Five Bases of Power Demonstrated in the given Scenario
While much has been hypothesized regarding power, it is of the essence to note that it mainly connotes to the ability of an individual to possess influence and authority over other individuals. In the organizational context, power is a crucial element that can pose both negative and positive implications. There exists five main bases of power, which include expert, legitimate, reward, referent, and coercive power (Wren, 2013). The current scenario demonstrates these bases of power in a number of ways. More importantly, the case of employee 1 in the given scenario demonstrates reward power. Many at times, reward power exists in cases where an individual in a given organization possesses the ability to impact the allocation of incentives within the organization. The marketing manager possesses reward power in that he rewards employee 1 for working extra hours; beyond the requisite 40 hours.
Legitimate power is also evident in the current scenario in that there exist varying positions within Corporation A such as the positions of marketing and accounting managers. With this regard, the managers have more “positional power,” as dictated by the organization hierarchy. On another note, expert power also connoted as knowledge power is evident in the case of employee 2 who is the only certified public accountant (CPA) in corporation A’s accounting department. Worth noting is the fact that expert power exists in cases where an individual possesses proficiency in a particular area (Wren, 2013). This is the case in the current scenario in that employee 2 manages to successfully negotiate with the accounting manager to have a shortened work week. Precisely, the success of his negotiation for a shortened week succeeded because of the fact that he is the only employee who has expertise on matter regarding the preparation of financial statements.
In line with referent power, it is important to note that such power often exits in cases where an individual manages to influence others based on the interpersonal relationships that he/she has cultivated with other individuals (Wren, 2013). Notably, referent power does not occur spontaneously nor in isolation. Instead, it emerges in cases where an individual possesses charismatic characteristics. A person with charisma often draws respect, trust, and admiration from others; hence, influencing them in a significant way (Miner, 2005). In the current scenario, employee 3 possesses referent power in that manages to use his personal traits aligned with being positive and charismatic to draw a fascinating admiration from entire sales department of Corporation A. A conclusive example of coercive power is relatively evident in the case of marketing manager who prompt employees to work more than the recommended 40 hours so that the marketing department can attain superior rating in the upcoming evaluation.
Relationship between Power and Dependence
Examples from the scenario that show relationship between power and dependence
Example One
The first example in the current scenario that demonstrates the relationship between power and dependence is the case of employee 2 who uses expert power to gain dependence on working for fewer number of days than the rest of the employees.
Example Two
The second example, is in the case of employee 3 who utilizes referent power to generate a fascinating admiration from employees in the sales department. In this case, if employee 3 had no referent power, he would not have gain dependence aligned with being valued highly. This examples depict the relationship that exists between power and dependence.
References
Griffin, R. W., & Moorhead, G. (2010). Organizational behaviour: Managing people and organizations. Australia: South-Western/Cengage Learning.
Miner, J. B. (2005). Essential theories of motivation and leadership. Armonk, NY [u.a.: Sharpe.
Tjosvold, D., & Wisse, B. (2009). Power and interdependence in organizations. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Wren, T. (2013). The Leader’s Companion: Insights on Leadership through the Ages. Boston: Simon and Schuster.
