For a one minute video intro to the course, go to: https://youtu.

be/iSzCH6LQu3k

POWER & POLITICS Langone

MGMT-GB.3366.60 SUMMER 2020 T/R

Professor R. Kabaliswaran
Office: KMC 7-56

E-mail: [email protected] (best way to reach me)

Remote Office Hours: By appointment. Just email me ahead.

Remote Class Hours: T/R 6:00:9:00. Dates: 5/21, 26, 28; 6/2, 4, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25, 30.
How to join the Zoom class: Join the Zoom class only through NYUC. It is more secure.

Syllabus is subject to further fine tuning to enhance our collective learning experience.

Welcome aboard!
I hope you and loved ones (including pets) are doing well and keeping safe.
I have made revisions to the original syllabus to make it remote friendly and pruned the grading
template to ensure you get all the course content and all the learning fun but with enough
flexibility built in so you can always give your loved ones the attention they need in these
challenging times.

It is reasonable to expect students to turn on their cameras, be lit well enough to be

recognized, log in through NYU, join class on time, keep themselves muted when they aren't
speaking, etc. 

ZOOM GUIDELINES AND EXPECTATIONS FOR CLASS

1. Join only through NYUC to ensure security.

2. Video on when class is on. We all want to see your face! If this is problematic for you for a
class or more, please alert me ahead.
3. Unmute audio whenever you speak.
4. Resist multitasking! I assure you, our class will be fun enough!
5. I do not cold call. But I do extend warm invitations.
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REVISED GRADING GUIDELINES

Attendance is optional.
Attendance is made optional across all the Kabi Trifecta courses (Strategic Design, Power and
Politics, Leadership Models) this summer.
While attendance is made optional, I highly recommend you make an effort to attend all
classes. Your presence helps you as well as the rest of us learn more.

REQUIRED DELIVERABLES (Pass/Fail Grades)

1.There will be some simple, straight forward NYUC Forum exercises, self assessments and
such which will require your responses. To accommodate the demands on your time, all
individual forum exercises will post without an expiry date on them. If you are unable to make
it to the Zoom class, you can still complete an exercise later at your time and convenience and
get your pass grade for this deliverable. Note that you need to complete ALL forum exercises.

2. Team Presentation on : Donna Dubisnky (A) and Politics of Change

Submit a deck of slides and present. No written report needed.
Specific assignment questions for this case will be posted a week ahead, and the deck of slides, will
be due no later than the date and time it is scheduled for discussion in class.

3. My Power Story. Post one or two slides and present to class. You share with the class a
political situation you found yourself in in your career and what happened, with lessons learnt. I
will brief you on the mechanics of this assignment in class.

4. My Constituency Map. Post a deck of 3 to 5 slides and present to class.

It is a deck of slides you prepare and present on where you are in your career now, where you
want to be in a few years, and how you plan to acquire the powers you need to get there from
here. I will discuss it in class and post  examples as well.
I will go over this concept in class. Based on the concept covered, you will construct a constituency
map and share it with the rest of the class. More details, later.

Optional Deliverables

If you shoot for grades in the A/A- range, you have to go the extra mile. This is how you do it.

1. You submit five one page journal logs. These could be any five class topics/concepts/cases
which were your favorites in this course. And you write approx. a page or so on each using the
3R framework; R1- Recap, R2-Reflect, and R3-Remember.

R1: RECAP Identify the concept or topic or case and provide a brief summary of the concept
or case /session content as per class discussion. I am looking for how well you synthesize
case/concept content.
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R2: REFELCT Reflect on how the concept/case connects with relevant experiences in your own
career thus far. I am looking for how well you internalize the content and relate it to your
life/career stories.
R3: REMEMBER Here I am looking for a one sentence takeaway drawn from your recap and
reflection. Give me a one sentence gist of the stuff that sticks in your memory.

2. You do the optional Power Progression Project

This assignment requires you to integrate your tactical power moves into a strategic long term
power journey through your career. The questions for this assignment will be posted on NYUC
at least a week ahead of its due date.

