Impact Of Power On The Workplace

The five sources of powers that managers use are: legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, expert power and referent power. Legitimate power is an inherent power that all managers have simply because they are the manager and have authority over their subordinates. Reward power is a power that all managers have where they can promise or give rewards to

The amount of legitimate power someone has depends on the importance of the position she or he occupies and the willingness to grant authority to the person in that position. The benefits of this type of power are that incorporates weight of the entire organization, effective for gaining obedience, helps large organizations function effectively. The costs are that lowers follower task performance, lowers follower task satisfaction, and may become less effective overtime.

If there is one word in leadership that gets leaders both excited and worried it is the word “power”. Leaders are excited by the word because it means they have to ability to make decisions and get things done. On the other hand, they are scared by this word because it has a negative connotation and there are many examples of leader who used their power for the wrong purposes. To use power correctly, one needs to examine the positives and negatives of power, as well as find a few ways to use power in a healthy, productive manner.

Legitimate Power - Is the same as positional power - obtaining compliance through formal authority. Positional power is external to you. It is your important job title, college degree, etc. It can be taken away from you.

The two major types of power are position power and personal power. Position power is power held by an individual due to the position they hold within an organization; whereas, personal power is power bestowed upon an individual due to their personal connection with (or likability) by their followers. power is divided “Position power includes legitimate, reward, and coercive power” (Northouse, 2010). “Personal power includes referent and expert power” (Northouse, 2010).

According to Tubbs, of the five types of powers that he discuss are Reward, which is the power an individual hold to reward someone be it financial or emotional (flattery), Coercive, the power an individual hold to punish ( Also known as Scrooge Power, (Tubbs, 2012)), Legitimate, the power an individual hold derived from the power given from others over themselves ( Think president in USA or Parliament in the Europe, or even the Boss you are working for.

The movement of promoting gender equality is exponentially growing every year; however, gender inequality is still a persistent problem in today’s workforce. Each year, gender inequality, especially employment equity, the distinct barrier between genders in the workforce, has become a topic of contention as its affecting working individuals worldwide, especially women. Before examining this problem, we must further understand what gender inequality is in the workplace. Gender inequality is an ascriptive factor, in which limits individuals to reach their full potential in their area of expertise by discriminating based on gender (module …). Both genders can have the same qualifications for an occupation, but a specific gender, mainly men, are seen to be more qualified than their female counterparts are. This can result in the refusal to allow the individual to take on leadership roles due to socially constructed views on gender. In addition, they may receive unequal wages compared to the opposing gender due to statistical discrimination which is the idea hiring or promoting individuals based on the average characteristics of their gender group rather than solely focusing on the individual( Textbook, 169). As we strive towards the goal of gender inequality, we must understand it in order to construct a proper solution.

In the world we live in today the roles of power and leadership are often confused. Although they have similar meanings, they can be distinctly defined between the latter. The key difference between the two is the term of effect. Power is the exercise of leadership, and leadership is only defined if you have power. Leadership always involves attempts on a leader to affect behavior or a follower in a situation, whereas power is not equivalent with influence on another person’s behavior. Although power and leadership have similar meanings, they are certain differences that can point out what makes

Power is the emphasis is an employment situation. While employed you have a certain amount of power, both over your work environment and your own life.

Power refers to the ownership of power and impact over others. Contingent upon how power is utilized, it can prompt positive or negative conclusions in an association. Control in individuals is similar to power in batteries; the higher the voltage of battery, the more electromotive energy it can convey; subsequently, it can have more noteworthy effect. Likewise, individuals with more prominent wellsprings of force are better ready to lead and impact others than individuals with less and lesser wellsprings of force. The all the more influential you are, the more impact you ought to have. Persons can have master force; referent force; prize force; coercive power or true blue force.

Power has been addressed in academic literature in several ways but most commonly describing “power as the ability to control valued resources and administer rewards and

Power relates to influence because in order for a person to be in a position where they have power, others must be dependent on them for one thing or another. The greater the subjects depend on the person, the more power a person has. When one is then in a position of power, they can influence others who are dependent on them in order for the needs of the dependent subjects to be satisfied. Influence cannot be exerted over people who are not dependent on the person, thus leaving that person without power.

It is important for managers to understand the sources of power and influence as they must rely upon the cooperation of subordinates in order to be successful. Strong managers rely upon more than just authority they also use leadership skills and power to obtain the most productivity from their staff. According to French and Raven (1959) there are five sources of power. Referent power seems to be the most influential and the least affected by change. To quote Paul Argenti,

The management can use this power to demote, transfer, fire or deny raises to their employees. The third power base of Position is legitimate power. This power stems from the level of hierarchy in which the subordinates report directly to the authority over them for decisions. Process Power controls the input and output of organizations to make sure that the processes are carried out efficiently and effectively within. Information power is the control of information or access to it within an organization. Information can be controlled to a ?need to know? basis and/or just limited to the upper management. This type of power compliments the legitimate power. Finally, there is Representative power in which an organization uses an individual to be there spokesperson both within the organization and when dealing with people outside of the organization.

Power of reward is based on the manager’s ability to influence employees with something of value. To give or withhold rewards.