Work in progress. Please do not cite or distribute. UPWARD INFLUENCE TACTICS IN VIRTUAL WORK SETTINGS

Work in progress. Please do not cite or distribute. UPWARD INFLUENCE TACTICS IN VIRTUAL WORK SETTINGS 1 2 Sebastián Steizel , and Eva Rimbau-Gilabert...
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UPWARD INFLUENCE TACTICS IN VIRTUAL WORK SETTINGS 1 2 Sebastián Steizel , and Eva Rimbau-Gilabert , 1

Universidad de San Andrés, Vito Dumas 284 (B1644BID) Buenos Aires, Argentina [email protected]

2

Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) & Business and Economy Studies. UniversitatOberta de Catalunya, Av. Tibidabo 39-43, 08035 Barcelona, Spain [email protected]

Abstract. The globalization of work within organizations has generated a greater need for all type of workers to exert interpersonal influence through technology-mediated communication tools. This paper sheds light on the analysis of interpersonal relations in virtual environments from a specific perspective: the choice of upward influence tactics. We propose that virtual work settings may impact the upward influence tactic selected, as well as the communication medium used to enact it. In particular, we study whether the types of upward influence strategies found in presence environments, are relevant in a virtual work contexts. This research also analyzes the link between communication media and influence tactics used. Preliminary results using qualitative data from 14 interviewees suggest that 1) there is an influence tactic that is specific of virtual work relations, which may be called intermediation and consists of finding an intermediary that is well connected with the target and can help in defining the best approach by the agent; and 2) workers often split their influence attempts in a two-step strategy in order to achieve better results, using the capabilities of the media available for this purpose.

Keywords: Influence tactics, upwards influence, virtual communication, virtual relationship. 1 INTRODUCTION The globalization of work within organizations is an unavoidable reality in today's business world. We are increasingly dealing with virtual work arrangements in which employees of the same company or different companies must collaborate through technology-mediated communication tools. These new forms of work are associated with the development of new organizational structures that take the form of interconnected, small organizational units, which are marked by lower hierarchical control, and more horizontal relations. In

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such context, there is greater need for rethinking interpersonal relations in general and interpersonal influence in particular (Fulk and DeSanctis, 1995; Barry and Fulmer, 2004). Interpersonal influence is a key element in this new organizational reality. In modern organizations, task interdependence is a central characteristic of the new dynamic environment. With the greater specialization of knowledge, every person needs the contribution of colleagues to fulfill their assignments; and this need requires a strong capacity to influence others to get one’s way (Pfeffer, 1993). This condition is greater in virtual relationships, and, as Barry and Fulmer (2004) state “in virtual settings, the burden of initiating and maintaining interdependent relationships is greater for members of virtual organizations compared to their counterparts within traditional organizations. Clearly, dyadic influence is an essential aspect of these work-related interdependencies, and technology-mediated communication represents an important vehicle for its exercise” (Barry and Fulmer, 2004:272). Interpersonal influence has mostly been studied in traditional or presence environments. With the development of these new organizational forms there is a need to rethink the work done, and to understand how the influence process is adapted to virtual relationships. Therefore, the present work contributes to the analysis of interpersonal relations in virtual environments from a specific perspective: the choice of upward influence strategies. Within influence relationships, those exercised by employees towards their employers or managers probably express the purest form of influence. In the absence of any hierarchical authority and prerogatives, employees must often exercise influence over their managers to do their jobs, and get resources to achieve results. In addition, such influence is nowadays increasingly exerted through more horizontal relations and the use of electronic media, which probably impacts the chosen influence tactics and its effects, because of the lack of contextual factors and the difficulty to construct strong personal relationships. Therefore, in this paper we analyze the influence tactics used by subordinates working in virtual environments, in pursuing to influence their supervisors. Specifically, we address the following questions: Are the types of upward influence tactics found in presence environments relevant in a virtual work context? Which is the impact of the communication medium on the choice of upward influence tactics? 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Upward Influence Tactics Influence is essential for effective performance by any person who works in organizations, at any hierarchical level. To be effective, a worker must influence others to carry out requests, support proposals, and implement decisions. The success of an attempt by one person (the “agent”) to influence another person (“the target”) depends to a great extent on the influence tactics used by the agent. Proactive tactics are used in an attempt to influence someone to carry out an immediate request, and they are especially important in situations where the agent has little authority over target persons (Yukl et al. 2008). Influence tactics can be classified according to the target to be influenced: downward

