Course Syllabus

OB 6331-0g1
Power and Politics
School of Management
The University of Texas at Dallas

| Course Info | Tech Requirements | Access & Navigation | Communications | Resources |

Assessments | Academic Calendar | Scholastic Honesty | Course Evaluation | UTD Policies |

Course Information

Course

Course Number/Section OB 6331-0g1

Course Title Power and Politics in Organizations
Term Spring 2011
Dates Jan 20th - May 1rd

Professor Contact Information

Professor Tracey Rockett, Ph.D.
Office Phone 972-883-4747
Email Address Tracey.Rockett@utdallas.edu
Office Location SOM 4.202
Office Hours Mondays 9:00-1:00 and by appointment
Other Information The quickest and easiest way to contact me is thru WebCT email. If it is
important to get a quick response, do not call since I only check my voice
mail when in the office. However, if it is a topic that needs to be
addressed over the phone you can call during my office hours or email
me to set up a time to call/meet.

About the Instructor

I have a Ph.D. in International Management Studies from UTD and a B.S. in Psychology from
Texas A&M University. I have been teaching Organizational Behavior classes at UTD for 10
years and teach courses at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels. I conduct field
and survey research on groups and teams.

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions

Pre-requisite: OB 6301

Course Description
Power and politics are necessary for getting work done in organizations, but many
people feel uncomfortable using them to their advantage. This class will introduce
students to types of power and give them strategies for using politics to increase their
individual power. We will start with an organizational view of power and move to
personal influence tactics in order provide tools for individuals to “play politics” in
organizations.

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Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes
1) Demonstrate an understanding of the types of power in organizations.
2) Apply different strategies of influence to their own problems in organizations.
3) Analyze strengths and weaknesses of individual influence.
4) Develop a plan of action for increasing individual power in workplace.
5) Analyze political strategies of powerful individuals in organizations.

Required Textbooks and Materials

Managing With Power: Politics and Influence in Organizations

Pfeffer, J.
Harvard Business School Press; 1st edition (February 1994)
ISBN-10: 0875844405
ISBN-13: 978-0875844404

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Cialdini, R.
Prentice Hall; 5th ed (2008)
ISBN-10: 0205609996
ISBN-13: 978-0205609994

The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the
Organization*
Maxwell, J.
Thomas Nelson; 1st edition
ISBN-10: 0785260927
ISBN-13: 978-0785260929
*you must have a new copy of this book in order to take the 360 leader survey

Readings on Electronic Reserve

Textbooks and some other bookstore materials can be ordered online through Off-Campus
Books or the UTD Bookstore. They are also available in stock at both bookstores.

Course Policies

Class Participation
You will be expected to participate regularly in online discussions. A great deal of learning
takes place when you share your experiences with others. I will post questions and comments
to the discussion board which you can respond to. In addition, I might post information from the
reflections on experience papers for you to discuss. Participation is worth 20 points or 20% of
your grade. It is absolutely necessary that you participate regularly. It is often the case that
students lose a letter grade because they are not participating, so please make a point to do
this!

The rules for participation in the discussion are as follows:

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 1) Participation points will be given for both responses to discussion postings by
students and for responses to questions submitted by professor.
2) When a question is posted, the first five replies can answer the question directly,
posts after that need to respond to the answers given by other students to mimic an in class
discussion. Look at this as a conversation with one another rather than trying to impress me
with the “right” answer.
3) I am grading on quality of responses, not quantity. So, posts such as “I agree” or
“sounds good to me” do not count towards participation (although you can certainly use these to
advance the conversation. In order to count as participation your post has to be well thought
out and pertain to the topic for the week. You should reference some of the concepts we are
currently examining in class, not just offer vague assessments such as “there was a problem
motivation”. You can also refer back to previous weeks material if relevant. Integration of
concepts is key since none of the issues operate completely independent of one another. For
example, conflict is often caused by miscommunication, so you might refer to both in a
discussion even if the question is about conflict.
4) Keep discussion on topic and factual in nature. No flaming allowed. Opinions are
fine as long as they are supported by facts. For example, stating that you think that a specific
course of action is correct because of x, y, z is acceptable. Stating that the previous poster is
an idiot is not.
5) Grammar and spelling are not graded in the discussion section, so don’t feel that you
have to spend hours editing your response. However, please use full words, not acronyms and
abbreviations – not everyone is familiar with the text message language.
6) Limit your response to 250 words – any more than that and readers lose the point
(and interest).
7) In order to receive full participation points you must post 1-2 value-added comments
to at least 6 discussions.
8) While you can continue to post to a topic of interest, in order to receive credit for
participation, you must post during the week the topic is being discussed.

