Question

what is power ?And it's various forms

Answer 1

pover is used for nice things!g

Answer 2

The five sources of power in an organization are

1) Legitimate Power

Legitimate power is also known as positional power. As these names suggest, legitimate power is the power that a person in the organization holds because of his/her position and that is considered to be legitimate.

This power that a manager enjoys is because of the position that he/she hols and is ‘legitimate power.’ Job descriptions make it clear as to who an employee will be reporting to and the team that the employee will be leading, if any. For legitimate power to be respected in an organization, the manager should be able and have the experience, expertise and qualifications that the job requires. Ex. CEO.

2) Expert Power

Again, as the name suggests, expert power is that kind of power which an employee has due to the knowledge and expertise that he/she possesses. Knowledge is wealth in today’s world and is highly sought after by organizations. Nice specialisations and extensive research work is highly valuable to businesses which are increasingly becoming complicated and specialised.

Expert power also acts as a stepping stone for employees to gain legitimate power. A good and acceptable display of expert power will lead to promotions and make an employee indispensable for the company. The promotions will result in legitimate or positional power. Ex. Medico-Legal experts.

3) Coercive Power

Coercive power is the power that a person has which he/she uses to coerce or threaten other employees. Coercive power is used to enforce strict deadlines and punishable actions in the workplace and scare employees.

Salary cut, leave cut or even terminations are certain threats that are used by bosses to get the work done by their employees. Bosses need to be strict with their employees and are justified in expecting professionalism and timely completion of work. Coercive power, if used optimally can improve the performance of employees and make them challenge themselves constantly.

4) Referent power

Referent power is power that is a resultant of the personality of a person. The relationships that a person develops with co-workers and the charisma with which a person is able to present himself/herself to others results in a certain level of respect and approachability towards that person. Referent power can also be a result of closely knowing senior people in the organization or those who are at a position of leadership and authority of any kind.

5) Reward Power

Reward power arises out of the authority that a person has to recognise and reward people. Ways to do this can be by salary hikes, bonuses, paid leave, company sponsored vacation or even promotions. Employees who possess reward power can influence the performance of employees considerably.