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influence (influencing subordinates), lateral influence (influencing peers), or upward influence (influencing superiors). There are different approaches related to the development of interpersonal influence tactics, however, the classification developed by Kipnis et al. (1980) is probably the one which is used the most to assess interpersonal influence, specially associated to upward influence. Kipnis and his associates developed a taxonomy of influence tactics which merges six tactics: Ingratiation: using a friendly or helpful behavior to get the other in a good mood. Exchange: offering an exchange of positive benefits or asking to make a concession or personal sacrifice. Rationality: using logical persuasive arguments based on reason. Assertiveness: making repeated requests or use pressure. Upward appeal: causing additional pressure to conform by invoking the influence of higher levels in the organization. Coalition: using the assistance of others or noting their support to persuade the other to comply with the desired goal. This scheme has been one of the most used in research about influence tactics, and has been empirically and methodologically validated over the years (see Schilit and Locke, 1982; Yukl and Falbe, 1990; Schriescheim and Hinkin, 1990; Farmer et al, 1997; Yukl et al 2005). Yukl and his colleagues (2005) developed a broad set of tactics, splitting some of the tactics presented by Kipnis et al. and adding new ones, but they are mostly used for downward and lateral influence. Some survey studies of influence tactics also use broad meta-categories for analysis, rather than the specific tactics, like the distinction among hard, soft, and rational tactics (e.g., Deluga, 1991; Farmer et al. 1997). However, all of these approaches consider that the original categories described were particularly relevant for the upward influences intent. Although the findings about frequency and use of influence tactics in presence environments are not always consistent, the data obtained from the main studies show that the tactics that prevail in presence environments are rationality and ingratiation, followed by coalition (Kipnis et al, 1980; Yukl and Falbe,1990; Schriescheim and Hinkin, 1990). The high frequency of those tactics is related to their perceived and practical effectiveness, in relation to the cost involved in the use of such tactic. Yukl and Tracey (1992) assumed that managers would rather use tactics that are not costly in relation to likely benefits. This cost–benefit explanation is the central tenet of the so-called expected utility model of preferences and behaviors (Steensma, 2007). Accordingly with this perspective, results revealed that soft and rational tactics are more related to organizational benefits and positive work outcomes (Kipnis et al. 1980; Higgins et al, 2003; Yukl and Tracey, 1992), and also achieve commitment or compliance rather than resistance on target’s behavior (Falbe and Yukl, 1992). In the same line, findings also suggest that expectations for future interaction (like those that are prevalent in organizational settings), increase the likelihood of the use of soft influence tactics; because it may produce a better relationship than the use of hard tactics (Van Knippenberg and Steensma, 2003).

