Organizational Processes – Organizational Power, Organizational Politics, Empowerment, Conflict

1. Unit-IV
ORGANIZATIONAL
PROCESSES:
•POWER
•POLITICS
•EMPOWERMENT
•CONFLICT
1. Chap 6, Chap 11, Chap
14 from Kavita Singh,
Organizational
Behaviour Text and
Cases, Pearson Publisher
2. Chap 10, Chap 14, Chap
15 from K. Aswathappa,
Organizational
Behaviour Text, Cases,
and Games, Himalaya
Publishing House

2. Lecture – 1
POWER

3. What is POWER?
• A “five letter word”?
• Influence?
• Control over others?
• Being able to get things done?
• ??????

4. Southland Times, New Zealand
The Meaning of Power
Power is the capacity of a person, team, or
organization to influence others.
• The potential to influence others
• People have power they don’t use and may
not know they possess
• Power requires one person’s perception of
dependence on another person

5. Definition of Power
“Power is the capability of one social actor
to overcome resistance in achieving a
desired objective or result”
-Pfeffer(1982)

6. Power & Influence
Power is the ability to …
•Get someone to do something you want
done.
•Make things happen in the way you want.
Influence is …
•What you have when you exercise power.
•Expressed by others’ behavioral response
to your exercise of power.

7. Objective of gaining the Power ?
•Overcome feelings of powerlessness
•Convert power effectively into interpersonal
influences in ways that avoid the abuse of
power

8. What power can do for you?
With power you can…
• 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

9. Power
How to get it
How to use it

10. Types of PowerTypes of Power
Position power
•Reward power
•Coercive power
•Legitimate power
•Process power
•Information power
•Representative power
Power
Personal power
•Expert power
•Rational persuasion
•Referent power

11. Reward power.
• The extent to which a manager can use extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to
control other people.
• Success in accessing and utilizing rewards depends on manager’s skills.
Position Power
(Derived from Organization)

12. Coercive power.
•The extent to which a manager can deny
desired rewards or administer
punishments to control other people.
•Availability varies from one organization
and manager to another.

13. Legitimate power.
•Also known as formal hierarchical authority.
•The extent to which a manager can use
subordinates’ internalized values or beliefs that
the “boss” has a “right of command” to control
their behavior.
•If legitimacy is lost, authority will not be
accepted by subordinates.

14. Process power.
•The control over methods of production and
analysis.
•Places an individual in the position of:
• Influencing how inputs are transformed into
outputs.
• Controlling the analytical process used to make
choices.

15. Information power.
•The access to and/or control of information.
•May complement legitimate hierarchical power.
•May be granted to specialists and managers in
the middle of the information system.
•People may “protect” information in order to
increase their power.

16. Representative power.
•The formal right conferred by the firm to
speak as a representative for a potentially
important group composed of individuals
across departments or outside the firm.
•Helps complex organizations deal with a
variety of constituencies.

17. 2. Personal power.
(Derives from individual sources)
•Types of personal power.
• Expert power.
• Rational persuasion.
• Referent power.

18. Expert power.
• The ability to control another person’s behavior through the possession of
knowledge, experience, or judgment that the other person needs but does not have.
• Is relative, not absolute.

19. Rational persuasion.
• The ability to control another person’s behavior by convincing the other person of the
desirability of a goal and a reasonable way of achieving it.
• Much of a supervisor’s daily activity involves rational persuasion.

20. Referent power.
• The ability to control another’s behavior because the person wants to identify with
the power source.
• Can be enhanced by linking to morality and ethics and long-term vision.

