Exam 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

You are a new employee in a professional position,such as an accountant or corporate lawyer.Your organization is located in Vancouver and employs several hundred people with various backgrounds (representative of Vancouver's diversity).Soon after joining this organization,you discover that the company does not apply certain technology or practices that are now recommended by most people in your profession.Under these circumstances,identify three different types of influence tactics that you might use effectively to have senior management introduce these technologies or practice.Your answer should present these types of influence in your order of preference,and you should explain why these general tactics would be acceptable and effective in this situation.

In persuasive communication,the inoculation effect involves warning listeners that others will try to influence them in the future and that they should be aware of the opponent's arguments.

Because impression management is inherently unethical,it is discouraged by career professionals.

The CEO of a large organization once commented that earlier in his career,he displayed his diplomas and awards in his office.'Top management would drop by my office and immediately get a sense that I was an expert and a professional',the CEO explained.'I believe displaying my credentials helped me get promoted.' The diplomas helped this executive gain power:

Jason is effective at forming friendships with other people in the organization.Over time,he becomes well known and respected by numerous people in key positions in the organization.Through his social networking,Jason has:

Legitimate power is an agreement between people that one person has the right to request specific behaviours from the other person.

Organizational politics refers to any use of power to influence others.

Employees with low power distance are more likely to comply with legitimate power.

Which types of people are more likely to engage in organizational politics?

An employee has power in the organization only when he or she:

Which of the following conditions would maximize your power through visibility?

The norm of reciprocity creates a feeling of obligation to help someone who has helped you in the past.

People with an internal locus of control and strong Machiavellian values are more likely to engage in organizational politics.

The area between two or more dense social network areas that lacks network ties is called a:

Until recently,a large sales organization gave supervisors all key information for further distribution to their employees.But with the introduction of a company intranet and other information technologies,this information is now mostly available directly to employees.By distributing corporate information directly to employees rather than through their supervisors,the company has:

Your team has been put in charge of a major project involving a client.Although the organization has many clients,this is the largest source of revenue and affects the work of several other teams in the organization.The project requires continuous involvement with the client,so any problems with the client are immediately felt by others in the organization.According to the model of power,your team has:

Exchange,ingratiation,and persuasion are considered hard influence tactics.

Three general strategies for coping with uncertainty include:

You work as a marketing assistant in a consumer products company.Recently,your boss and more senior staff in the marketing department have been discussing alternative product packaging strategies.Through a major class project in your final year of business school,you learned about a very effective alternative to traditional product packaging that has been applied by a few European companies but is not well known in Canada.You ask your boss and others to give this idea careful consideration because there is little doubt that it would boost sales,particularly overseas where this new packaging has been applied.While the group is open to new ideas,you graduated from business school less than one year ago,so your ideas might not be taken as seriously.Moreover,without knowing about your idea,one senior employee joked about a similar concept,suggesting that she may oppose your idea.Using persuasive communication concepts,describe five things you would do to convince others in the marketing department to give your idea serious consideration.Briefly identify and explain two conditions that would limit your persuasiveness in this situation.

Organizational politics may be reduced by: