Abstract

Cohen and Bradford’s (1989) classic framework conceptualizes organizational “currencies” as resources exchanged to gain cooperation, including task-related (assistance, cooperation, information), position-related (advancement, recognition, insiderness, network), relationship-related (acceptance/inclusion, personal support, understanding), and personal-related (self-concept, challenge/learning, ownership, gratitude, excellence, moral/ethical correctness). Three decades later, digital, hybrid, and data-intensive workplaces have reshaped how influence is enacted. This project inductively updates the currency framework to reflect contemporary organizational realities and examines how working professionals actually secure cooperation without relying solely on formal authority. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 practitioners across varied roles and organizations, prompting detailed accounts of recent influence episodes. Using a two-stage coding process, the team first developed a master list of 23 distinct influence currencies. Through an integrative synthesis by human coders with AI assistance, these currencies were organized into six higher-order categories that characterize modern influence: organizational hierarchy; relationships; vision and understanding of business needs; subject matter expertise; work environment and culture; and access to data. These categories both align with and extend the original taxonomy: in particular, data access as a major influence category highlights the centrality of analytics and information systems in today’s organizations. To evaluate and refine this taxonomy, we are launching a quantitative survey with approximately 150–200 working professionals recruited via Prolific. For each category, respondents will assess: (1) how frequently it has enabled them to influence others, (2) how frequently they observe others using it, and (3) how valuable they judge it to be as an organizational currency today. The result will be an empirically grounded, practice-sensitive update to a widely taught framework, offering scholars analytic clarity and providing educators and practitioners with language and structure for leadership development in IS curricula and in data-rich organizations.

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