Pondy

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Managing Conflict, Power, and Politics

Teacher: Yao-sheng Liao

Student: Cheng-chang Chen

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Figure 14.1: Cooperation and Competition Among Organizational Stakeholders

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Figure 14-2: Relationship Between Conflict and Organizational Effectiveness

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Outline-1

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Outline-2

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What is Organizational Conflict? (1/3) Organizational Conflict: The clash that

occurs when the goal-directed behavior of one group blocks or thwarts the goals of another

Because the goals, preferences, and interest of stakeholder groups differ, conflict is inevitable in organization

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What is Organizational Conflict? (2/3) Some conflict is good for organization and can

improve organizational effectivenessCan overcome inertia and lead to organizational

learning and changeCan improve decision making and allow an

organization to better change and adapt to its environment

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What is Organizational Conflict? (3/3) Beyond a certain point, conflict becomes a

cause for organizational declineConflict leads to inability to reach consensus and

indecisionToo much time spent on bargaining rather than

acting swiftly to resolve problems On balance, organizations should be open to

conflict and recognize its value

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Outline-3

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Outline-4

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Pondy’s Model of Organizational Conflict (1/5) Conflict is a process that consists of five seque

ntial stages Stage 1: Latent conflict: no outright conflict e

xists, but there is a potential for conflict because of several latent factorsAccording to Pondy, all organization conflict arises

from vertical and horizontal differentiation

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Pondy’s Model of Organizational Conflict (2/5)

Sources of conflict include: Interdependence: Subunit’s desire of autonomy

leads to conflict Difference in goals and priorities: Once goals

become incompatible, the potential for conflict arises

Bureaucratic factors: A classic type of bureaucratic conflict occurs between staff and line function

Incompatible performance criteria: The organization’s way of monitoring, evaluating, and rewarding different subunits bring them into conflict

Competition for scarce resources: When resources are scarce, subunit have to compete for them

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Pondy’s Model of Organizational Conflict (3/5) Stage 2: Perceived conflict: subunits begin to

define why the conflict is emerging and begin to analyze the events that have led up to it Conflict escalates as groups battle over the cause of

the problem Stage 3: Felt conflict: each subunit develops a

us-versus-them mentality that puts the blames for the conflict squarely on the other subunit If nothing is done to solve it, small problem will

escalates into huge conflict

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Pondy’s Model of Organizational Conflict (4/5) Stage 4: Manifest conflict: one subunit gets

back at another subunit by attempting to thwart its goalsOpen aggressionPassive aggression – doing nothingManager need to do all they can prevent from

reaching the manifest stage, for two reasons: (1) breakdown in communication; (2) aftermath of conflict

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Pondy’s Model of Organizational Conflict (5/5) Stage 5: Conflict aftermath: conflict is

resolved in some wayconflict is resolved in some way, often by the

decision of some senior managerIf sources of conflict are not resolved, the

aftermath will sour future working relationships, and the organizational culture is poisoned by permanently uncooperative relationships

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Figure 14-3: Pondy’s Model of Organizational Conflict

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Outline-6

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Managing Conflict: Resolution Strategies (1/3) Organizational conflict can escalate rapidly and sour

an organization’s culture Managing conflict is an important priority

Organizations must balance the need to have some “good” conflict without letting it escalate into “bad” conflict

The method an organization choose to manage the conflict depends on the source of the problem

Conflict can be resolved by two ways: (1)changing organization’s structure; (2) changing the attitudes of individuals or replacing the individuals themselves

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Managing Conflict: Resolution Strategies (2/3) Acting at the level of structure

Because task interdependence and differences in goals are two major sources of conflict, altering the level of differentiation and integration to change task relationships is one way to resolve it

Increase the number of integrating rolesAssign top managers the responsibility for solving

conflicts between divisionsMake sure the design of an organization’s

hierarchy of authority is in line with its current needs

Good organizational design should minimizes the conflict

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Managing Conflict: Resolution Strategies (3/3) Acting at the level of attitudes and

individualsEstablish procedures for airing grievances

Important for conflict between management and unions

Bargaining and negotiationExchange/rotate/terminate individualsReplace members of top managementCEOs can also use their power to resolve conflicts

and motivate units to cooperate

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Outline-7

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What is Organizational Power?

