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Influence of power in organizations
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Influence of power in organizations
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Assigned leader versus emergent leader: where does the real power lie? What power sources exist within an organization? What are the powers an assigned leader holds? How does an emergent leader gain power? What can a new assigned leader do to enhance success? What factors influence the amount of power one can hold? Power is and always will be a hot topic in any organizational setting. What exactly is power? According to Rea Andre, power is “the ability to mobilize resources to accomplish some end . . . an individual’s capacity to influence decisions” (Robins, DeCenzo, Coulter 2011, 130). I personally prefer to merge the two and define power as someone’s ability to influence employees’ actions and behaviors to accomplish or meet organizational needs. This paper is going to focus on two types of power personal and position. Referent and expert are types of personal power, while reward, coercive, and legitimate are position powers. These came to be by French and Raven in 1959, and have stood the test of time. Referent personal power comes to those who are admired by others in the business. They tend to have strong interpersonal or soft skills. Traits that they hold are verbal and nonverbal communication skills, the ability to negotiate, and listening skills. A title is not needed to possess this kind of power. Charisma is another trait associated with …show more content…
Coercive power can be a harsh tool, and has the ability to create fear through penalization and punishment. It may also be used in the workplace to force change or conformation. Autocratic leaders tend to rely on this type of power heavily. The downside is that employees do not generally learn from this technique, but tend to become dissatisfied, instead. While coercive power does have its place and is sometimes needed, there is a big difference between being “stern” and
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter. M. (2014). Management (12th ed.). Retrieved from: Colorado Technical University eBook Collection database.
Whetten, David A., and Kim S. Cameron. Developing Management Skills. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2007.
George, Jennifer M. "Chapter 12." Contemporary Management. By Gareth R. Jones 8e ed.N.p.: n.p., n.d. 366-400. Print.
Glickman, C. D., Gordon, S. P., & Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2010). SuperVision and instructional leadership (9th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN-13: 9780132852135
Power is everywhere; in organizations, relationships, businesses, government, education, et cetera. Power is defined as a capacity that X has to persuade the behavior of Y so that Y acts according to X's wishes (Robbins & Judge, 2007). Power is essential because without it, organization and leadership effectiveness is eliminated within the confounds of the given relationship. A dependency is Y's relationship to X when X possesses something that Y requires (Robbins & Judge, 2007). In essence, there are five bases of power: Coercive power, Reward power, Legitimate power, Expert power, and Referent power (Robbins & Judge, 2007). The scenario exemplifies each power and how each is used. The scenario also illustrates the dependency relationship of each power for the parties involved.
D., Gordon, S. P., & Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2010). SuperVision and instructional leadership (9th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN-13: 9780132852135 Gordon, S. P. (1989).
Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. S. (2011). Developing Management Skills (eighth Ed.) [E-Text]. Retrieved from http://www.coursesmart.com/developing-management-skills-eighth-edition/david-a-whetten-kim-s-cameron/dp/9780136121046
Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (2011). Contemporary management. (7 ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Shetrone, A. (2011, May 18). 7 Ways to Improve Employee Satisfaction BY April Shetrone. Inc.. Retrieved January 23, 2014, from http://www.inc.com/guides/201105/7-ways-to-improve-employee-satisfaction.html
Robbins, S., Decenzo, D., & Coulter, M. (2013). Fundamentals of management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2009). Management (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. (PepsiCo, 2011)
...s. Lunenburg (2012) specify that a true leader is skilled to influence others and alter behavior through possessing all of the sources of the power (Coercive, Expert, Informational, Legitimate, Referent, and Reward) simultaneously. In most cases, the personal sources of power are more vigorously related to employees’ job contentment, organizational dedication, and performance than are the organizational power sources. The idea of power and leadership has been and will persistent to be complementary.
Robbins, S.P., & Coulter, M. (2009). Management (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Power is defined in the course study notes as the “ability of individuals or groups to get what they want despite the opposition”. Power is derived from a variety of sources including knowledge, experience and environmental uncertainties (Denhardt et al, 2001). It is also important to recognize that power is specific to each situation. Individuals or groups that may be entirely powerful in one situation may find themselves with little or no power in another. The county Registrar of Voters, who is my boss, is a perfect example. In running the local elections office, she can exercise the ultimate power. However, in a situation where she attempted to get the county selected for a desirable, statewide pilot project, she was powerless, completely at the mercy of the Secretary of State. Power is difficult to measure and even to recognize, yet it plays a major role in explaining authority. In organizations, power is most likely exercised in situations where “the stakes are high, resources are limited, and goals and processes are unclear” (Denhardt et al, 2001). The absence of power in organizations forces us to rely on soley hierarchical authority.
Meyer, E., Ashleigh, M., George, J., Jones, G. 2007. Contemporary Management European Edition. London: McGraw-Hill