21. Lecture - 2
Relationships of Power

22. Power and Dependence
Person
A
Person
B’s Goals
Person
B
Person B’s
counterpower
over Person A
Person A’s
power over
Person B

23. Model of Power in Organizations
Legitimate
Reward
Coercive
Expert
Referent
Power
over Others
Contingencies
Of Power
Sources
Of Power
Substitutability
Centrality
Discretion
Visibility

24. Commitment
Consequences of Power
Reward
Power
Legitimate
Power
Coercive
Power
Expert
Power
Referent
Power
Resistance
Compliance
Sources
of Power
Consequences
of Power

25. Need of power for leadership:

26. How do Managers acquire the
Power needed for Leadership?

27. Acquiring and using power and influence:
• A considerable portion of any manager’s time is directed toward power-
oriented behavior
• Power-oriented behavior is action directed at developing or using
relationships in which other people are willing to defer wholly or partially to
one’s wishes

28. Three dimensions of managerial power and
influence.
• Downward
• Upward
• Lateral
•Effective managers build and maintain position
power and personal power to exercise
downward, upward, and lateral influence

29. Building position power by:
• Increasing centrality and criticality in the organization
• Increasing task relevance of own activities and work unit’s activities
• Attempting to define tasks so they are difficult to evaluate

30. Building personal power by:
•Building expertise
• Advanced training and education,
participation in professional associations, and
project involvement
•Learning political savvy
• Learning ways to negotiate, persuade, and
understand goals and means that others
accept
•Enhancing likeability
• Pleasant personality characteristics, agreeable
behavior patterns, and attractive personal
appearance

31. Managers increase the visibility of their job performance by:
• Expanding contacts with senior people
• Making oral presentations of written work
• Participating in problem-solving task forces
• Sending out notices of accomplishment
• Seeking opportunities to increase name recognition

32. Additional tactics for acquiring and using power and influence.
• Using coalitions and networks to alter the flow of information and the analytical
context
• Controlling, or at least influencing, decision premises
• Making one’s own goals and needs clear
• Bargaining effectively regarding one’s preferred goals and needs

33. Increasing
Nonsubstitutability
Controlling
Tasks
Controlling
Knowledge
Differentiation
Controlling
Labour
Thus, Power can be gained through...

34. Lecture - 3

35. Common strategies for turning power into relational influence.
• Reason
• Friendliness
• Coalition
• Bargaining
• Assertiveness
• Higher authority
• Sanctions

36. Obedience and the acceptance of
authority

37. 1.
•Chester Barnard argued that:
• Authority derives from the “consent of the
governed ”
• Subordinates accept or follow a directive only
under special circumstances

38. 2.
•For a directive to be accepted as
authoritative, the subordinate:
•Can and must understand it
•Must feel mentally and physically capable of
carrying it out
•Must believe that it is consistent with the
organization’s purpose
•Must believe that it is consistent with his or
her personal interests

39. 3.
Directives that meet the above four criteria will be accepted as authoritative
since they fall within the “zone of indifference.”
• Directives falling within the zone are obeyed.
• Directives falling outside the zone are not obeyed.
• The zone is not fixed over time.

40. Lecture-3
Case discussion on Power

41. Case Study: Rise and Fall
Jagannath (Jaggu to his friends) is an over ambitious young man. With a
diploma in engineering, Jaggu joined, in 1977, a Bangalore-based company as a
Technical Assistant. He got himself enrolled as a student in an evening college
and obtained his degree in engineering in 1982. Recognizing as Engineer-Sales
in 1984.
Jaggu excelled himself in the new role and became the blue-eyed boy of the
management. Promotions came to him in quick succession. He was made
Manager-Sales in 1986 and Senior Manager-Marketing in 1988.
Jaggu did not forget his academic pursuits. After being promoted as Engineer-
Sales, he joined an MBA (part-time) programme. After completing MBA,
Jaggu became a Ph.D. scholar and obtained his doctoral degree in 1989.
Functioning as Senior Manger-Marketing, Jaggu eyed on things beyond his
jurisdiction. He started complaining against Suresh the Section Head and
Prahalad the Unit Chief (both production) with Ravi, the EVP (Executive –
Vice President). The complaints included delay in executing orders, poor
quality and customer rejections. Most of the complaints were concocted.
Ravi was convinced and requested Jaggu to head the production section so that
things could be straightened up there. Jaggu became the Section head and
Suresh was shifted to sales.

