Power and Organizations a Case Study
Power and Organizations: A Case Study
Who is in charge is a huge element that determines the organizational structure of a company. Part of understanding this notion is examining the bases of power and the delicate balance between dependency and power. The bases of power are important in understanding the organizational structure of a company and how its leadership delegates authority over the subordinates and other members of the organization as a whole.
One of the most basic bases of power is that of coercive power. Here, the research describes coercive power as "the ability of a leader to punish those who do not conform to their ideas or demands" by withholding rewards or punishing those who are not obedient to the leader's demands (Tran, 2007, p 2). One major example of coercive power is the marketing manager's enforcement of forty-hour work weeks for everyone except employee 2 who is a CPA. This is not an issue that can be debated, and can be seen as a form of coerced power from the managerial voice that forces the subordinates to bend to this will.
Moreover, there is the notion of legitimate power. According to the research, "legitimate power stems from an individual's position within an organization and their right to require and demand compliance from subordinates" (Tran, 2007, p 2). This type of power is incredibly formal, and thus based on the structure of...
The individual who most represents the sense of legitimate power is employee 2. This employee has a Certified Public Accountant degree (CPA), and as such holds a certain formal power being the only individual within the organization that can compile financial statements and documents. As such, employee 2 wields that power to negotiate a shortened work week base don the fact the are in a position of formal power based on the place within the company and how much their work is needed within ongoing operations.
Then there is reward power. Essentially reward power is "based on the perceived ability of a superior to grant positive or remove negative consequences to those who conform to ideas or demands" (Tran, 2007, p 2). Out of the three individuals within the case study, it is employee 1 who obviously works the hardest. This individual puts in a lot of overtime, both at nights and on weekends. Due to this hard work, that employee is rewarded. The supervisor who granted the yearly bonus to employee 1 was using their reward power to reward employee 1 for the hard work that individual put in. This will not only encourage employee 1 to keep up the hard work, but it may also encourage other members of the organization to strive to work just as hard so that they can also receive financial rewards and recognition from the leadership within the company.
Another…
