Assignment
Module 1 - Outcomes
INFLUENCE TACTICS AND SOURCES OF POWER
• Module
o Identify and explain the main sources of organizational power.
o Identify and explain the main influence strategies used by leaders.
• Case
o Identify and explain the main sources of organizational power.
o Identify and explain the main influence strategies used by leaders.
o Analyze a contentious situation for the strength of the sources of power being used by each party.
• SLP
o Identify and explain the main sources of organizational power.
o Identify and explain the main influence strategies used by leaders.
o Analyze a contentious situation from your workplace for the strength of the sources of power being used by each party.
• Discussion
o Discuss and assess the effectiveness of video presentations on the use of organizational power.
MMD 1 CASE FLUENCE TACTICS AND SOURCES OF POWER
MOD 1 Case Assignment
INFLUENCE TACTICS AND SOURCES OF POWER
Assignment Overview
Koch Industries is one of the most profitable privately held corporations in the country. In spite of being owned primarily by four brothers, it has not been immune from intense internal power plays and intrigue. A decades-long dispute between CEO Charles Koch and his younger brother Bill Koch led first to an internal battle for control of the company and ended with a lawsuit between the brothers.
Carefully review the background materials regarding sources of power within an organization and influence tactics. Examples of sources of power include reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, and expert power. Examples of influence tactics include forming coalitions, pressure, and exchanging favors. Make sure to understand the main power sources and influence tactics and know the vocabulary and definitions from the background materials before starting the assignment.
The epic battle between two of the Koch brothers tested the limits of both of their power bases within Koch Industries. Both used multiple tactics before Charles Koch ultimately secured his position of almost unrivaled power within the corporation. Do some research about this power struggle using the Trident Online Library and online news sources. Here are some articles to get you started:
Schulman, D. (2014, Jul). Koch vs. Koch. Mother Jones, 39, 16-27,64,2
Tomsho, R., (1989, Aug 09). Blood feud: Koch family is roiled by sibling squabbling over its oil empire: Fired by his brother, William sues often, helps feds to probe Koch Industries, haling mother into court. Wall Street Journal [ProQuest]
Case Assignment
Once you have finished your research, write a 4- to 5-page paper addressing the following issues. Make sure to cite at least two of the required background readings in addition to articles about the Koch brothers in your paper:
1. What were Charles and Bill Koch's sources of power within Koch Industries? Did they have reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, or expert power? Any other sources of power? Refer to Bauer and Erdogan (2012) or Luthans et al. (2015) in your answer, as you should demonstrate a solid understanding of these readings as part of your answer.
2. What influence tactics did each of them use in their battle for control? Refer to Bauer and Erdogan (2012) or Luthans et al. (2015) in your answer.
3. Ultimately what do you think led to Charles Koch's victory in this battle, and what do you think are the most important lessons on organizational power that you learned from reading about this power struggle?
Assignment Expectations
• Follow the assignment instructions closely and follow all steps listed in the instructions.
• Stay focused on the precise assignment questions; don't go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
• Make sure to cite readings from the background materials page. Rely primarily on the required background readings as your sources of information.
• Include both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 11-14 on in-text citations.
ASSIGNMENT 2, Mod1, SLP Assignment
Module 1 - SLP
INFLUENCE TACTICS AND SOURCES OF POWER
For the Session Long Project this session you will be applying the concepts from the background materials to your own personal experiences in the workplace. You likely have experienced many if not all of the concepts at one point or another in your career, but you may not have been familiar with the precise terminology.
In preparation for the SLP, make sure you have a thorough grasp of the terminology from the background materials including the main sources of power and types of power tactics. Once you are comfortable with the terminology and concepts from the background materials, think of a manager that you worked with closely who held a fair amount of power at the organization you worked for. Then write a 2- to 3-page paper addressing each of the following questions. For each answer, make sure to cite at least one reference from the required background readings.
1. What were this manager's main sources of power? Include a discussion of reward power, legitimate power, and expert power as well as other sources of power discussed in the background readings.
2. Discuss some influence tactics used by this manager. Include a discussion about whether or not this manager used the influence tactics discussed in Anderson (1998) and Luthans et al. (2015) from the background materials.
