Week 5 Discussion Responses - Organizational Behavior

Week 5 Discussion Response 1 – Org Behavior – Communication and Power

BY: DW

The use of power can have positive and negative impacts on the organization. After looking at the five source power described in our text, share your thoughts on how these various types of power may be used to either drive or ruin the business. Remember to consider:

         Under what business conditions should each be used?

         Is there a universal model for a firm in growth vs. one that is decline?

         How does the use of power differ in a global vs. a domestic business?

         Are leaders able to use various forms of power depending on the situation or is personality dependent?

Power is an interesting concept. There is nothing tangible and in some cases there isn’t even a title of authority that grants someone all of these powers. In other cases, power is granted by a position of authority. Power only matters to those that respect the meaning of the power.

Understanding the five types of power should be crucial to any leader. In order to understand how to best use the different types of power, one must understand what the different powers are. There are five base powers. The first power is legitimate power. This is “an agreement among organizational members that people in certain roles can request certain behaviors of others” ((McShane & Von Glinow, 2015, p 286). This power is one that is given to managers, senior leadership, etc. but also can be given to employees through laws and administrative rights. The next power is reward power. This is “power derived from the person’s ability to control the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove negative sanctions” (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015, p 288). These rewards really vary depending what rewards employees value. If one was to go to a sales team and offer more time off, they may not see that as a reward as it takes away from sales opportunities which in turn would mean less money for them. The power truly lies in what the person can offer as a reward. The next reward is coercive power. This is the opposite of the reward power. “Coercive power is the ability to apply punishment” (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015, p 288). This is the single power I would associate with a company in decline. Using the power to punish employees normally will reduce morale and can be seen as a last ditch effort on a sinking ship. Expert power is the first power that “originates mainly from within the power holder” (McShane & Von Glinow, p 288). This power is “an individual’s or work unit’s capacity to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills valued by others” (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015, p 288). This knowledge is not specific to one skill type or another. As McShane& Von Glinow (2015) point out “one form of expert power is the perceived ability to manage uncertainties in the business environment.” If one has an ability to do something better than others, this would be placed in the expert power. This power may be the best associated with a company in growth. If a company is taking advantage of those that have this power in different areas of expertise, it positions the company to be in the best available position. The final power is the referent power. This is “the capacity to influence others on the basis of an identification with and respect for the power holder” (McShane& Von Glinow, 2015). This power is closest associated with charisma or the “personal characters or special ‘gift’ that serves as a form of interpersonal attraction and referent power over others” (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015). The concept of charisma is interesting. You can see some people that have that charisma when they speak. People like President Obama was a very charismatic person. When someone talks that is charismatic, people listen because of the way the person makes them feel.

            There is no universal model in regards to what works best for growth versus decline however, some of these may be better associated with each trending direction. For example, a company in decline would be less likely to use the power of reward. At the same time, a company that is growing may be less likely to rely on coercive power as they should have higher employee morale and employees that want to be there.

Power differs globally versus domestically because some global leaders may not respect positions that are valued in the US. As there are different values and cultures, sometimes the respect will not be present which would negate the idea that the person is in a position of power.

Power is really personality dependent. Someone that is more likely to use the reward power would probably be less likely to use the coercive power. Normally someone believes you lead by rewarding your team or by having your team afraid of consequences.

McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. A. (2015). Organizational Behavior (7th ed ). New

York: McGraw-Hill. 

Week 5 Discussion Response 2 – Org Behavior - Communication and Power

BY: NM

Power, in its tangible forms, is utilized within the business world as a conceptual framework to influence and impact an individual, group, or organization; ultimately, the ways in which stakeholders, leadership, management, and employees interact with  and perceive it as being utilized sets the groundwork for  either being a vehicle for success or failure (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015).

McShane and Von Glinow suggest there are five core sources of power that drive operational decisions within an organization; these five include legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, expert power, and referent power (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015). While several of these sources of power are fluid in their utilization (e.g. legitimate, reward, and coercive), expert and referent powers are tied largely to an individual’s characteristics and abilities. Nonetheless, the ways in which these powers work interdependently provide insight to an organization’s ability to utilize these powers to position themselves within the marketplace.

Legitimate power is the understood best practice utilized within an organization in which behaviors are expected and managed from multiple parties (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015). This core power sets a standard for common workplace behavior; leadership expects behaviors from employees (e.g. basic job description fulfilled, appropriate mannerisms, etc.) and employees have the legitimate power over leadership to expect reciprocal behaviors (e.g. safe working environment). In evaluating the effectiveness of legitimate power within the workplace, it is critical to review the ways in which the organization manages expectations on both ends; the more communication of expectations and follow through with rewards and reviews, the more potential the organization has to be effective. Legitimate power works on a sliding scale; if you were to evaluate a manager of a company, for example, who gave a subordinate employee additional responsibilities, you would be increasing that employee’s power while retaining your own (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015). This particular power has potential to be problematic if guidelines are not set and/or expectations are not followed. Assuming the company is set-up with leadership, management, and employees, the principal is the same when looking at this particular power and the ways in which it may be utilized on a global versus domestic scale in that the structural boundaries and expectations are always set in order to have operational motion.

Reward power is the core power utilized to distribute both monetary and intrinsic rewards to employees within a company (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015). This core power is relatively straightforward and is a one-way focus of leadership, HR, or upper-management passing down rewards compared to employees rewarding a company, which does not follow any logistical pattern. This particular power is prone to problems through equity theory, which suggests that employees gauge their own financial worth and success within a company based on the rewards that they are granted comparatively to other coworkers (McShane & Glinow, 2015). One example of this is if employees are given the perk of working from home solely based on whether or not their direct supervisor was allowing it; if there are two employees in a company but each are managed by different supervisors who either do/do not allow the perk, it could lead to frustration in the workplace, a drop in morale, and overall lack of efficiency within the workplace. When looking at this power in relation to global or domestic business, the main divider is the types of rewards that may be projected and the ways in which they are managed; however, the framework of workplace rewards is heavily dependent on the company and the level in which they plan to reward employees and to which degree.

Coercive power is the ability of an employee to apply punishment to another employee (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015). As a core power that has potential to be utilized within the workplace, it suggests inappropriate, workplace bullying that has severe consequences for all parties involved and limits potential for strong, effective, work relationships (McShane& Von Glinow, 2015). One particular instance in which coercive power may be utilized is in final warnings; if HR is on their final documented situation of inappropriate workplace behavior and they need to firmly articulate the consequences of behavior, this core power may be an option for that type of disciplinary action.

Expert power is the ability for an employee to think fast on their feet, manage wide uncertainties within the global and domestic marketplace, and provide strong, effective leadership in navigating drastic change (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015). If the individual chosen to drive this particular power within an organization is misidentified or targeted as successful when personality traits do not line up, there is volatility and conflict bubbling at the surface, which can create conflict and friction within this type of power. An example of a career in which expert power is critical is within healthcare leadership. With political pressure, changing laws and regulations, and most importantly patient care on the line, those in executive roles within large-scale systems carry the weight of the ever-changing industry. Failure to utilize inherent traits often leads to immediate disposal of the employee due to the need to stay on top of the competitive market.

Referent power, much like expert power, is situated within the framework of utilizing an individual’s personality, characteristics, and strengths to drive leadership initiatives forward. This core power is associated with strong charismatic traits that subsequently affect employee’s abilities to trust other leaders within the workplace and drive productivity and success (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015). Any CEO or face of a company carries this type of referent power that sets the framework for other leaders within an organization to build their own success and impact productivity of subsequent teams.

References:

McShane, S. L. & Von Glinow, M. (2015). Organizational Behavior (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.