For both these assignments, the due date will be the date of the last class session.

Course Theme
Politics is not a dirty word! We just got to learn how to play good politics and keep out bad
politics. By the same logic, power by itself does not necessarily corrupt though absolute power
may corrupt absolutely. In other words, this course is about how to conquer the world, or at least
survive the corporate jungle, without losing our soul. Even if you don’t want to play politics, good
or bad, you still need the skills from this course to ensure that you don’t become a victim of
politics.

Course Objectives

 Understanding what power is: People often have a misperception of what power, the basis of
political behavior, really means. By the end of this course you should be able to have not only a
conceptual understanding of what power is within an organizational context but a practical
grasp of what the actual sources of power are.

 Learning the skills toward political aspects of management: You should be able to develop
the kind of skills needed for effective political management of organizational problems.

 Understanding your own political mindscape: Since effective political intervention requires
you to be conscious about the political dimensions of your own management and influence
style, we would , through discussion of actual business cases, try to identify each of our own
political skill set at play, and thus bring to the surface, and critique, the internalized "rules of
the game" we follow in political situations.

 Developing a personal agenda for successful political management of your career: By the
end of this course, you should have gained substantial insight into how best to harness your
political skills for effective management of your career path. Since unfettered political behavior
can lead to dysfunctional consequences for the individual manager as well as the organization,
we would also explore the legal, ethical and other normative issues that circumscribe and
channel political conduct.
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Course Materials

HBS Course Packet. Available at the NYU Professional Bookstore (Phone: 212 998 4681).
Order on line from: http://www.bookstores.nyu.edu.
Text (Recommended, not required):
Jeffrey Pfeffer, Power –– Why some people have it and others don’t. New York: Harper Collins.

GRADING
Team Midterm Case - Presentation Pass/Fail Due Session 8
My Power Story - Presentation Pass/Fail Due Session 10
My Constituency Map - Presentation Pass/Fail Due Session 11
NYUC Forum Exercises/Assessments Pass/Fail Various dates

Optional Power Progression Project Due Session 12

Optional Journal on favorite five cases, etc Due Session 12

Feel free to get in touch with me and share your thoughts and expectations on the course. The
email is the best and the fastest way to reach me. Remember, wherever you are, I live in the
same digital neighborhood.
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Schedule of Assignments

Theme: The forms of power and how individuals use them

5/21 Session 1
Introduction.
Reading: Power is the Great Motivator
Course Concept Basics: Kabi Power Paradigm.

5/26 Session 2
Case: Amelia Rogers at Tassani Communications.
Power Audit X vs Y: Amelia vs Dave
Thought Questions
1. What is going on here? Why did Burns call Johnson? Why did Johnson call
Rogers?
2. What should Rogers do? Should she speak to Burns? To Paglia? What influence
strategy and tactics she should use?

Case: InterSoft of Argentina. A& B. Alexey vs Hernan

Thought Questions
Questions for role play simulation will be provided in class.

5/28 Session 3
Case: Lisa Benton. Lisa vs Deborah
Thought Questions
1. How did Lisa Benton get into this mess?
2. Could she have done anything differently?
3. What should she do now?

Case: Jeffrey Sonenfeld . Prof Sonnenfeld vs Prof Chace

Thought Questions
1. What is the nature of organizational politics you see in this case?
2. How would you evaluate Sonnenfeld’s strategy and actions?
3. As Sonnenfeld’s political advisor, what do you recommend?

Theme: Structural holes and how they fill up with power

6/2 Session 4
Case: Basil "Buzz" Hargrove and de Havilland, Inc. Basil Buzz vs Merv Gray
Thought Questions
1. What are the crucial issues facing Hargrove at the end of the case?
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2. Why was Hargrove unable to convince Gray and the rest of the bargaining
committee to support what Hargrove believed was an excellent proposal from
de Havilland management?
3. Compare and critique the power bases of Hargrove and Gray. How do these
power bases affect the events we see unfolding in the case?
4. If you were in Hargrove’s position at the end of the case, what would be your
action plan for getting the agreement accepted?