42. Jaggu started spreading his wings. He prevailed upon Ravi and got sales and
quality under his control, in addition to production. Suresh, an equal in status,
was now subordinated to Jaggu. Success had gone to Jaggu’s head. He had
everything going in his favour-position, power, money, and qualification. He
divided workers and used them as pawns. He ignored Prahalad and established
direct link with Ravi. Unable to bear the humiliation, Prahalad quit the
company. Jaggu was promoted as General Manager. He became a
megalomaniac.
Things had to end at some point. It happened in Jaggu’s life too. There were
complaints against him. He had inducted his brother – in – law, Ganesh, as an
engineer. Ganesh was by nature corrupt. He stole copper worth Rs. 5 lakh and
was suspended. Jaggu tried to defend Ganesh but failed in his effort.
Corruption charges were also leveled against Jaggu who was reported to have
made nearly Rs. 20 lakh for himself.
On the new-year day of 1993, Jaggu was reverted back to his old position-
sales. Suresh was promoted and was asked to head production. Roles got
reversed. Suresh became boss to Jaggu. Unable to swallow the insult, Jaggu
put in his papers.
Back home, Jaggu started his own consultancy claiming himself as an authority
in quality management. He poached on his previous company and picked up
two best brains in quality. From 1977 to 1993, Jaggu’s career graph had a steep

43. Questions:
Q1. Bring out the principles of gaining power
that were employed in promoting Jaggu.
Q2. What would you do if you were Suresh,
Prahalad and Ravi?
Q3. Bring out the ethical issues involved in
Jaggu’s behaviour.

44. Q1. Bring out the principles of gaining power
that were employed in promoting Jaggu.
Ans.: Jaggu was a diligent person; however he has
having an over ambitious attitude. Whatever he
achieved in his life was due to his devotion and
performance in his job. He did extremely well in
every opportunity occupied by him. Since he joined
as a technical assistant in 1977, he never left
education until getting a doctoral degree, in 1989.
Education was his obsession. He was promoted to
every step within a short period by his excellent
performance and good career analysis.

45. Q2. What would you do if you were Suresh,
Prahalad and Ravi?
Ans.: Marketing people commonly complain the production
department. Suresh and Prahalad were belonging to
production, and the complaints against him are concocted.
They should ask Ravi, the EVP regarding the fact. Due their
silent backdrop, Jaggu took the chance and became the section
head for production.
As an Executive Vice President, Ravi should investigate the
matters concerning Suresh and Prahalad, before shifting to
sales and appointing Jaggu as the production’s section head.
Ravi should locate the right person at a right position. After
seeing Jaggu’s defending activities for his brother-in-law and
allegedly reported with corruption, Ravi should suspend Jaggu
immediately, instead of giving a chance of revert.

46. Q3. Bring out the ethical issues involved in
Jaggu’s behaviour.
Ans.: Jaggu’s behaviour was totally unethical. At first he started
fictional complains against the production team; then, humiliated
his subordinates; appointed his brother-in-law, who was a corrupt
by nature. Again, he started defending his corrupted brother-in-law,
who caught while stealing 5lac Rs. worth of copper. And at last, he
too involved in corrupting nearly Rs. 20lac and started his own
consultancy with false declarations.

47. Lecture - 4
Politics

48. What are organizational politics?
Machiavellian tradition of organizational politics
• Emphasizes self-interest and the use of non-sanctioned means
• Organizational politics is defined as the management of influence to obtain
ends not sanctioned by the organization or to obtain sanctioned ends
through non-sanctioned influence means

49. Alternate tradition of organizational politics
• Politics is a necessary function resulting from differences in the self-interests
of individuals
• Politics is the art of creative compromise among competing interests
• Politics is the use of power to develop socially acceptable ends and means
that balance individual and collective interests

50. Definition:
• “Organizational Politics involves intentional acts of influence to
enhance or protect the self-interest of individuals or groups.”
- French and Bell 1995
• “Organizational Politics is the management of influence to obtain
ends not sanctioned by the organization or to obtain ends through
non sanctioned influence means”
- Mayes and Allen (1977)

51. Politics Has No Place
in Organization

52. Organizational Politics
• Organizational Politics
• The activities managers engage in to increase their power and to use power
effectively to achieve their goals or overcome resistance or opposition.

