Bases of power and influence tactics
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Date
2007
Authors
May Chiun, Lo
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Abstract
The general objective of this study was to examine the supervisors’
and subordinates’ use of power and their relationships to supervisors’ use of
influence tactics. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to examine power
congruence and its impact on influence tactics in manufacturing companies in
Malaysia. The present research differs from the previous studies by linking
power congruence between supervisors’ and subordinates’ power either from
self or as perceived by their subordinates or supervisors with three
dimensions of influence tactics known as, hard, soft, and rational appeal
tactics. This study is perhaps the first that tested “congruence hypothesis” in
leadership framework. The objective was to gain insight into ways by which
the management of manufacturing companies might use their power to
enhance the effective use of influence tactics on their subordinates. Ten
broadly hypothesized relationships were tested in a field study with a sample
of 385 pairs of supervisors and subordinates working in 82 manufacturing
companies in Selangor/Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Sarawak. Data were
gathered from both supervisors and their subordinates by means of
questionnaires. Methodologically, past research had been prone to common
method bias. However, this study has demonstrated to be relatively free from
this bias by collecting data from two sources. By and large, the results from
the analyses have indicated moderate support for the hypotheses. This study
is perhaps the first to generate a new set of power congruence items in which simultaneous measurement from two perspectives-supervisors and
subordinates-were taken to examine the aspect of mutuality. The first four
hypotheses which investigate the direct relationship between supervisors or
subordinates power and influence tactics revealed that supervisors would
apply various influence tactics on their subordinates. Rational appeal tactics
has exhibited the highest mean as compared with soft and hard influence
tactics in the direct relationship between power and influence tactics. For the
indirect hypotheses, only one particular dimension of influence tactics was
found significant for each power congruence hypotheses. The results
confirmed that when both supervisors and subordinates were perceived to
have position power, the use of hard influence tactics was most apparent.
Conversely, when both of them were seen to have personal power,
supervisors would resort to the use of soft influence tactics. Inevitably, this
study provides a conceptual foundation for the effective use of influence
tactics. This study may be useful for those who are in positions of influence, to
help the supervisors and subordinates understand more clearly the bases of
their own actions, and the possible alternatives to their actions. Practically,
this research points to the fact that Malaysian managers and executives need
to be trained in the effective use of influence tactics.
Description
Ph.D
Keywords
Business Administration , Power and Influence