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ASSESSING POWER AMONG DISPUTANTS II:Sources of Relationship Power, Context and Power

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Conflict Management ­HRM624
VU
Lesson 25
ASSESSING POWER AMONG DISPUTANTS II
Quotation
"I don't know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with
sticks and stones." Albert Einstein
This lecture is the continuation of previous lecture, in this lecture we will study
·  The varieties of relationship power are context-dependent for their effectiveness.
·  That the use of each type of power is associated with predictable side effects, including the creation
of alienation in the person on whom the power is exercised.
·  That understanding your alternatives to a negotiated agreement, including the best alternative, can
help you maximize your use of power in many ways.
Expert Power
Expert power is the power of knowledge. Expert power is effective when the wielder has considerable
knowledge and the person he or she is trying to influence comes to accept this degree of knowledge.
It is critical for legal professionals and other dispute resolvers to be familiar with the expert power, the
power of knowledge.
Expert power, used honestly to persuade others, is considered the least likely form of power (1) to
disempower the person exercising the power and (2) to result in conflict escalation.
Expert power can be used illegitimately, and this misuse can create a sense of alienation in the person
against whom it is used- for example, a daughter whose father requires her engage in some action "for her
own good," when in fact, it obviously serves the father's interest, will cease to believe the father's honest
views of expert power. The illegitimate or dishonest use of expert power disempowers the wielder by
creating the belief, on the part of other disputant, that the claimed superior knowledge is a lie.
Conflict Escalation.
The United States gained a lot of expert power throughout the twentieth century in such arenas as conflict
resolution (as when it acted as a mediator in international conflicts), public health, and agricultural science
and technology.
Expert power can be used illegitimately, and this misuse can create a sense of alienation in the person
against whom it is used.
Ecological Power
Ecological power is the power to manipulate the environment. For Example, imagine a dispute between
two neighbors.
Although some social scientists list ecological power as separate type of power in the relationship domain,
in fact, it functions in the environmental domain as a means of exercising various types of powers.
Ecological power tends to be harmful as the type of power it is used to impose.
Disputant often use ecological means to exercise coercive power. Ecological power used to coerce and
ecological power perceived as illegitimately used by other disputants tend to create conflict escalation and to
eliminate the wielding disputant's ability to use broader power sources.
Power and Alienation
The term alienation refers to the extent to which a person becomes mistrustful of, hateful toward, and
unwilling to assist another.
It has been recognized that six types of power have different intrinsic tendencies to create alienation in the
person toward whom the power is exercised.
Of the six types coercive power is considered the most alienating; expert power the least alienating. Any
exercise of power that is perceived as illegitimate by the recipient also produces alienation.
Alienation is disempowering to the person exercising power. Suppose Disputant A Influences Disputant B,
In doing so A alienates B. Alienation directly impairs Disputant A's referent power by causing Disputant B
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Conflict Management ­HRM624
VU
to dislike Disputant A. Moreover by creating distrust, alienation also undermines disputant A's normative
and expert power.
In a relationship already marked by high degrees of alienation, the use of coercive power may be
appropriate if the relationship is likely to be short-term, so that one coercive move is likely to be sufficient
to produce desired results.
Sources of Relationship Power
We have considered six types of powers that can be used in the relationship domain. Where do these forms
of power come from?
Resources including tangible assets, such as money, are the important sources of power that operates in all
domains. Money and other forms of wealth can be converted to other types of power.
Personal attributes also influence power. Characteristics such as physical appearance, mode of dress,
articulateness, educational level, likeability and emotional stability are important sources of normative,
referent and expert power. Power also comes from the roles that people play in the society and
interpersonal relations. Social role expectations often seem to create a script like interaction between role
participants.
Type  of Definition
Example
Sources of Power: Likelihood
of
Power
Examples
Alienation
from use
Coercive
The
ability
to
A disputant tries to
Physical  strength, Very high
influence others by
get
the
other
weaponry, ability to
coercing,
disputant to agree to
file a lawsuit, ability
his or her terms by
to write threatening
threatening,
harming, irritating
threatening litigation.
letters, having the
law on one's side
Reward/
The
ability
to
A disputant offers to
Coercive
power, High
exchange
influence others by
dismiss a lawsuit if
wealth, possession
rewarding
or
the other disputant
of something the
agrees to terms.
other
disputant
withdrawing threats
wants
of coercion
Referent
The
ability
to
The power of a father
Improvement
of Moderate
influence
others
to influence his son is
physical
based on charisma
based on the son's
appearance,
and attractiveness
looking up to the
improvement
of
father.
how  one  comes
across
("charm
school"),
a
charismatic
spokesperson
Association with a Moderate
to A minister influences
Normative
The
ability
influence
others his
penitent's
"good cause," an
high important life choice.
influential
based
on
spokespersons,
moral standing
"image handling"
Expert
The
ability
to
Research,
A parent convinces a
Low
influence
others
child to behave in a
investigation,
based on availability
formal
learning,
certain way, based on
of knowledge
experts
the
parent's
experience.
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Conflict Management ­HRM624
VU
Ecological
The
ability
to
A  disputant  who Wealth,
research Dependent
on
influence others by
wants to sell a used into
options, what the power is
manipulating
the
refrigerator cleans the "elbow grease"
exercised for
environment
kitchen to give the
potential buyer the
impression that the
refrigerator has been
well cared for.
Context and Power
Power is context-dependent. Each of the six types of power exists to varying degrees depending on the
specific other person toward whom the power is directed. It also works in the specific situation where
power is exercised.