53. Organizational Politics
• Political strategies
• Specific tactics used to increase power and use it effectively to influence and
gain the support of other people while overcoming resistance

54. The Importance of Organizational Politics
•Politics
•Can be viewed negatively when managers
act in self-interested ways for their own
benefit.
•Is also a positive force that can bring about
needed change when political activity
allows a manager to gain support for
needed changes that will advance the
organization.

55. Political
Strategies
for
Increasing
Power

56. Political Strategies for Gaining and
Maintaining Power
Strategies
Controlling Uncertainty Reduce uncertainty for others in the firm
Being Irreplaceable Develop valuable special knowledge or
skills
Being in a Central
Position
Have decision-making control over the
firm’s crucial activities and resources
Generating Resources Hire skilled people or find financing when
it is needed
Building Alliances Develop mutually beneficial relations
with others inside and outside the
organization

57. Political
Strategies
for
Exercising
Power

58. Political Strategies for
Exercising Power
Strategies
Relying on Objective
Information
Providing impartial information causes
others to feel the manager’s course of
action is correct.
Bringing in an Outside
Expert
Using an expert’s opinion to lend
credibility to manager’s proposal
Controlling the Agenda Influencing those issues included (and
those dropped) from the decision
process.
Making Everyone a
Winner
Making sure that everyone whose
support is needed benefits personally
from providing that support.

59. Lecture - 5
When an Individual take the
help of Politics

60. Positive aspects of organizational politics
•Overcoming personnel inadequacies
•Coping with change
•Substituting for formal authority

61. Organizational politics and self-protection
•Common self-protection strategies
•Avoiding action and risk taking
•Redirecting accountability and responsibility
•Defending turf

62. Avoiding action and risk taking
•Working to the rule
•Playing dumb
•Depersonalization
•Stalling
• Routine
• Creative

63. Redirecting accountability and
responsibility
• Passing the buck
• Buffing (or rigorous documentation)
• Rewriting history
• Scape-goating
• Blaming the problem on uncontrollable events
• Escalating commitment to a losing course of action

64. Defending turf
•Expanding the jobs performed by the work unit
•Forming and using coalitions

65. How do organizational politics affect
Managers and Management?

66. Organizational Politics: More Likely atOrganizational Politics: More Likely at
the Topthe Top
Extent to Which Political Activity is Likely (range 0-3)Extent to Which Political Activity is Likely (range 0-3)
Production andProduction and
blue collarblue collar
Clerical andClerical and
white collarwhite collar
Technical andTechnical and
professionalprofessional
LowerLower
managementmanagement
MiddleMiddle
managementmanagement
UpperUpper
managementmanagement
1.31.3
1.21.2
1.11.1
1.01.0
.9.9
.8.8
.7.7
.6.6
.5.5
.4.4
.3.3
.2.2
.1.1
Organizational LevelOrganizational Level
(.18)(.18)
(.50)(.50)
(.54)(.54)
(.73)(.73)
(1.07)(1.07)
(1.22)(1.22)Political activity
is perceived to
increase at higher
organizational levels

67. How do organizational politics affect
Managers and Management?
Managers may gain a better understanding of political behavior by
placing themselves in the positions of other persons involved in
critical decisions or events
This understanding can be facilitated with the use of a payoff matrix
analysis

68. Political action and subunit power
Common types of lateral, intergroup
relationships where political action occurs
•Work-flow linkage
•Service ties
•Advisory connections
•Auditing linkages
•Approval linkages

69. Political action in the chief executive suite
•Executive behavior can sometimes be explained in
terms of resource dependencies
•Resource dependence increases as:
•Needed resources become more scarce
•Outsiders have more control over needed resources
•There are fewer substitutes for a particular type of
resource controlled by a limited number of outsiders

70. Strategies for managing resource dependencies
• Developing workable compromises among competing resource dependencies
• Altering the firm’s degree of resource dependence
• Redefining how the firm expects to conduct business in the international arena
• Determining the proper level of executive pay

