ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, in the name of Allah, the most gracious and the most merciful, we have successfully
finished this chapter report to fulfill the subject course requirement for Organization Behavior
(MGT 534). We also want to say very thankfully to our parents because they give more support
and help us in order to finish this report.
Secondly, we want to thank a lot of to our beloved lecturer, Miss Irwani Bt Abdul Rahman
because she has spend a lot of time to teach us on how to do this report and give us more
information or guideline to finish this work. We spent more time to finish this report accurately.
Besides that, we want to say thanks to our friends (BMB3Ec) that give a lot of information for us
to finish this report at accurate time.
Last but not least, we would like to thanks everybody that was specifically involved in finish
this task successfully. In an order for us to get this task complete, we would like to thanks again
to our dear lecturer for guiding us and give us the useful and unforgettable experience ever in
our life.

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THE MEANING OF POWER

Power

Power is the capacity of a person, team, or organization to influence others. Power is not the act
of changing someones attitudes or behavior; it is only the potential to do so. People frequently
have power they do not use; they might not even know they have power. Also, power is not
personal feeling of power. You might feel powerful or think you have power over someone else,
but this is not power unless you truly have the capacity to influence that person.

Countervailing power
Countervailing power is refers to the capacity of a person, team, or organization to keep a more
powerful person or group in the exchange relationship. For example, executives have power
over subordinates by controlling their job security and promotional opportunities. At the same
time, employees have countervailing power by possessing skills and knowledge that keep
production humming and customers happy, something that executives cannot accomplish alone.

SOURCES OF POWER
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Power refers to the possession of authority and influence over others. Power is a tool that,
depending on how it's used, can lead to either positive or negative outcomes in an organization.
They identified five sources of power, namely: coercive, referent, legitimate, expert and reward
power.

1) Legitimate Power: Comes when a leader has a legitimately held position of authority.
Example: The CEO of an organization has the highest positional power
Legitimate power is also known as positional power. It's derived from the position
a person holds in an organization's hierarchy, job descriptions. For example, require
junior workers to report to managers and give managers the power to assign duties to
their juniors. For positional power to be exercised effectively, the person wielding it must
be deemed to have earned it legitimately.
Legitimate power operates within a zone of indifference, the range within which
people are willing to accept someone elses authority. The sizes of the zone of
indifference of legitimate power increases with the extent to which the power holder is
trusted and makes fair decisions. Some people are also more obedient than others to
authority, particularly those who value conformity and tradition. People in high power
distance cultures. For example, those who accept an unequal distribution of power also
tend to have higher obedience to authority compared with people in low distance
cultures. The organizations cultures represent a third factor.
Use positional power when
you need something done quickly when you dont have time to explain why
if a political situation has grown that needs stemming
Dont use positional power when
youre feeling impatient or frustrated
you have purely personal reasons to influence an outcome

2) Expert power: When a leader has significant domain knowledge/skills.

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Example: An expert accountant influences how junior accountants go about their tasks
Knowledge is power. Expert power is derived from possessing knowledge or
expertise in a particular area and originated from within the person. Such people are
highly valued by organizations for their problem solving skills. People who have expert
power perform critical tasks and are therefore deemed indispensable. The opinions,
ideas and decisions of people with expert power are held in high regard by other
employees and hence greatly influence their actions. Possession of expert power is
normally a stepping stone to other sources of power such as legitimate power. For
example, a person who holds expert power can be promoted to senior management,
thereby giving him legitimate power.
Employees are gaining expert power as our society moves from an industrial to
knowledge based economy. The reason is that employee knowledge becomes the
means of production and is ultimately outside the control of those who own the company
and without this control over production, owner is more dependent on employee to
achieve their corporate objectives. The power of expertise is most apparent when
observing how people respond to authority figures.
Use expert power when
you have a genuine expertise in a subject
you have access to resources within your control who do
Dont use expert power when
youre unsure of your competence in a subject

3) Referent Power: when others identify with them, like them, or otherwise respect them.
Example: The Human Resource Associate who is known for ensuring employees is
treated fairly and coming to the rescue of those who are not.

