Organizational Behavior & Leadership

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Every organization has a hierarchical order that dictates its leadership structure. This in turn affects the behavior of both employees and managers. Such is the case experienced in Corporation A. This work describes each of the five bases of power and their relationship with dependency, in respect to Corporation A.

The five bases of power

Power can be defined as the possible ability of an individual or group to exert control over another individual or group (Griffin and Moorhead, 2009, p. 375). In an organization, there can be five bases of power including “legitimate, reward, coercive, expert and referent power” (Griffin and Moorhead, 2009, p. 375).

Legitimate power, basically, similar to authority, is exercised based on the position that one holds in an organization. It rests in the certainty among staff members that their manager reserves the discretion to give directions and orders due to the position he or she holds in the organization.

Therefore, employees will agree with the manager’s orders that depend on the position within the organization that he or she holds. However, although workers may concur with regard to legitimate power, they may do so without a feeling of dedication and full cooperation.

For example, in Corporation A, both the marketing and the accounting managers give various directions to their employees based on their respective positions within the organization. Whereas the marketing manager encourages the staff members to work for more than the forty hours in a week for promise of rewards, the accounting manager on the other hand, reserves the mandate to grant the accountant the chance to work within a compressed time schedule of four-week days.

Reward power refers to the employer’s ability to accord some rewards to employees. The rewards may be in terms of either monetary form or adjusted work programs. Rather than giving out tangible benefits such as money, managers are supposed to grant more of intangible benefits. For example, in corporation A, employer 1 is anticipating a reward in form of bonus to secure a decent vacation. This is because of his extended working period.

The marketing manager encourages employees to work beyond the normal schedule for promise of bonus. The accounting manager decides to shorten the number of days required to work in a week for employee 2. The accounting manager has the power to grant this benefit to this employee only in the accounting department. It should be noted that, although rewards may at times motivate employees to work hard, the only problem is that they divert the workers’ focus from their job assignments to the rewards placed before them.

Referent power is drawn from an individual’s charismatic influence on others. Due to the individual’s traits, attitude, and behavior, people are likely to associate more with him or her (Wagner and Hollenbeck, 2009, p. 217). For example, in Corporation A, employee 3 is charismatic and positive. This has made him to be liked by other employees within the sales department. Despite his short working tenure at the organization, he emerges as a team leader in implementing a sales pitch that is likely to improve the Corporation’s sales.

Expert power on the other hand is vested in employees’ belief that one possesses a specific a high-level knowledge or skill. Managers may therefore be “accorded authority based on the perception of their greater knowledge of the tasks at hand than their employees” (Wagner and Hollenbeck, 2009, p. 217).

For example, both the marketing and accounting managers are able to give directions in Corporation A because of their respective specialized skill with regard to marketing, accounting, and management. Additionally, employee 2 is the only certified public accountant in the organization. As such, he is the only employee who can prepare financial statements as well as have his work schedule adjusted.

Coercive power implies a situation where an employer has the ability to give orders to employees, which causes them to comply for fear of punishment. Circumstances under which coercion may apply include periods of economic crisis, when organizations aim at streamlining their operations for maximum efficiency, and generally threats to the organization’s survival. For example, the marketing manager’s order to the employees to work extra time may coerce them to work hard for fear of not being superiorly rated and hence losing their rewards.

Relationship Between the Bases of Power demonstrated In Corporation A and dependency

Managers in organizations can enhance dependency upon various bases of power by ensuring inter-departmental reliability and scarcity of resources (Kondalkar, 2009, p. 420). First, expert power demonstrated by employee 2 who is the only certified public accountant creates a greater dependency by the organization on his services.

This is because, other than him, there is no one else to prepare the company’s financial statements. Besides this, expert power expressed through the presence of the two managers: marketing and accounting managers necessitates scarcity of human resources (managerial).

This enhances the employees’ dependency on the two in terms of decision-making and any other related responsibility. This is due to the legitimate power held by the two. Secondly, referent power demonstrated by employee 3 due to his charismatic personality sets him apart in the organization’s sales department. He is depended upon in the creation and implementation of an idea that boosts the company’s sales.

Moreover, the reward power demonstrated by the marketing manager in granting bonuses to employees who work overtime causes most of employees to depend on the bonuses to accomplish some of their personal projects in life apart from improving their image as employees. For example, employee 1 is relying on the bonus to afford a decent vacation that would have been impossible without it.

Conclusion

The five bases of power are very important in an organization. Reward power involves one having influence over benefiting results. Coercive power enables manager to have power due to punishing outcomes. Legitimate power enables managers to have control due to their respective positions of authority.

Expert power is derived from one’s ability to possess expertise, special skill, and knowledge over the rest in an organization. Referent power is drawn from one’s charisma, and personality that makes them to be liked by others. All these bases of power have a way of creating dependency within an organization.

References

Griffin, R.W., and Moorhead, G. (2009). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. South Western, Mason: Cengage Learning.

Kondalkar, V. G. (2009). Organization Effectiveness and Change Management. New Delhi: PHI Learning Private Limited.

Wagner, J.A. and Hollenbeck, J.R. (2009). Organizational Behavior: Securing Competitive Advantage. New York: Routledge.

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Organizational Behavior & Leadership

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