Video Case: TBA. No need to prepare ahead. I will bring in all video cases.

Theme: Gender, culture and power

6/4 Session 5
Case: Karen Leary. Karen Leary vs Ted Chung
Thought Questions
1. How has Leary taken charge of the Emville branch office?
2. What do you think of Chung’s performance?
3. What are the problems/issues you need to anticipate in managing subordinates
with different cultural backgrounds and working styles?

Theme: Teams, Tribes & Identity Politics

Reading: Identity Issues in Teams

Case: Army Crew Team.
Thought Questions
1. Why does the Varsity team lose to the JV team?
2. What should coach P have done differently earlier in the season to resolve
this problem?
3. At the end of the case, what actions should he take on Tuesday? Why?
How is the Army Crew team different from other organizational teams you have
seen?

Theme: Coalition politics

6/9 Session 6

Case: Sunk Costs: The Plan to Dump the Brent Spar (A) . Shell vs Green Peace
Thought Questions :
1. Why didn’t Shell see it coming?
2. What was Greenpeace’s strategy? How could Shell have countered it?
3. What else could Shell have done once Greenpeace occupied the Brent
Spar?
4. Who won? Who lost? What does this case say about the limits of power?

Case: Reverend Jeffrey Brown. Rev Brown vs The Gangs

Kabi / Power SUMMER 2020 T/R page 7 of 14

Thought Questions
1. Map out Brown's sources of power and identify his objectives. How will his
existing power sources help or hinder his achievement of these objectives?
2. What were the factors critical to the success of the "Boston Miracle"?
3. At the end of the case, the potential for increased youth violence in Boston
appears to be rising. Are the efforts of Brown and the Coalition sustainable in
Boston? What do they need to do to assure that youth violence will not
revert back to the levels seen in the early 1990s?

Theme: How crises and mishaps create opportunities for power

6/11 Session 7
Case: The Cat is out of the Bag - KANA and the Layoff. Vicki vs Bryan
Thought Questions
1. What is the political climate at KANA?
2. Who does Vicki need to influence? What tactics should she use?
3. How should Vicki deal with her own emotions after the mistake occurs?

Theme: Career Politics: Power dynamics in changing environments

6/16 Session 8

DUE: Case: Donna Dubinsky and Apple Computer, A. Inc. Post copy to NYUC
Forum.
This is a midterm team write-up case. Questions will be posted at least a week
ahead.
Case: Donna Dubinsky and Apple Computer, Inc. (A).
Power Audit: X vs Y is Donna vs Debi
Describes a major conflict within Apple Computer in 1985 over control of
product distribution. The founder and chairman, Steve Jobs, proposed a new
distribution process which would transfer many responsibilities away from
distribution manager, Donna Dubinsky toward Debi Coleman in charge of
manufacturing. Dubinsky believed, however, that this process would be
practically and financially unworkable. Presents her defensive and unsuccessful
conflict management, culminating in her threatened resignation. What should
Donna do to stem the erosion of her power?

Theme: Network Politics

6/18 Session 9
Reading: How to Build Your Network.
Case: Heidi Roizen
Thought Questions
1. What are the strengths of Roizen's network as we see it at the end of the case?
The weaknesses?
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2. What specific steps did Roizen take to develop her network? To maintain it?
3. How does your own network compare with Roizen's? To what extent are the
differences due to the political structure in which the networks exist? To
what extent are the differences due to personal preferences and style?
4. What suggestions would you give Roizen for adjusting and maintaining her
network as she becomes more involved as an Internet venture capitalist?

Theme: Identity, Values and Power.

