The Use of Power
By: Heidi Grove
HS450
Kaplan University

Power is useful with situations that will benefit the organizations customers. According to Burns (2012) “power is necessary and productive in situations where the customer stands to benefit in the form of a higher-quality or more efficient service provided to them”. The result of the carefully planned use of power is that organizations can overcome inertia regarding the best decision to implement, resolve conflicts between internal stakeholders, and produce quick decisions in situations where time is important (Burns, 2012). Among other things, power is useful when there is an ethical outcome and the organization can benefit as a whole, including their customers. It is also important when dealing with power that there is a level of transparency and clearly defining those actions that are out of bounds when dealing with how power is to be used (Burns, 2012).
Unfortunately some people take advantage of the power that they possess and they use it for their own personal gain or to make them feel superior over others; like they are better than others. This is unacceptable and can result in negativity within the organization. It is also unacceptable when the use of power leads to an unethical outcome. It is also wrong to use power in a strictly covert and highly political manner. This masks its true nature as a control or influence mechanism (Burns, 2012).
Accessing the unintended consequences that the use of power might have on an organization is the third consideration when dealing with the use of power. These consequences can happen even if the use of power is determined to be necessary and the actions were appropriate. Decreased job satisfaction, productivity, morale, and turnover is one important consequence. If someone in power is abusing that power than the people that work under them will