Bases of power and influence tactics

dc.contributor.authorMay Chiun, Lo
dc.date.accessioned2014-11-14T07:56:39Z
dc.date.available2014-11-14T07:56:39Z
dc.date.issued2007
dc.descriptionPh.Den_US
dc.description.abstractThe 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.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/520
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subjectBusiness Administrationen_US
dc.subjectPower and Influenceen_US
dc.titleBases of power and influence tacticsen_US
dc.title.alternativeA test of congruence hypothesesen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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