Management in Context - Essay Example

Even though modern management experts opine that power must not be used as a beating stick to belittle subordinates, they also opine that the feeling that the manager does not want to use the power vested in him or her reduces the scope of the role of the manager within an organisation. Almost all schools of management stress the need for silent power, the kind of power that is felt but never seen explicitly within the organisation. The extent of power as a motivating force as well as a tool to enhance productivity will be discussed in this paper.

Power can be manifested within a person as traits. Some people have inherent power in their characters while others seek external objects to display power. In the context of the behaviour of managers, their display of power may be according to certain theories. Many philosophers consider power as a trait. Some people are said to have more powers while others do not have an appearance that exudes power. It follows that some people, even if they are in the lower rung of the management hierarchy, exhibit more personal power than those who may adorn higher positions in the organisation.

Aristotles Nichomachean Ethics, which is based on pure observation and interpretation of the ways that the environment and human beings interact, essentially puts that the display of emotion may be related to power or the notion of power. Adapting it to an organisation, we can derive that emotional outbursts control how power is displayed in an organisation. According to Aristotle, vices and virtues are determined by the response that one gives to a particular emotion. For example in response to fear, a person may develop excessive courage, which in the long run may be interpreted as haughtiness and arrogance, a serious issue that confronts managers and subordinates.

For example, a subordinate who is belittled for a long time may develop courage to speak against the management