Case Study on Labor's Power Struggle At the young age of 23, Jim Davis has a promising career at Hereford National Bank. Within three months he was promoted to Business Development Manager, tasked with developing a new strategy for the bank. His first major initiative to sell banking services through branch managers is in jeopardy due to the reluctance of a twenty-five-year veteran (Patty Mathews) to participate. How will Jim leverage his position and personal power to ensure success? Don't Overlook the Obvious Before getting into a power struggle with Patty, Jim needs to have a conversation with Patty to understand her position. First, he clearly doesn't understand why she refuses to participate. Secondly, she may have actually been ill. HR theorists tend to focus on influence that enhances reciprocity and collaboration. The implicit hope is that participation, openness and collaboration will make power a non-issue (CP, chapter 9). In conversation with Patty, two potential paths for Jim will emerge:1. He can act quickly to allay Patty's concerns and move the project forward, thus putting an end to the problem, o2. Realize that Patty is resisting him in a way that can only be resolved through her sources of power. Assuming point 2 occurs, Jim must first evaluate his sources of power. Even if the conversation didn't resolve the issue, it may shed light on Patty's needs and the source of the conflict with Jim. Sources of Power Jim holds two significant sources of power as defined in Chapter 9, Power, Conflict, and Coalition:1. Rewards Control: Jim has the ability to provide an expense account to Patty, his only concern discussed in the case.2. Alliances and Networks: Jim is good friends with Patty's manager, Allen. He also established a great relationship with Eric Johnson, a bank executive. Jim needs to focus on the three types of influencing skills defined in Chapter 5, “Obtaining and Using Sustainable and Ethical Power and Influence”: (1) Being able to read other people and adapt your message in ways that will help you be understood and supported, (2) using the six universal forms of influence; and (3) develop political experience. Jim has avoided politics since he started with Hereford, so political experience (3) is not necessarily available to him. It's something he can start to develop through this situation. Having a conversation with Patty will allow him to realize (1) and from this position begin to focus on his forms of influence (2) to achieve the desired goal of full participation of all branch managers.