Virtual Classroom Citizenship

The same guidelines that apply to traditional classes should be observed in the virtual
classroom environment. Please use proper netiquette when interacting with class members and
the professor.

Policy on Server Unavailability or Other Technical Difficulties

The university is committed to providing a reliable online course system to all users. However, in
the event of any unexpected server outage or any unusual technical difficulty which prevents
students from completing a time sensitive assessment activity, the instructor will extend the time
windows and provide an appropriate accommodation based on the situation. Students should
immediately report any problems to the instructor and also contact the UTD eLearning Help
Desk: http://www.utdallas.edu/elearninghelp, 1-866-588-3192. The instructor and the UTD
eLearning Help Desk will work with the student to resolve any issues at the earliest possible
time.

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Technical Requirements
In addition to a confident level of computer and Internet literacy, certain minimum technical
requirements must be met to enable a successful learning experience. Please review the
important technical requirements and the web browser configuration information.
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Course Access and Navigation

This course was developed using a web course tool called eLearning. It is to be delivered
entirely online. Students will use their UTD NetID account to login to the course through UTD
Galaxy: http://galaxy.utdallas.edu or directly at http://elearning.utdallas.edu. Please see more
details on course access and navigation information.

To get started with an eLearning course, please see the Getting Started: Student eLearning
Orientation.

UTD provides eLearning technical support 24 hours a day/7 days a week. The services include
a toll free telephone number for immediate assistance (1-866-588-3192), email request service,
and an online chat service. The UTD user community can also access the support resources
such as self-help resources and a Knowledge Base. Please use this link to access the UTD
eLearning Support Center: http://www.utdallas.edu/elearninghelp.

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Communications
This eLearning course has built-in communication tools which will be used for interaction and
communication. Some external communication tools such as regular email and a web
conferencing tool may also be used during the semester. For more details, please see
communication tool information.

Another communication tool available to students is live voice chat in the 3D virtual world of
Second Life. Instructions for accessing the UTD SOM Island in Second Life can be found at
http://som.utdallas.edu/somResources/eLearning/faculty/secondLife.php.

Interaction with Instructor: I will communicate with students mainly using the Announcements
and Discussions tools and WebCT email. Students may send personal concerns or questions to
me using the course Email tool. I will reply to student emails or Discussion board messages
within 3 working days under normal circumstances. I generally check my email daily during the
week. However, please remember that I am human like the rest of you, with family obligations
and outside commitments. So, if I do not respond immediately to your email, please do not
worry. I will get in touch with you as soon as I am able to. I take weekends off, so do not
expect a response until Monday.

The other form of regular interaction will be through the discussion board. I will read the posts
and contribute occassionally, although I want for the discussions to be shaped by you and other
students. You will need to participate in the discussion function in order to get credit for
participation.

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Student Resources
The following university resources are available to students:

UTD Distance Learning: http://www.utdallas.edu/oee/distance/students/cstudents.htm

McDermott Library: Distance Learners (UTD students who live outside the boundaries of
Collin, Dallas, Denton, Rockwall, or Tarrant counties) will need a UTD-ID number to access all
of the library’s electronic resources (reserves, journal articles, ebooks, interlibrary loan) from
off campus. For UTD students living within those counties who are taking online courses, a
Comet Card is required to check out materials at the McDermott Library. For more information
on library resources go to http://www.utdallas.edu/library/distlearn/disted.htm.

