Preview

Power and Influence in the Workplace

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
717 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Power and Influence in the Workplace
Case Study: Power � PAGE * MERGEFORMAT �1�

Running head: CASE STUDY: POWER AND INFLUENCE IN THE WORKPLACE

Power and Influence in the Workplace

August 23, 2011



Power and Influence in the Workplace

This case study is based upon the conceptual article by Glenys M. Drew titled; 'Enabling or Real power and influence in leadership ', in which "aims to provoke thought about power and influence in leadership." Simply stated, power is our desire to have influence upon others, placing us within a particular social status. According to Lewicki, Barry, and Saunders (2010, p. 199), "people have power when they have the ability to bring about outcomes they desire or the ability to get things done the way they want them to be done." Influence is "the actual strategies and messages that individuals deploy to bring about desired attitudinal or behavioral change," (Lewicki et al 2010, p. 220). In most relationships there is power imbalances, including an organization structured to flow in a top-down direction. This is known as formal power and influence such as between a boss and his or her subordinate. "The power imbalance in these relationships stems from the asymmetry in dependence between the parties, which contributes to an asymmetry in influence between the parties," (Emerson, 1962, p. 37).

Problems Specified in the Case

"What constitutes real power and influence in leadership" is addressed and whether "coercive tactics of wielding power over others" is even necessary. It is contended that the opposite is true in that "demonstrating real power and influence in leadership" holds back "usurping power to work with and enable others to achieve worthwhile ends," (Drew, 2010, p. 1).

Possible solutions presented by the Authors

The author explores three suggested solutions of enabling or real power and influence in leadership, each solution is accompanied by an element of paradox. The first suggests that "enabling or real power and influence does not usurp but serves."



References: Emerson, R. M. (1962). "Power-Dependence Relations," American Sociological Review 27, 31-40. Drew, G. M. (2010). Enabling or "real" power and influence in leadership. Journal of Leadership Studies, 4(1), 47-58. doi:10.1002/jls.20154. Lewicki, R.J., Barry, B., & Saunders, D.M. (2010). Negotiation (6th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    A manager needs to understand the interdependency of departments, internal partnerships, and the influence of power and politics to effectively manage across the organization. Effective managers use various political tactics to increase their power within the organization to coordinate and support the work of their peers and subordinates to meet company objectives. Managers regularly acquire and use power. Power-oriented behavior has an impact on managerial career progress, on job performance, on organizational effectiveness, and on the personal lives of employees (Obholzer, 1995). It involves the combined topics of power, influence, authority, and organizational politics. When running an organization, all these factors should be taken into consideration.…

    • 767 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The five bases of power are divided into two groups; formal power and personal power, and further subdivided into five specific categories under each group. Categories of formal power are coercive power, reward power, and legitimate power, and they come from the authority of one person over another. Categories of personal power are expert power and referent power, and they come from one’s characteristics rather than one’s authority. “Coercive power base depends on fear of the negative results from failing to comply.” (Judge and Robbins, 2012) It is the most conspicuous form of power from the people’s perspective. Fear of negative results can lead to dissatisfaction and resentment, and it is usually the least effective power. People will acquiesce to coercive power to avoid the stated negative results, but its excessive use can ultimately undermine the leader’s ability to lead. Reward power is said to be the opposite of coercive power, and is, “Compliance achieved based on the ability to distribute rewards that others view as valuable.” (Judge and Robbins, 2012) These rewards are based on compliance, and the benefits can be either financial or nonfinancial such as promotions, raises, bonuses, preferred work schedules, or time off. Legitimate power is, “the formal authority to control and use organizational resources based on structural position in the organization.” (Judge and Robbins, 2012) This power is greater than the power to reward or coerce, because it relies on the peoples acknowledgement of the authority of a leaders position. It can be unstable on a personal level, if the leader is seen as not having the authority in a certain area, the power is lost. “Expert power is influence wielded as a result of expertise, special skill, or knowledge.” (Judge and Robbins, 2012) This category shifts the balance of power from authority to personal. When you can exhibit expertise in a field, people are more apt to trust and respect what you have to say, and they will…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Bal, V.,Campbell, M.,Steed.J.& Meddings, K. 2011. Role of power in effective leadership. Centre for creative leadership. Available on www.ccl.org/leadership/research/roleOfpower.pdf…

    • 2878 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    References: Bennis, Warren. 2007. “The Challenges of Leadership in the Modern World: Introduction to the special issue.” American Psychological Association 62(1): 2–5. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.62.1.2…