71. Can the firm use politics strategically?
There is growing awareness of the importance of
political strategy for business firms
In the Developed Nations corporate political
strategy advises managers to:
• Engage in the public political process
• Turn the government from an industry regulator to an
industry protector
• Decide when and how to get involved in the public policy
process

72. Can the firm use politics strategically?
A person’s behavior must satisfy the following criteria to be ethical:
• The behavior must produce the greatest good for the greatest number of
people
• The behavior must respect the rights of all affected parties
• The behavior must respect the rules of justice

73. CEOs and employees may justify unethical actions by suggesting that
the behavior:
• Is not really illegal and so could be moral
• Appears to be in the firm’s best interest
• Is unlikely to be detected
• Demonstrates loyalty

74. Controlling Political Behaviour
Peer Pressure
Against Politics
Remove
Political Norms
Free Flowing
Information
Manage Change
Effectively
Provide
Sufficient
Resources
Introduce
Clear Rules
Hire
Low-Politics
Employees
Increase
Opportunities
for Dialogue

75. Lecture-6
Case Study on
Organizational Politics

76. Case studies on Power and
politics
• Mr Kabir was working in a Administration Department as officer
Administration. He was responsible for keeping account of all the
Vehicles of the company apart from other arrangements including
the guesthouse of the company. Mr Kabir has been working in the
company for 6 years in the same grade without promotions. He was
supposed to be very honest in his job.
• Once the GM of the factory Mr Rakesh Gupta , requested for the
company car during office time for his personal work. Mr Kabir
refused it saying that it can not be given during the office work as
the work would suffer due to its duty to go to bank. Mr Gupta
became quite upset and asked his boss MR srivastava to give the
car.
• Mr Sk Srivasatava ( Sr Manager Admn ) was too happy to oblige Mr
Gupta as he wanted one of his relatives to be employed as Officer.
Hence he fired Mr Kabir for his disobedience and threatened to
transfer him to stores if he continued to show disrespect to Senior
officers

77. • Kabir was also active member of staff union. He immediately went
to the Union President and informed him about the misuse of the
company car for private purpose by GM at the cost of the office
work. It was decided that Kabir would send a note in writing to Mr
Srivastava asking him to approve sending the car to the house of
Mr Gupta . Mr Srivastava understood the repercussions and
refused to sign the approval . He lent his own car to Mr Gupta .
• 1. What power was being used by Kabir ?
• 2. What power Mr Srivastava was using ?
• 3. What was the game Kabir played when Srivatava ordered the
car?

78. Lecture - 7
Empowerment

79. Empowerment:
To empower yourself
To facilitate the empowerment of others

80. What is Employee Empowerment?
Empowerment is the process of identifying and removing the causes for low
efficacy in employees. It helps employees to face work related problems
with confidence.

81. Empowerment defined
Empowerment can be defined as ‘harnessing ordinary people to do extra
ordinary performance’

82. Empowerment
Definition:
Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to
think, behave, take action, and control work and decision making in
autonomous ways. It is the state of feeling self-empowered to take control of
one's own destiny.

83. What people expect-
When thinking about empowerment in human
relations terms, try to avoid thinking of it as
something that one individual does for another.
This is one of the problems organizations have
experienced with the concept of empowerment.
People think that “someone”, usually the
“manager”, has to bestow empowerment on the
people who report to him. Consequently, the
reporting staff members “wait” for the “bestowing
of empowerment”, and the manager asks why
people won't act in empowered ways. This led to a
general unhappiness, mostly undeserved, with the
concept of empowerment in many organizations.

84. What people should do-
Think of empowerment, instead, as the process of an individual
enabling himself to take action and control work and decision making
in autonomous ways.

85. Enhancing the self efficacy levels of employees makes it possible for
employees to achieve more for themselves and the organization.
Empowerment is one way to raise self efficacy levels of employees.

86. Empowerment comes from the individual
The organization has the responsibility to create a work environment
which helps foster the ability and desire of employees to act in
empowered ways.
The work organization has the responsibility to remove barriers that
limit the ability of staff to act in empowered ways.
Employee involvement is creating an environment in which people
have an impact on decisions and actions that affect their jobs.

