POWER AND INFLUENCEThe course examines the bases of power in organizations and the ways in which power can be built and used effectively. It also explores the positive and negative effects that power-oriented behavior can have on organizations. The ethics of power will be a recurrent concern throughout the course. Class sessions will be devoted to discussing
“case” materials in light of theoretical arguments advanced in “readings.” Case materials include standard Harvard Business School cases, book chapters about individuals (Robert
Moses and Henry Kissinger), corporations (e.g., Lehman Brothers and Time Warner), and industries (e.g., the auto industry), and in-class videos (e.g., a “Bill Moyer’s Journal” segment on David Rockefeller).

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Final course grades will be based on student performance on three written assignments and on student participation in class discussions.
Written Assignments.
Each student will be expected to submit two individual case analyses that indicate what the student learned from reading and discussing the case in question. The case analyses should be one single spaced typewritten page long and should be submitted the week after the case that they address is discussed in class. Individual case analyses will be graded on a scale from 1-3 and together will comprise 10% of a student’s final grade.
Each student should also form a group with three to four other students to complete a case study of a real organization. The research for this case study can be carried out using primary sources (e.g., participation observation and/or interviews) or secondary sources (e.g., books, articles, or prepared cases about a target organization). Thus, group members need not have worked in an organization to use it as the subject of their final case analysis. Other case analysis topics may also be acceptable. Final group case analyses will be presented in class (during the last two sessions) and will be written up in no more than ten double-spaced typewritten pages. The group case analyses will be graded on a traditional letter grade scale, and will comprise 90% of a student’s final course grade. Groups must follow the guidelines stipulated below.
1. Groups must speak with me regarding the topic of their final paper sometime during the week of the 5th session. Failure to discuss your final paper topic with me by the end of this week will result in a onehalf grade point deduction from your final course grade (e.g., from A to B+).

2. Groups should obtain approval from me for their final paper topic by the 7th session. Failure to obtain approval for a final paper topic by this time will result in a one-half grade point deduction from your final grade. Groups may change their final paper topic after this time, but they should notify me of any such change as soon as possible. The submission of a final paper on an unproved topic will result in a one grade point deduction from your final course grade (e.g., from A to B).
3. Final papers must be submitted to me at the beginning of session # 10.
Class Participation.
The material covered in this course will be largely learned through in-class discussion.
For this reason, it is absolutely imperative that all students complete all of the assigned reading before coming to class. Likely discussion questions have been provided for each class session (with the exception of the first session) that can help you prepare for class discussion. The Professor’s evaluation of the quantity and quality of students whose performance on the final exam or final paper places them on the borderline between two letter grades (e.g., a student who received an A-for his /her work on the final exam or final paper could receive an A or B+ for the course, depending on the character of his/her contribution to class discussions).

COURSE READINGS
Managing with Power (MWP), by Jeffrey Pfeffer, Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
American Ground, by William Longewiesche, New York: North Point Press, 2002.
Anthology of case materials and other readings.

SESSION OUTLINE
SESSION #1: INTRODUCTION
TOPIC 1.

INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE

TOPIC 2.

WHY POWER IS IMPORTANT: ANALYSIS, DECISION-MAKING, AND
IMPLEMENTATION

Readings:

Managing with Power (MWP), Ch.1, “Decisions and Implementation”
MWP, Ch. 13, “The Politics of Information and Analysis.”

Case:

Donna Dubinsky and Apple computer (A through E) HBS cases 9-486083 through 9-486-087.

SESSION#2: HOW TO ASSESS THE POLITICAL TERRAIN
TOPIC 1.

DETERMINING WHEN POWER WILL BE IMPORTANT

Readings:

MWP, Ch.2. “When is Power Used?”

Case:

Textile Corporation of America. HBS case 470-044

Video:

Textile Corporation of America: Part Two. HBS case 882-002

TOPIC 2.

DETERMINING WHO HAS POWER

Readings:

MWP, Ch. 3, “Diagnosing Power and Dependence.”

Case:

Markham Instrument Company (A). HBS case 9-409-083

SESSION #3: HOW TO DEVELOP POWER-PART 1
TOPIC 1.

WHERE DOES POWER COME FROM:

PERSONS, SITUATIONS OR WHAT?