Case: Kevin Simpson
Power Audit: X vs Y is Kevin at Haemonetics v Kevin at Eli Lilly
Follows Kevin Simpson, a second-year MBA student, through his job search to his
final decision between two very attractive but different job offers: a job as an
international marketing manager at Eli Lilly and Co., a leading multinational
health product corporation; and a position as the assistant to the president of
Haemonetics, an entrepreneurial company in the biomedical equipment field.
Addresses the factors Simpson should consider when making job choices. Which
job would be better, power wise and fit wise, for Kevin?

The Three Faces of Power & The Triple Fit in Work and Life – Discussion.

Theme: Personalizing the course takeaways

6/23 Session 10
My Power Story: My past encounter with office politics and how I triumphed
(or barely survived ). Individual Presentation

6/25 Session 11
My Constituency Map: My power plan for the next step in my career.
Individual Presentation

Pursuit of power and work-life integration. Discussion.

6/30 Session 12
Course Concepts Review.
Case: Lyndon B Johnson . Video Case, time permitting. . No need to prepare
ahead.
Due: Optional Class Journal. Post to NYUC.
Due: Optional Power Progression Project. Post to NYUC.
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Kabi / Power SUMMER 2020 T/R page 10 of 14

ABSTRACTS OF CASES & READINGS (In alphabetical order)

Amelia Rogers at Tassani Communications

Describes a conflict that has arisen between an account manager and a creative director at
Tassani Communications, a Chicago-based advertising agency which is making the transition
from entrepreneurial to professional management. The client, the marketing director of a
muffler repair chain, has called the account manager to complain about the creative director's
behavior. The account manager must figure out what to do. The object is to provide students
with an opportunity to grapple with the challenges of managing relationships with peers and
superiors. Case helps us discuss managing 1) cross-departmental relationships, 2) interpersonal
conflicts, and 3) creativity

Basil "Buzz" Hargrove and de Havilland, Inc

Buzz Hargrove, national president of the Canadian Auto Workers, needs to find a way to secure
an agreement from a negotiated contract with de Havilland, Inc. Local union leaders feel the
deal is not good enough, but Hargrove is convinced management will close the plant down
otherwise. Case deals with Multi-level negotiations, dealing with "holes" in one's power base,
and using media to create voice and power.

Beyond the Myth of the Perfect Mentor.

Instead of embarking on an odyssey for the perfect mentor, individuals should pursue a
strategy of building a network of developmental relationships. In this note, we explore the
process by which such a network can be established and cultivated: 1) What functions can
developmental relationships serve? 2) How are these relationships formed and maintained? 3)
With whom in an organization can an individual establish such relationships? and 4) What are
some of the special challenges those in the minority face in building these relationships? In
summary, we offer guidelines for building a constellation of developmental relationships.

Claude Grunitzky 412065-PDF-ENG

Claude Grunitzky, a media entrepreneur, develops, maintains, and leverages an extensive
personal and professional network across three continents. The case considers the steps he has
taken to build and cultivate a network that creates value for himself and others. Provides
students with a platform to discuss what makes an effective social network and how to manage
multicultural relationships; facilitates discussion of networking behaviors as well as network
types and content.

Donna Dubinsky and Apple Computer, Inc.

Describes a major conflict within Apple Computer in 1985 over control of product distribution.
The founder and chairman, Steve Jobs, proposed a new distribution process which would
transfer many responsibilities away from distribution manager, Donna Dubinsky. Dubinsky
Kabi / Power SUMMER 2020 T/R page 11 of 14

believed, however, that this process would be practically and financially unworkable. Presents
her defensive and unsuccessful conflict management, culminating in her threatened
resignation.

Heidi Roizen
Heidi Roizen, a venture capitalist at SOFTBANK Venture Capital and a former entrepreneur,
maintains an extensive personal and professional network. She leverages this network to
benefit both herself and others. The case considers the steps she's taken to build and cultivate
a network that is both broad and deep. Provides an example of an effective social network;
facilitates discussion of network types, content, costs, and benefits.

