ORGANISATIONAL POWER

An organization process assignment

11/9/2012

VARUN KUMAR M120014MS

INTRODUCTION
It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it. What is power and what is its role in organizational conflict? According to many researchers, organizational power is the mechanism through which conflict gets resolved. It can be defined as the ability of one person or group to overcome resistance by others to achieve a desired objective. More specifically, organizational power is the ability of X to cause Y to do something that Y would not otherwise have done. Thus, when power is used to resolve conflict, the element of coercion exists. Power plays an integral part in an organization not only in the success but also motivating and influencing employees. Think, for an example, how all those top level management who dithered while their company burned and yet managed to hold on to their positions and perks, or even grab better ones in the wake of the collapse. Its not like that the IQ factor and value-added features arent important; its just that they havent always been to the path of power.

POWER
In physics the term power can be defined as the rate with which energy is transformed, transferred or used. The term in physics gains a huge importance with number of formulae pondering on its existence. But what I am really concern about power lays in its philosophical existence especially its existence in the world of organization and management studies. Philosophy has its great impact not only on the human but also in the organizations day to day working. Power in my study as it is defined by many a great philosopher is the ability to influence the behavior of others with or without resistance. Power is often compared with the term authority which in manner imposes its desires upon the followers. To get a job done we use our power whether personal power or the external power that we achieve by our existence in society. Personal powers are those which we inherent like our charisma, beauty, communication skills. External power or the authoritative power is often achieved by the position that we hold in the society or the knowledge that we earn in our life. These powers can play a great role in the organizational life.

ORGANISATIONAL POWER
In leading an organization its very important that one must understand that the power a person is possessing can be used either for promoting the subordinate or to improve the productivity of the organization. Traditionally, power in an organization is compared with the authority and when the person is in charge of the authority he must realize the responsibility envisaged with him and must work out his ways to help reach organization goals. Consider Clark Kent from the legendary comic book superman, he doesnt try to impose his powers to set equilibrium in the world instead he helped people so that they can inspire themselves to pursue for a better world. Similar is the situation with the organization where a manager has to use his power to influence his subordinates so that the job is done precisely instead of exploiting his authority and harassing employees for the same job. So the organizational power can be defined as the ability of the organization structure to utilize all the mandatory resources in favor of organization development. Resources such as man, machine and capital means everything for an organization and one must utilize it effectively and efficiently to achieve his goals. Power in an organization is not uniformly distributed however it is confined to certain people, group of people or departments depending on the level of responsibility and seniority. The main motive behind this assignment of power to these levels is to streamline the underlying activities by designing work structures, circulars, policies and their successful implementation for the success of the organization.

POWER STRUCTURE IN AN ORGANISATION

Those who have worked in an organization are familiar with the organizational chart or in slangs who report to whom chart. This chart is to familiarize the employee with the concept of bottom-up information flow or the top-down instruction flow in the organization. The top boxes represent the position with the highest power. But, the power structure of an organization can often be different from a traditionally formal organizational structure. Sometimes the real power in an organization resides with middle-management people on the finance staff, design staff or the production staff etc. 1) Hierarchical power structure: Its a traditional power structure of top-down and bottom-up approach. It can be easily seen in number of organizations around us. The superior authority is placed just above our head in the organizational chart. We receive instructions directly from the person above us and pass them the requisite information directly to him. 2) Flat power structure: To enhance the information flow and quality of decision many companies have eliminated the layer of commanding authority who is far from the field situation. The employees who are at the same level can now actively participate in the decision variables and the information can reach the top management bypassing the middle management. For example rather than promoting a person and increasing the expense and information gap, the person is increased with responsibility as team leader. 3) Matrix power structure: In matrix structure, employees have to report many senior players not just the single manager in a hierarchy where interaction between each relationship is important. This kind of power structure is seen in the designing department where engineers or employees have to report the production head, marketing head and quality head etc for the sake of better product development.

4) Power Fiefdoms: In a group of employees there is always a popular one who dominates the decisions of that group. His popularity dominates the group by the skills and knowledge he possesses. Such kind of power structure is known as power fiefdom.

TYPES OF ORGANISATIONAL POWER

Businesses are run by powerful people who have the leadership trait to lead it. There are five basic types of power that can be observed in an organization of 20th century however there is an information power which is being used exclusively in an organization culture. 1) Coercive power: It may be the most primitive one but still one of the most effective power to influence subordinate unless it is used carefully. It goal is to get the work done under the influence of fear or punishment. An employee is threatening to loss promotion or even job if the work is not done effectively. This fear of losing the benefits sparks the working spirit of the employee to an extent until it becomes a pressure. Thus a careful and precise handling of this coercive authority is required to keeps the wheel moving. Coercive power comes in handy during the crisis of a business where everyone is working to their business. 2) Legitimate power: Legitimate power rest with the position. In an organization a person holding the position directly above you has the right to order you to do a work in a certain manner. Its a true form of authority. Not only in an organization but in society legitimate power is seen every nook and corner. Imagine, for example when in chaos a policeman has the right to guide you whereas you have the obligation to follow his commands. 3) Reward power: Increase in wage, public praise and promotion are the forms of reward that can be used for influencing the productivity of the employee. These rewards are also the motivating factor that inherent in the employee. This form is exactly opposite of the coercive power which inherent the fear of punishment.

4) Referent power: The referent power may have resulted from the mixture of trust and responsibility. The employee tries to emulate his manager which implies that the manager has earned a respect, admiration, trust and loyalty. Business leaders who have gained referent power often have done so as a result of entrusting their employees with increased responsibility and latitude in how to perform their jobs. The referent power can be seen in the leaders and celebrities who can influence their followers. This power takes a long time to evolve in the leader. 5) Expert power: Expert power resides with the person having an exception set of skills or knowledge in the field. Subordinates of a person who has gained expert power believe that the leader will
guide them correctly due to his vast expertise. A police officer having the skills of bargaining

comes in handy during the hostage situation. A person having a deep knowledge of the market holds a valuable position in the eye of the organization. Steve job holds such power in apple when his company (NEXT) was taken over by apple. 6) Informational power: In an organization, a person holing the valuable information can have the influence upon the others. Information can be a very important and scarce resource. Access to strategic information and the control of the information flow to, from and between the subunits are sources of considerable power in the decision-making and change process. It is possible to shape the views of others by carefully tailoring the information they receive.

A SHIFT IN CONCEPT
The traditional approach of dealing with the organizational power is in no alignment with the today work environment. Modern market and social media are actively playing part of their roles to renovate the workplace culture and ambience within and outside the organization. These changes are continuous and dynamic in nature and overtly shifting the focus from power to influence. Now organizations are shaping around influential aroma rather than power pressure. For the 21st century organizations, Richard McKeown, a management consultant, provides a clear contrast between power and influence. Lets take a look at those distinctions and consider which organizational structure is likely to produce lasting results. 5) Power is positional. Influence is personal. 6) Power is wielded. Influence is granted. 7) Power pushes. Influence persuades. 8) Power is resented. Influence is respected. 9) Power expires. Influence endures.

REFERENCES:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_definition_of_organizational_power http://www.relationship-economy.com/2012/07/a-shift-in-organizational-power/ http://smallbusiness.chron.com/power-structure-organization-2766.html http://www.reocities.com/Athens/Forum/1650/htmlpower.html http://smallbusiness.chron.com/5-types-power-businesses-18221.html