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Essay Influencing Group Communication

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Influencing Group Communication
William Frainier
BCOM/230
September 8, 2013
Jamie Barmach

Leadership and power often go hand in hand, but their definitions do have differences. Power is the ability of a person or organization to influence the behavior of another individual or organization. Leadership is being able to meet goals (Beebe & Masterson, 2006), and power is one way of achieving those goals (Judge & Robbins, 2009). Power relies on dependency. The greater someone depends on someone else, the more power is given to the other. Children are dependent on their parents for most necessities in life; therefore the parents have the power over them. Employees may be dependent on their manager for career advancement …show more content…

My company spent years trying to educate the employees on the importance of safety in the workplace. The first attempts were ineffective. Hanging signs and sporadically talking about safety had little effect. The second attempt was reward based. If employees remained accident free for a two-week period, there would be a raffle by department for a cash prize. Although this worked for a period of time, it was realized that employees weren’t reporting accidents and were pressuring each other not to speak up so the raffles could continue. Rewards like bonuses and prizes can influence some people to cheat the system. Finally, we decided to really educate the employees on the effects of workplace safety violations. We spoke to people in small groups and walked them through the causes of injuries and accidents. We explained how working unsafely costs the company, and ultimately them, financially. This method proved to be the most effective as employees began to fully understand the logic. It empowered them to embrace our safety culture.
The final formal base of power is legitimate power. This is based upon an individual’s structural position (Judge & Robbins, 2009). Positions of authority represent the control and use of the organization’s resources (Beebe & Masterson, 2006). Although elements of

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