87. The ways of empowerment
1. The employee should be properly trained, couched and guided to
enable them to master the skills required for their job.

88. 2. Draw the attention of employees to
those who have attained remarkable
success in the job so that they can observe
the working style of their more successful
colleagues and emulate them. Thus they
have good role models in their colleagues.

89. 3. Raise the confidence of employees through persuasion and social
reinforcement techniques like appreciation, encouragement and
positive feed back.

90. 4. Provide the employees with clear definition of their roles, and
extend assistance when required so that their stress and anxiety can
be reduced.

91. Empowerment encourages employees to share responsibility and use
their initiative to take decision and solve problem.
Adequate authority and resources are given to employees for taking
initiatives and decisions.
Allocation of authority here is “trust based relationship”

92. It is trust-based relationship
between
managers and supervisors
between
supervisors and workers
between
Management and employees.
It is a continuous process

93. In trust –based relationship
there is
no close supervision
no constant direction
no interference

94. Here the empowered employee become
self directd
self controlled
‘ A managers most important and serious problem are people
oriented’.
People , production and money are the key elements in business, but
people are, far and away, the most important.’
The ‘line stop system’ adopted by Japanese management in “Toyato”
shows the effect of an empowered employee

95. For Empowerment-
1—Encourages participation
2---Improve communication
3---Promote creativity and innovation
4---Create positive attitude and a
sense of belongings

96. Empowerment is insuring employees closest to a
problem or need have the authority to make
judgments on how the problem is solved or the need
met. Empowerment does not mean unlimited
license...”just do whatever you need to do.…”
It means responsible freedom. It means employees
who balance the freedom to go the extra mile for the
customer with the responsibility of taking care of the
organization. It means thinking and acting more like an
owner, and not like a brainless slave who simply “does
what he or she is told.” Organizations can no longer
afford front-line people reluctant to use their full
capacity at work. Cop out behind, “I just did what I was
told,” or “Just tell me what to do,”.

97. Factors Influencing Empowerment.
All factors which contribute enhancement of intrinsic motivation,
creativity and innovation
1. Factors increasing intrinsic motivation
2. Structural factors
3. Cultural factors
4. Human factors.

98. Empowering dimensions
1. Impact:
When an employee feels that completion of task ‘will make a
difference’, such task has an impact on him.
2. Competence:
When a person has confidence that he has the ability , knowledge
and skill , to perform the task, assigned to him, then such tasks
positively affect competence.

99. 3. Meaningfulness:
When employee feels that the task
assigned to him is worthwhile and he
cares to do so , such task is meaningful.
4. Choice:
A task which provides him freedom
of decision-making initiative and
action, we find the factor “ choice” in it.

100. Barriers of Empowerment
1. Incongruent Organization culture
In family run business the whims and fancies of owner/MD will be the
final word
2. Incompatible National culture.
A society dominated by fascism, communism, dictatorship, ethnic or
religious fundamentalism where there is no freedom of speech.

101. 3. Fear of retribution by subordinates.
If employee is under the penumbra of fear that they would be
punished for taking initiative, there is no empowerment.
4. Fear of Retribution by superiors, seniors avoid delegation if they are
punished for failure.

102. 5. Dependency of subordinates.
Acting continuously under autocratic leadership weaken the capability
to take and act independently. They require out side direction. This
can be overcome by better training and leadership.
6. Power hungry superiors:
Power hungry superiors will never part with authority.

103. Employees-The most important asset in an organization
Empowered personnel have “
Responsibility- a sense of ownership
Satisfaction -in accomplishments,
Power- over what how things are done,
Recognition- for their ideas, and
Knowledge- that they are important to the organization.
The empower process is only successful when there is room
for feedback and autonomy in the organizational culture.
The golden rule is that –
“Leaders have to treat their employees the way they want their bosses to treat them”

104. Lecture-8
Conflict
Conflict isn't the problem - it is when conflict
is poorly managed that is the problem

105. Transitions in Conflict Thought
Causes:
• Poor communication
• Lack of openness
• Failure to respond to employee needs
Causes:
• Poor communication
• Lack of openness
• Failure to respond to employee needs
Traditional View of Conflict
The belief that all conflict is harmful and must be
avoided.

