John Carl's Relationship With The River Case Study

1. What sources of power do the key players have? What types of power do they have? What influencing tactics are used?

As department chair, John Carl has position power. The case indicates that he has not been department chair for long. If he was promoted from among the faculty, he may have personal power as well. If he was hired from outside the college (and we are told that he has been there a shorter time than most of his faculty), he probably has little personal power among the faculty. In the instance of bringing the department together to establish a policy, he is using legitimate power. During the departmental meeting, Carl is using the consultation-influencing tactic – he feels strongly that there should be a policy, but he hasn’t already decided what the policy should be
Using Gas to grade objective exams seems rather innocuous to receive this much faculty opposition. If I were Carl, I would make discreet inquiries regarding Washington’s relationships with her colleagues to find out if some other conflict is at work. My suspicion would be that Washington’s colleagues perceive her as lazy. In the meantime, I would invite my dean to lunch at a restaurant frequented by my faculty, and over lunch I would casually mention that my announcement regarding the GA policy was not universally popular, and he might hear from one or two disgruntled faculty. This conversation serves three purposes. First, it assures my dean that I will keep him informed about my department and not let him be blindsided. Second, it conveys to the dean that I have my department under control. Finally, the visibility of the lunch reminds my faculty of my connection power, and suggests that the dean will support whatever decision I make concerning the