Power and authority - political behavior in organizations

Power can be considered: Part of the rational model which considers organizations as rational instruments to achieve certain collective purposes. (In the organization there are many individuals who cooperate and have to counteract the spontaneous variability of individual behavior). Power as an instrument of political domination of some groups about others. (Allows to achieve the objectives of a certain group). The organization is considered as a Set of coalitions in which there are interests, conflicts and diverted activities regarding the established purposes.

1. Power and authority
2. Direction of power
3. Political behavior in organizations

Power and authority

Nature and characteristics of power, is the relationship between two or more actors in which the action of one is determined by that of another or others. Sometimes it has been defined as the potential of the subjects. It is about the ability of one or several people to influence the behavior of others. It has distinguished between potential power and real power (between having power and exercising it). Power is an aspect (at least potential) in every social interaction and is characterized by its asymmetry condition, some reciprocity is also given, although it does not occur in a balance form. Dimensions that allow clarifying the notion of power:

• Intensity of power, It is the degree of influence that exerts on B, in order to change the probability of your answers.
• The domain of power, depending on its extension (number of people or groups on which it is exercised).
• The rank of power, It is the range of B responses on which it exercises power.

The basis of Lawler Power, distinguishes three bases in any power relationship: resources, dependence and alternatives. The resources are objects or events that are useful for a certain subject or group, the power value of those resources.

It is only guaranteeing whether the subject or group has a high dependence on them and they have no other alternatives available. The existence of alternative solutions would reduce the dependence on controlled resources.

Direction of power

There are two groups of factors that explain more than half of the variance of the aspects of control and power:

• The degree of structuring of organizational activities.
• The degree of concentration of authority.

When combining these two factors, they found a tendency to group in four categories:

• Total bureaucracies; that exercise control through the specialization of tasks, the establishment of measures for this and the centralization of the authority.
• Workflow bureaucracies; they base their control on the specialization of tasks and establishment of specific control mechanisms.
• Implicitly structured organizations; They achieve their coordination through a mutual adjustment among the members (they are usually small).

The centralizing alternative establishes a predominance of a vertical structure of powers, the alternative that favors specialization puts more emphasis on horizontal relations of power. Be able to vertical descending is the most studied power direction within organizations. Research on participation point out that participation has few effects on changing the dominant distribution of power. Individuals at higher levels have more power and exert more control than those that are at the lower levels. In many situations, power has an aspect of self-perpetuation.

Lateral or horizontal power The members exercise power and influence that is not linked to their formally defined position within the organization. This availability of power and influence is much greater, if its position is strategic, that is, it performs crucial functions in the organization. The power of the different subunits within an organization can be explained depending on the degree dependence that each of them has with respect to the others.

It has greater power that have the capacity to meet the needs of others and also monopolize such capacity. Factors that influence a unit criticism:

• The uncertainty, those units that reduce to more extent that uncertainty acquire more power.
• He monopoly of that ability, If other groups cannot replace the functions that the powerful unit plays.
• Centrality of activities carried out by that unit, when they are widely connected with those of other units and their detention rapidly and negatively influence their operation.
• Another factor to consider is the Degree of institutionalization, Power tries to perpetuate and maintain and the degree of hierarchically depends on the power that has previously been held.

Ascending power and influence

It is the attempt to influence a person who occupies a higher hierarchical position in the organization. Therefore, the person who tries to exert the influence cannot be based on a formal position of authority. There are different sources: the ability in the trade added to the difficulty of replacing the individual. The degree of effort and interest shown at work.

Collective pressure media such as coalitions. The ability to influence higher levels by a supervisor, made its supervision more effective and allow it to achieve a higher moral in their subordinates, better communication with them and an increase in their productivity.

Political behavior in organizations

Characteristics notes of political behavior:

• Attempts for social influence.
• They are discretionary (they fall outside the areas prohibited by the organization).
• They are designed to promote and protect personal or group interests.
• They threaten the interests of other individuals and groups.

The means used depend on the available resources. These resources include various types of power over other people and subunit characteristics. The mediating variable between resources and the media is the attempt and claims of the subject. Personal needs may be influenced by the Availability of resources.

The intentions and pretensions of the individual will determine the chosen media. In the perception of the situation, one of the central elements is the recognition of the existing standards in this field.

These norms vary depending on various situational aspects: political norms vary depending on the position within the organization, political activity is more frequent among staff members than among lines, it is also greater in those subunits in which uncertainty is greater.

Variable that explain the differences of situations according to their "posilization":

• Uncertainty
• The importance of activity
• The relevance of the issue for members
• The shortage of resources

The situations In which political activity is more relevant, they seem to combine situational ambiguity with sufficient personal interest to activate the individual to consider reactions that fall outside the limits of the formal system of norms of the organization.

Besides Situational aspects There is the importance of personal characteristics: need for power, risk propensity, etc.

In summary, together with the exercise of power as an instrumental environment to achieve the purposes of the organization, there is its use to achieve benefits or protect personal interests. The dimension of power as a political phenomenon within organizations.

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