Page 114 - DMGT519_Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Notes 2. The negotiator believes he or she needs more power than the other party to increase the
probability of securing a desired outcome and to gain or sustain an advantage in the
upcoming negotiation.

Source of Power – How People Acquire Power

Understanding the different ways in which power can be exercised is best accomplished by
looking first at the various sources of power. In their seminal work on power, French and Raven
(1959) identified following five major types: Most of these are relatively self evident in nature:
1. Expert power: derived from having unique, in-depth information about a subject.
2. Reward power: derived by being able to reward others for doing what needs to be done.
3. Coercive power: derived by being able to punish others for not doing what needs to be
done.
4. Legitimate power: derived from holding an office or formal title in some organization
and using the powers that are associated with that office (e.g. a vice-president or director).
5. Referent power: derived from the respect or admiration one commands because of attributes
like personality, integrity, interpersonal style, and the like. A is said to have referent
power over B to the extent that B identifies with or wants to be closely associated with A.

Did u know? In literature, a distinction is made between power and authority. Authority is
regarded as the formal power that a person has because of the position that he or she holds
in an organisation (Gibson et al. 1989:330). Directives are orders from a manager in an
authoritative positions and are followed because they must be followed. So, persons in
higher positions have legal authority over subordinates in lower positions. Power is
vested in a person’s position, it is accepted by subordinates and it is used vertically in
organisations. On the other hand, influence is merely the potential of power deployment
and is therefore the least amount of power that a person can deploy. To execute a karate
punch on someone would demonstrate relative power: however, to warn the other side
that the person has a black belt in karate would merely display the resource, i.e. the
potential of it being deployed. However, when power is used as a threat, it is important
that the negotiator remembers that a threat retains its power provided it is never executed.
Upon delivery, a threat loses all its value.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. The most desirable source power is of the person whose morality, ethics and
................................... are transparent and obvious
2. The ................................. here is that of personal gain and aggrandizement.
3. The exercise of power ............................. costs and risks.
4. .............................. use power tactics to give an impression of having many alternatives.

5. ............................ are used by negotiators to develop in the opponent, feelings of loyalty,
obligation or gratitude.
6. .............................. are ways in which the negotiator adds to the perceptions of his power
through additions such as personal charm, prestige and association.

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