Identity Issues in Teams

This note explains how identity dynamics underlie many of the observable interpersonal
problems that team members encounter, ranging from lack of participation and low
involvement to misunderstandings and dysfunctional emotional conflict. It provides a
framework for understanding how to recognize and manage identity issues in teams, including
sections on communicating identities, forming impressions, and the consequences of the
resulting level of congruence between people's identities and others' impressions of them.
Outlines action steps managers can take to increase the level of interpersonal congruence in
their teams, which should, in turn, make their teams more effective.

InterSoft of Argentina
Focuses on InterSoft of Argentina, a growing software company in Argentina. In 1993, InterSoft
acquires a Russian software company and Emilo Lopez, the vice president and director of
InterSoft's Systems Software Lab, must manage a creative, cross-cultural, "virtual" team. This
case illustrates InterSoft's origins and highlights the relationship between the founding
partners, Lopez and Felix Racca.

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (A)

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld was a professor at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. He was a
"star" at Emory and was extremely popular with the students. He was also extremely successful
at raising funds for Emory's Center for Leadership and Career Studies. He had close
relationships with some of the most powerful CEOs and business leaders in the country who
regularly attended the center for conferences that he led. It was common knowledge that
Sonnenfeld had conflicts with the dean of the business school and the dean of the entire
university. Sonnenfeld was caught on video camera jumping up and down the business school
hallways and potentially scraping the walls. The university fired him and interfered with his
outstanding offer to head up Georgia Tech's business school. Sonnenfeld's reputation was
ruined and he was out of his current job. Furthermore, his career was potentially ruined.

Jerry Sanders
Kabi / Power SUMMER 2020 T/R page 12 of 14

In 1997, Jay Sanders sold his 10-month-old medical device start-up company for more than $33
million. Looking to the future, he wondered if this was a success he could transform into a
medical device brokerage business. As he reviewed his career history and the development of
his start-up, Sanders was betting that he could replicate his success.

Karen Leary
Describes the evolution of the working relationship of Karen Leary, a new manager of a Merrill
Lynch retail branch, and Ted Chung, a new financial consultant in the branch. Leary has some
concerns about her working relationship with Chung and with his performance. Chung makes
what Leary perceives to be an unreasonable request for a private office. Leary must respond to
this request, taking into account the implications of her decision for her ambitions for the
branch office and her career.

Katharine Graham
Details the career of Katharine Graham of the Washington Post Co., a pioneer in her field and
one of the first high-profile women to lead a major public company. Her story is a unique
example of how power and expertise are built over time, and differs from those of other
business leaders in that she was unexpectedly thrust into a leadership position. Though
Graham could have been a figurehead leader of the Washington Post Co., she gradually
became a powerful national player: a publisher and CEO in more than title.

Kevin Simpson
Follows Kevin Simpson, a second-year Harvard Business School 1990 student, through his job
search to his final decision between two very attractive but different job offers: a job as an
international marketing manager at Eli Lilly and Co., a leading multinational health product
corporation; and a position as the assistant to the president of Haemonetics, an entrepreneurial
company in the biomedical equipment field. Addresses the factors Simpson should consider
when making job choices as well as the issues he faces as an African-American professional.

Lisa Benton
Lisa Benton is in her fourth month as an assistant product manager at Houseworld, a leading
consumer products company. She has been on the job since graduating from the Harvard
Business School, and she has been frustrated from the start by a lack of responsibility, by her
poor relationship with her boss and a colleague, and recently, by the negative performance
review she received. Concerned about her future at Houseworld, Benton is considering calling
her former boss from her summer job to inquire about a position. Case helps us highlight the
challenge of establishing credibility and power in a new job, and focuses in particular on
managing difficult boss and peer relationships.

Managerial Networks
Describes a managerial network as a set of relationships critical to a manager's ability to get
things done, get ahead, and develop personally and professionally. "Networking" refers to the
activities associated with developing and managing such relationships. Describes different types
Kabi / Power SUMMER 2020 T/R page 13 of 14

of networks, outlines characteristics that make networks useful, and concludes with practical
guidelines for developing a useful network.

