River Woods Plant Manager - Assignment Example

Power is the ability to make people do what they would otherwise not have otherwise done (Robbins and Judge 81). Thus, personal power is the energy possesses by an individual to make something happen. Personal power has a direct effect on someone’s ability to influence change. This implicates that, it is a prerequisite to River Wood’s plant manager in its anticipation to change from a centralized to decentralized management, as well as from less automated plants to new forms of production.

On this basis, therefore, the plant manager will require to have the following qualifications. First and foremost, the plant manager should possess competent knowledge, skills and expertise in the various domains he/she is expected to oversee. Knowledge is power, goes the saying. Thus, if the manager possesses the knowledge and expertise required, people will seek out his opinion, they will listen to him/her and will always perceive him/her as an expert. This way, he/she will be able to gain authority.

Secondly, the plant manager should have authority. He/she should be responsible and accountable for all the responsibilities under him/her. Thirdly, the plant manager must have courage and confidence. In simpler terms, the plant manager needs confidence so as to know that he/she has power, and needs the courage to use the power. For personal power to exist, it has to be acknowledged and used. The plant manager should be in a position to always do and say what is needed. He/she should have the confidence to ask anything he/she is in need of.

Finally, the plant manager has to possess good interpersonal relationship skills. He/she should be able to build trust and closer relationships with them, so as to make it easy to influence them.Question 2The fact that the plant is decentralizing its management structure, call for a plant manager who will be in direct touch with the employees. The manager will be in regular contact with them, thus, he/she to develop a good rapport with them. This can only be done through ensuring the new plant manager is endorsed with the necessary power and resources required to command authority from the employees.

Thus, In order to ensure that the new plant general manager is in a position to accomplish the assigned duties, the following actions have to be taken. First, legitimate/position power has to be awarded to him/her. In this regards, the general manager will have an official title as well as formal and recognized authority as prescribed by the job description (Buchanan and Huczynski 23-24). He/she should have the final word in a myriad of decisions. He should be empowered to supervise all the employees under him.

Also, all the employees in the plant should report to him/her. This should be combined with his coercive power whereby he/she should be able to reward, sanction or punish employees under him/her. This may also be referred to as reward and penalty power. Also, with the aim of maintaining his/her expert power, the general manager will often receive regular training and development so as keep him/her acquainted with the new dynamics in the plant. Finally, the new general manager shall have unlimited access to any valuable information about the plant and the employees, plus other important aspects of the plant.