Topic: Power, Control, and Resistance

Developed by Dr. Ruth Barton, RMIT University

Aims of the lecture

Questions of power

How power works; 4 faces of power

Resistance and control

Types of resistance

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Questions of Power

POWER

What is power?

Several dimensions and bases

Who has power?

How is influence achieved?

How is power obtained

in organisations? What

alternative theories and perspectives

are there?

What of resistance?

Another form of power?

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How Does Power Work in Organisations?

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Organisations are

hierarchical

Power as the ability

to control social interaction

What is Power?

OB blind towards power

An individual capacity?

Property of the person or collective?

Power as the prerogative of

wise or wealthy men?

Two broad

traditions

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Normative

(most

rational

way of

organising

power)

Realpolitik

(how does

power

actually

operate)

Power in Mainstream Theory

Bases of power

► Reward

► Coercive

► Referent

► Legitimate

► Expert

(French & Raven 1959)

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Trend spotting as Power

information power in the advertising industry

Control over information flow

legitimate power

More power to those who can help firms cope with uncertainty in contemporary business

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Power : Mainstream Theory (Runciman 1999)

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Economic

Ideological

Coercive

The Four ‘Faces’ of Power

► Coercion

► Manipulation

► Domination

► Subjectification

(Fleming and Spicer 2007)

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1st Face of Power: Coercion

Coercion

►one individual getting another to follow his/her

orders

Direct coercion

►getting another person to do something that

might not have been done.

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The First Face of Power and Control

Rational bureaucratic control (Weber)

►Process standardisation

►Functional specialisation

►Hierarchical coordination

Taylor’s scientific and Fordist mass production regimes

►Highly personalised and relatively confrontational

forms of supervision

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The First Face of Power and Control

Control in the workplace

►Remote

►Depersonalised

►Well integrated

►Unobtrusive

Type of surveillance

►Email scanning

►Data entry

►Phone calls

►Video surveillance

►Location monitoring

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2nd Face of Power - Manipulation

3 processes

► Anticipation of results

► Mobilisation of bias

► Rule and norm making

►Of agendas: ‘behind the

scenes’ politicking

►Exclusion from decision

making authority

►Power as manipulation:

There is no direct

exercise of power but an

implicit shaping of issues

considered important or

irrelevant.

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The Second Face of Power and Control

There are three

processes of control

• Anticipation of results

• Mobilisation of bias

• Rule and norm making

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3rd Face of Power - Domination

►Over the preferences and opinions of participants

►Power that shapes our preferences, attitudes and

political outlook

►Used in the design and implementation of

paradigmatic frameworks

►Forms of life e.g. profit

►Ideology

►Technical rationality

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The Third Face of Power and Control

►Used in the design and implementation of

paradigmatic frameworks

►Forms of life e.g. profit

►Ideology

►Technical rationality

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The Third Face of Power and Control

• Space as a frontier of control

–Buildings as structures of

non- verbal

communication

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4th Face of Power - Subjectification

►People are moulded with certain understandings of

themselves and the world around them

►The organisation moulds people into a certain type

►Use knowledge to produce compliance

►Culture of the customer

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The Fourth Face of Power and Control

Power and control operate through knowledge

►Professionalism

►Human Resource Management and performance

appraisal

►Internalisation of surveillance

►Corporate culture

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Power and iPower and Influence

Source: Wiley Publishing: Wood et al. 2013: 376

“ Influence is a behavioural response

to the exercise of power”

Power and Influence Power and Influence

Source: Wiley Publishing: Wood et al. 2013: 387

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“A wide range of behaviour – from failure to work very hard or conscientiously, to not working at all, deliberate output restriction, practical joking, pilferage and sabotage.”

(Ackroyd and Thompson, 1999 cited in Fleming and Spicer, 2007)

“Resistance constitutes a form of power exercised by subordinates in the workplace.”

(Collinson, 1994 cited in Fleming and Spicer, 2007)

Resistance

Resistance as Refusal

1st face of power is coercion

► Resistance is refusal to do what the person

in the position of power tells him / her to do

► Aim is to block the effects of power by

undermining the domination rather than

changing it

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Resistance as Voice

2nd face of power operates through non-participation

► Resistance is to gain access to power in order to express voice

►Internal: interest groups, trade unions

►External: social movements

►Sabotage

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Resistance as Escape

3rd face of power is domination

► Escape is to mentally disengage from the

world of work

► Tools are

►Cynicism

►scepticism

►dis-identification

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Resistance as Creation

4th face of power is subjectification

Involves using domination to create something

that was not intended by those in authority

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Conclusion

• Power is a product of human collective endeavour and we

should only expect power and politics to spring forth from

our organisational endeavours (Arendt, 1958, 1970).

• But what comes first – power or resistance?

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References • Bratton, J, Sawchuck, P, Forshaw, C, Callinan, M, & Corbett, M 2010, Work and Organization

Behaviour, 2nd edn, Palgrave MacMillan, UK. Chapter 15: Decision Making and Ethics, pp.407-432

• Clegg, S, Courpasson, D and Phillips, N (2007) Power and Organisations, London: SAGE.

• Edwards, P and Wajcman, J (2005) The Politics of Working Life, OUP: Oxford.

• Fleming, P and Spicer, A (2007) Contesting the Corporation: Struggle, Power and Resistance in

Organisations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Haslam, SA, 2004, Psychology in organisations: the social identity approach, 2nd edn, Sage

London. Chapter 6: Group decision making, pp.99-119

• Knights, D (2009) ‘Power at Work in Organisations’, in Alvesson, M, Bridgman, T and Willmott, H

(eds) The Oxford handbook of Critical Management Studies, Oxford: OUP.

• Linstead S, Fulop, L, Lilley, S 2009, Management and Organization: A critical text, 2nd edn, Palgrave

MacMillan, London. Chapter 14: Decision making in organisations, pp. 667-708

• Nelson, DL, Quick, JC, Wright, S,& Adams, C 2012, OrgB Asia-Pacific Edition, Cengage, Sydney.

Chapter 10: Decision making by individuals and groups, pp. 148-164

• Thompson, P, & McHugh, D, 2009 Work Organisations: A critical approach, Palgrave Macmillan,

London. Chapter 24: From groups to teams, pp. 369-387