Overcoming Group Warfare

Two strategies for resolving intergroup conflicts have been found: the interpersonal facilitator
approach, which relies on a neutral person to serve as an intermediary between disputing parties
so that they can find common ground, and the interface conflict-solving approach, which has
disputants deal directly with each other under the direction of a neutral person who leads them
through five steps to identify and resolve their differences. The interface conflict-solving approach
usually relieves tension between warring parties better that the interpersonal facilitator approach.

Power is the Great Motivator

What makes or motivates a good manager? This article attempts to answer that question by using
the degree of a person's need for power as a measure of success. McClelland and Burnham
studied managers in large U.S. corporations. They also surveyed the managers' subordinates to
determine how effective the managers were and to isolate the characteristics of those who
created high morale. Their conclusions? The better managers tended to score high in their need
for power--that is, their desire to influence people--and that need outweighed their need to be
liked. The authors also found that the most effective managers controlled their desire for power so
that it was directed toward the benefit of the institution as a whole.

Presenting Penpoint
Containing excerpts from Jerry Kaplan's best-selling book, Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure,
this case begins with Kaplan's idea for developing a hand-held, pen-operated computer. It
follows Kaplan, who becomes the CEO of GO Corp., as he goes on the road to sell his idea to
investors and customers. Closes as Kaplan prepares to pitch his idea to the data processing
administration of State Farm Mutual Life Insurance. With IBM and other established firms as
competitors, Kaplan must plan his presentation carefully. Provides an opportunity to consider
strategies for influencing an audience. In class, using role play, we can practice using persuasion
tactics to influence the intended customer, State Farm.
Kabi / Power SUMMER 2020 T/R page 14 of 14

Reverend Jeffrey Brown

Introduces Reverend Jeffrey Brown, one of the cofounders of the Ten Point Coalition in Boston,
MA. The Ten Point Coalition, a group of ministers that worked to change the dynamics between
the Boston Police force and the kids on the street, was instrumental in reducing the rate of
youth violence in Boston. Describes the unique history of Boston, and how the coalition came
to be successful in Boston, and wrestles with the question of whether or not the success can be
replicated in other cities and around the world. The case introduces use of power as a way to
change communication structure and network structure, the powerful role of language in
shaping the meaning attached to issues and events, and provides an example of using personal
power to benefit society.

Six Principles of Successful Persuasion

Describes some of the key principles that managers must follow in order to successfully
persuade their organization of their vision for change.

Sunk Costs: The Plan to Dump the Brent Spar (A)

This case explores the conflict between Shell Oil and Greenpeace over Shell's plans to sink the
aging Brent Spar oil platform in the North Atlantic. It details the tactics Greenpeace employed
and examines Shell's responses. This case covers issues in organizational crisis and coalition
building.

The Cat is out of the Bag - KANA and the Layoff

Vicki Amon-Higa, vice-president of KANA, a publicly traded, mid-size development company,
was working with Bryan Kettle, KANA's CFO, to plan a layoff whereby KANA would reduce the
size of its workforce by nearly 40%. Despite the best of intentions, news of the layoff leaked
before the planned announcement. The situation quickly deteriorated as a series of irate
managers called Amon-Higa, demanding to know why they weren't aware of the layoff and
asking her how to handle the situation. She must quickly assess the situation, figure out what
went wrong, and decide how to manage each of the company's stakeholders, including Chuck
Bay, KANA's CEO. This case examines conflict, speaking, up, and crisis management and how
best to leverage one's power.

Why Good Managers Make Bad Ethical Choices

How can usually honest, intelligent, compassionate human beings act in ways that are callous,
duplicitous, dishonest, and wrongheaded? Unethical behavior is found everywhere, and
ambitious managers facing murky borderlands between right and wrong sometimes cross over
the line. Their decisions ruin people's lives, destroy institutions, and give business as a whole a
bad name. But executives can establish effective guidelines to ensure their corporations'
survival. There are practical solutions to the rationalizations that give way to unethical
behavior.