Techniques of Power

It is the ability to … Get someone to do something you want done. Make things happen in the way you want.

It is the ability of a person or a group to influence the beliefs and actions of other people

Power

John French and Bertram Raven (1959) identified five

types: Legitimate Power Reward Power Expert Power Referent Power Coercive Power

Types of Power

Associated with having status or formal job authority The person has the right to make demands, and expect

obedience from others Example: Project Director, CEO, Politician

Legitimate Power

Derives from having capacity to provide rewards to others It results from one person’s ability to compensate another

for compliance. Example: Reward by company in the form of bonus

Reward Power

Expert Power

• Based on person’s own experiences, skills and knowledge

• It is based on the followers’ perceptions of the leader’s competence

• This is given to the person who is perceived to be a subject matter expert by others

• However, having knowledge and information is not power, power is earned by sharing that knowledge and information

Refers to the ability of a person to influence

others because of the followers’ loyalty, respect, friendship, admiration, desire to gain approval from, or desire to be associated with the person.

It is the result of a person’s perceived attractiveness, worthiness, influence and/or right to respect from others

Can be thought of as charisma, admiration, connection and appeal.

Example: celebrities, a person with charm often makes everyone feel good, so he or she tend to have a lot of influence in a workplace

Referent Power

It is exercised through fear This is derived from having the perceived

capacity to penalize or punish others for non compliance

This is subject to abuse and is often associated with legitimate power

The use of this power will inevitably damage any relationship with the subordinate

Coercive Power

French and Raven model give two groups of power: One group is about the person: expert and referent power Second group is about the context: legitimate power, reward

power and coercive power

Groups of power

Sources of Power

Knowledge as power: Organizations are information

processors that must use knowledge to produce goods and services.

The concept of knowledge as power means that individuals, teams, groups, or departments that possess knowledge that is crucial in attaining the organization's goals have power, but only if they use the power to advance the interested of their organization

Control of Resources as Power: Resources can be: material, positional, ideational The departments, groups, or individuals who can provide

essential or difficult to obtain resources acquire more power in the organization than others

Decision making as Power: In an organization it creates more or less power

differences among individuals or groups. Managers exercise considerable power in an organization

simply because of their decision making ability

Networks as Power: The existence of structural and situational power

depends not only on access to information, resources and decision making, but also on the ability to get cooperation in carrying out tasks

Being in the center of a reverse network generates power both from the knowledge gathering, and distribution perspective and from the ability you have to influence others

Sources of

Power

Knowledge

Control of Resources

Decision

Making Power

Networks

Amitai Etzioni identified three types of organizational

power: Coercive power: forces people to do something through

threat, intimidation or violence. Utilitarian power: influences people by providing them

with reward and benefits Normative Power: influences members through peer

pressure, or by letting the individuals know that they are erected to act according to the overall wishes of the group

Bases of Power

Desire to have an impact on others.

Strong action, giving help or advice, controlling someone. Action that produces emotion in others Concern for reputation

High need for power: Competitive, aggressive, prestige Correlated with success when directed toward the organization

and not toward personal agenda Coaching, democratic managing style

Need for Power

Have high need for social power Approach relationships with a communal orientation Focus on needs and interests of others

Successful Power Users

belief in the authority system

belief in justice

preference for work & discipline

Rational persuasion. Trying to convince someone with

reason, logic, or facts. Inspirational appeals. Trying to build enthusiasm by

appealing to others’ emotions, ideals, or values. Consultation. Getting others to participate in planning,

making decisions, and changes. Personal appeals. Referring to friendship and loyalty when

making a request.

Ways to Influence With Power

Exchange. Making express or implied promises and trading

favors. Coalition tactics. Getting others to support your effort to

persuade someone. Pressure. Demanding compliance or using intimidation or

threats. Legitimating tactics. Basing a request on one’s authority

or right, organizational rules or polices, or express or implied support from superiors.

It is the right to a manager to achieve the objectives of the

organization It is the right to take decisions Authority is manifestation of power, it exists where one

person has a formal right to command and another has a formal obligation to obey

It may be understood as institutionalized power The foundation of authority is the amount of power the

person is perceived to have, to give directions, their willingness and ability to use power effectively

Authority

1. Legal Authority: based on a system of rules that is

applied administratively and judicially in accordance with known principles

2. Traditional Authority: based on a system in which authority is legitimate because it has always existed

3. Charismatic Authority: based on the charisma of a leader who shows that he or she possesses the right to lead by virtue of their personal attributes

Types of Authority