Eunice Oyewole
MBA 613 – Organizational Behavior
Dr. Herbert Sherman
Section V – Article 1-6
Power and Influence is the topic for section V, it discussed six of the most important ideas on power and influence. It also defined power as the resource that allows leaders to influence people to do what they would normally not want to do.
The first selection from the section is by Niccolo Machiavelli titled, “Is it better to be Loved than to be Feared,” from the book “The Prince”. Machiavelli’s whole idea is that it is better to have both loved and feared but if it’s not possible to have both, then it’s better to be feared because fear is more reliable than love. He proposed that a relationship based on love alone tends to be fickle, short lived, and easily terminated when there is no fear of retribution. While on the other hand, relationships based on fear tends to last longer because individual must be ready to ‘pay the price’ before terminating the relationship. He also made a warning about how leaders have to be careful and not let the fear turn into hatred because hatred usually educes unconcealed behavior in terms of retaliation, undermining, and possibly attempt to overthrow or rebellion.
The second article, “The Bases of Social Power,” by John R.P. French Jr. and Bertram Raven discussed about five major bases of power, which are, expert power, referent power, reward power, legitimate power, and coercive power. Leadership and power tends to go hand-in-hand because people follow those that are powerful, the person with power lead while others follow. Expert power is based on perception, that the leader has some special knowledge and they are expert in their field. Referent power is based on follower’s admiring, liking, or identifying with the leader. Reward power means the followers believe that the leader have the ability to provide them with rewards when needed. Legitimate power is based on the follower’s assumption that the leader has the authority or legitimate right to exercise influence over him. Coercive power is based on follower’s fear that noncompliance with what the leader want will lead to punishment. According to French and Raven’s research, expert and referent power is more positive related to subordinate performance and satisfaction because they influence others effectively through their skills and personal qualities.
The next article from section V is from the book, A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations by Amitai Etzioni, titled “Position Power and Personal Power.” Etzioni discusses that leaders derive their powers from either their organizational office, or position or personal characteristics, or both. He claims that individual who are able to induce others to do a certain job because of their position in the organization are considered to have position power; and the individuals who derive their power from their followers are considered to have personal power. (N.K. Jain, p 623) Etzioni concludes by suggesting that different situations require different types of power.
The next selection is by Gerald R. Salancik and Jeffrey Pfeffer, “Who Gets Power – and How They Hold on to it.” Their model suggests that power is one of the few institutional instruments organizations can use to successfully cope with change. “The model of power we advance is an elaboration of what has been called strategic-contingency theory, a view that sees power as something that accrues to organizational subunits (individuals, departments) that cope with critical organizational problems.” (Natemeyer & Hersey, p 415) The text also defines power as the ability for those who possess the power to bring about the outcome they desire. People who get power are those that have the ability to get things done the way they want them to be done. Salancik and Pfeffer explain the strategic-contingencies theory as well; it simply states that when an organization faces a problem that threatens its existence, the department that has the skills to handle the problem will gain power and influence over organizational decision. In short, power enables the organization’s adaptation to its environment or its problems. The article also explains how changing contingencies may shift power. “The critical contingencies facing the organization may change. When they do, it is reasonable to expect that the power of individuals and subgroups will change in turn.” (Natemeyer & Hersey, p 427)
The next article is “The Power of Leadership” written by James MacGregor Burns from his book Leadership. In this selection MacGregor discussed how power is an interesting topic and proposes that we evaluate power in the context of human connections and relationships. Burns explains two essentials of power, which are motive and resource. He believes that the two are interrelated. Without motive, resources reduce; without resource, motive lies idle. Not having either one leads to collapsing of power. He also asserts that power is a relationship that involves the intention or purpose of both the power holder and the power recipient. In conclusion, Burns suggest that leader’s power base must be relevant to those whom the leader is attempting to influence.
The last article in section V is “Situational Leadership and Power” by Paul Hersey and Walter E. Natemeyer. They defined power as the potential influence that enables a leader to gain compliance or commitment from others. They also discuss the difference between position power and personal power. Etzioni also explained that position power is when an individual is able to induce other individual to do a certain job because of their position in the organization and the personal power is when an individual derive their power from their followers. Hersey and Natemeyer did not agree with Etzioni that position power comes from organizational office of a manager; they believe it comes from above, and it is not inherent in the office. “Position power is the extent to which those people to whom managers’ report are willing to delegate authority and responsibility down to them.” (Hersey & Natemeyer p. 441)
Hersey and Natemeyer also discussed seven different types of power bases, coercive power, based on fear and leaders using this type of power uses punishment as motivation; connection power, based on strong connection and leaders using this type of power has strong connections with important people and his subordinates comply with him out of fear of disfavor from the connection. Reward power is based on possibility of reward and leaders using this type of power possess the power of giving reward. Legitimate power is based on position; leaders using this type of power have people followed them because of their position, the higher the power, the higher the position. Referent power is a personal trait. Leaders with this type of power influence others through their personal qualities. Information power is having access to or possessing useful information; a leader with this power has access to information that might be valuable to others. Expert power is the power of knowledge; leader with this type of power possess high skills and the higher his skills the higher his power. “Nobody knows exactly how leadership works, it is intangible. What we know is the result. And the result is that good leaders can influence the behavior of others, their subordinates. And the means to that are provided by power that the leader utilizes.” (Geolip’s blog, 2013) Hersey and Natemeyer conclude that there is no single best way to use power; they believe that appropriate power bases depend on the “readiness level” of the follower.

Reference:
Organisational Behaviour vol. 2, by N.K. Jain
Classics of Organizational Behavior 4th Ed. Walter E. Natemeyer and Paul Hersey http://blog.geolip.com/wordpress/?p=6