The tactics used by people at work to influence their superiors, co-workers, and subordinates were investigated in two studies. In the first study, 165 lower-level managers wrote essays describing an incident in which they influenced either their bosses, co-workers, or subordinates. Through content analysis, a total of 370 influence tactics grouped into 14 categories were identified. The tactics ranged from the use of rational discussion through the use of exchange tactics to the use of clandestine tactics. In a second study, the 370 influence tactics were rewritten into a 58-item questionnaire. New respondents described the extent to which they used each item to influence their bosses (n = 225), co-workers (n = 285), or subordinates (n = 244). Based on afactor analysis of the questionnaire, eight dimensions of influence were found: assertiveness, ingratiation, rationality, sanctions, exchange, upward appeals, blocking, and coalitions. It was found that the frequency with which each influence dimension was used related to the relative power of the respondents and their targets of influence, the reasons for exercising influence, the resistance of the target person, the organizational status of the respondents, organizational size, and whether the organization was unionized. Sex of the respondents and sex of the respondents' bosses, however, were not related to the choice of influence tactics in the present study. classified into preexisting categories. Sev-
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. We gratefully acknowledge the many helpful comments and criticisms of Gerald Salancik and three anonymous reviewers and the professional editing of this manuscript by Linda Pike. Three studies explored the relationship between participants using different styles of upward influence in formal organizations and their performance evaluations, salaries, and reported stress. In studies of workers, supervisors, and chief executive officers, the following four upward-influence styles were identified through cluster analysis: Shotgun, Tactician, Ingratiator, and Bystander. Male subordinates using a Shotgun style of upward influence were evaluated less favorably by their superiors, earned less, and reported more job tension and personal stress than Tactician subordinates. There was evidence that gender moderated the relation between subordinates' upward-influence styles and superiors' evaluation of their performances.-Within the past decade, organizational theory and research have made substantial contributions to our understanding of the upward-influence process in organizations by which participants attempt to gain compliance from those at higher levels in the formal organizational structure. It is generally recognized that exercising upward influence is an essential aspect of organizational behavior and contributes substantially to individual effectiveness (PeIz, 1952; Kanter, 1977; Mowday, 1978; Schilit, 1986).Recent studies of upward influence have focused on two related questions. First, how can the tactics used to influence others at higher levels be described succinctly? (Kipnis, Schmidt, and Wilkinson, 1980; Schilit and Locke, 1982). Second, under which circumstances do organizational participants choose to use an influence style? (Mowday, 1978; Porter, Allen and Angle, 1981; Kipnis and Schmidt, 1983; Schmidt and Kipnis, 1984). Conspicuously missing from this research literature is information on the relationship between the use of upward-influence styles and other individual outcomes. This paper begins to address this deficiency in the organizational literature by reporting on three studies that examined the relationship between the style subordinates used to influence their organizational superiors and their subsequent performance evaluations by their superiors, their salaries, and stress symptoms they reported. CLASSIFICATION OF UPWARD-INFLUENCE STYLESBoth popular writers about power and influence theorists, such as Kelly (1988), reasoned that individuals typically use upward-influence styles in combinations when attempting to gain compliance from individuals at higher organizational levels. Unfortunately, very little research has been designed to identify empirically these m...
Employees often seek to create favorable impressions with their managers. An empirical study of the antecedents, process, and consequences of influence strategies in upward impression management found that subordinates have both multiple goals and strategies. Subordinates' strategies varied with their goals in impression management. They also reported using a wider range of strategies than usually attributed to impression management. Managerial ap- praisals were based on their impressions of their subordinates, and perceptions of their influence style. While subordinates may believe that ingratiation will help them get better appraisals, using coalitions appears to lead to favorable impressions and appraisals. Subordinate assertiveness may lead to unfavorable impressions and performance appraisals.
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