Organizational power: the ability of one person or group to overcome resistance by others to achieve a desired objective or resultThe possession of power is an important

determinant for conflict resolving Conflict and power are intimately related.Individual and groups use their power to influence

decision makingPower can come from many different sources

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Outline-8

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Figure 14-4: Sources of Organizational Power

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Sources of Organizational Power(1/7) Authority: power that is legitimized by the

legal and cultural foundations on which an organization is basedA managers exercises a legal right to control

resourcesSuperiors hold on power by restricting the

information they give to subordinates to make a decision

Managers have to realize the difference between decentralization and loss

Empowerment: the deliberate decentralization of authority

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Sources of Organizational Power(2/7)

Control over resources: as the organization controls more and more resources in its environment, power within an organization comes from the control of resourcesPower is not a fixed quantityMoney or capital is the ultimate organizational

resourceThe ability to generate financial resources is a

source of power, too

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Control over information: access to strategic information and the control of the information are sources of considerable powerThe control of information is the source of the

power of many people or subordinate Those who control over critical information can

own the most power

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Nonsubstitutability: if no one else can perform the tasks that a person or subunit performs, that person or subunit is nonsubstitutableOnly it can provide the resources that other subunit

or organization requires

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Centrality: the subunits that are most central to resource flows have the ability to reduce the uncertainty facing other subunitsAn organization’s strategy is a crucial determinant

of which subunit is central in an organization

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Control over uncertainty: a subunit that can actually control the principal sources of uncertainty has significant powerChanges in contingencies facing the organization

alter which subunits have this power

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Unobtrusive power: controlling the premises of decision makingAnother important source power stems from the

power of the dominant coalitionUnobtrusive power: the power flowing from the

ability to control the premises behind decision making

The power of a coalition resides in its ability to control the assumptions, goals, norms, or values that managers use to judge alternative solutions to a problem

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Outline-9

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Using Power: Organizational Politics (1/6) Organizational politics: activities taken

within organizations to acquire, develop, and use power and other resources to obtain one’s preferred outcomes in a situation in which there is uncertainty or disagreement about choices

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Outline-10

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Using Power: Organizational Politics (2/6) Tactics for playing politics(1/3)

Increasing indispensability: become indispensable to the organization

Increasing nonsubstitutability: develop specialized skills or knowledge that enables one to control a crucial contingency facing the organization

Increasing centrality: accept responsibilities that enhance one’s reputation or that of one’s function

Associating with powerful managers: supporting a powerful manager who is clearly on the way

to the top

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Building and managing coalitions Forming relationships with stakeholders and other

subunits around some common issue Skills in coalition building are important

Influencing decision making Must be circumspect in the use of power

Controlling the agenda By setting the agenda, managers can control the issues

and problems to be considered

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Bringing in an outside expert Use supposedly neutral outsiders to support the views of

the coalitions

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Outline-11

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Using Power: Organizational Politics (5/6) Costs and benefits of organizational

politics(1/2)To manage organizational politics and gain its

benefits, an organization must establish a balance of power in which alternative views and solutions can be offered and considered by all parties and dissenting views can be heard

Balance of power should shift over time toward the party that can best manage the uncertainty and contingencies confronting the organization

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Using Power: Organizational Politics (6/6) Costs and benefits of organizational

politics(2/2)If balance of power does not encourage allocation

of resources to where value is created, the organizational effectiveness suffers

If powerful managers can suppress views against their interests, debates become restricted, checks and balances fade, bad conflict increases, and organizational inertia increases

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Figure 14-5: Maintaining a Balance of Power

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Summary

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Summary

Pondy

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