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Student Assessments
Grading Information

Weights

Power Blogs 100 20%

360 leader analysis 100 30%
Power paper 100 30%
Participation 100 20%
Total 100%

Grading criteria

Scaled Score Letter Equivalent

94-100 A
90-93 A-
87-89 B+
83-86 B
80-82 B-
77-79 C+
70-76 C
Less than 70 F

Grading Policy

I do not want to make mistakes in my grading and I want to be fair to all of the students in the
class. However, I do not want to grade every paper or case analysis twice. Therefore, there
are two rules I use for re-grades: 1) all requests for re-grades must be presented in writing with
a description of what you want me to consider in the re-grade process; 2) when I re-grade a
paper or case, I re-grade the entire paper or case, not just the areas of concern. Therefore, it is
possible for the grade to go down as a result of a re-grade.

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Accessing Grades

Students can check their grades by clicking “My Grades” under Course Tools after the grade for
each assessment task is released.

Assignments

Power Blogs:
A very important part of this course is the experience that you bring to class. In order to
draw on some of your experience, you will be required to write a couple of blog entries
over the course of the class. These are not intended to be major research papers.
These are intended to be short entries in which you are asked to describe an
experience with power or politics that you have had in an organization and to apply the
readings for the week to explain the experience from a theoretical standpoint.

Each entry in the blog should be around 800-1200 words. Each entry should include
a description of your experience and a careful analysis of how the material from
our class helps you understand your experience from a broader perspective.

Let me be clear – you do not have to blog every week or every unit. You can pick two
units that you are interested in or connect with and write blogs on those days. You will
only turn in 2 blogs the entire semester.

You will turn in your blogs by the end week we discuss a topic. The weeks that units
are continued you can turn it in on the second week. So if you are blogging about unit 3
“strong situations” it will be due on Jan 30th. You will not be able to blog on the week of
the 360 leader since you will be writing a longer paper about this topic.

There will be a place for you to submit your blog on the assignments tab. Each blog is
worth 10 points with both totaling 20% of your final grade. I will not accept late blogs.
I will give feedback on the first one you turn in.

360 Leader Paper:

In addition to weekly blogging about power in your life, I want for you to conduct a 360
power analysis. This analysis will be based on the results from your 360 leader survey.
It should be a discussion of your relative strengths and weaknesses and some
strategies that you might use to help in areas that you need to work on.

This does not have to be a discussion of every single leadership challenge, but it should
be an in-depth discussion of those challenges that are important for you. For example,
if you need to work a great deal on leading across, you can just briefly talk about
leading down and up, and focus on leading across for the bulk of your paper. Or, if you
need to work in every area, you might pick one or two challenges from each area to
write about. If you want feedback, you can send me a draft, but I need it at least 2
weeks before the paper is due to give you comments. Your paper should be at least 4

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pages, double spaced. It is worth 30% of your grade. The 360 paper is due on
February 20th. I will not accept late papers.

Power analysis group paper:

You will be asked to choose a person in a position of power in an organization and
analyze that person. Given that this is a fairly large class, I would like for you to write
the paper in groups of 3-4 people. I will let you choose your groups and if you do not
know anyone in class, I will assign you to a group. I will use a group sign-up sheet to form
groups for group assignments or projects – you must choose a group by the end of the second
week (Jan 30th) . If you do not have a group, I will assign you one the following week.

The person your group chooses needs to be someone fairly high-profile so that you can
find the background material necessary to conduct a thorough analysis. It can also be a
person who previously held a position of power. Some examples include Carly Fiorina,
Alan Greenspan, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Bill Clinton, and Meg Whitman. As you can
tell, these are/were all high profile individuals who have had lots of press. For the
purpose of this project, the more press the better because you will have plenty of
material to work with.

Your group needs to pick an individual and get it approved by Feb 13th. I do not want
duplicates, so as soon as you choose an individual, let me know. The project is due on
your paper is due on Sunday, Apr 24th and the presentation is due on May 1st . More
information will be given on the structure of the paper and presentation in class. The
power analysis project will be worth 30% of your grade. I will not accept late papers.

