A supervisor must have authority to perform well as a manager. Authority is the legitimate or rightful power to lead others. Authority is delegated from top-level managers through middle-level managers to supervisors who, in turn, delegate to their employees. All supervisors must be delegated appropriate authority to manage their departments.

The acceptance theory of authority suggests that supervisors have authority only if and when their subordinates accept it. In reality, an employee’s choice between accepting and not accepting a supervisor’s authority may be the choice between staying in the job and quitting. Most supervisors prefer not to rely primarily on formal managerial authority but rather like to use other approaches for enhancing employee performance.

Supervisors have power because of the positions they occupy. Position power increases as a person advances up the organizational hierarchy. Supervisors derive personal power from their relationships with others. Subordinates’ perceptions of the supervisor’s SKAs play an integral role in the supervisor’s ability to influence those subordinates.

Theorists French and Raven identify five sources of power: reward, coercive, legitimate, expert, and referent or charismatic. Research indicates that supervisors who use expert power and referent power effectively have the greatest potential for achieving organizational goals. The supervisor’s power is based largely on the willingness of the employee to accept it. P-369