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A Discussion on Influence Processes

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You have been encouraged by a colleague to write a brief article about "upper-echelon leaders" for a management journal. You have decided to compare the leadership styles of three leaders: Stanley Wang, Leslie Marks, and Joseph Hadad. (Read the content below to act as source material for these three individuals)

Brain Toys Executives:

Stanley Wang, the CEO of Brain Toys, joined the organization a few years before the founder, J. C. Green, decided to retire. It became clear early on that Stanley was destined to rise fast. With a B.S. degree in engineering and graphic design, an MBA, and several years of experience in computer software design, he fit right in the Brain Toys culture. He was bright, witty, analytical, and competitive. J. C. took a liking to him and put him in charge of several high-visibility projects with potential for high impact and big budgets. Stanley performed every time. Within the first two years, Stanley won all the internal awards that Brain Toys gives its managers. Several of his peers maliciously credited Stanley's love of running rather than his technical and managerial competence as the cause of his success. Stanley ran with the boss every day before work and they trained for many races together.

The Soft-Touch Leader:

Leslie Marks was proud of her accomplishment as one of the few executives in the male-dominated information technology field. As the president of Uniform Data Link, she describes herself as a "soft-touch" leader. "I just don't believe in heavy-handed leadership. People have to be able to express themselves and that is when you get the best out of them. Our best ideas come from all levels." She keeps an open door for all employees and has moved her office from the third floor to the first. She often comes to work in jeans and spends a lot of time with the engineers brainstorming on technical problems. She changed many of the evaluation and promotion procedures and asked several less educated but highly experienced employees to work with her on important projects.

The Hospital Economist:

Joseph Hadad graduated with a doctorate in economics and health care administration from a major southwestern university and after many years of work in various health care organizations, Hadad was named as the top administrator of a major Phoenix hospital. As an economist and a strong believer in fair pay, Hadad focused much time with the human resource managers, revamping the hospital's compensation and benefit plan. The old system based on seniority was all but dismantled and replaced with a pay-for-performance system that ties the pay of all employees, including the physicians, partially to the hospital's financial performance. The plan allows for some flexibility for two years, whereby employees are not penalized for poor performance, but only rewarded for good financial health. After two years, they shared in the good and the bad. Most of the hospital's employees complain that Hadad seemed to care about nothing else. Many also note a major change in everybody’s behavior.

In your article, provide the following:

1. An introduction to the concept of influence processes.
2. A summary of the various types of influence processes and the factors that can affect them.
3. An analysis of the processes used by the three leaders: Stanley Wang, Leslie Marks, and Joseph Hadad. Identify the processes that the leaders and the top management team (TMT) are using to impact the organization. Use the table below to organize your answers.

Table Format:
Influence Method Stanley Wang Leslie Marks Joseph Hadad

Direct decisions
Allocation of resources
Reward system
Selection and promotion of other leaders
Role modeling

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Solution Summary

This response clearly details the topic of influence processes, providing an explanation of what this concept is, the factors which can affect these processes and an analysis of three different leaders. A Word document is attached which provides a chart comparing the influence methods used by three different leaders.

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1. An introduction to the concept of influence processes.

The concept of influence process is an evolving concept. We can define it as the ability of an individual or group to modify or change the behavior of other individuals or groups. In order to incorporate all the means of influencing others into this definition, we can refer to the French and Raven discussing the five bases of power. Because of their broad application, it is accepted that they are better labeled bases of influence. They incorporate all the characteristics of the definition cited above, but suggest that a single process may be exercised through the several bases.

2. A summary of the various types of influence processes and the factors that can affect them.

Various types of influence processes and the factors that can affect them:
The five types of influence processes begin with legitimacy. In this instance, the right to ...

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