Rules of power tactics
1 power is not only what you have ,but what the enemy thinks you have.
2 never go outside the experience of your people
3 wherever possible go outside the experience of the enemy
4 a good tactic is one that your people enjoy
5 a tactic that drogs as too long becames a drog
Power:_ power is a part of all organization behavior.it is a instrument that is people use power as an aid
to achevie their intended results.we use power to achieve other goal tha power itself.this idea of power
has both emotional and ethical impact.for many it carries negative connotations.all organization
member use power to secure their goal.the ability of one person to affect the behavior of someone else
in a desired way
Tactics
The science and art of disposing military and naval forces in order for battle, and
performing military and naval evolutions. It is divided into grand tactics, or the
tactics of battles, and elementary tactics, or the tactics of instruction.
Identified nine distinct influence tactics:
1. Legitimacy: Relying on ones authority position or stressing that a request is in accordance
with organizational policies or rules.
2. Rational persuasion: Presenting logical arguments and factual evidence to demonstrate that
a request is reasonable.
3. Inspirational appeals: Developing emotional commitment by appealing to a targets values,
needs, hopes, and aspirations.
4. Consultation: Increasing the targets motivation and support by involving hi or her in deciding
how the plan or change will be done.
5. Exchange: rewarding the target with benefits or favors in exchange for following a request.
6. Personal appeals: Asking for compliance based on friendship or loyalty.
7. Ingratiation: Using flattery, praise, or friendly behavior prior to making a request.
8. Pressure: Using warnings, repeated demands, and threats.
9. Coalitions: Enlisting the aid of other people to persuade the target or using the support of
others as a reason for the target to agree.
Some tactics are usually more effective than others. Specifically, evidence indicates that
rational, persuasion, inspirational appeals, and consultation tend to be the most
effective. On the other hand pressure tends to frequently backfire and is typically the
least effective of the nine tactics.
You can also increase your chance of success by using more than one type of tactic at
the same time or sequentially, as long as your choices are compatible. For instance,
using both ingratiation and legitimacy can lessen the negative reactions that might come
from the appearance of being dictated to? by the boss.
But some influences tactics work better depending on the direction of influence. As
shown in the table below studies have found that rational persuasion is the only tactic
that is effective across organizational levels. Inspirational appeals works best as a
downward influencing tactic with subordinates. When pressure works, its almost always
to achieve downward influence. And the use of personal appeals and coalition are most
effective with lateral influence attempts.
In addition to the direction of influence, a number of other factors have found to affect
which tactics work best. These include the sequencing of tactics, a persons skill in using
the tactic, a persons relative power, the type of request and how the request is
perceived, the culture of the organization, and country-specific cultural factors.
Preferred Power Tactics by Influence direction
Upward influence
Downward influence Lateral influence
Rational persuasion Rational persuasion Rational persuasion
Inspirational appeals Consultation Ingratiation
Pressure Exchange
Consultation Ingratiation Legitimacy Personal appeals
Exchange Legitimacy Coalitions
Youre more likely to be effective if you begin with softer? tactics that rely on personal
power such as personal and inspirational appeal, rational persuasion, and consultation.
If these fail, you can move to harder? tactics which emphasize formal power and involve
greater costs and risks such as exchange, coalitions, and pressure. Interestingly, its
been found that using a single soft tactic is more effective in a single hard tactic; and
that combining two soft tactics, or a soft tactic and rational persuasion, is more effective
than any single tactic or a combination of hard tactics.