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Referent power is derived from the interpersonal relationships that a person

cultivates with other people in the organization. People possess reference power when
others respect and like them. Referent power arises from charisma, as the charismatic
person influences others via the admiration, respect and trust others have for her.
Referent power is also derived from personal connections that a person has with key
people in the organization's hierarchy, such as the CEO. It's the perception of the
personal relationships that she has that generates her power over others. Some experts
describe charisma as a special gift or trait within the charismatic person, while others
say it mainly in the eyes of beholder. However all agree that charisma produces a high
degree of trust, respect, and devotion towards the charismatic individuals.

Use referent power when.

When the employee sees the supervisor as having confidence.

Easily approachable and is fair in all dealings with people.
Ethical behavior is another important trait all must have.
To get a project going or to extract extra effort during crunch time

4) Coercive Power: This is felt when a leader creates the perception of a threat
Example: a leader has coercive power if her followers believe that she will initiate
disciplinary action
Coercive power is derived from a person's ability to influence others via threats,
punishments or sanctions. A junior staff member may work late to meet a deadline to
avoid disciplinary action from his boss. Coercive power is, therefore, a person's ability to
punish fire or reprimand another employee. Coercive power helps control the behavior of
employees by ensuring that they adhere to the organization's policies and norms.
Employees also have coercive power ranging from sarcasm to ostracism, to ensure the
co-workers conform to team norm.
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Use coercive power when

you need to ensure standards and policies are adhered to
there is significant risk in a situation
Dont use coercive power when
you wont be around to put things right, afterwards
youre feeling frustrated and emotional
5) Reward Power: It is an evident when a leader can give, or take away, a reward
Example: A leader can influence a followers behavior by awarding a bonus, or taking
away perks
Reward power arises from the ability of a person to influence the allocation of
incentives in an organization. These incentives include salary increments, positive
appraisals and promotions. In an organization, people who wield reward power tend to
influence the actions of other employees. Reward power, if used well, greatly motivates
employees. But if it's applied through favoritism, reward power can greatly demoralize
employees and diminish their output. Managers have formal authority that give them
power over the distribution of organizational rewards such as pay, promotions, time off,
vacation schedules, and work assignment.
Likewise, employees have rewards over their bosses through the use of 360degree feedback systems. Employee feedback affects supervisors promotion and other
rewards, so supervisor tend to behave differently towards employees after 360-degree
feedback is introduced.
Use reward power when
you need something done quickly
your team needs a motivation boost
Dont use reward power when
resources are scarce, so that someone wins, someone loses
you have doubts about your ability to provide the reward
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6) Information and power.

Information is power. In one form, people gain information power when they
control through legitimate power the flow of information to the others. Employees
are ultimately dependent on these information gatekeepers to release the information
required to perform the jobs. Furthermore, by deciding what information is distributed to
whom, and those who control the information flow also control perceptions of the
situation by releasing information favoring one perspective more than another. This right
to control information flow is form of legitimate power and is most commonly in
bureaucratic firm
1. The wheel formation:
Depicts this highly centralized control over information flow.
Occur when information must flow through your boss to you.
2. All channels formation:
Depicts a situation where no one has control over the flow of information.
Occurs when the information was distributed to many people such as co-workers in
self-directed team.
The other form of information power occurs when a person or work unit has the
ability, or is believed to have the ability to manage environmental uncertainties.
This capability, which is the derivative of expert power, is valued because organizations
are more effective when they can operate in predictable environments. A groundbreaking
study of breweries and container companies identified three general strategies to help
organization cope with uncertainty. This coping strategies are arranged in hierarchy of
importance, with the first being the most powerful.
1. Prevention: the most effective strategy is to prevent environmental changes from
occurring. For example, financial experts acquire power by preventing the organization
from experiencing a cash shortage or defaulting in loans.
2. Forecasting: the next best strategy is to predict environmental changes or variations. In
these respect trend spotters and other marketing specialists gain power by predicting
changes in consumer preferences.
3. Absorption: people and work unit also gain power by absorbing and neutralizing the
impact of environmental shifts as they occur. An example is the ability of maintenance
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crew to come to the rescue when the machines break down and the production process
stops.

CONTINGENCIES OF POWER

1. Substitutability

- Refers to the availability of alternatives. Power is strongest when someone has a monopoly
over a valued resource.