    • 3026 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The study of leadership has been a debated topic for centuries. The leader influences others, has followers, and leaders will come to the forefront during a crisis. “Leaders are people with a clear idea of what they want, why they want it and are able to think and act creatively in non-routine situations” (infed.org, 2012).…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Goleman, D 2003, What makes a leader? Organizational Influence Processes (Porter, LW, et al. Eds.), New York, ME Sharpe, 229-241.…

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    As a manager of the firm, power is a significant tool to influence employees. French and Raven's(1959,p434-435) shows that power can be divided by five sources that include legitimate power,reward power,coercive power,referent power and expertise power. Hales(2001,p435) develops further on French and Raven's theory claiming that coercive power, reward power,expertise power and referent power can involve both a personal and a positional source, except legitimate power which is only belonging to positional sources of power. It is manifest that positional power is depends on the role of the person in the organization whereas personal power is derived by the individual's personality, skills and capabilities.…

    • 3026 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Power in the Workplace

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In an organization, the use of power comes in many shapes and forms. Hierarchical power is known to be the typical distribution of power in most organizations. For example, a business usually consists of a President, followed by a general manager, department manager and finally, the employees. Decisions occur in a hierarchical linear process, from the bosses down to the employees. Other forms of power in organizations can be more subjective. Power may not always take the typical hierarchical or down-the-ladder approach. That being said, the use of power can greatly affect desired outcomes. In a study of Midwifery students, Kantek and Gezer argue that “the use of power strategies in teacher–student relationships affects students’ learning, school experiences, motivation, accomplishment, satisfaction, future career expectations, mood, and method of handling conflict” (2010). The inappropriate use of power in an organization can result in immediate and irreparable effects. These effects can foster less than favorable work environments leading to unreceptive and unmotivated workers. Conversely, power can take a more inspirational or contagious approach. This type of power is known as referent power. Peers and coworkers alike are influenced by individuals that possess this type of power. In this paper, a case study will be presented that identifies an organizational problem highlighting the effects of power. This will set in motion the opportunity for future research and finally, a group action plan that…

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leading Change Paper

    • 8294 Words
    • 34 Pages

    A manager needs to understand the interdependency of departments, internal partnerships, and the influence of power and politics to effectively manage across the organization. Effective managers use various political tactics to increase their power within the organization to coordinate and support the work of their peers and subordinates to meet company objectives. Managers regularly acquire and use power. Power-oriented behavior has an impact on managerial career progress, on job performance, on organizational effectiveness, and on the personal lives of employees (Obholzer, 1995). It involves the combined topics of power, influence, authority, and organizational politics. When running an organization, all these factors should be taken into consideration.…

    • 8294 Words
    • 34 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bibliography: 1. Abudi, Gina. (August 26, 2011). The 5 Types of Power in Leadership. The Fast Track. September 30, 2012. Retrieved From http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2011/08/26/the-5-types-of-power-in-leadership/.…

    • 2227 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    I find this to be very accurate, both in relation to my Leadership Assessment Quiz and Power Orientation test results as well as my own personal stance on leadership and power. Power is defined as “a person, group, or nation having great influence or control over others,” (Moore, 1996, p. 837), whereas leadership is seen as the ability of one who leads or inspires. The notable difference between the two, being “control” and “inspire.”…

    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Need your support so will seek your assistance or modify your proposal to get it.…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leadership can be both a property and a process; however, it’s the influence process that draws our concern. The concept of the influence process for leadership is the ability to non-coercively influence the shaping of a group’s or organization’s goals, motivate behavior toward the goals, and define the culture of the group or organization. Hambrick (2007) theory was that leaders within the upper echelons behave on the foundation of their personal views and understanding of strategic situations, as well as their cultural values, personal experiences and individual personalities. The main idea is that leaders have the ability to influence or change an organization or group. There as six ways that a leader actually influences a process on an organization or group.…

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Throughout our lives we are told that it is important to be a leader. We are told that we must display leadership qualities in order to get into great colleges. Being a leader is synonymous with having power. I think when we place so much emphasis on the title of “Leader” that we tend to lose sight of the people being led. As such, those who seek power solely for the sake of having power are truly unfit to have it. This is especially evident in Harry Potter in the case of Cornelius Fudge, but this idea is also pervasive in our everyday lives.…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Yukl Model

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages

    First, in addition to the strength of being practical in concept and integration, it is a flexible model. Inherent traits, movement toward a vision, and past successes all contribute to leader power which is dynamic rather than static. The definitive results of past success empowers behavior supported by empirical results. Additionally, the continually developing behavioral change of the effective leader maximizes the effectiveness of his power in both tasks and relationships.…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics