defectors - defect change over time
Doubters - highly negative of change

Evaluation and Institutionalization

Organizations are notorious for poorly evaluating "soft" change programs (when institutionalized = organizational system)

Possible to do a thorough evaluation with regarding the following outcomes in respect to change:

- Reactions

- Learning

- Behaviour

- Outcomes

Factors contributing to organizational conflict

-Group identification and intergroup bias (in/out group)
-Interdependence
-Differences in power, status, and culture
-Ambiguity (goals, jurisdictions, or performance criteria)
-Scarce resources

Types of Conflcit

Relationship conflict
Task conflict
Process conflict

Relationship conflict

Interpersonal relationships - has nothing to do with the task at hand
(ex. personality clashes)

Task conflict

Disagreements about the nature of work to be done

(ex. differences in goals/technical matters)

Some amounts of task conflict might be beneficial for performance

Process conflict

Disagreements about how work should be organized and accomplished

(ex. disagreements about responsibility, authority, or resource allocation)

Five modes of managing conflict

Avoiding
Accommodating
Competing
Compromise
Collaborating

Adam, Ate, Cheese, Crackers, and Chips

Avoiding

Low assertiveness of one's interests and low cooperation with the other party

-Limited effectiveness: doesn't really change the situation

When to use:
-Opponent is powerful and hostile
-Issue is trivial/lacking information

Accommodating

Low assertiveness of one's interests while cooperating with the other party

-Seen as a sign of weakness

When to use:
-When you are wrong/want to build good will
-When the issue is more important to the other party

Competing

Maximizes assertiveness and minimizes cooperation

-Frame conflict in win-lose terms

When to use:
-You have a lot of power
-You will not have to interact with the other party in the future

Compromise

Combines intermediate levels of assertiveness and cooperation

-Doesn't result in the most creative response to conflict

When to use:
-Conflict stemming from scarce resources
-Good fallback if other strategies fail

Collaborating

Maximizes assertiveness and cooperation

- Integrative (win-win) agreement

When to use:
-When parties share information together

Constructive conflict

Most likely to promote good decisions and positive organizational change
- Parties agree the benefits outweigh the costs

Conflict Simulation

Increasing conflict to motivate change

-Causes can vary however can be manipulated by managers to achieve change

Stressor

Environmental events/conditions with the potential to induce stress

Stress reactions

The behavioral, psychological, and physiological consequences of stress

How to reduce:
Directly dealing with the stressor (decreases chances of reoccurrence)

Stress

Psychological reaction to demands in stressors, makes a person feel tense or anxious

Becomes a problem when it leads to high levels of anxiety and tension

3 Key personality traits impacting stress

Locus on control

-Externals more likely to feel anxious

-Internals are more likely to confront stressors

Type A behaviour pattern

-People who are aggressive/hostile are more likely to exhibit elevated blood pressure and heart rate

-Easily triggered by frustrating, difficult, or competitive events

Negative Affectivity

-People high in NA report more stressors, are more sensitive to existing stressors

-Provoke stress through negativity and gravitate to stressful jobs

Stressors in Organizational Life

Executive/Managerial Stressors

- Role overload, heavy responsibility

Operative-Level Stressors

- Poor physical conditions, poor job design (boring)

Boundary Role Stressors

-Boundary between interaction with organization members and people outside organization (role conflict)

General Stressors

-Conflict, work-family conflict, role ambiguity

Role Overload

When one must perform too many tasks in too short of a time period or work too many hours

Burnout

Syndrome made of emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and low self-efficacy

-Those with high self-esteem, conscientiousness, report less burnout
-Women are more likely to report emotional exhaustion

Consequences:
- Pursue new occupation or job
- Exhibit poor performance/absenteeism

Work Engagement

a positive work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption

Vigor (Work Enagagement)

High levels of energy/mental resilience at work

Absorption (Work Engagement)

Being fully concentrated and engrossed in your work

Job Demands Resource Model

Specifies how job demands (ex. role conflict, role ambiguity) cause burnout and job resources cause engagement

High job resources = work engagement
High job demands = exhaust employees physically and mentally (burnout)

Job Demands

Physical, physiological, social or organizational features of a job requiring sustained physical or psychological effort

Job resources

Features of a job that help achieve work goals, reduce job demands, and stimulate personal growth, learning, and development

Abusive Supervision

When managers engage in the bullying of subordinates - differential power is most apparent