2. Centrality.

- Refers to the degree and nature of interdependence between the power holder and others. If
you have high centrality, most power in the organization would be adversely affected by your
absence, and they would be affected quickly.

3. Discretion.

- The freedom to exercise judgment. In order to make decision without referring to a specific rule
of receiving permission from someone else.

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4. Visibility.
- Employee gain visibility by being quite literally, visible. Some people strategically locate
themselves in more visible offices, such as those closest to the elevator or staff coffee room.

CONSEQUENCES OF POWER

Under the right conditions, employees who receive more power feel more empowered,
and this tends to increase their motivation, job satisfaction, organizational commitment,
and job performance.
In addition, research suggests that as people become more powerful, they are more
goal-directed and tend to act on their environment rather than hide from it.
At the same time, increasing power over others can potentially undermine an individuals
effectiveness and interpersonal relations.
Some studies have found that people who have ( or believe they have) more power over
others are more likely to cling to stereotypes, have more difficulty emphatizing, and
generally have accurate perceptions compared with people who have less power.
Thy also engage in more automatic rather than mindful thinking, possibly because power
people are less concerned about the consequences of their actions.

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TYPE OF INFLUNCE TACTICS IN ORGANIZATION

1) SILENT AUTHORITY
The silent application occur when someone complies with a request because of the requesters
legitimate power as well as the target person role expectation in a simple or silent authority
mean by influencing behavior through legitimate power without explicitly referring to that power
base. This condition also know as deference to authority for example employees need to do the
job even the manager do not check their task because the manager has that power that may
the manager able to know.

2) ASSERTIVENESS
Assertive include persistently reminding the target of his or her obligation frequency checking
the target work confronting the target of his or her threats of sanctions it force compliance.
Assertiveness typically applies or to apply punishment if the target does not complete. For
example the manager may punish their employees if they not do the job well.

3) INFORMATION CONTROL
Information control involves explicitly manipulating other access to information for purpose of
changing their attitude or behavior. For example the group of students are control the
information to one of their group member in order to change the attitude that always make the
task at the end of time.

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4) COALITION FORMATION
Coalition is essentially an information group that advocates new set of norms and behaviors this
may refer by forming a group that attempts to influence other by pooling the resources and
power of its member. For example if the coalition has a broad based membership its member
come from various part of organization, other employees are more likely to identify with that
group and consequently accept the idea that coalition is proposing.

5) UPWARD APPEAL
Upward appeal involves calling one people with higher authority or expertise or symbolically
relying on these sources to support the influencers position. For example the employees show
their paper work to the expert (senior manager) to know the job is correct or not before submit it.

6) PERSUASION
The presentation of facts logical arguments and emotional apples to change another person
attitudes and behavior for in simple word mean by using a logical argument, factual evidence
and emotional appeals to convince people of the value of request normally this tactic is use in
business activities. For example sale person used their success testimony in order to convince
their customer.

7) INGRATION AND IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT

Ingratiation mean by any attempt to increase liking by or perceived similarity to some targeted
person, while impression management mean the practice of actively shaping our public image.
For example the managers are choosing their employees to do certain job because the
manager knows the ability of their employees.

8) EXCHANGE

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Exchange activities involve the promise of benefits or resources in exchange for the target
person compliance with your request this tactics also includes reminding the target of past
benefits or favors with the expectation. For example the manager are encourage their to work
harder and promise the reword for that

CONSEQUENCES AND CONTINGENCIES OF INFLUENCE TACTICS

To identify the three ways that people reacts when others try to influence them:
resistance compliance, and commitment.
1. Resistance occurs when people or work unit oppose the behavior desired by the
influencer and consequently refuse, argue or delay engaging in the behavior
2. Compliance occurs when people are motivated to implement the influencers request
at the minimum level of effort and purely instrumental reasons without external
sources to motivate the desired behavior it would not occur.
3. Commitment is the strongest form of influence whereby people identify with the
influencers request and highly motivate d to implement it even when extrinsic
sources of motivation are no longer present
Generally people react more favorably to soft tactics then to hard tactics. Soft influence
tactics relied on personal sources of power (expert and referent power) which tend to build
commitment to the influencer request in contrast, hard tactics relied on position power
(legitimate, reward, and coercion), so they tend to produce compliance or, worse, resistance.
Hard tactics also tend to undermine trust and thus can hurt future relationship.
Apart from the general preference for soft rather than hard tactics, the most appropriate
influence strategy depends on a few contingencies. One of obvious contingencies is which
sources of power are strongest. People with expertise tend to have more influence using
persuasion, whereas those with a strong legitimate power base are usually more successful
applying silent authority.

