Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior - Soltanieh ...

USE POWER EFFECTIVELY TO INFLUENCE PEOPLE
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by the agent may take many forms, such as recommending a pay increase or promotion
for the person, sharing scarce resources with the person, helping the person do another
task, providing information, providing political support on some issue or proposal, putting
in a good word to help advance the person’s career, and offering to share some of the
benefi ts obtained from a project or activity. Sometimes the promise may be implicit rather
than explicit. That is, the agent may suggest returning the favor in some unspecifi ed way
at a future time.
Collaboration. Collaboration involves an offer by the agent to provide necessary
resources or assistance if the target person will carry out a request or approve a proposal.
Examples include offering to show the target person how to do a requested task, offering
to provide the equipment or technical assistance needed to perform a requested task, and
offering to help the target person deal with a problem that would be caused by carrying
out the request. Whereas exchange usually involves an impersonal trade of unrelated
bene fits, collaboration usually involves a joint effort to accomplish the same task or objective.
It is a way to communicate that the agent considers the request important, and it also
shows consideration for the target person’s difficulties in carrying out the request. This
tactic is most useful when the agent understands the obstacles faced by the target person
in carrying out a request and also has sufficient expertise and resources to help the target
overcome these obstacles.
Personal appeals. A personal appeal involves asking someone to do a favor based on friendship
or loyalty to the agent. This tactic is one way to enact referent power, although when
referent power is very strong, a personal appeal may not be necessary. If considerable effort
is required to comply with a request, the target person should understand that the request is
indeed important to the agent. If a request is not perceived to be important to the agent, it
may be ignored or carried out with only a minimal effort. Thus, whenever appropriate, the
importance of the request to the agent should be explained to the target person.
Personal appeals can take several forms. One form is to ask the target person to carry
out a request or support a proposal as a personal favor. Another form is to emphasize the
close relationship between agent and target before asking for something. A third form is
to say that you need to ask for a favor before saying what it is. If the target person agrees,
then it will be awkward to say no when the request is explained. The risk with this form
of personal appeal is that the target person may feel resentment if manipulated into doing
something unpleasant.
Ingratiation tactics. Ingratiation is behavior that makes a target person feel accepted and
appreciated by the agent. Examples include giving compliments, showing respect, and acting
especially friendly and helpful before making a request. Ingratiation can be used not
only for an immediate influence attempt, but also as a longer- term strategy to improve
relationships with people and gain more referent power (Liden and Mitchell, 1988 ; Wayne and
Ferris, 1990 ). An especially effective form of ingratiation for a proactive infl uence
attempt is to explain why the target person is uniquely qualified to carry out a diffi cult
request. When ingratiation tactics are sincere, they can strengthen a friendship, increase
referent power, and make a target person more willing to consider a request. However, if