106. Transitions in Conflict Thought (cont’d)
Human Relations View of Conflict
The belief that conflict is a natural and inevitable
outcome in any group.
Interactionist’s View of Conflict
The belief that conflict is not only a positive force in a
group but that it is absolutely necessary for a group to
perform effectively.

107. Conflict
Conflict Defined
•Conflict is when two or more values, perspectives and
opinions are contradictory in nature and haven't been
aligned or agreed about yet, including:
1. Within yourself when you're not living according to your
values;
2. When your values and perspectives are threatened; or
3. Discomfort from fear of the unknown or from lack of
fulfillment.
• Is a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has
negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something that the first
party cares about.

108. Scope of Conflict
•Encompasses a wide range of conflicts that
people experience in organizations
•Incompatibility of goals
•Differences over interpretations of facts
•Disagreements based on behavioral
expectations

109. Functional versus Dysfunctional Conflict
Functional Conflict
Conflict that supports the goals of
the group and improves its
performance.
Dysfunctional Conflict
Conflict that hinders
group performance.

110. Types of Conflict
Task Conflict
Conflicts over content and goals of the work.
Relationship Conflict
Conflict based on interpersonal relationships.
Process Conflict
Conflict over how work gets done.

111. The Conflict Process

112. Stage I: Potential Opposition or
Incompatibility• Communication
• Semantic difficulties, misunderstandings, and “noise”
• Structure
• Size and specialization of jobs
• Jurisdictional clarity/ambiguity
• Member/goal incompatibility
• Leadership styles (close or participative)
• Reward systems (win-lose)
• Dependence/interdependence of groups
• Personal Variables
• Differing individual value systems
• Personality types

113. Stage II: Cognition and
Personalization
Positive FeelingsPositive FeelingsPositive FeelingsPositive FeelingsNegative EmotionsNegative EmotionsNegative EmotionsNegative Emotions
Conflict DefinitionConflict DefinitionConflict DefinitionConflict Definition
Perceived Conflict
Awareness by one or more
parties of the existence of
conditions that create
opportunities for conflict to
arise.
Felt Conflict
Emotional involvement in
a conflict creating
anxiety, tenseness,
frustration, or hostility.

114. Stage III: Intentions
Cooperativeness:
• Attempting to satisfy the other party’s
concerns.
Assertiveness:
• Attempting to satisfy one’s own concerns.
Cooperativeness:
• Attempting to satisfy the other party’s
concerns.
Assertiveness:
• Attempting to satisfy one’s own concerns.
Intentions
Decisions to act in a given way

115. Dimensions of Conflict-Handling
Intentions

116. Stage III: Intentions (cont’d)
Competing
A desire to satisfy one’s interests, regardless of the
impact on the other party to the conflict.
Collaborating
A situation in which the parties to a conflict each desire
to satisfy fully the concerns of all parties.
Avoiding
The desire to withdraw from or suppress a conflict.

117. Stage III: Intentions (cont’d)
Accommodating
The willingness of one party in a conflict to place the
opponent’s interests above his or her own
Compromising
A situation in which each party to a conflict is
willing to give up something

118. Stage IV: Behavior
Conflict Management
The use of resolution and stimulation techniques to
achieve the desired level of conflict.

119. Conflict Management
Techniques
Conflict Resolution Techniques
• Problem solving
• Super ordinate goals
• Expansion of resources
• Avoidance
• Smoothing
• Compromise
• Authoritative command
• Altering the human variable
• Altering the structural variables
Conflict Resolution Techniques
• Problem solving
• Super ordinate goals
• Expansion of resources
• Avoidance
• Smoothing
• Compromise
• Authoritative command
• Altering the human variable
• Altering the structural variables

120. Conflict Resolution Techniques
Conflict Resolution Techniques
• Communication
• Bringing in outsiders
• Restructuring the organization
• Appointing a devil’s advocate
Conflict Resolution Techniques
• Communication
• Bringing in outsiders
• Restructuring the organization
• Appointing a devil’s advocate

121. Stage V: Outcomes
•Functional Outcomes from Conflict
•Increased group performance
•Improved quality of decisions
•Stimulation of creativity and innovation
•Encouragement of interest and curiosity
•Provision of a medium for problem-solving
•Creation of an environment for self-evaluation and change
•Creating Functional Conflict
•Reward dissent and punish conflict avoiders.

