What Type of Powers Do Managers Exercise - Essay Example

Organisational Politics, Culture and Management Student’s Name: ID Number: Lecturer: Date: What type of Powers do managers exercise? Are some more important than others? Different scholars define the term ‘power’ in different ways which depend mainly on extent of personal understanding and experience. However, the term power simply refers to individual ability or capacity to exert influence on people’s behaviour or reasoning (Haslam, et al 2013, p.36). According to this definition, the person who possesses power is able to determine the way people behave. The influence itself shapes people’s reasoning capacity especially towards the opinion he or she provides concerning an issue. Power is therefore an influence that makes a person a leader in one way or another (Ahlquist, & Levi 2011, p.57). It is important to note that organisational leaders or managers use power to get things done. Without power, it might be hard for a manager to deliver organisational expectations. There are various types of power that different managers may apply to ensure smooth operation within an organisation. These types are classified into two major categories namely formal power and personal power. Formal power is the one that the organisation entrusts to an individual in order to deliver his or her mandate efficiently (Storey 2011, p.65). It is only used in the course of official duties and the manager directs such power towards achieving specific organisational goals or objective. In respect of this, formal power is based on the position one holds in an organisation (Tallberg 2010, p.29). The moment one ceases to hold that office/position, he or she no longer has the same power. On the other hand, personal power is based on the individual and not the position. It is a personal attribute that makes him or her influence the behaviour of others in an organisation. In this case, the power rests on the person thus making him influential regardless of his seniority level in an organisation. The managers may have both formal and personal power. Formal powers include coercive, reward and legitimate power. Coercive power refers to that kind of influence that managers have due to threats they issue to subordinates (Avolio, & Yammarino 2013, p.112). Junior employees in the organisation fear such managers. They get things done their way by instilling fear in other people. In most cases, they use punishment as a tool to bulldoze employees to act. For example, employees may be threatened that they will be sacked if they do not meet the targets. Such threat makes them work hard in fear of losing the job. Such power does not work well in the long run since it demotivates employees and makes them develop negative attitude towards work (Zhang, & Feiock 2010, p.468). Employees may also gang up against such manager and plan on how to sabotage his work. Excessive use of coercive power is the main source of internal conflict and politics due to dissatisfaction among employees. Reward power is another source of influence for managers in an organisation. Unlike coercive power, this provides rewards for the job well done. Whenever an employee pleases the manager by doing a good job, the boss responds by rewarding him. For example, one may be awarded a promotion or salary increment for achieving the set target. Employees like these kinds of managers since they feel appreciated whenever they perform well. Such approach of management usually motivates high performers within an organisation thus raising their morale. People develop positive attitude towards the management and their respective duties. Rewards in this case become a major drive to good performance since employees are sure of it when this happens. However, it is also a source of organisational politics especially when some employees do not get rewards. They develop the feeling that managers do not appreciate them as others. It is seen as an aspect of partiality thus raising undesirable working condition. Employees start developing hatred among themselves especially those who get rewards and those who do not get. It is the basis of internal groupings which affects teamwork efficiency thus organisational politics. Managers also possess legitimate power which comes as a result of holding managerial position within the organisation. Employees just recognise this kind of power by the virtue of individual position and not the person himself. Once an individual holds a managerial position, he or she becomes automatically influential. In this case, the manager does not need to coerce or reward in order to influence. He gives orders using the position and subordinates just respond by obeying those orders (Tannenbaum, et al 2013, p.97). Legitimate power is operational as long as an individual holds the position. The moment one ceases to hold that office/position, legitimate power also ceases to function. It remains in the position not an individual hence it is a temporary power. Besides formal types of power, the manager may also possess power that is within him. Personal power does not rest in position but in the person who possesses it. There are different types of personal power namely expert power, referent power, information power and connection power. When the person has one of these powers, he or she is able to influence others in the workplace. Personal power enables the manager to execute his mandate efficiently without creating inter-personal conflict within the organisation. A blend of formal and personal power produces an effective manager who is able to control the subordinate as well as influence decision those who are more senior than him (Butler, et al 2014, p.97). It is essential in complementing formal power thus making managerial work easier. Expert power comes as a result of an individual being proficient in certain area within an organisation. Other people including seniors tend to rely on expert whenever they need a solution in that section. Such aspect makes this expert to influence most decisions especially those touching on area of his specialisation. For example, the IT manager who understands the whole system in an organisation and knows every part of it is able to command respect from others in an organisation (Goleman, et al 2013, p.99). The organisational leadership believes this manager is the right person in that position hence entrusting the entire system upon him. Whenever such manager is around, other employees and managers particularly who use the computer system believe they have solution ready just in case a problem arises. They consult him on every matter that touches that particular area. The manager may also possess referent power besides having the formal one. Referent power comes when people around him especially within an organisation portray absolute respect and trust on him. Such manager is usually friendly to everybody within the organisation and commands respect from all quarters. Such aspect may be due to high level of integrity that manager may have towards the job and the people around him. Naturally, that manager becomes an influential person. People seek his views and opinions on most issues before making the final decision. In most cases, his opinion contributes to a significant percentage of the decision to be taken on any issue to trust people have upon him. Information power is also a vital management tool that enables the manager to carry out his mandate efficiently. It is the situation