Power as a Necessary Facet for Organization - Coursework Example

Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Introduction Power can be described as the ability that an individual employs to make other people do what he or she needs to be done. In the context of an organization, a person’s power can be obtained from structural, interpersonal and situational bases. When talking about power in an organization, it is important to consider both positive and negative effects that it introduces within the organization. Power can only be taken to be important if individuals establishing particular actions are not taking into consideration the negative and positive side of applying it. People have always been fascinated by power and admired to apply it thus using it blindly. Depending on how power is applied, it can be both necessary and dangerous facet of organization (Hesselbein and Goldsmith 241). Power a necessary facet for organization Power is normally received from people’s position in official hierarchy of organizations. This type of legitimate power is used to manage and rightly apply the resources of organizations. Referral power can also be achieved by people on the basis of wanted resources or individual traits. Interpersonal style and his or her personality normally execute charismatic power. According to Morgan Mangers can utilize power strategies as a response to actions and a way of influencing subordinates and supervisors positively (79). Managers’ strategies that are normally used to influence supervisors consist of coalition, reasoning, bargaining, friendliness, assertiveness and high authority strategies. Power in a group of professionals can be officially linked together and actively participate in obtaining a common goal (Murphy 87). Morgan Power is necessary in an organization since it enables leaders to adjust their leadership styles to suit particular tasks, groups or settings thus improving the performance of an organization. The application of appropriate leadership style depends on the environment within which the style need to be implemented, the employees and the tasks or goals that are being carried out by employees. Power enables leaders to exercise different types of leaderships such as authoritarian, democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles. Stiffler notes that an authoritarian leadership style for instance can be efficient when a condition calls for advanced action or decision-making (47). Employees who lack self-motivation, who prefer structure and those who significantly appreciate direction and monitoring can do well under this type of leadership. Democratic leadership style permits for many viewpoints, involvement and inputs, while still sustaining control and the role of leadership. A good democratic leader need to recognize the strengths of every member and efficiently obtains the best performance from every member. A challenge for the democratic leader is to acknowledge that not every task needs to be undertaken by employees. Leaders need to appropriately address a number of issues alone. A laissez-faire style of leadership works well when employees are highly experienced and motivated, with a verified track record of merit. The hands-off approach normally enables capable employees to be efficient and productive. This type of leadership is interpreted by employees as a sign of confidence and trust in their capabilities and empowers them further to be motivated and successful (Alanazi and Arnoldo 45-7). Effective application of power in an organization enables leaders to be strong. Strong leaders normally engage individual’s hearts. Leaders create ever-deeper commitment and passion. Care is the key leadership word that needs to be looked upon when applying power in an organization. When caring about customers, it is very important to proceed by ensuring that every moment of truth, that is contact with customers, is as positive as it can be created. When caring about making an organization successful, it is important to go beyond the task assigned and do whatever it takes to be part of a winning team. If leaders and employees exercise their power by caring about the product and services they produce, they will do anything to continue feeling proud of what they are doing thus improving the organization performance. Leaders therefore normally care deeply about the individuals in the organization. Employees on the other hand can feel the manager’s care and respond to it (Victor 87). Power is necessary in an organization. It can be applied effectively in impacting individuals through team building. This tried-and-true method normally permits individuals to work together toward meeting a common goal in a unified and coordinated manner. Individuals can share their thoughts, actions and ideas thus coming up with final products that are richer, more suitable and more thriving than what might have been produced by one or two individuals. Effective application of power will make employees to admire and respect the managers for putting them together to tackle a problem or challenge. Managers can therefore win out as a powerful leader (Rosenbloom and Kravchuk 381). Power as dangerous facet for organization One reality about power in an organization is that individuals normally demand for it. The differences are always the degree and intention of demanding power, that is, whether an individual has a high or low demand for power and whether the demand for power is directed towards individual or organizational gains. It is therefore important to note that many people in an organization normally demand for power to achieve their personal gains. This normally affects the efficiency of the organization negatively (Murphy 101). Majority of problems of effectiveness that organizations normally