A study of key variables related to the directness of upward influence strategies and to self perceptions of upward influence

The ability to influence people at higher levels in an organization is essential to individual and organizational effectiveness. This research explored how people can be more successful in their efforts toward upward influence. It was predicted that the directness of the influence strategy related to the influence objective and to influence success and that the quality of the exchange relationship between subjects and their managers, the range of influence strategies that subjects use, and managers' perceptions of subjects' upward influence determine subjects' perceptions of their own upward influence.; One hundred and eighty-six public-sector supervisors participated in this study. Three hypotheses were tested using a 2 x 2 repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). The analysis showed that there were significant differences in directness of influence strategy between influence attempts to achieve organizational objectives and influence attempts to achieve personal objectives. The means suggested that more direct strategies were used in attempts to achieve organizational objectives than in attempts to achieve personal objectives. There were no differences in directness of influence strategy of successful and unsuccessful attempts; nor was there a relationship between success and objectives on directness of influence strategy.; Correlations were computed and a regression analysis conducted to test the effect of the quality of the relationship between subjects and their managers, the range of influence strategies that subjects use, and managers' perceptions of subjects' upward influence on subjects' perceptions of their own upward influence. Significant positive correlations were found. The regression analysis showed that both the quality of the leader-member relationship and the range of influence strategies the subject used predicted self-ratings of upward influence.; The results of this study indicate that subjects used more direct strategies when trying to achieve organizational benefits than when trying to achieve personal benefits. The reason for this preference was unclear, since strategies seem to be equally effective in both objective situations. According to the results of this study, the key to gaining more upward influence was using a wide range of strategies, establishing a good relationship with the manager, and having the manager acknowledge the upward influence.