Upward influence in hybrid work – Persuading leaders in today’s organizations
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Journal Title
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Volume Title
School of Business |
Master's thesis
Authors
Date
2025
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
People Management and Organizational Development
Language
en
Pages
121
Series
Abstract
This Master’s thesis studied upward influence in the context of hybrid work. Upward influence is a topic that has been puzzling researchers for decades, but research has only scratched the surface of influence behaviour occurring in more modern work contexts such as virtual work. Given the current popularity of hybrid work, which combines elements of both traditional on-site work and virtual work, it is important to study upward influence also in this context. The research questions of this study asked how and why upward social influence is pursued in Finnish hybrid-working organizations as well as what kind of outcomes are associated with influence attempts and why. Seven managers from Finnish organizations were interviewed using critical incidents technique to gain information on both successful and unsuccessful influence attempts. The findings imply that most of what is known about upward influence in traditional work context could be applied also to hybrid work. Literature on upward influence in the context of virtual work seemed to be somewhat less applicable to hybrid work. Influence attempts often involved several communication channels, but a clear preference for more personal approach such as face-to-face or Teams meeting or call instead of just written communication was identified. Using only written communication also turned out ineffective. However, organizationally preferred practices differed among organizations working in hybrid model – other organizations emphasized face-to-face communication, whereas others virtual communication tools. This was visible also in influence behaviour. Several variables related to agent, goal and context seemed to play a role in the occurrence and successfulness of influence attempts. These variables also seemed to effect the agents’ tactical choices, which in turn also effected the outcomes. However, it was noted that the previous literature on upward influence has been somewhat simplistic in its approach to the phenomenon in all its complexity. There is a demand for a more holistic perspective that would aim to understand upward influence episodes for example in connection to the following or intertwined influence episodes. Also the influence tactics discussed in previous literature should be understood more as elements that complement each other in the overall influence strategy instead of alternatives to each other.Description
Thesis advisor
Diehl, Marjo-RiittaKeywords
upward influence, social influence, hybrid work, organizational politics, followership