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A second contingency is whether, compared to the influencer, the person being influence
is higher, lower, or at the same level in the organization.
Finally, the most appropriate influence tactics depend on personal, organizational and cultural
values. People with a strong power orientation might feel more comfortable using assertiveness,
whereas, thus who values conformity might feel more comfortable with upward appeals. At
organizational levels, firm with a competitive culture might instigate more use of information
control and coalition formation, whereas companies with learning orientation would likely
encourage more influence through persuasion. The preferred influence tactics also vary across
societal cultures.
INFLUENCE TACTICS AND ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
The influence tactics described earlier are perceived as organizational politics when
observers view the tactics as self-serving behaviors at the expense of others and sometimes
contrary to the interests of the entire organization or work unit.
Organizational politics is the behaviors that others perceive as self-serving tactics for
personal gain at the expense of other people and possibly the organization. When employees
perceive many incidents of organizational politics, the result is lower job satisfaction,
organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship, as well as high levels of work-related
stress. And because political tactics serve individuals rather than organizations, they potentially
divert resources away from the organizations effective functioning and potentially threaten its
survival.
1) Conditions Supporting Organizational Politics
Organizational politics flourishes under the right conditions. One of those conditions is
scarce resources. When budgets are slashed, people rely on political tactics to safeguard their
resources and maintain the status quo. Office politics also flourishes when resource allocation
decisions are ambiguous or complex or lack formal rules. This is because decision makers are
given more discretion over resource allocation, so potential recipients of the resources use
political tactics to influence the factors that should be considered in the decision.
Organizational change encourages political behaviors for this reason. Change creates
uncertainty and ambiguity as the company moves from an old set of rules and practices to a

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new set. During such times, employees apply political strategies to protect their valued
resources, position, and self-concept.

2) Personal Characteristics
Several personal characteristics affect a persons motivation to engage in self-serving
behavior. One such characteristic is a strong need for personal as opposed to socialized power.
People with a need for personal power seek power for its own sake and try to acquire more
power.
3) Some individuals have strong Machiavellian values.
Machiavellianism is named after Niccol Machiavelli, the 16th-century Italian philosopher
who wrote The Prince, a famous treatise about political behavior. People with high
Machiavellian values are comfortable with getting more than they deserve, and they believe that
deceit is a natural and acceptable way to achieve this goal. They seldom trust co-workers, and
they tend to use cruder influence tactics, such as bypassing ones boss or being assertive, to
get their own way.
4) Minimizing Organizational Politics and Its Consequences
The conditions that fuel organizational politics also give us some clues about how to
control dysfunctional political activities. One strategy to keep organizational politics in check is
to introduce clear rules and regulations to specify the use of scarce resources. Organizational
politics can become a problem during times of organizational change, so politics can be
minimized through effective organizational change practices.

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Leaders also need to actively manage group norms to curtail self-serving influence
activities. In particular, they can support organizational values that oppose political tactics, such
as altruism and customer focus.
One of the most important strategies is for leaders to become role models of
organizational citizenship rather than symbols of successful organizational politicians. Along
with minimizing organizational politics, companies can limit the adverse effects of political
perceptions by giving employees more control over their work and keeping them informed of
organizational events.
Research has found that employees who are kept informed of what is going on in the
organization and who are involved in organizational decisions are less likely to experience
organizational politics, which results in less stress, job dissatisfaction, and absenteeism.

REFERENCES

http://www.simonstapleton.com/wordpress/2007/12/17/the-five-sources-of-a-leader
%E2%80%99s-power-and-how-and-how-not-to-use-them/

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/5-sources-power-organizations-14467.html

http://www.trainanddevelop.co.uk/article/referent-power-and-its-uses-a158

http://ebooks.narotama.ac.id/files/Organizational%20Behavior%20(5th
%20Edition)/Chapter%2010%20%20%20Power%20and%20Influence%20in%20the
%20Workplace.pdf

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