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Despite the perceived consequences of the use of each tactic, it is important to understand the factors that affect the initiation of influence intent and the choice of influence tactics. Some authors base their explanations on individual and psychological attributes, like personality, the level of Machiavelism, age, gender, educational background of the agent, self-monitoring, locus of control, intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, or his position in the organizational hierarchy (Kipnis et al., 1980; Brass, 1984; Farmer et al., 1997; Vecchio and Sussmann, 1991; O’Neill, 2004; Rizzo and Mendez, 1988, Barbutto and Moss, 2006, Cable and Judge, 2003). However, important factors that determine the choice of influence tactic are also relational, and not only individual. Since the influence process is a social process, the type of relationship between agent and target is a key aspect to take into account to understand the influence strategies to be used. As Lueger et al. (2005) pose, “the assumption [is] that the meaning of an act only unfolds in relation to the social context it is embedded in. Thus, any analysis of social practices such as influence activities is tied to the reconstruction of the underlying meaning structure” (p. 1148). In this line of thinking we found studies that focus on relational aspects rather than individual ones. For example, there are some works that focus on the leadership behavior or leadership style to predict the subordinate influence strategies (Deluga, 1990; Cable and Judge, 2003; Krishnan, 2004). Other studies state that leader’s influence strategy is related to members' resistance to change (Furst and Cable, 2008); or to members' helping behavior (moderated by LMX quality) (Sparrowe et al., 2007). In the same line, Somech and Zahavy (2002) affirm that the influence tactics choice is affected by the perception of relative power between agent and target, and therefore they suggest that influence must be studied in relative rather than absolute terms. Longitudinal studies also show that influence strategies must be seen as a process or sequence of different events (like performance evaluation or future interaction expectation), and in each time period a different influence tactic could be considered by the agent (Dulebohn et al. 2004; Van Knippenberg and Steensma, 2003). The main point to be analyzed in these studies is that it is important to understand the mutual relationship between the parties and the context in which the relation is embedded, in order to understand the dyadic influence process. These findings are critical if we assume that in virtual work contexts, the relation among parties is modified by the use of media technology compared to face to face settings, and therefore the influence strategy developed. Finally, the studies on upward influence also show the importance of this concept in understanding many organizational dynamics. The consequences of the use of certain influence strategies have an impact on key aspects of organizational life such as the levels of satisfaction (Yukl and Fable, 1990); as well as the way employees are evaluated, their wages, the frequency of the promotions or level of stress that can develop at work (KipnisShmidt, 1988, Thacker and Wayne, 1995). Thus, the analysis of the influence tactics is essential to have a more comprehensive picture about why certain phenomena occur in organizations. Virtual relationship Even though the taxonomy of influence tactics by Kipnis and colleagues is one of the most comprehensive, the virtual work context may provide opportunities to develop new forms of influence tactics or –at least- may change the relative weight of each tactic as

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compares to presence settings. This proposed change is based on the following characteristics of the virtual environment: There is a lack of mutual knowledge among the members of the influence dyad, which impacts the mutual understanding between them (Cramton, 2001). Virtual communication offers less social cues, which also affects the information exchange process (Sproull and Kiesler, 1986). Virtual teams tend to have more of a task-focus and less of a social-focus than traditional teams (Chidambaram and Bostrom, 1993). Distance work involves the interaction between different national cultures, and this variable may impact on the influence choice (Elron and Vigoda-Gadot, 2006; Hirokawa and Miyahara 1986; Yeh, 1995). Trust development in virtual teams also presents significant challenges because it is difficult to assess teammates’ trustworthiness without ever having met them (McDonough et al., 2001). These structural features of virtual media have a direct impact on relationship building and, thus, the upward influence process. The digital media turn the links between the parties more impersonal, and more task oriented, reducing the opportunities to engage in a deep and personal knowledge between the boss and his subordinate. As posed by Contractor and Eisenberg (in Fulk, 1993), the communication structures and the organizational use given to the media shape each other in an emerging pattern of social interaction.Therefore, in interpersonal relations framed by virtual settings where the primary ways of communication are technology mediated, we expect to find different upward influence strategies or new characteristics in the findings about upward influence tactics in presence environments, because the social relations developed by this media is also different. Upward influence in virtual environment Research on influence tactics has covered both its antecedents and its consequences, but it has rarely mentioned virtual environment or media technology as variables to be taken into account (for a review, see Barbutto and Moss, 2006; Higgins et al., 2003). Only a few studies have analyzed the phenomenon of influence tactics in virtual environments, and the impact of different media in particular. Elron and Vigoda (2006) for example, found that task focus, the centrality of the team, and the familiarity among members were factors that affected the use of influence tactics in virtual teams. Other authors have focused on the process of virtual influence, analyzing this phenomenon as a dynamic process in which the influence strategy is affected by the target perception and their reaction to the influence intent (Barry and Fulmer, 2004). Dealing specifically with the impact of the communication media, Barry and Bateman (1992) suggested that influence tactics and media usage, were influenced by the hierarchical position of the individuals and the direction of the intention of influence (upwards, downwards or horizontal). The work of Cho et al. (2008) is the only one that has specifically focused on upward influence tactics. They found that personal preference in terms of influence tactics, and interpersonal relationships between agent and target, affected media choice. The present paper continues this stream of research but takes a different perspective, since it focuses on the impact of the media on the upward influence tactic choice.