face are brought about by improper use of power by managers. O'Regan and Ghobadian argue that most managers who normally find themselves misusing their powers are those who lack the required knowledge and skills. Without enough abilities, managers are not capable of utilizing their powers competently, thus contributing towards minimizing organization’s performance. In some scenarios managers might intentionally sought power within the organization for their personal benefits thus failing to bring benefit to the organization in the long term. The managers might rather become pretenders as they cannot sacrifice their sweat with wise heart and mind. Power is significant to many individuals as it can be intended for status and prestige and promotion, leading and ruling. Anyway if such intentions are not properly linked with purposes and goals of the organization, it might fail to benefit the organization. Therefore, the reality of power need to be wisely agreed upon, that is, if badly applies it will make somebody to contribute ineffectively to his or her organization. Wrong usage of power such as corruptions and other actions that are not ethical, are basically the problems brought about by attitude of people when applying their power (Clegg and Courpasson 90-4). Power, such as coercive power in an organization normally produces dysfunctional behavior in the long run. Coercion minimizes worker’s satisfaction with their jobs, resulting to lack of commitment and general worker withdrawal. Coercive power can result to a decline in productivity and creativity. The use of coercive power in an organization results to an atmosphere with no security or fear. At times it can lead to economic crisis or threatening the survival of organization at large. According to Carson power might rests in the belief among workers that their leader at work has the authority to provide orders basing on his or her position (77). For instance, at a crime scene, individuals normally comply with orders from uniformed police officer simply because they believe that the officer has the predetermined right to provide such orders. In corporate setting, workers comply with orders from a manager who depends on power that is based on the position within the organizational hierarchy that he or she holds. This always impacts the performance of an organization negatively since employees may fail to feel a sense of commitment or collaboration (Martin and Fellenz 67). Power in an organization normally influences workers who might not be specifically aware that their behaviors are being modeled on that of managers. Power might fail to prove its importance in development particularly in effective workforce with rapid personnel’s turnover. Power can also lead to misunderstanding between employees and their superiors thus affecting organization’s performance. The misunderstanding can hinder the managers’ ability to effectively supervise workers or to get the respect they deserve. This therefore normally results to ineffective supervisors, workers who are not motivated, poor customer service and finally lower productivity (Rosenbloom and Kravchuk 197). According to Johns power can easily influence the effectiveness of an organization. Improper application of power can cause an organization not to achieve internal effectiveness (129). This therefore implies that organization can fail to generate maximum profit via its activities. The interpersonal and group processes, communication within the organization, ability to cope up with all kinds of organization’s problems, and decision making, if improperly applied can greatly affect the performance of organization. Managers and employees may not be able to deal with destructive conflict and lack of trust and cooperation among them (Stiffler 354). Conclusion From the discussion, it is clear that power can be necessary or dangerous depending on how it is applied. Power is necessary facet of an organization if it is properly applied and dangerous if improperly applied. In most cases, managers normally tend to apply power improperly in an organization thus making it to be a dangerous facet. Improper application of power normally affects the performance of organization thus making it unable to achieve maximum profit. Employees behavior can be negatively influenced thus reducing their productivity. Works Cited Hesselbein Frances and Goldsmith Marshall. The organization of the future 2: visions, strategies, and insights on managing in a new era. John Wiley and Sons: New York, 2009. Martin John and Fellenz Martin. Organizational Behaviour & Management. Cengage Learning EMEA: New York, 2010. Murphy, Daft. Organization theory and design. Cengage Learning EMEA: New York, 2010. Johns, David. A new conservation politics: power, organization building, and effectiveness. John Wiley and Sons: New York, 2009. Morgan, Gareth. Images of organization. SAGE: New York, 2006. Victor, David. International Business Communication. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1992. O'Regan, N., and A. Ghobadian. "Leadership and Strategy: Making it Happen." Journal of General Management 29, no. 3 (Spring 2004): 76–92. Clegg Stewart and Courpasson David. Power and organizations. SAGE: New York, 2006. Rosenbloom H.David and Kravchuk S. Robert. Public administration: understanding management, politics, and law in the public sector. McGraw-Hill: New York, 2004. Stiffler, A. Mark. Performance: creating the performance-driven organization. John Wiley and Sons: New York, 2006. Alanazi, F.M. and Arnoldo Rodrigues. "Power Bases and Attribution in Three Cultures." The Journal of Social Psychology 143, no. 3, 2003, 375–395. Carson, Paula Phillips, et al. "Power in Organizations: A Look through the TQM Lens." Quality Progress 28, no. 11 (November 1995): 73–78. Read More