3. Did this manager make good use of their sources of power and influence tactics, or did they misuse or abuse their power?
SLP Assignment Expectations
• Follow the assignment instructions closely and follow all steps listed in the instructions.
• Stay focused on the precise assignment questions; don't go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
• Make sure to cite readings from the background materials page. Rely primarily on the required background readings as your sources of information.
• Include both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 11-14 on in-text citations.
Module 2 - Home
ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
Modular Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this module, the student will be able to satisfy the following outcomes:
• Case
o Identify and explain the main sources of organizational politics.
o Identify and explain the main types of political behavior.
o Apply the three main areas of organizational ethics towards political actions.
• SLP
o Identify and explain the main sources of organizational politics.
o Identify and explain the main types of political behavior.
o Apply the three main areas of organizational ethics towards political actions.
• Discussion
o Identify examples of organizational politics in popular culture.
Module Overview
No matter how well run an organization is or how well qualified its employees are, the simple fact is that organizational politics are unavoidable. Organizations have people, and where you have people you have politics. However, some characteristics of organizations and of individuals are more likely to lead to political behavior.
If your organizational has unclear expectations or reward systems, then employees will be more likely to use political behavior in order to advance themselves. The more clearly defined performance expectations are, the more likely employees are to focus on their job rather than engage in politics. Also, creating an atmosphere of trust is another factor that minimizes politics. A lack of trust is one reason why people will resort to political behavior. In this module, you will learn about several other important individual and organizational factors that lead to political behavior.
There are numerous types of political behavior. For example, employees may selectively distribute information and keep some information to themselves in order to advance themselves or their agendas. Employees may go even further and attack or blame other employees. Another common political tactic is to form a coalition with other employees or departments that share their same political agenda. These are just a few examples of political behavior that you will read about.
As a leader, you can use your knowledge of political behavior and its causes to minimize the level of politics in your organization and keep everyone focused on doing their jobs. Likewise, you can also use politics to advance your own power or promotion. No matter how much distaste for politics you might have, some political behavior may be necessary to effectively do your job. But at the same time, you also need to be aware of the ethical considerations of political behavior. For any act of political behavior, you need to weigh the utilitarian outcome of your actions. That means ensuring that more good is done than harm as a result of your action. You also need to consider the individual rights of your employees. No action can be considered ethical if anyone's rights are violated. Finally, you also need to consider distributive justice-which means ensuring that employees are treated equitably and fairly. In summary, politics are not necessarily evil but at the same time true leaders need to avoid the "dark side" and make sure they carefully consider the consequences of their actions.
Module 2 - Background
ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
Required Reading
Delve deeper into these following readers for more detail and specifics on organizational politics. These two readings cover important material necessary for your Case and SLP. Note that you don't have to read the whole chapters, just the page numbers listed for each reading:
Robbins, S. (1997). Chapter 11: Power and politics. Essentials of Organizational Behavior. Pearson Education, New York, NY, pp. 869-901.
Luthans, F., Luthans, K. W., & Luthans, B. C. (2015). Chapter 10: Power and politics. Organizational Behavior: An Evidence-based Approach. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing, pp. 296-304 [eBook Business Collection]
Optional Reading
Hellriegel, D. & Slocum, J. (2004). Chapter 9: Power and political behavior. Organizational Behavior 10th Edition. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-Western, pp. 279-286.
ASSIGNMENT 1, CASE: ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
Module 2 -Case ASSINMENT 1
ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
Assignment Overview
All organizations have internal politics. However, most organizations keep their political battles private and it is rare that the public will know the details about political intrigue within the major corporations. However, Hewlett-Packard (HP) is rare in that its political battles were waged publicly. HP will make for an ideal case study both because of the intense political behavior occurring at the top and because many articles have been written about these political battles.
HP has been through five CEOs since 2005, and each change of CEO has been controversial. The drama started in 2005 when then CEO Carly Fiorina was under attack from several members of HP's Board of Directors. Some board members even took the dispute public by leaking information to the press. Fiorina fought back by investigating the leaks, but ultimately lost the battle and was ousted as CEO. Her replacement, Patricia Dunn, continued to investigate leaks by the board through the use of private investigators. Even more controversy emerged when it was discovered that the investigators used the method of "pretexting" in order to obtain phone records of board members.
