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Power Does Joe Swanson Have In His Dealings With Martha Vandenberg

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1. What sources of power does Joe Swanson have in his dealings with Martha Vandenberg? Give examples of each.
According to the textbook," power is the ability to influence the behavior of others and resist unwanted influence in return" (413). In this case, Principal Joe Swanson primarily utilizes two sources of power over music teacher Martha Vandenberg. The first source of power Joe Swanson has in his dealings with Martha Vandenberg is legitimate power or the power of authority through his title as Principal. While Joe does hold the majority of power in the school, he is not at the highest level of authority and does not possess the most legitimate power as he still has to answer to both the school district as well as the PTA and the Dacron Teachers' Union. In theory, legitimate power should give him enough control over employees to influence them to work harder and hold employees accountable for completing their jobs on time and at an acceptable standard (414). However, in this case, Joe only has limited legitimate power over Martha because Martha has seniority as well as a good relationship with the teachers union, and Joe does not have the authority to fire employees.
Despite the fact that Martha may have some leverage against Principal Joe …show more content…

From what I know about motivation I can make a connection between power and influence to job performance and organizational commitment. When used correctly power can positively influence and motivate employees to be more committed to their jobs and tasks they have to perform. On the other hand, the ineffective usage of power can lead to employee's loss of trust in their leader and organization, as well as lower levels of organizational commitment and higher levels of stress in employees

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