122. Stage V: Outcomes
• Dysfunctional Outcomes from Conflict
• Development of discontent
• Reduced group effectiveness
• Retarded communication
• Reduced group cohesiveness
• Infighting among group members overcomes group goals

123. Conflict-Intensity Continuum

124. Lecture - 9
Case Study

125. CASE- Conflict Management
Director annoyed and wants to quit - his wife's birthday party wasn't the same as
his ….
I have come across very strange situation wherein one of my senior is
not satisfied with the company and the reason that he states is
something we are unable to understand being in HR. The situation is:
We have a senior person working at the Director level in the company.
There is one another girl who is working at the entry level with us. The
two have got married now. As a company policy, we celebrate the
birthdays of our employees and in this regard we had celebrated the
birthday of the employee who is at the senior level a little differently.
During his birthday party, all the management and the senior staff
were present.
Few days back, it was his wife's birthday. As a company policy we did
celebrate her birthday but not in the manner her husband's birthday
was celebrated. This means being at the entry level her birthday was
celebrated with other people at the same level.(We celebrate
birthday's of all employees together on the last working day of the
month.)
?

126. CASE- Conflict Management
Director annoyed and wants to quit - his wife's birthday party
wasn't the same as his ….
This time the employee of ours who is at the senior level got
annoyed that we did not celebrate his wife's birthday in the similar
fashion as was his. He feels dissatisfied and wants to quit the job.
Now, we are in a fix as we are unable to understand what should we
do? We tried to convince the guy stating that his wife is not at the
level where the same treatment as his can be given to her, but he just
don't want to understand anything.
Kindly advice what should we do? He is an efficient person and we do
not want him to leave the company.
Questions:1. Whether the decision taken by the director to leave the
job is correct? How?
2. What is your view about the way company celebrates his
wife's birthday?
3. Should the company accept director’s resignation?

127. Assignments:
• What is organizational politics? What type of politics helps the organization?
• What is empowerment? Discuss the role of the manager in empowering the
employees in the organization.
• “Conflict is not the problem, improper way of handling the conflict may
create a problem” Explain.
• What is power? Discuss the different types of power which are used by a
manager in the organization.

128. Impression management
• Conformity: agreeing with another’s opinion to get their approval
• Excuses: Explanations of a predicament-creating event aimed at
minimizing the apparent severity of the predicament
• Apologies: Admitting responsibility for an undesirable event and
simultaneously seeking to get a pardon for the action
• Acclamations: Explanation of favourable events to maximize the desirable
implications for oneself.

129. Impression management
• Flattery: Complimenting others on their virtues in an effort to make
oneself appear perceptive and likeable
• Favours: Doing something nice for someone to gain that person’s approval
• Association: Enhancing or protecting one’s image by managing
information about people and things with which one is associated.

130. Political Antics Top the “Most Unethical
List”: Survey Results
Gender discrimination
in recruitment or hiring
Arrangements with vendors
leading to personal gain
Nonperformance factors
used in appraisals
Gender discrimination
in compensation
Not maintaining
confidentiality
Using discipline
inconsistently
Gender discrimination
in promotion
Sexual
harassment
Allowing differences in pay
due to friendships
Hiring, training, or promoting
based on favouritism
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Situation
Percentage Responding with a 4 or 5 on a five-Point Scale
Measuring Degree of Seriousness (where 5=“very great”)
(22.6)
(23.1)
(23.5)
(25.8)
(26.4)
(26.9)
(26.9)
(28.4)
(30.7)
(30.7)
Potentially
political
behaviours