A private discussion area will be set up on the discussion board for internal group
communications. A group chat room can also be created for each group to use. A web
conference system is available for use. Teams can schedule a live web conference for
team work. Please see communication tool information for instructions on making a
reservation and other web conference information. Meeting spaces have also been set
up on the UTD SOM Island in the virtual world of Second Life. Instructions for
accessing the island can be found at
http://som.utdallas.edu/somResources/eLearning/faculty/secondLife.php.

Participation:
You will be expected to participate regularly in online discussions. A great deal of
learning takes place when you share your experiences with others. I will post questions
and comments to the discussion board which you can respond to. In addition, I might
post information from the reflections on experience papers for you to discuss.
Participation is worth 20 points or 20% of your grade. It is absolutely necessary that
you participate regularly. It is often the case that students lose a letter grade because
they are not participating, so please make a point to do this!

Assignment submission instructions

You will submit your assignments (blogs, your 360 paper, and your group project) by using the
Assignments tool on the course site. Please see the Assignments link on the course menu or

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see the icon on the designated page. You can click each assignment name link and follow the
on-screen instructions to upload and submit your file(s). The blogs will need to be submitted
directly into the submission window, but I highly recommend that you write it as a document and
save it before you copy and paste it into the window just in case something goes wrong. This
way you will have a saved copy. I want for you to attach your 360 leader paper and group
project as a word document. For the team project assignment, one group member will submit
the assignment for the group and all group members will be able to view the results and
feedback once it’s been graded.

Academic Calendar

Course Access
0 and Self- Introduction Lecture
Jan 10- Orientation
Jan 16 Syllabus Quiz Jan 16
Unit 1:
Introduction to Self Introduction Jan 16
Power and
Politics

Unit 2:
1 What is Power Pfeffer: Chs 1-4 Lecture
Jan 17- and Why Do We
Jan 23 Need it? Blog Jan 23

Unit 3:
2 Politics of Cialdini: Chs 5-7 Lecture
Jan 24- Legitimacy and
Jan 30 Influence : Blog Jan 30
Strong Situations
Choose groups for Jan 30
Power Paper
Unit 4:
3 Politics of Pfeffer: Chs 5-8 Lecture
Jan 31- Legitimacy and
Feb 6 Influence: Blog Feb 6
Resources,
Scarcity and
Allies
Unit 5:
4 360 Leader Maxwell: Sec 1-5 Lecture
Feb 7-
Feb 13 Complete 360 Feb 13
survey

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 Choose leader for
power analysis Feb 13
project
Unit 5:
5 (con’t) Pfeffer: Ch 9 360 leader paper Feb 20
Feb 14- due
Feb 20
Unit 6:
6 Informal Sources Pfeffer: Chs 10-11 Lecture
Feb 21- of Power and
Feb 27 Tactics of Cialdini: Chs 1-3 Blog Feb 27
Influence

Unit 7:
7 Social Influence Pfeffer: Ch 12 Lecture
Feb 28 –
Mar 6 Cialdini: Chs 4,5, & 8

Unit 7:
8 (con’t) Cialdini: Chs 4,5, & 8 Blog Mar 13
Mar 7 –
Mar 13

9
Mar 14 – SPRING BREAK RELAX and ENJOY!!
Mar 20

10 Unit 8:
Mar 21- Power, Pfeffer: Chs15-18 Lecture
Mar 27 Symbolism, and
Change Blog Mar 27

11 Unit 9:
Mar 28- Gender and Readings on Lecture
Apr 3 Politics Electronic Reserve

12 Unit 9:
Apr 4 (con’t) Readings on Blog Apr 10
Apr 10 Electronic Reserve
Unit 10:
13 Personal Readings on Lecture
Apr 11- Branding Electronic Reserve

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 Apr 17 Blog Apr 17

GROUP Power Analysis

14 PROJECT group project due Apr 24
Apr 18- WEEK
Apr 24

GROUP
15 PRESENTATION Power analysis
Apr 25- WEEK presentation due May 1
May 1

Scholastic Honesty
The University has policies and discipline procedures regarding scholastic dishonesty.
Detailed information is available on the UTD Judicial Affairs web page. All students are
expected to maintain a high level of responsibility with respect to academic honesty. Students
who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties,
including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. Since
such dishonesty harms the individual, all students and the integrity of the University, policies
on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced.