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The first question this paper addresses is whether the types of upward influence strategies found in presence environments, are relevant in a virtual work context. In a virtual work setting, new communication tools may foster or hinder the use of certain strategies, thus rendering the traditional classification of presence-based influence inapplicable. The logic behind this question is based on the assumptions developed by the Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST) and Social Presence Theory (SPT). AST provides a model that describes the interplay between advanced information technologies, social structures, and human interaction. DeSanctis and Poole explain that “advanced information technologies trigger adaptive structurational processes which, over time, can lead to changes in the rules and resources that organizations use in social interaction.” (DeSanctis and poole, 1994, pp:142143). Therefore, if social interaction is shaped by the characteristics of the media used, and the virtual media has different features than face to face; the expectation will be to find influence tactics according to the new type of relationship built. We also base our assumptions about the modifications of influence tactic in virtual environment on Social Presence Theory (SPT). The theory defines social presence as the feeling one has that other persons are involved in a communication exchange. The degree of social presence in an interaction is posited to be determined by the communication medium: the fewer the channels or codes available within a medium, the less attention is paid by the user to the presence of other social participants. Since computer mediated communication typically transmits no nonverbal visual or auditory codes such as facial expression, posture, dress, or vocals; electronic media is said to be extremely low in social presence in comparison to face to face and other telecommunication media. As social presence declines, messages presumably become more impersonal (Walther, 1995) Therefore, if the type of relationship which emerged from this patterns is more impersonal, with less awareness about the presence of others; a fewer set of possibilities of influence tactics is available for the agent. Specifically, there will be less opportunity to use soft tactics that involve more trust among the parties, and instead, they will be more prone to use hard tactics to get results. Based on our social approach to understanding the influence process, we expect that as employees assimilate the technologies available, their ways to relate will be affected, not only in altering the known forms of linkage, but also creating new emerging forms. The second question studies the link between the communication medium and the influence tactics used. We expect to find that people choose their upward influence tactics according to the technological resources they have available and according to the objectives they are pursuing. This proposition is based on the Media Synchronicity Theory (MST) (Maruping and Agarwal, 2004; Dennis et al. 2008), which proposes that different media have different capabilities, and according to those capabilities there are better combinations between media choice and the purposes the employee wants to achieve. Dennis et al. (2008) proposed five functionalities of media that yield communication capabilities: immediacy of feedback, symbol variety, parallelism, rehearsability, and reprocessability. Immediacy of feedback essentially captures the synchronicity of the medium, whereas symbol variety speaks to the availability of multiple cues and language variety that are supported by the medium. Parallelism captures the possibility that some media permit multiple simultaneous

