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Organizational Theory,
Design, and Change

Fifth Edition
Gareth R. Jones

Chapter 14

Managing Conflict,
Power, and Politics
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Learning Objectives
1. Describe the nature of organizational
conflict, its sources, and the way it
arises between stakeholders and
subunits
2. Identify the mechanisms by which
managers and stakeholders can
obtain power and use that power to
influence decision making and
resolve conflict in their favor
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Learning Objectives (cont.)
3. Explain how and why individuals and
subunits engage in organizational
politics to enhance their control over
decision making and obtain the power
that allows them to influence the
change process in their favor
4. Appreciate the importance of
managing an organizations power
structure to overcome organizational
inertia, and to bring about the type of
changing that promotes performance
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What is Organizational
Conflict?
The clash that occurs when the goal-
directed behavior of one group blocks
or thwarts the goals of another
Although conflict is often perceived
as something negative, research
suggests that some conflict can
actually improve organizational
effectiveness
Can overcome inertia and lead to
learning and change
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Figure 14-1: Cooperation and
Competition Among Stakeholders
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What is Organizational Conflict?
Beyond a certain point, conflict becomes
a cause for organizational decline
Conflict leads to inability to reach consensus
and indecision
Too 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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Figure 14-2: Relationship Between Conflict
and Organizational Effectiveness
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Pondys Model of
Organizational Conflict
Conflict is a process that consists of five
sequential stages
Stage 1: Latent conflict: no outright
conflict exists, but there is a potential
for conflict because of several latent
factors
Sources of conflict include:
Interdependence
Difference in goals and priorities
Bureaucratic factors
Incompatible performance criteria
Competition for scarce resources

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Pondys Model of
Organizational Conflict (cont.)
Stage 2: Perceived conflict:
subunits become aware of conflict and
begin to analyze it
Conflict escalates as groups battle over
the cause of conflict
Stage 3: Felt conflict: subunits
respond emotionally to each other,
and attitudes polarize into us-versus-
them
Cooperation between units decreases
What began as a small problem escalates
into huge conflict
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Pondys Model of
Organizational Conflict (cont.)
Stage 4: Manifest conflict: subunits
try to get back at each other
Fighting and open aggression
Passive aggression doing nothing
Organizational effectiveness suffers
Stage 5: Conflict aftermath:
conflict is resolved in some way
If sources of conflict are not resolved, the
dispute will arise again
Conflict aftermath
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Figure 14-3: Pondys Model of
Organizational Conflict
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Managing Conflict
Organizational conflict can escalate
rapidly and sour an organizations
culture
Managing conflict is an important priority
Organizations must balance the need
to have some good conflict without
letting it escalate into bad conflict
Choice of conflict resolution method
depends on the source of the problem
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Managing Conflict: Resolution
Strategies
Acting at the level of structure
Because task interdependence and
differences in goals produce conflict, alter
the level of differentiation and integration
to change relationships
Increase the number of integrating roles
Assign top managers to solve conflict
Rethink the hierarchy/reporting chain

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Managing Conflict: Resolution
Strategies (cont.)
Acting at the level of attitudes and
individuals
Establish a procedural system that allows
parties to air their grievances
Important for conflict between management
and unions
Use a third-party negotiator
Exchange/rotate/terminate individuals
CEOs can also use their power to resolve
conflicts and motivate units to cooperate
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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 result
Conflict and power are intimately related
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Figure 14-4: Sources of
Organizational Power
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Sources of Organizational
Power
Authority: power that is legitimized
by the legal and cultural foundations
on which an organization is based
Empowerment: the deliberate
decentralization of authority
Control over resources: as the
organization controls more and more
resources in its environment, power
within an organization comes from the
control of resources

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Sources of Organizational
Power (cont.)
Control over information: access
to strategic information and the
control of the information are sources
of considerable power
Nonsubstitutability: if no one else
can perform the tasks that a person
or subunit performs, that person or
subunit is nonsubstitutable
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Sources of Organizational
Power (cont.)
Centrality: the subunits that are
most central to resource flows have
the ability to reduce the uncertainty
facing other subunits
Control over uncertainty: a
subunit that can actually control the
principal sources of uncertainty has
significant power
Changes in contingencies facing the
organization alter which subunits have
this power
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Sources of Organizational
Power
Unobtrusive power: controlling the
premises of decision making
Unobtrusive 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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Using Power: Organizational
Politics
Organizational politics: activities
taken within organizations to acquire,
develop, and use power and other
resources to obtain ones preferred
outcomes in a situation in which there
is uncertainty or disagreement about
choices
Tactics for playing politics
Increasing indispensability: become
indispensable to the organization
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Using Power: Organizational
Politics (cont.)
Tactics for playing politics (cont.)
Increasing nonsubstitutability:
develop specialized skills or knowledge
that enables one to control a crucial
contingency facing the organization
Increasing centrality: accept
responsibilities that enhance ones
reputation or that of ones function
Associating with powerful managers:
supporting a powerful manager who is
clearly on the way to the top
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Using Power: Organizational
Politics (cont.)
Tactics for playing politics (cont.)
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
Bringing in an outside expert
Use supposedly neutral outsiders to support the
views of the coalitions
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Using Power: Organizational
Politics (cont.)
Costs and benefits of organizational
politics
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 (cont.)
Costs and benefits of organizational
politics (cont.)
If balance of power does not encourage
allocation of resources to where value is
created, the organization 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