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.
Coercive power is a power base reliant on fear (Robbins & Judge, 2007). In the scenario, the marketing manager is using coercive power to motivate employee one by signifying that if employee one does not obtain a superior performance evaluation at the end of the year, employee one would not be receiving the bonus. Because employee desires the bonus to take his much-needed vacation, he is motivated to perform superior work. The marketing manager is using coercive power to encourage employee to put in extra hours in order to receive the superior performance evaluation. Additionally, there is s small amount of coercive power with employee two. The accounting manager has reasons to be fearful of employee B because if employee B leaves or is unhappy, there is no one else in the company who is capable of preparing the company’s financial statements.
Reward power is the reverse of coercive power. It is based on the capability to allocate rewards th...
... middle of paper ...
...tude in order to listen and follow his ideas and leadership. Had employee not been well liked or charismatic, it is doubtful that employee three would have been able to persuade the others to accept his ideas and follow his lead, given his short employment duration within the company.
The scenario clearly illustrates how each of the five powers are used. It is evident that they can have a powerful influence with the productivity and influence within organization. The relationships between the powers and dependencies in the scenario are excellent examples because they perfectly exemplify why and how motivational influences exist in any scenario where bases of powers and dependencies exist.
Works Cited
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2007). Organizational Behavior (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, United States of America: Pearson Prentise Hall.
Reward power is obtaining compliance by promising to reward an individual or group. The reward may be in the form of bonuses, raise or extra time off from work.
Power simply can be defined as control over resources. This control allows for individuals to bring about change. The influence of power typically has a negative impact on individuals. It has even been said that “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Typically, as an individual gains power they tend to be less inhibited and act more based on their personal desires disregarding what is ethically right. Oftentimes, individuals lose sight of their morals in attempts to gain more power and exploit other people. Indeed, it is true that “with great power comes great responsibility” and whether an individual lets that responsibility corrupt them is a strong measure of their personal character (Ferguson and Peterson,
Power is a difficult concept to identify; it has been defined in several ways by many scholars. Hinings et al. (1967) state that power is analogous to bureaucracy, while Bierstedt (1950) and Blau (1964) state that it is purely coercion (Stojkovic et al, 2008). Moreover, Hall and Tolbert (2005) identify that there are five types of power, reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert (Stojkovic et al, 2008). According to studies these five types of power are important and needed in a criminal justice agency for greater effectiveness and efficiency.
Power is a quality, a tool, and a weapon utilized for a variety of reasons. It is in the form of a quality in which it gives the possessor, a sense of control. In the form of a weapon, power is possessed in order to produce a negative environment of hurt and punishment. But, in the form of a tool, power may be used in order to gain something more, something positive. Thus, power creates a sense of superiority which may result in consequences on both side of the spectrum, the good or the bad.
At this point, with an understanding of what power is, what it means, how it is created and the various means through which it is expressed, one can begin to conceptualise how it is that power functions within a given society. Symbolic, cultural, social and economic capital distribute and perpetuate power within a society, through a cycle of transformation whereby these capital resources can be interchanged and manipulated to the advantage of individuals who have
Tost, L., Gino, F., & Larrick, R. P. (2013). When power makes others speechless: the negative impact of leader power on team performance. Academy Of Management Journal, 56(5), 1465-1486. doi:10.5465/amj.2011.0180
Robbins , Stephen P. and Judge, Timothy, A. Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Prentice Hall. Pearson Custom Publishing. 2008 Print
Raven, Bertram, and John French. Jr. "Legitimate Power, Coercive Power, and Observability in Social Influence ." Sociometry Vol. 21.No. 2 (1958): 83. Web. 2 Aug 2010. .
There are several sources of power, some of them are authority, reward, expertise, and coercion.
C. Wright Mills in his article “ The Structure of Power in American Society” writes that when considering the types of power that exist in modern society there are three main types which are authority, manipulation and coercion. Coercion can be seen as the “last resort” of enforcing power. On the other hand, authority is power that is derived from voluntary action and manipulation is power that is derived unbeknownst to the people who are under that power.
Power has been defined as the psychological relations over another to get them to do what you want them to do. We are exposed to forms of power from the time of birth. Our parents exercise power over us to behave in a way they deem appropriate. In school, teachers use their power to help us learn. When we enter the work world the power of our boss motivates us to perform and desire to move up the corporate ladder so that we too can intimidate someone with power one day. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Kurtz had a power over the jungle and its people that was inexplicable.
Some theorists believe that ‘power is everywhere: not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere… power is not an institution, nor a structure, nor possession. It is the name we give to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. (Foucault, 1990: 93) This is because power is present in each individual and in every relationship. It is defined as the ability of a group to get another group to take some form of desired action, usually by consensual power and sometimes by force. (Holmes, Hughes &Julian, 2007) There have been a number of differing views on ‘power over’ the many years in which it has been studied. Theorist such as Anthony Gidden in his works on structuration theory attempts to integrate basic structural analyses and agency-centred traditions. According to this, people are free to act, but they must also use and replicate fundamental structures of power by and through their own actions. Power is wielded and maintained by how one ‘makes a difference’ and based on their decisions and actions, if one fails to exercise power, that is to ‘make a difference’ then power is lost. (Giddens: 1984: 14) However, more recent theorists have revisited older conceptions including the power one has over another and within the decision-making processes, and power, as the ability to set specific, wanted agendas. To put it simply, power is the ability to get others to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do. In the political arena, therefore, power is the ability to make or influence decisions that other people are bound by.
...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.
Power is the ability to control or influence others, especially socially or politically. We often hear of the horror stories, in which corrupt dictators with too much power kill innocent citizens, eliminate all competition, and hurt others for personal gain. Power itself is not necessarily the bad thing here; it comes as an instinctive need to humans, rooted in the primal purpose of survival (Anchor text). The abuse of power leads to corruption. Power is an unstable force that can have positive or negative outcomes, depending on why it was sought and the attitude of those on the receiving end of the control.
Coercive Power- The power that comes from being able to punish and intimidate a follower.