Case Assignment
For this assignment, make sure to first carefully review the background materials regarding the causes of political behavior, types of political behavior, and the ethics of political behavior. Examples of the causes of political behavior include competition for resources, ambiguous organizational goals, lack of trust, and performance factors. Examples of types of political behavior include blaming others, selectively distributing information, managing impressions, and forming coalitions. Regarding ethics, consider the three main factors:
• Does the political action violate individual rights?
• Does it improve the welfare of those involved?
• Does it increase distributive justice?
Review the background materials and do some research on the political dramas at HP. There is a lot written about HP's many dramas over the years; here are some articles to get you started:
Pearlstein, S. (2011, Sep 25). How HP, Silicon Valley's darling, became a soap opera. The Washington Post
Veverka, M. (2011). The soap opera at HP continues. Barron's, 91(39), 25.
Kessler, M. (2006, Sep 08). Controversial HP probe started under Fiorina; stock falls as board continues public feud. USA Today [ProQuest]
Harwell, D. & Paquette, D. (2015, Sep 27). Fiorina's divisive legacy. Washington Post. [EBSCOhost]
Once you have finished reviewing the background materials and have completed your research on HP's internal politics, write a 4- to 5-page paper addressing the following issues:
1. What individual and organizational factors of HP and its senior leaders led to the intense political behavior? Refer to some of the specific factors discussed on pages 877-883 of Robbins (1997) that you think apply the most to HP in this situation.
2. What types of political behaviors did HP's board members and CEOs exhibit? Be specific and use the types of political behaviors discussed in pages 297-301 of Luthans et al. (2015).
3. Were the leaks to the press by members of the board ethical? Was the investigation by Patricia Dunn into the links ethical? Use the ethical framework discussed on pages 896-898 of Robbins (1997) to guide your answer.
Assignment Expectations
• Follow the assignment instructions closely and follow all steps listed in the instructions.
• Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, don't go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
• Make sure to cite readings from the background materials page. Rely primarily on the required background readings as your sources of information.
• Include both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 11-14 on in-text citations.
Mod 2, SLP ASSIGNMENT 2
SLP
Module 2 - SLP
ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
For this assignment you will be continuing to write about your own workplace experiences as they relate to power and politics. Think of one of the largest political battles you witnessed or were apart of during your career, and think carefully about how the concepts from the background materials apply to what you experienced.
In preparation for the SLP, make sure you have a thorough grasp of the terminology from the background materials including the main individual and organizational factors that lead to political behavior and the types of political behavior. Once you are comfortable with the terminology and concepts from the background materials, write a 2- to 3-page paper addressing the following issues:
1. Briefly describe a political battle that took place in your workplace. Explain who the main players were and what issues were at stake.
2. What individual and organizational factors led to this political battle? Refer to the background readings in your answer, and in particular pages 877-883 of Robbins (1997).
3. What types of political behaviors did the participants in this political battle exhibit? Be specific and use the types of political behaviors discussed in pages 297-301 of Luthans et al. (2015).
4. Do you think any of the participants behaved unethically during this political battle? Use the ethical framework discussed on pages 896-898 of Robbins (1997) to guide your answer.
SLP Assignment Expectations
• Follow the assignment instructions closely and follow all steps listed in the instructions.
• Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, don't go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
• Make sure to cite readings from the background materials page. Rely primarily on the required background readings as your sources of information.
• Include both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 11-14 on in-text citations.
Module 2 - Outcomes
ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
• Module
o Identify and explain the main sources of organizational politics.
o Identify and explain the main types of political behavior.
o Apply the three main areas of organizational ethics towards political actions.
• Case
o Identify and explain the main sources of organizational politics.
o Identify and explain the main types of political behavior.
o Apply the three main areas of organizational ethics toward political actions.
• SLP
o Identify and explain the main sources of organizational politics.
o Identify and explain the main types of political behavior.
o Apply the three main areas of organizational ethics towards political actions.
• Discussion
o Identify examples of organizational politics in popular culture.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.