Readings:

MWP, Ch. 4, “Where Does Power Come From?”

Case:

William Longewiesche, American Ground, New York: North Point Press,
2002. Ch. 2, The Rush to Recover.”

Video:

“The World of David Rockefeller,” Bill Moyer’s Journal (1980).

TOPIC 2.

THE CONTROL OF RESOURCES

Readings:

MWP, Ch. 5, “Resources, Allies and the New Golden Rule.”

Case:

Robert A Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New
York, New York: Vintage Books, 1975. Ch. 10, “The Best Bill Drafter in
Albany,” Ch. 11, “The Majesty of the Law,” and Ch. 12, “Robert Moses and the Creature of the Machine.”

SESSION #4: HOW TO DEVELOP POWER-PART 2
TOPIC 1.

ADVANTAGEOUS COMMUNICATION NETWORK POSITION

Readings:

MWP, Ch. 6, “Location in the Communication Network.”

Case:

Nicole Tempest, Heidi Roizen (HBS Case 9-800-228)

TOPIC 2.

PERSONAL REPUTATION AND PERFORMANCE

Readings:

MWP, Ch. 7, “Formal Authority, Reputation, and Performance.”

Case:

Seymour Hersh, The Price of Power: Kissinger In the Nixon White
House, New York: Summit, 1983. Ch. 1, “The Job Seeker,” Ch.2, “A
New NSC System,” Ch. 3, “Consolidating Authority.”

SESSION #5: HOW TO DEVELOP POWER: PART 3
TOPIC 1.

SUBUNIT CHARACTERISTICS

Readings:

MWP, Ch. 8, “The Importance of Being in the Right Unit.”
MWP, Ch. 14, “Changing the Structure to Consolidate Power

Case:
TOPIC 2.

David Halberstam, The Reckoning, NY: William Morrow, 1986. Ch. 11,
“The Wiz Kids,” and Ch. 13 “The Quiet Man.”
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Readings:

MWP, Ch. 9, “Individual Attributes as Sources of Power.”

Case:

Mike Rose (A and B). HBS case 0-482-007.

Video:

“Captain Rose vs. The System,” CBS News: 60 minutes (1974).
“Interview with Mike Rose,” by John Kotter, HBS Case Services (19--)

SESSION #6:

TIME CHANGES EVERYTHING

Readings:

MWP, Ch.12, “Timing is (Almost Everything)”

Case:

Connie Bruck, “The World of Business: Strategic Alliances” The New
Yorker Magazine, July 6, 1992.

SESSION #7:

FALLING DOWN

Readings:

MWP, Ch. 16, “Even the Mighty Fall: How Power is Lost.”

Case:

Ken Auletta, “Power, Greed and Glory on Wall Street,” New York Times
Magazine, February 17, 1985. Ken Auletta, “The Men, the Money, the
Merger,” New York Times Magazine, February 24, 1985.

SESSION #8:

HOW TO MANAGE POWER DYNAMICS FROM THE TOP

TOPIC 1.

MANAGING POWER IN A ZERO-SUM ENVIRONMENT: PART 1

Readings:

MWP, Ch. 17, “Managing Political Dynamics Productively.”

Case:

John Sculley at Apple Computer (B). HBS case 9-486-002

TOPIC 2.

MANAGING POWER IN A NON-ZEERO-SUM ENVIRONMENT

Readings:

Rosaeth M. Kanter, The Change Masters, New York: Simon Schuster,
1983; Ch. 6, “Empowerment.”

Case:

American Express Travel Related Services Company. HBS case 9-485-174
Lou Gerstner.
HBS case 9-485-174
Beth Horowitz.
HBS case 9-487-040

SESSION #9:

THE ETHICS OF DEVELOPING, EXERCISING, AND MANAGING POWER

TOPIC 1.

POWER AND GOOD

Readings:

MWP, Ch. 18, “Managing with Power.”
Gerald Cavanaugh et. al, “The Ethics of Organizational Politics,”

Case:

Roger M. Boisejoly, “Ethical Decisions: Morton Thiokol and the Space
Shuttle Challenger Disaster.” 1987

SESSION #10: IN-CLASS DISCUSSION OF FINAL CASE ANALYSIS