MN7181 - People and Organizations- Blog 9 (Organizational Culture) - Sources of Power and its effects to an organization

Sources of Power and its effects to an organization

When it comes to organization culture the levels of power and the types differ from one to other, but it is observed the power applied has an effect of the culture, performance and the productivity of an organization.

Having a look at the sources of power- Reward, Coercive, Referent, Legitimate and Expert power has been explained by Natter, 2018  as below,

Reward Power

This can be a positive approach. To the team to work harder, effectively the reward power is being used. This can be monitory rewards such as salary increments, incentives, bonus which is given as a reward of achieving the extra mile. This is beneficial for the employee as well as for the employer.

Figure 1: (Google, 2015)

Also, it is mentioned Greater impact, enhancing the employment relationship, flexibility to reach individual needs, Talent management are few benefits of total reward approach  (Armstrong, 2006)

Coercive Power

To operate and to align he behavior of the work force, the leadership uses threats / punishments is referred as coercive power. This type is not much identified as popular source of power as the employees tend to lose the loyalty towards the company and less respects the management.

Referent Power

Most of the celebrities and charismatic leaders do possess of this power where people naturally tend to gather around and likes to be around these type of people. These types of people hold the referent power. In this situation the followers/ employees are easily influenced and they are in a mindset to support the requirement of the leader.

Legitimate Power

Legitimate power comes with the official power the person hold in a company – also called as titular power. As an example, the officer positioned in higher ranks/ designations have more power compared to the levels below them. It is also mentioned that the individuals hold higher power needs to handle the power in a responsible manner as it could be removed at any given time upon its abuse.

Expert Power

Special knowledge, skills in certain areas that are possessed by an individual is considered a one with expert knowledge.  In an organization, when someone has expert knowledge employees with develop regards and he will be considered as a important individual. These individuals are well respected to the special knowledge and the experience with in them.

In Google, 2010 it is further mentioned, that Expert and Referent power considered as informal (Personal ) types of power and Reward , Coercive & Legitimate power is as Formal (Positional). Further it is shown in a figure as below, the power sources and its consequences, rather the effects to the organization linked to.  

                                               Figure 2: (Google, 2010)

This relates the sources of power to the results of employees in an organization such as commitment can be developed with in from Expert & Referent power, where the compliance to the company rules/ policy / procedure is resulted from Legitimate and Reward powers. And the coercive power is regarded as a negative approach as the resistance to the management or leaders can be built from this.

Above all sources are more or less related to Leaders, in my point of. Also an important term comes up when the managers decide to share or rather give up their power to the employees – that is Empowerment. (London Meropolitian University, 2017-2018) It is mentioned that it is important to let the employees hold responsibility of their actions and also required to given authority to fulfill the actions as well.

According to  Armstrong, 2006 as cited by Cadwell (2004), under Policy Goals of HRM, out of few points empowerment is considered too as that “Empowering employees to manage their own self development and learning “ .

Hence, in my point of view, it’s quite important a fine balance of power and empowerment leads to the effectiveness of the performance and the employee development, satisfaction and the loyalty.

Works Cited

Google. (2010, March 31). Retrieved September 29, 2018, from Linkedin: https://www.slideshare.net/karthiga3/power-and-politics-3603789

Google. (2015, September 24). Retrieved September 29, 2018, from The Change Directors: http://www.thechangedirectors.co.uk/a-very-successful-reward-strategy-2/

Armstrong, M. (2006). Handbook of Human Resource Management (10th ed.). London, UK: Kogan Page.

London Meropolitian University. (2017-2018). MN7181 Module Guide-People & Oganizations.

Natter, E. (2018, June 29). Google. Retrieved 09 29, 2018, from Chron: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/5-types-power-businesses-18221.html