Damaging to employee well-being - tied to subordinate health problems

Dimensions of techno-stress

Techno-overload

- Too many people have access to us

Techno-invasion

- Work demands have invaded non-work time

Techno-uncertainty

- Technology is changing too often and policy is unclear

Techno-complexity

- Tech brings complication into everyday work

Techno-insecurity

- Others are more adept at using and adapting to new technology

Three reactions to organizational stress

Behavioral reactions
Psychological reactions
Physiological reactions

Behvaioural reactions to stress

Overt activities used to cope with stress

Examples
- Problem solving
- Seeking social support (from others)
-Using addictive substances
-Withdrawal and presenteeism
-Performance changes

Psychological reactions to stress

Reacting with emotions and thought processes rather than overt behaviour

-Common reaction is to use defence mechanisms

Hindrance Stressors

Stressors that damage goal attainment and performance

Presenteeism

The extent that people go to work ill

-Is stress-related in nature
-Depression, bullying, and high job demands are related to presenteeism

Defence mechanisms

Psychological attempts to reduce anxiety associated with stress

-Useful to temporarily reduce anxiety, but not chronically reduce stress

Examples:
Rationalization
Projection
Displacement
Reaction formation
Compensation

Physiological reactions to stress

Work stress is associated with:
-Elevated blood pressure
-Elevated cholesterol
-Elevated pulse
-Onset of various diseases (ill effects on immune system)

Organizational Strategies to Manage Stress

Job redesign

- Enriching operative level jobs

Family friendly human resource policies

-Ex. corporate daycare centres, flexible hours, supportive supervision

Stress management programs

-Ex. meditation, mindfulness practices

Work-life balance, fitness, and wellness programs

-Ex. fitness improves mood, job satisfaction and performance

Three types of communication by strict chain of command

Downward communication (top of org. to bottom)
Upward communication (bottom of org. to top)
Horizontal communication (between depts. or functional units)

Deficiencies in the chain of command

Informal communication
Filtering (tendency for a message to be watered down/stopped)
Slowness (horizontal communication can be especially slow)

The Mum Effect

The tendency to avoid communicating unfavorable news to others

-More likely when the sender is responsible for the bad news
-Applies to both subordinates and managers

Grapevine

An organization's informal communication network

-Cuts across formal lines of communication
-Organizations often have several grapevine systems

Pros
-Keeps employees informed about important org. matters

Cons
-Becomes a problem when it becomes a rumour pipeline

Jargon

Specialized words used by job holders or members of an organization

-Can be a barrier to communication in departments like sales/eng.

-Can also be a barrier to new members/those outside the org. or profession

Non-Verbal Language of Work

Body language

- The extent to which the sender likes and is interested in the receiver (ex. face receiver, maintain eye contact, smiling)

Props, artifacts, and costumes

-Office decor and arrangement

-Clothing

Gender differences in communication

Getting credit

- Men more likely to seek credit for good they have done

Confidence and Boasting

- Men are more boastful about themselves/capabilities

Asking questions

- Men are less likely to ask questions because it can put in one-down position

Apologies

-Avoided by men as it is a sign of weakness

Feedback

- Women buffer criticism with initial praise; men are blunt

Ritual Opposition

-Men use it as a way to exchange ideas

-Men most concerned with power: use it as a way to position in a one-up situation

-Women more concerned with rapport building (avoid putting down others)

Cross Cultural Communication

Language differences

Non-verbal communication (facial expressions/gestures vary across cultures)

Etiquette and politeness

Social conventions (ex. North Americans value directness/privacy)

Cultural context

Cultural Context

Cultural information that surrounds a communication episode

High-context culture: message is strongly influenced by context (literal interpretation is false)

Low context culture: messages are interpreted more literally

Differences in context across cultures

High context cultures

- People want to know about you and your company

- Not a strong desire to get to the point quickly

-Age and seniority are highly valued

Low context cultures

- Favour detailed business contracts

-Meaning is in the message

Information richness

the potential information-carrying capacity of a communication medium

-The degree communication is two-way in real time

-The extent to which parties can receive non-verbal/para-verbal (tone) cues

Less routine communication (important decisions) requires richer networks

Computer Communication/Social Media

Face-to face communication is highest in richness

Slower development of trust using computer-mediated communication
-People are less likely to disclose personal info
-Electronic media is open to misinterpretation (lack of non-verbal cues)

Email is especially prone due to lack of being synchronous

Basic Principles of Effective Communication

Take the time
Be accepting of the other person
Do not confuse the person with the problem
Listen actively
Say what you feel
Give timely and specific feedback

Principles for cross-cultural communication

Assume differences until you know otherwise
Recognize differences within cultures
Watch your language (and theirs)
(ex. speak slowly/clearly if not very fluent in English)