Review the ways managers can build power in organizations. Discuss your experiences with managers who build a power base.

Organizational Bases of Power

The organizational bases of power are legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, and information power. Legitimate power derives from the manager’s position. The organization gives the manager decision authority that he uses to affect the behavior of subordinates. Assigning tasks and setting goals for completing them are examples of legitimate power.

Reward power derives from the manager’s ability to tie positive outcomes to a subordinate’s behavior. A manager has high reward power if he can give positive outcomes for desirable behavior. Positive outcomes can include praise, pay increases, or time off. The use of reward power to provide positive outcomes makes the manager more attractive to the subordinate. You will see later in this chapter that understanding the subordinates’ desires for various outcomes is an important part of leadership.

Coercive power derives from efforts to affect the behavior of another person through the fear of punishment. A manager has high coercive power if he has the authority to penalize subordinates. A manager has low coercive power if he has no such authority. The spoken or unspoken threat of a poor evaluation of a subordinate’s performance is an example of coercive power. 

Information power derives from the control and distribution of information in an organization. Deliberately controlling the receipt and distribution of information increases a manager’s information power. People who hold central positions in communication networks (for example, relayer and liaison; see Chapter 13, “Communication Processes”) can often build this power base. When information is scarce, others become more dependent on the manager for information.

Each management position in an organization has certain amounts of organization-based power. The amount of power in a position varies, depending on the organization’s policies about rewards and punishments. The person who takes that position has some organization-based power available to affect the behavior of subordinates. When the person leaves the position, the power stays behind and does not travel with the person to a new position.