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LET1 Task 3 (317.1.5.10) Organizational Behavior& Leadership

Power and Politics
Some would say that power and greed are two sides of the same coin. In this essay we will review the use and type of power in the scenario provided. We will also define the basic types of power.
Five bases of power demonstrated
Legitimate power (Formal): Is derived from a person’s position in an organization. A person’s level of legitimate power is directly linked to their ability to coerce or reward others. Legitimate power is demonstrated in two areas within this scenario. First, within the CEO corporate mission statement, we see it again in the CEO’s overall hiring practices. Legitimate power was also used in conjunction with reward power by the marketing manager. The marketing manager;s position gives them the legitimate power to influence their employees’ rewards.
Coercive power: A person’s ability to impact negative results from failing to comply. Within the scenario, coercive power was demonstrated by the certified public accountant CPA, (employee number two). As the only employee with the skill to do the job and the task having linked to company regularity requirements, employee number two used coercive power to move to a four day work week.

Reward power (opposite of coercive power): positive benefits; person’s ability to distribute rewards that others people or groups may view as valuable. This can be financial or nonfinancial. Reward power is demonstrated within the scenario by the marketing manager. When the marketing manager reminded employee number one of the yearly bonuses we see the use of reward power. This form of power works on employee number one because for employee number one’s plan for a vacation that is unaffordable without a bonus. This is also an example of dependency and power. Employee number one is dependent on the bonus therefore the marketing

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