Page 248 - DMGT519_Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Notes  The importance of mastering the art of persuasion is vital to the ability of a manger to
efficiently address the many vexing challenges faced in the ever evolving marketplace

 Leverage means utilizing the strengths of other things, processes, and people to do a lot
more than you could do alone.
 Many teachers of communication, speech, and rhetoric consider Aristotle’s On Rhetoric to
be a seminal work in the field.
 Reward power is based on the individual’s ability to reward desirable behavior.
 Getting the person to think for themselves is highly motivating and can therefore be
extremely persuasive.
 Nonverbal communication: can add emphasis through body language, facial expressions,
actions

11.14 Keywords

Coercive Power: It is the opposite of reward power, and is based on the ability of the individual
to sanction (punish) or prevent someone from obtaining desirable rewards. Rewards and
punishment are powerful motivational tools, and leaders are generally better served by the
exercise of reward power than by the exercise of coercive power. But only if reward power is
used effectively. Look at these three types of power as POSITIONAL power and conferred on one
from the ORGANIZATION, e.g., they come with the position of manager, and each manager has
at least some of each of the three "powers of office." The remaining four, however, are in a
different domain entirely.

Connection Power: It is more commonly referred to as "networking" these days. It is who you
know, vertically and horizontally, both within and outside the organization. This may be referred
to in some circles as the "Old Boys Club" and represents many of the political dynamics that
make up organizations.
Information Power: It is a power that can be either personal or positional. A manager should
have more information power than his or her direct reports but it isn't always the case. As a
result, an individual that is actively involved in the "grapevine" often has more accurate
information than the manager. The "grapevine" is thought to be primarily rumor but, when
studied, the "grapevine" has proven to be about 80% correct. Therefore, the person in the
organization with the most reliable information is thought to have quite a bit of power.
Legitimate Power: It is that which is derived from the person's position in the organization. It
exists because organizations find it advantageous to assign certain powers to individuals so that
they can do their jobs effectively. All managers have some degree of legitimate power.
Personal Power: Expert power derives from having knowledge that is valued by the organization
or individuals with whom the person interacts. Expertise in a particular field or at problem
solving or at performing critical tasks are types of expert power. Expert power is personal to the
individual who has the expertise, hence it is different from the other three sources of power
previously mentioned. However, the possession of expert power may be the basis for rising to
a management position in the area of the expertise, now providing the incumbent with expert
power as well that legitimate, reward and coercive power.
Referent Power: It results when the individual engenders admiration, loyalty and emulation to
the extent that the person gains the power to influence other. Charismatic leaders have referent
power. They have a vision for the organization that they lead, strong convictions about the
correctness of the vision, and great confidence in their ability to realize the vision, and are
perceived by their followers as agents of change.

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