Five Bases of Power, Essay Example

Leadership is an approach and a manner in which manager provides direction, motivates subordinates and implements the plans set by the company. Leadership and power are related and linked. In 1959 social psychologists John French and Bertam Raven conducted a study that separated power into five bases that include coercive, legitimate, reward, expert and referent. These different forms of power have a strong effect on leadership and success of employees in the organization. Bases of power are the methods that managers and supervisors use in order to strengthen their own position and the work in the company.

Depending on the relationship and communication with the team members, managers have various types of power. Every base depends on the actions, role and qualities of the project leader. The team leader sometimes combines several forms in order to have the clear influence over the subordinates and have them behave in certain ways to avoid punishment or gain favorable actions.

In the case study it is clearly seen which powers the employees posses and how effectively they make a use of it to meet the mission of the corporation. First power is the reward power that is seen in the first paragraph of the study. Employee 1 is being rewarded for the competency and experience he has within the corporation. Reward power is the ability of the manager to provide rewards to employees. It is clearly shown that the marketing manager “encourages employees to work beyond the requisite 40 hours a week by reminding them of the yearly bonus”. In this case reward is the monetary compensation that Employee 1 is going to use for the vacation that in other case would be unaffordable.

Rewards usually vary from money issues to improved schedules of work. Sometimes managers can so creatively and effectively convey intangible benefits that money might not even be the priority reward. This form of power is based on the opinion that people in the society are more prone to do tasks well if they are getting something out of it for themselves. Employees are often motivated by such forms as raises, promotions or sincere words of compliments. The reward system increases personal motivation of the subordinates to perform the job well and on time.

Some psychologists, however, argue that once the company has established the reward system, each time the motivator should be higher. In the case of failure to increase the value of the reward, managers might lose the power and the effectiveness.

Keeping in mind that Employee 1 has been employed with the company for 12 years, it can be assumed that he might have some legitimate power within the corporation. Usually this form of power means that the manager has a right to give orders because of his or her position within the company. However, the legitimate power often exists in the organizations that have strong chain of command, namely military. Due to the legitimate power subordinates respect and obey the orders of the top management.

Employee 2 is demonstrating a combination of expert and a little of coercive power. Being “the only certified public accountant (CPA)… who can prepare the company’s financial statements”, the manager possesses the expert power. This means that the employee has a high level of knowledge and authority within the team. This form of power is usually very limited and specific in the particular area of training. Manager is up-to-date and well informed, therefore, has the power. Within the organization managers usually tend to trust more in the people who have expertise in the field. This means that the expertise of the Employee 2 is valued and so are his ideas and leadership in the company. Often expert power in the combination with the reward can make a manager to be a true leader of the corporation. People usually do not like strong expertise. But they start appreciating the person much more if he or she is willing to share their knowledge with the rest of the team. This feature often is very appealing.

However, at the same time the case study shows that Employee 2 was the only one who managed to get a compressed schedule, which leads into thinking that the manager utilizes a bit of the coercive power. Since we assume that a normal working day should be 8 hours, the Employee 2 managed to get benefits for himself better than the rest of the team in terms of time schedule. It can be assumed that since he is a very valuable asset of the company, the top management is willing to accept his requests in order to ensure the manager continues to successfully implement his tasks.

Usually coercive power is associated with the ability of the leader to force subordinates into complying with an order by means of the punishments. Often this form of power provides obedience in the short-term but in the long-term results into dysfunctional behavior within the team. Coercive power is not often utilized in Western Europe, USA and Canada since there long exist laws protecting employment-at-will as well as the violence awareness among the employees.

Employee 3 of the case study is showing a strong example of the referent power. This form implies to the ability and skills of the manager to attract other team players, to establish tight interpersonal skills and to be able to built loyalty and persuade. Such managers are usually the ones who possess strong charismatic and interpersonal skills.

The referent power often derives from the trust employees have in their manager. Sometimes subordinates are not even aware that they might be modeling their own behavior on that of the team leader. In certain situations middle managers try to presume what the team leader might do as a reference point. Usually the people with the referent power make others feel good. This implies that they possess strong influence. The responsibilities of the manager are strong but if combined with the other forms of power such as reward or legitimate can be very useful. In society the celebrities are often the ones who possess strong referent powers.

The bases of power are interrelated. One project leader can combine in himself/ herself several forms of power and work effectively to achieve good results. Good combination usually brings about positive results. For example, combination of referent and expert power can provide a company with an outgoing and smart employee who will be of great benefit. There also exists a dependency of the organization on the bases of power. For instance, if the company is able to hire another CPA manager it would greatly reduce employee’s 2 coercive power and will limit him/ her benefits they are getting now. The change would shift the importance of that employee and will create a more equal environment setting within the company. This situation shows if a certain base of power is highly valued or dominant within the firm, upon its even greater increase company can be negatively or positively influenced. For instance, if a company cannot hire a second CPA manager or there is a market shortage of such professionals, employee 2 can become even more demanding (more coercive) and his/ her demands will be satisfied since the company contributes from their engagement.

Within the work place sometimes managers observe that not all powers may apply to certain situations. Usually the leader of the organization begins with his or her legitimate power based on the position within the organization. From this point the manager might rely on benefit system and lean towards the reward power. Or they might shift his or her direction towards the punishment which is a coercive form. When people demonstrate expert knowledge they become associated with the expert power. Referent power is the one that often takes long time and energy to build but is one of the most effective.

However, most psychologists agree that the best manager possess a combination of the powers. It is essential in the work environment and the team to keep the balance. It is a complicated but achievable goal that makes a true and just leader.