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conversations, and rehearsability represents the ease with which communications can be rehearsed and edited prior to their transmittal. Finally, reprocessability embeds the ability of the medium to maintain a history or memory of the communication that has occurred (Dennis et al. 2008). In virtual work settings, employees not always have access or the culture to use different technologies to engage in a communication process. Research presents a great tendency of the users to use some technologies over others, and according to those possibilities people have to find the way to achieve their results (Grosse, 2002). Previous research shows that the frequency of dyadic influence tactics, are always different between media with different levels of richness, such as face-to-face with telephone or email (Fernandez et al., 2011).When agents have certain media available, they asses the capabilities of such media and adapt their influence strategy to the capabilities of the media, because otherwise they will not achieve their goals. According to Barry and Fulmer (2004) the attributes of communication media affect how influence-seeking behavior is generated and perceived. Although each media has specific features, the same authors argue that in the process of interaction between the agent and the media, the agent has capabilities to expand or reduce the use of the media according to his perceived goals. Nevertheless, these adaptations are always based on some group of characteristics of the media; therefore the influence strategy is always shaped by the attributes of the media. The particular situation of upward influence is also influential to the choice of specific media (Barry and Bateman 1992) and, for this reason; we expect an impact of the available media on the selection of a specific influence tactic. 3 METHODOLOGY The proposed methodology to address these issues is based on qualitative strategies. As an exploratory study, our intention was to produce a first approach to a relative new field and to understand how upward influence processes are developed using information technology in virtual work relationships. This approach allows us not only to describe the phenomenon, but also to understand the argumentations and reasons behind the behaviors identified. We obtained data from 14 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Argentinean middle manager employees of multinational companies who have their supervisors at a distance, asking them about their tactics to influence their supervisor, and the media used for that purpose. Those managers were selected from a postgraduate program in an Argentinean university. Their average age was 29.7; 60% were females; the industries involved were diverse: insurance, oil, consulting, currier, agrochemical, IT, banking, logistics and education; 80% worked in HR departments, and the rest in consulting firms. The target's (the boss’) location was placed at several countries, and the majority of targets were placed in countries with a different mother tongue, like USA, Brazil, France, Germany and India. The focus was placed on specific examples and dyadic situations that involved upward influence intentions, and were decoded according to the set of tactics presented by Kipnis et al. (1980). A similar procedure as that used by Kipnis(1980) and his colleagues in the process to identify the influence tactics in presence environments, in order to build a questionnaire that would measure those tactics. Interviews were recorded (lasted 90 minutes on average) and then listened by three different persons to identify the specific set of tactics used (only one company – four interviewees- banned to record the interviews for

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confidentiality policies, and therefore only notes were taken). Each researcher evaluated the interviews, and a consensus was achieved in order to interpret the results. 4

FINDINGS

Interviews have shown relevant findings regarding the general approach to virtual work in general, and the process of influence through electronic technology in particular. All companies asserted that they have a wide variety of technological tools for communicating between their work teams. These are: email, instant messaging (IM), phone, video calling systems, software for remote working (enabling desktop sharing, audio and video), and even video conference systems and telepresence. However, they showed a frequent tendency to use only three of these communication media regularly: email, IM and telephone. The rest are available in most organizations; but because of technical, budgetary or cultural reasons, are used only sporadically. This situation presents a strong restriction of the media available at the time of attempting to influence other. Most of the interviewees reported also a low frequency of face to face encounters. Half of them have a meeting once a year, four people reported face to face meetings every six months, and three of them haven’t met their bosses yet. Regarding the frequency of virtual communication there was the consensus that it depends on the flow of work. Sometimes they have a daily basis communication, and sometimes they reported two weeks without news from each side. Most of the interviewees highlighted that a task-oriented relationship is built under this kind of work environment. They also underscored that the formal content of this communication interactions, and the lack of spontaneous communication, affect the way they influence their supervisors and the media they select for that purpose. Because of the lack of informal social interaction, which could add data about each side's situation, there is not a common understanding of the context under which each member of the influence dyad is talking or listening (country context, physical context, target network, internal power distribution, local organization dynamics, etc.). Interviewees mentioned several times the terms cultural differences, host vs home situation, local networks and economic country situation, in their responses. This weak information about the supervisor's situation leads people to be careful in their intention to influence them, because it may be based on false assumptions about the other. The tactics that were more frequently mentioned in the interviews were 1) rationality; 2) what we have dubbed intermediation; and 3) coalition. With rationality tactics, the subordinates' attempt to get things from their supervisors is mainly based on logical argumentation to support their requests. This was the more accepted way to approach the supervisor, not only because of the differences in organizational power, but also because of the unknown situation about the other side (context or feelings). It was perceived as a more cautious behavior, leaving fewer setbacks for future interaction. Especially when there were differences in the comprehension of the context in which the requirement is based, interviewees felt the need to present a lot of information (also contextual information) to influence their boss. As some interviewees said:

