Module 1 – Case
INFLUENCE TACTICS AND SOURCES OF POWER
Assignment Overview
Koch Industries is one of the most profitable privately held
corporations in the country. In spite of being owned primarily by four
brothers, it has not been immune from intense internal power plays and
intrigue. A decades-long dispute between CEO Charles Koch and his younger
brother Bill Koch led first to an internal battle for control of the company
and ended with a lawsuit between the brothers.
Carefully review the background materials regarding sources
of power within an organization and influence tactics. Examples of sources of
power include reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, and expert power.
Examples of influence tactics include forming coalitions, pressure, and
exchanging favors. Make sure to understand the main power sources and influence
tactics and know the vocabulary and definitions from the background materials before
starting the assignment.
The epic battle between two of the Koch brothers tested the
limits of both of their power bases within Koch Industries. Both used multiple
tactics before Charles Koch ultimately secured his position of almost unrivaled
power within the corporation. Do some research about this power struggle using
the Trident Online Library and online news sources. Here are some articles to
get you started:
Schulman, D. (2014, Jul). Koch vs. Koch. Mother Jones, 39,
16–27,64,2
Tomsho, R., (1989, Aug 09). Blood feud: Koch family is
roiled by sibling squabbling over its oil empire: Fired by his brother, William
sues often, helps feds to probe Koch Industries, haling mother into court. Wall
Street Journal [ProQuest]
Case Assignment
Once you have finished your research, write a 4- to 5-page
paper addressing the following issues.
Make sure to cite at least two of the required background readings in
addition to articles about the Koch brothers in your paper:
What were Charles and Bill Koch’s sources of power within
Koch Industries? Did they have reward power, coercive power, legitimate power,
or expert power? Any other sources of power? Refer to Bauer and Erdogan (2012)
or Luthans et al. (2015) in your answer, as you should demonstrate a solid
understanding of these readings as part of your answer.
What influence tactics did each of them use in their battle
for control? Refer to Bauer and Erdogan (2012) or Luthans et al. (2015) in your
answer.
Ultimately what do you think led to Charles Koch’s victory
in this battle, and what do you think are the most important lessons on
organizational power that you learned from reading about this power struggle?
Assignment Expectations
Follow the assignment instructions closely and follow all
steps listed in the instructions.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions; don’t go
off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background
materials.
Make sure to cite readings from the background materials
page. Rely primarily on the required background readings as your sources of
information.
Include both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the
Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 11-14
on in-text citations.