There is absolutely no reason for you to cheat in this class. If you keep up with the materials,
participate regularly and complete the assignments you will do fine. However, I do take
cheating very seriously and if I catch you I will send you to Judial Affairs. Bottom line – DO
NOT CHEAT!!

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Course Evaluation

As required by UTD academic regulations, every student must complete an evaluation for
each enrolled course at the end of the semester. An online instructional assessment form will
be made available for your confidential use. Please look for the course evaluation link on the
course Home Page towards the end of the course.

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University Policies

Student Conduct & Discipline

The University of Texas System and The University of Texas at Dallas have rules and
regulations for the orderly and efficient conduct of their business. It is the responsibility of
each student and each student organization to be knowledgeable about the rules and

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 regulations which govern student conduct and activities. General information on student
conduct and discipline is contained in the UTD publication, A to Z Guide, which is provided to
all registered students each academic year.

The University of Texas at Dallas administers student discipline within the procedures of
recognized and established due process. Procedures are defined and described in the Rules
and Regulations, Board of Regents, The University of Texas System, Part 1, Chapter VI,
Section 3, and in Title V, Rules on Student Services and Activities of the university’s
Handbook of Operating Procedures. Copies of these rules and regulations are available to
students in the Office of the Dean of Students, where staff members are available to assist
students in interpreting the rules and regulations (SU 1.602, 972/883-6391).

A student at the university neither loses the rights nor escapes the responsibilities of
citizenship. He or she is expected to obey federal, state, and local laws as well as the
Regents’ Rules, university regulations, and administrative rules. Students are subject to
discipline for violating the standards of conduct whether such conduct takes place on or off
campus, or whether civil or criminal penalties are also imposed for such conduct.

Academic Integrity

The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility and academic honesty.
Because the value of an academic degree depends upon the absolute integrity of the work
done by the student for that degree, it is imperative that a student demonstrate a high
standard of individual honor in his or her scholastic work.

Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts or omissions related to
applications for enrollment or the award of a degree, and/or the submission as one’s own work
or material that is not one’s own. As a general rule, scholastic dishonesty involves one of the
following acts: cheating, plagiarism, collusion and/or falsifying academic records. Students
suspected of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary proceedings.

Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers for other classes, and from any
other source is unacceptable and will be dealt with under the university’s policy on plagiarism
(see general catalog for details). This course will use the resources of turnitin.com, which
searches the web for possible plagiarism and is over 90% effective.

Email Use

The University of Texas at Dallas recognizes the value and efficiency of communication
between faculty/staff and students through electronic mail. At the same time, email raises
some issues concerning security and the identity of each individual in an email exchange.
The university encourages all official student email correspondence be sent only to a student’s
U.T. Dallas email address and that faculty and staff consider email from students official only if
it originates from a UTD student account. This allows the university to maintain a high degree
of confidence in the identity of all individual corresponding and the security of the transmitted
information. UTD furnishes each student with a free email account that is to be used in all
communication with university personnel. The Department of Information Resources at U.T.
Dallas provides a method for students to have their U.T. Dallas mail forwarded to other
accounts.

Withdrawal from Class

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 The administration of this institution has set deadlines for withdrawal of any college-level
courses. These dates and times are published in that semester's course catalog.
Administration procedures must be followed. It is the student's responsibility to handle
withdrawal requirements from any class. In other words, I cannot drop or withdraw any
student. You must do the proper paperwork to ensure that you will not receive a final grade of
"F" in a course if you choose not to attend the class once you are enrolled.

Student Grievance Procedures

Procedures for student grievances are found in Title V, Rules on Student Services and
Activities, of the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures.