where the manager possesses key information that is significant in certain area of an organisation. The information provides adequate influence since people always believe that the manager has sufficient knowledge concerning a certain issue (Holdford 2010, p.121). When a manager works in an organisation for long period of time, he may become powerful due to the information he has concerning the company’s history. He may have interacted with the founder before his demise thus making the person influential. Whatever such persons suggests, others take it seriously since it is believed his opinion or suggestion has more relevance to the issue at hand (Wrigley, & Bucolo 2012, p.71). This power is temporary because it is relevant only when the organisation values the information the person has. Connection power depends mainly on the size of the network a manager establishes. Whenever the manager is close to the people that matter in the organisation or the entire industry, he is likely to influence other people. For example, the manager may be a close ally to the people in charge of industry regulation. Such aspect of connection makes the manager so powerful and may use this power to influence behaviour within the organisation (Davies, & Brundrett 2010, p.116). He may even want to control other managers and force them to adopt his opinion. When this happens, other managers may start developing a negative attitude towards him thus raising intra-organisational wrangles. In this respect, organisational politics starts operating thus affecting the smooth work-flow. Connection power is only relevant in the event when the holder is connected to those high profile people either in an organisation or the industry. Different managers exercise different types of power depending on various factors. These factors include education level of employees, nature of work, organisational culture and personality. Besides legitimate power that comes with position, it is important for a manager to possess personal power to make his authority sustainable (Drucker 2012, p.106). Managers who rely on legitimate power end up coercing people through intimidation and threats. Consequently, employees may feel demoralised thus starting sabotaging the management efforts. In such situation, wrangles erupt between the management and subordinates thus affecting overall performance of the organisation. Employees start demanding better working conditions among other things hence the aspect of organisational politics arise. Coercive power does not work where employees are aware of their duties and responsibilities. Managers get resistance whenever they use coercive power to influence employees’ performance. The organisation is also likely to experience high staff turn-over which impacts negatively to its performance. This power works well where employees are desperate and may fear losing their jobs or demotion. However, the organisation tends to lose workers’ confidence and trust. The overall output per worker reduces thus lowering the organisational productivity (Kellerman 2013, p.64). It is therefore important for the manager to ensure that he uses his power well. The main focus should be to exercise the managerial power in accordance with organisational goals and objective. To achieve the desired results, managers should establish the most suitable approach to exercise their legitimate power. Naturally, subordinates know very well that the position of a manager needs absolute respect. There is no need of using force or threats in the course of duty since that has no sustainable gain. Employees may end up losing trust on the whole management thus jeopardising its success (Jing, & Avery 2011, p.106). The manager should therefore be in position to command respect regardless of the position he holds in an organisation. Aspect of personal integrity and value for the people makes this happen thus giving the manager adequate ability to influence without causing any conflict. The main aim of exercising leadership power is to direct people’s behaviour towards specific target. The power ensures that manager is able to influence subordinates in achieving goals. One cannot realise this unless he or she develops positive attitude towards people (Spillane 2012, p.64). The manager’s attitude determines the type of formal power he exercises in the course of executing his mandate. Negative attitude makes him see people as irresponsible and lazy thus applying coercive power to make them work. In the long run, they are not able to meet the desired target thus failing the entire organisation (Kellerman 2013, p.107). Positive attitude makes manager see people as potential assets and ready to work and produce results. Such mentality makes him provide motivating objects such as rewards thus meeting and exceeding organisational expectations. To be an effective manager, it is important to know employees ability. Manager should take time to study subordinates and establish which approach he should use in managing them. Note that employees are the major determinant of organisational productivity thus management need to take care of their feelings and emotions (Ciulla 2013, p.43). Manager should establish dialogue with employees in order to create close ties with them. Through this approach, employees develop positive attitude towards the leadership. In this case, the manager does not need to coerce them but to provide necessary support and encouragement (Bolman, & Deal 2014, p.56). As a result, the manager acquires adequate information on what affects the employees’ productivity since he communicates with them from time to time. Such information helps the manager to know how to exercise his formal power towards achieving organisational goal. In a nutshell, the organisational success rests in the way managers exercise their powers in an organisation. The approach that management uses in influencing employees behaviour shapes the destiny of that particular organisation. It implies that power is an essential tool that contributes towards either downfall or success of an organisation (Herman 2011, p.73). The major issue in this respect is the management to develop the suitable method of working with subordinates. This is all about the manager using his power to motivate employees towards achieving their goals. The bottom-line should be to establish a ground where both employees and management stand to gain and acquire satisfaction (DuBrin 2011, p.43). Once the power is used in intimidating employees, then it is of no use especially in this era where the management has the mandate of protecting human value and dignity. In conclusion, the manager has a duty to learn which kind of power he should exercise. It depends on which he has since he cannot exercise the power he does not have. Besides legitimate power which he enjoys due to his managerial responsibility, he should seek to know which other power is available at his disposal. It is important to make use of personal power especially expert and referent power that is permanent. These two types of power, when used along with legitimate power produce an efficient leader and a manager who is able to work with people and lead others in delivering results. Reference Ahlquist, J. S., & Levi, M. (2011). Leadership: What it means, what it does, and what we want to know about it. Annual Review of Political Science, 14, 1-24. Avolio, B. J., & Yammarino, F. J. (Eds.). (2013). 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