Power & Authority Flashcards
What is power?
- it exists when one person can get another person to do something they otherwise wouldn’t want to do
What is authority?
- a special form of power, in the sense that it gives people the right to give commands which others accept as legitimate
What are Weber’s 3 forms of authority?
1) Traditional - due to tradition or custom (e.g. the royal family)
2) Charismatic - personality
3) Rational/legal - selection/legitimate
Why might managers who are perceived to lack authority lack difficulty in leading and controlling subordinates?
- ability
- experience
- drive
- different objectives
- knowledge
- blurred lines of authority
- lack of coordination/direction
so subordinates don’t follow instructions because they don’t agree with them = time wasted, different objectives followed and no teamwork
What are the 5 sources of power?
1) coercive
2) reward
3) expert
4) position
5) referent
What is coercive power?
- based on the subordinate’s fear of the leader
- most extreme form of autocratic leadership
What are the disadvantages of coercive power?
- many people don’t perform well in this kind of environment
- few people respond to such a harsh approach
- employees can’t develop their skills and use attributes
- some won’t tolerate it resulting in high labour turnover
- doesn’t encourage open communication between subordinates and their managers
What is reward power?
- providing subordinates with rewards for good performance
What are the advantages of reward power?
- gives them motivation
- staff become more positive
- staff begin to offer ideas and suggestions
- they’re willing to take on additional responsibilities and duties
What are the disadvantages of reward power?
- motivational impact of specific rewards varies between individuals
- can be expensive
What are examples of rewards?
- pay
- promotion
- recognition
- praise
- compliments or flattery
- commission pay
What is expert power?
- ability to influence other parties based on expertise and knowledge
Give 3 examples of expert power.
- professors
- chief executives
- lawers
What are the advantages of expert power?
- able to influence a person’s behaviour due to their knowledge and skills related to work being performed
- easier to get promoted to senior management
- gain trust and respect about decisions and opinions from others
- can build up self-confidence
What are the disadvantages of expert power?
- expertise will decrease and respects or superiority diminish as they share their knowledge and skills
- the gap closes as others become equally expert
- high level of experience, knowledge and skills required and they need to improve from day to day
- managers may withhold knowledge to maintain power
What is legitimate (position) power?
- derives from a person’s position or job in an organisation
What are the advantages of legitimate power?
- many people are used to accepting it
- employees say it’s the main reason why they follow their boss’ orders
What are the disadvantages of legitimate power?
- doesn’t always result in effective and flexible organisations
- power is given to the employees because of their roles rather than their skills
What is referent power?
- derives from a leader’s charisma
What are the advantages of referent power?
- people tend to follow the lead of someone they admire
- they use them as role models and seek approval
- may allow managers to have influence across the business when combined with strong interpersonal skills
- workers more motivated to achieve because they believe in what they’re doing
- interaction is easier
What are the disadvantages of referent power?
- employees may lack recognition of authority due to them being too friendly with the boss