In attempting to resolve any student grievance regarding grades, evaluations, or other

fulfillments of academic responsibility, it is the obligation of the student first to make a serious
effort to resolve the matter with the instructor, supervisor, administrator, or committee with
whom the grievance originates (hereafter called “the respondent”). Individual faculty members
retain primary responsibility for assigning grades and evaluations. If the matter cannot be
resolved at that level, the grievance must be submitted in writing to the respondent with a
copy of the respondent’s School Dean. If the matter is not resolved by the written response
provided by the respondent, the student may submit a written appeal to the School Dean. If
the grievance is not resolved by the School Dean’s decision, the student may make a written
appeal to the Dean of Graduate or Undergraduate Education, and the deal will appoint and
convene an Academic Appeals Panel. The decision of the Academic Appeals Panel is final.
The results of the academic appeals process will be distributed to all involved parties.

Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of the Dean of
Students, where staff members are available to assist students in interpreting the rules and
regulations.

Incomplete Grade Policy

As per university policy, incomplete grades will be granted only for work unavoidably missed
at the semester’s end and only if 70% of the course work has been completed. An incomplete
grade must be resolved within eight (8) weeks from the first day of the subsequent long
semester. If the required work to complete the course and to remove the incomplete grade is
not submitted by the specified deadline, the incomplete grade is changed automatically to a
grade of F.

Disability Services

The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities educational opportunities
equal to those of their non-disabled peers. Disability Services is located in room 1.610 in the
Student Union. Office hours are Monday and Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Tuesday and
Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The contact information for the Office of Disability Services is:

The University of Texas at Dallas, SU 22
PO Box 830688
Richardson, Texas 75083-0688
(972) 883-2098 (voice or TTY)

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 Essentially, the law requires that colleges and universities make those reasonable
adjustments necessary to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability. For example, it
may be necessary to remove classroom prohibitions against tape recorders or animals (in the
case of dog guides) for students who are blind. Occasionally an assignment requirement may
be substituted (for example, a research paper versus an oral presentation for a student who is
hearing impaired). Classes enrolled students with mobility impairments may have to be
rescheduled in accessible facilities. The college or university may need to provide special
services such as registration, note-taking, or mobility assistance.

It is the student’s responsibility to notify his or her professors of the need for such an
accommodation. Disability Services provides students with letters to present to faculty
members to verify that the student has a disability and needs accommodations. Individuals
requiring special accommodation should contact the professor after class or during office
hours.

Religious Holy Days

The University of Texas at Dallas will excuse a student from class or other required activities
for the travel to and observance of a religious holy day for a religion whose places of worship
are exempt from property tax under Section 11.20, Tax Code, Texas Code Annotated.

The student is encouraged to notify the instructor or activity sponsor as soon as possible
regarding the absence, preferably in advance of the assignment. The student, so excused,
will be allowed to take the exam or complete the assignment within a reasonable time after the
absence: a period equal to the length of the absence, up to a maximum of one week. A
student who notifies the instructor and completes any missed exam or assignment may not be
penalized for the absence. A student who fails to complete the exam or assignment within the
prescribed period may receive a failing grade for that exam or assignment.

If a student or an instructor disagrees about the nature of the absence [i.e., for the purpose of
observing a religious holy day] or if there is similar disagreement about whether the student
has been given a reasonable time to complete any missed assignments or examinations,
either the student or the instructor may request a ruling from the chief executive officer of the
institution, or his or her designee. The chief executive officer or designee must take into
account the legislative intent of TEC 51.911(b), and the student and instructor will abide by the
decision of the chief executive officer or designee.

Off-Campus Instruction and Course Activities

Off-campus, out-of-state, and foreign instruction and activities are subject to state law and
University policies and procedures regarding travel and risk-related activities. Information
regarding these rules and regulations may be found at the website address given below.
Additional information is available from the office of the school dean.
(http://www.utdallas.edu/BusinessAffairs/Travel_Risk_Activities.htm)

These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the
Professor.

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