Powerful people and entities often have a lot to lose because they come to rely on their power and are
comfortable with the choices and advantages it brings with it.
A less powerful person, paradoxically, may be in better position because he or she has little to loose.
Summary
Power and its use is context dependent. Power is not all joy; it brings a lot of pressure and anxiety as well.
At times, the powerless is more at peace/comfort than a person who has power.
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION TO CONFLICT:Dispute, Legal Dispute, Call the police
  2. DISPUTE RESOLUTION 1:Positive affect in Negotiation, Alternative Dispute Resolution
  3. DISPUTE RESOLUTION II:Adjudication, Litigation, Mediation-Arbitration
  4. PRECONCEPTIONS ABOUT CONFLICT I:Pedagogical development, Pressures against Innovation
  5. PRECONCEPTIONS ABOUT CONFLICT II:Cultural beliefs about interpersonal conflict, Why strategies of change fail
  6. CONFLICT DIAGNOSIS:Who Needs to Know About Conflict Diagnosis?, Steps in Conflict Diagnosis
  7. RECURRENT THEMES IN CONFLICT DIAGNOSIS I:The Seven Steps of Social Behavior, Seven steps to diagnose conflict
  8. RECURRENT THEMES IN CONFLICT DIAGNOSIS II:Themes of Conflict Diagnosis
  9. DESCRIBING THE CONFLICT I:Description of Conflict, Identifying Interpersonal Conflict
  10. DESCRIBING THE CONFLICT II:Step 1 for Conflict Diagnosis, interpersonal or intrapersonal
  11. SOURCES AND CAUSES OF CONFLICT I:Main Sources of Conflict, Discussing major sources of conflict
  12. SOURCES AND CAUSES OF CONFLICT II
  13. INTEREST ANALYSIS I:Analyzing your interests, Analyzing the other disputant’s interests
  14. INTEREST ANALYSIS II:What are interests?, Tips for Interest Trees
  15. INTEREST ANALYSIS II:Principles and values, Basic Human Needs
  16. ASSESSING THE CHARACTER OF THE CONFLICT I, Premises of Deutsch’s Theory
  17. ASSESSING THE CHARACTER OF THE CONFLICT II:Techniques to transform competitive conflict into cooperative
  18. TRUST AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE I:What is Mistrust,Trust and business,Three levels of trust
  19. TRUST AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE II:Advantages of high trust level, Building of trust
  20. ASSESSING IMPEDIMENTS TO RESOLVE THE CONFLICT I:Motivation to seek vengeance, Mistrust
  21. ASSESSING THE IMPEDIMENTS TO RESOLVING THE CONFLICT II:Disempowered Disputant, Unpleasant Disputant
  22. ASSESSING THE NEGOTIATING STYLE I:Dual Concern Model, Dominating or competition style
  23. ASSESSING THE NEGOTIATING STYLE:Dual Concern Model, Tactics Used In Integrating
  24. ASSESSING POWER AMONG DISPUTANTS:Conflict and Power, Kinds of power in the Relationship Domain
  25. ASSESSING POWER AMONG DISPUTANTS II:Sources of Relationship Power, Context and Power
  26. POWER, CONFLICT, AND BATNA III:Role of Third Party in BATNA, Dealing with Power Imbalance
  27. STEREOTYPES, DIVERSITY, AND CONFLICT I:Stereotyping, Stereotyping in Interpersonal Conflict
  28. STEREOTYPES, DIVERSITY, AND CONFLICT:Categories of Diversity Issues, Seven Mental Processes to Prove Stereotypes
  29. STEREOTYPES, DIVERSITY AND CONFLICT III:Individual Difference and Social Category, Cultural differences in values
  30. MEDIATION I:When is mediation required, Processes Related to Mediation, Product of Mediation
  31. MEDIATION II:Important distinguishing factors, More Advantages and Disadvantages of Pure Mediation
  32. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MEDIATION I:Efficiency Consideration, Conflict Management and Prevention
  33. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MEDIATION II:Quality of Consent, Effects on the parties to mediation
  34. PROCESS OF MEDIATION:Stages of Mediation, Facilitative tactics in mediation
  35. LAW AND ETHICS OF MEDIATION I:Characteristics of mediation, Confidentiality
  36. LAW AND ETHICS OF MEDIATION II:Role of ethics in mediation, 8 Dimensions of Ethics in Mediation
  37. ARBITRATION I:Ways to Resolve Conflict, Advantages of Arbitration, Disadvantages of Arbitration
  38. ARBITRATION II:Varieties of Arbitration, Process of Arbitration, Contents of Arbitration Act
  39. NON BINDING EVALUATION:Disadvantage, Varieties of Non-binding Evaluation
  40. NON BINDING EVALUATION II:Varieties of Non-binding Evaluation, Advantages and disadvantages of Non-binding Evaluation
  41. MIXED AND MULTIMODAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION:Six System Design Principles, Extensions of Dispute Systems Design
  42. POWER TOOLS AND MAGIC KEYS I:Introduction, Necessity of conflict diagnosis, Using conflict diagnosis
  43. POWER TOOLS AND MAGIC KEYS II:Proposed Contents of a Clients’ Interview, Impediments to use facilitative mediation
  44. PANCHAYAT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM, AND ADR, Definitions of Panchayat, Definition of Jirga
  45. SUMMARY AND MESSAGE OF THE COURSE:Definitions of conflict, Negotiation, Meditation, Adjudication