POWER AND POLITICS:Coercive Power, Legitimate Power, Referent Power

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Organizational Psychology (PSY510)

Lesson 34

POWER AND POLITICS

Power may be defined as getting things done in spite of opposition and resistance: get a person/group to

change. It is the capacity that A has to influence the behaviour of B, so B does something he or she would

not do otherwise. This definition implies:

· a potential that need not be actualized to be effective,

· a dependency relationship, and

· the assumption that B has some discretion over his or her own behaviour.

Types of Power

There are five types of powers:

Reward Power

It is the ability to change people because one controls their rewards. People comply with the wishes or

directives of another because it produces positive benefits; therefore, one who can distribute rewards that

others view as valuable will have power over them. These rewards can be anything another person values.

In an organizational context, we think or money, favourable performance appraisals, promotions,

interesting work assignments, friendly colleagues, important information, and preferred work shifts or sales

territories.

Coercive Power

It is the ability to create fear in people, can inflict pain or punishment. One reacts to this power out of the

fear or the negative results that might occur if one failed to comply. It rest on the application, or the threat

of application, of physical sanctions such as the infliction of pain, the generation of frustration through

restriction of movement, or the controlling by force of basic psychological or safety needs.

At the organizational level, A has a coercive power over B if A can dismiss, suspend or demote B, assuming

B values his or her job. Similarly if A can assign B work activities that B finds unpleasant or treat B in a

manner that B finds embarrassing, A possesses coercive power over B.

Coercive and reward power are actually counterparts of each other. If you can remove something of

positive value from another or inflict something of negative value upon him or her, you have coercive

power over that person. If you can give someone something of positive value or remove something of

negative value, you have reward power over that person.

Legitimate Power

In formal groups and organizations, probably the most frequent access to one or more of the power bases

is one's structural position. This is called legitimate power. It represents the power a person receives as a

result of his or her position in the formal hierarchy of an organization.

Positions of authority include coercive and reward powers. Legitimate power, however, is broader than the

power to coerce and reward. Specifically, it includes acceptance by members of an organization of the

authority of a position. When school principals, bank presidents, or army captains speak; teachers, tellers,

and officers listen and usually comply.

Referent Power

Its base is identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits. If I admire and

identify with you, you can exercise power over me because I want to please you.

Referent power develops out of admiration or another and a desire to be like that person. In a sense, then, it

is a lot like charisma. If you admire someone to the point of modelling you behaviour rand attitudes after

him o her, this person possesses referent power over you. Referent power explains why celebrities are paid

huge sums of money to endorse products in commercials. Marketing research shows that people like Imran

Khan, Shahrukh Khan, etc. have the power to influence your choice of purchase. In organizations, if you

are articulate, domineering, physically imposing, or charismatic, you hold personal characteristics that may

be used to get others to do what you want.

Expert power

It is the influence wielded as a result of expertise, special skills, or knowledge. Expertise has become one of

the most powerful sources of influence as the world has become more technologically oriented. As jobs

become more specialized, we become increasingly dependent on "experts" to achieve goals. So, while it is

generally acknowledged that physicians have expertise and hence expert power-most of us follow the advice

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Organizational Psychology (PSY510)

our doctor gives us-you should also recognize that computer specialists, accountants, engineers,

psychologists, and other specialists are able to wield power as a result of their expertise.

Influencibility and Power

There are six factors of influencibility that are responsible for developing power:

1. Dependence

The greater B's dependency on A, the greater the power A has over B. When you possess anything that

others require but you alone control, you make them dependent on you and, therefore, you gain power over

them. Dependency, then, is inversely proportional to the alternative sources of supply. If something is

plentiful, possession of it will not increase your power. If everyone is intelligent, intelligence gives no special

advantage.

2. Uncertainty

Uncertainty refers to the doubt in the minds of the people about a particular behaviour being correct or

incorrect. Therefore, more uncertain the people are, more likely are they to be influenced.

3. Personality

People who are anxious, ambiguity intolerant are easy to influence while people who have high self-esteem

are less likely to be influenced.

4. Intelligence

People who are more intelligent are less likely to be influenced while they may pay more attention; on the

other hand, people with lower level of intelligence are easily influenced.

5. Sex

Research has shown that women are more likely to be influenced as compared to men.

6. Culture

Cultural values of a society play a vital role in determining the influencibility of a person. It is seen that the

Eastern cultures are more influenceable as compared to the Western cultures.

Two Faces of Power

In addition to sources of power, two types of power have also been identified by the works of David

McClelland:

1. Negative Power

2. Positive Power

Negative Power: It is also called personal power. It is when people are trying to use their abilities to get

ahead of others and are only oriented towards personal goals rather than organizational goals. In

organizations, people try to find reasons to convince the boss for a promotion. This is when they are using

the power for their personal motives rather than the objective of the organization.

Positive Power: It is also called social power. It is characterized by the concern for others, groups, and

society. In the context of the organization, it has the concern for the organizational goals. According to

McClelland, social power is a "we" oriented power as compared to personal power which is an "I" oriented

power. Socially powerful leader and managers are more effective in organizations.

Employees' perception of their own power or empowerment in an organization is critical to the success of

an organization.

It increases:

Innovation

Innovation is increased by the employees' perception of being powerful because he or she feels that

that they can take the liberty of trying and inventing. They feel that they have the resources at their own

disposal which they can use for the benefit of the organization responsibly.

Cooperation

When employees feel they have power in the organization, they are more willing to cooperate and share

knowledge, information and experiences. Therefore, the performance of the organization is enhanced.

Responsibility

When employees have power in the organization, they also have the sense of responsibility and can be

held responsible for their actions. It is not meant to punish the employees but to ensure that they put in

their best efforts to improve the working of the organization.

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Organizational Psychology (PSY510)

REFERENCES

Luthans, Fred. (2005). Organizational Behaviour (Tenth Edition). United States: McGraw Hill Irwin.

Mejia, Gomez. Balkin, David & Cardy, Rober. (2006). Managing Human Resources (Fourth Edition).

India: Dorling Kidersley Pvt. Ltd., licensee of Pearson Education in South Asia.

Robbins, P., Stephen. (1996). Organizational Behaviour (Seventh Edition). India: Prentice Hall, Delhi.

Huczynski, Andrzej & Buchanan, David. (1991). Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory Text

(Second Edition). Prentice Hall. New York.

Moorhead, Gregory & Griffin, Ricky. (2001). Organizational Behaviour (First Edition). A.I.T.B.S.

Publishers & Distributors. Delhi.

FURTHER READING

Power (sociology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_(sociology) - 59k

Positive and Negative Power: Thoughts on the Dialectics of Power: Abell, Peter 1974: http://intl-

oss.sagepub.com/cgi/content/refs/1/1/

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