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“in the process of negotiation of the authorization of salary increases for our workers (in Argentina), the regional manager (in USA) cannot understand why we ask a higher increase (25%) than the official inflation rate in the country (12%). Everyone in Argentina understands the reasons for this requirement (a lack of credibility of the official data), but I spent more than two months dealing with this issue. I sent long explanations, reports of consultant firms, I clipped newspaper articles, and I tried to explain the consequences of job turnover, strikes, and conflicts if we don’t fit the workers' expectations. He didn’t believe me. It was very difficult”. “the first thing I do, is to send the information and the arguments to support my ideas. In the conference calls, we have time constraints, so before any conference, I think how to approach to my boss, I sum up my ideas and I write them. Then, when I talk with him, half of the work is done”. The second tactic which emerged in the interviews, which we have called intermediation adds a new tactic to the aforementioned list by Kipnis et al. Many subordinates stated that when they had difficult issues to discuss, and they did not know how their supervisor might react to their request, they looked for someone that was close to their supervisor (physically or socially) and who could help them to transmit their intentions. This intermediary could be local colleagues of the agent, or local colleagues of the target. The main point was to find someone who was proximate to and trusted by the target, someone who was able to understand the target's context, and could suggest the best way to approach him/her. When the intermediary was at the same place as the agent, the face-to-face interaction was the chosen media. When this person was at a distance they tended to prefer the telephone. This tactic can be seen as a specific type of the coalition tactic, but the specific role of this intermediary is slightly different than the coalition of people supporting a request. "To get things I try to seek support from colleagues, from the country manager, or from someone else. I involve someone who can accompany me in my demands, and who knows which things are important to my boss, like cost savings, political support or conflict avoidance". “Sometimes, if a trusted person of my boss asks my request, it is easier to get results” The third tactic used, especially when there is a team involved, was coalition. Before the influence intention, many subordinates tried to build an agreement among their peers to present the request as a collective issue. As an example, a frequent comment was: “I cannot come to a conference call without reaching previous agreement among the local participants. I don’t want to surprise them, and when the demand is rising up, they support what I’m saying” Regarding the way employees behave to influence their bosses, a sequence of steps in the attempts to influence the boss emerged recurrently in the interviews. Employees did not conceive the influence process as a focal point in which they used certain tactic to get their

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way. When they tried to influence superiors, there was a kind of planning or strategy, using different tactics with different media to execute each tactic. Most of the interviewees said that before influencing their bosses, they “prepared the ground”. That means that before a conversation about a “sensible” topic, they sent an email with some information or with the main arguments to discuss in a future interaction. Sometime, the way to anticipate the topic was through third parties (who were close to their boss), who gave information in advance about the topic to be discussed. Those intermediaries not only “informed” about the agent’s request but also presented the data according to their knowledge about the target situation. After this first approach, the interviewees felt that they were able to discuss and directly (synchronically) influence their boss. Several reasons were discussed to explain this disaggregation of the influence process; some of them linked to the distance between agent and target, and others related to the features of the available media. Interviewees explained that the synchronic meetings, such as call conferences or video conferences, were not easy to organize. They required planning, schedule fitting, and sometimes technology arrangements. Moreover, because of this complex organization, the common feeling of the participants was that they had to be very effective in the communication process, because of time restrictions; and therefore they believed that there was no room for long discussions about a specific topic. So, they prefered to send information before the meeting, so that the parties arrived to the conference knowing all the details and with prior thoughts about the topic to be discussed. Additional factors that created the two-step approach to influence was the time difference. When this hour difference was high, it was even more difficult to coordinate meetings, and therefore the email enabled the subordinate to anticipate arguments. Another factor mentioned was related to cultural distance and language difference. When subordinate and boss did not speak the same language, the subordinates felt more comfortable with written media, because they could check the specific words to use, could think about what to say and did not feel as pressed by the boss as in an on-line and spontaneous conversation. This capacity of rehersability of the media influences the subordinate's decision to approach in that way. The last factor that explained the two-step approach was also based on one of the properties of written media, reprocessability. Many interviewees said that they prefered to send emails when they intended to influence their bosses because they wanted written evidence about the issue at hand. Under such circumstances, the email was the preferred media because they might be able to use it again for different situations: as a reminder for their bosses about the first time they sent the email; as evidence to present if their goal was not reached; or even as a document to use with a third party (like the local boss), if someone asked them about the task to be done. For these reasons, they prefered to anticipate arguments before having a synchronic interaction. In the two-step approach presented for upward influence in virtual environments, the first step reported was based mainly on argumentation and reason and uses written media, and sometimes the intermediation process was used using an email or a telephone call. After

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this first approach, the next step was usually a synchronic communication. When subordinates believed that all the information to support their arguments has already been presented, then they made a phone call to strengthen their arguments and achieve what they want. When this was a personal communication, subordinates reported that they tried to continue with a reason tactic, but it was much easier for them when previous information had been sent. When the meeting was a conference call with a team, as mentioned before, the subordinate informed all the participants about the issues to be discussed, and got the main arguments to be supported by the team members. In summary, upward influence process in a virtual context is organized in such a way as to facilitate the influence attempts, and the electronic media available are used in a strategic way. Subordinates select the media, according to the features of the media and the purposes they want to achieve. 5. DISCUSSION The results presented in this research contribute to understand the process of upward influence in virtual environments. The findings highlight specific characteristics of this process in comparison with the upward influence in a face to face context. One feature found is the preference settings. Regarding the wide set of asynchronic communication, instead of many of the interpersonal process in particular.

for asynchronic communication in virtual work alternatives available, people found benefits in in the online communication. This preference sets general, and the upward influence strategies in

One of the differences found, in comparison to the influence process in present environment, is the absence of the ingratiation tactic in the testimonies presented by the workers. This result may not be surprising regarding the type of relationship developed between boss and subordinate. In order to develop an ingratiation tactic a genuine emotional bond is needed. With low frequency of face to face meetings, a task focus interaction and time restrictions during the virtual encounters, a subordinate cannot build a personal relationship with his boss and therefore he has fewer possibilities to use this tactic. As we presented in the theoretical background, influence process must be understood as a social relation, in which an agent considers his relation with the target in order to choose an influence tactic. The asynchronic and low frequency of the encounters contributes to the lack of spontaneous communication and therefore to the lack of social presence in the mind of the boss. Subordinates perceived this situation, so they tried to approach their bosses with a more “neutral” influence tactic. The influence selected in the first place was the rational tactic. Although the rational tactic is widely reported in presence environment, in virtual contexts it presents several particularities. Like previous research reported, hierarchical position has an impact in the choice of this tactic. Subordinates don’t want to expose themselves to a confrontational situation with the person that has power over them, and therefore a rational approach is presented as less dangerous. The virtual worker is faced with a high level of uncertainty because he doesn’t know his boss's context or situation and a hard tactic could be misunderstood. This finding is consistent with the expected utility model (Steensma, 2007). The utility of the influence tactic used is hardly evaluated by the subordinate

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because of the lack of social cues that is characteristic in virtual environments that could provide a more precise utility of a specific tactic. Therefore, a choice of an influence tactic with lower cost perception is found as more beneficial. A similar argument could be presented from the side of the agent. Because the target lacks the information about the contextual situation of the subordinate, the subordinate's first approach is explaining why he/she asks for a specific issue, because otherwise the boss would not understand his/her request. The distance between agent and target, is one of the main reasons for choosing the rational tactic to influence a boss. The intermediation tactic emerged in the present work, as a specific tactic for virtual environments. We can find several explanations for this finding. The first one is based on social presence theory. If electronic communication has low social presence for agent and target (Walther, 1995), then the subordinates are not aware of the preferences of their boss and they do not know how to approach him/her. For this reason they need someone who is close to the boss (and also to the subordinate), to reduce the distance between them (physical and psychological). In a different context, Gargiullo (1995) found similar results using the Social Network Analysis. He stated that “the essence of leverage strategies consists of embedding in the ongoing dependence relationship a new tie over which the weaker player has more control. The embedded tie changes the terms of the negotiation between the actors in a way that favors the constrained party. If actors could choose from a menu of equally constraining transactions, they would prefer transactions with trusted partners to reduce uncertainty. An actor A can gain leverage on a limiting party B by coopting player C who, in turn, constrains B's performance. Far from being inconsequential, the tie that results between A and C resourcefully curtails the autonomy of B. The alliance with C enables the strategic player A to gain leverage over B, his or her source of constraint, without having to engage in direct cooptive maneuvers that may be very costly or, worse still, ineffectual”. (Gargiullo, 1993, pp) This approach resembles, again, the expectancy utility model in which the agent evaluates the cost and the benefit of each tactic, and finds a third person with whom he/she can achieve his goals under low costs with his/hes boss. Besides the influence tactics reported, results showed that workers perceive the influence attempt as a process. In presence contexts, influence strategies are perceived as a series of tactics in which the variation of tactics occurs as a result of the reaction of the target to the influence attempt. In virtual environments, the strategies present different characteristics. Because these environments are signed by a strong asynchrony in the communication process, agents combine tactics unilaterally, exploiting the different capabilities of the media; in an attempt to maximize the influence process.People combine different tactics in order to achieve their goals. The reason for this finding is based on the sporadic encounters between managers and subordinates, who push the workers to engage in innovative and strategic ways to influence bosses. The sequence of influence intent is not random. It is selected as a way to maximize the opportunities of interaction they have, according to the characteristics and capabilities of the media and according to the dynamic of work emerged

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in this kind of relationship. Employees feel that a synchronic interaction is more effective to influence the boss, but in that situation they perceive restrictions to achieve their objectives; like the lack of mutual knowledge, shared context, language difficulties and time constraints. Therefore, they prefer to begin with an asynchronic communication, which enables them to organize the information, anticipate ideas and investigate the possible reactions of their boss. This is possible only if different media are used to communicate with the boss, with different capabilities for each media. The situation presented before is linked to the second question of this research, about the impact of the media on the choice of influence tactic. The data revealed that the properties of the communication media are critical to understand the influence process. According to the assumption of MST (Dennis et al., 2008) we found that the capabilities of the available media, shapes the characteristics of the influence strategy. In pursuing a specific objective (influence), subordinates first select a media with high rehersability and high reprocessability, because they need time to think, to analyze and to prepare the information to be sent to their bosses, in order to minimize misunderstandings, and risks. The email is the main media in this stage, because the goal at this moment is to present information and argumentation without an immediate response from the other side. This, gives time to both sides (agent and target), to process the information and then engage in a more productive relationship later. The same logic explains the intermediation tactic, in which the goal is to anticipate an argument to prepare the ground for a future interaction, giving time to process the information. Both strategies reduce the asymmetric knowledge about each other’s context and help them to continue (or to begin) the influence process. In a second stage, a synchronic communication with media characterized by high symbol variety and high immediacy of feedback, like a phone call or even video conference, gives the agent the sensibility to understand in a better way the boss's reaction to the influence intention and then deepen the arguments presented beforehand. The variety of media involved in virtual relationships could also explain the two-step upward influence strategy found. One of the characteristics in the distance work is the combination of synchronic and asynchronic communication media in the development of the work. In this variety of media available, employees found the best way to approach their bosses, regarding the several limitations that the distance produces. Subordinates need to overcome the structural features of virtual relationships, like problems of language, time zones, culture and context. In this situation they see the communication variety as an advantage in order to achieve their influence goals, because it enables them to build a request that could be risky, in a soft and smooth way. The results presented in this work highlight some specific features of virtual relationship in the process of upward influence. According to previous theories, we found that the virtual work context alters the way people interact, because the distance and the technology constrain people behavior. Considering this constraints, employees find the way to influence their bosses using strategically the media available, reducing the disadvantages of the distance and leveraging on the capabilities of the media. Then, we found rational tactics as the more often mentioned, but split in a two-step strategy using different media to ensure better results. We also found a new influence tactic, intermediation, as a response to one of

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