Smita Tripathi Power in organisations

By the end of this session you will be able to:  Understand the perspectives on power within an organisation  Describe sources of power  Understand and explain the differences and similarities between power, influence and authority

 Definitions  Complex conception  Negative connotations, but can be positive too – as in motivational power  Related to ideas of influence, force, manipulation, control (domination) means to achieve something...

 “ the potential ability to influence behaviour, to change the course of events, to overcome resistance and to get people to do things that they would not otherwise do” Pfeffer (1992: 30) Pfeffer (1992) Managing with Power: Politics and Influence in Organizations, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.  Discuss Pfeffer’s definition of power to draw out the differences/similarities between power, influence, authority.

Foucault (1972, 1977, 1984)  Power as condition in society perpetuated through language and knowledge reflected in social practices.  The discourse creates rules which in turn classifies knowledge and activity; the hierarchical framework is thus legitimised.  Boundaries are artificially and socially created.

 This effective socialisation enables us to see and understand the world through the discourses we experience.  The discourses reflect the distribution of power in society.  The power/knowledge discourses become the basis of behaviour which are difficult to change and the acceptable conduct in turn constructs social identity.

Five sources/bases of power in society  Coercive - capacity to enforce discipline  Reward – use of resources as rewards  Legitimate – subordinates acquiescing  Expert – power as knowledge  Referent – managers characteristics perceived as attractive French, JRP and Raven, B (1968) The Bases of Social Power in Cartwright, D and Zander, AF (eds) Group Dynamics: Research and Theory, 3 rd Ed, Harper and Row, New York

Power over people- domination Power with people- more consensual approach

 Ability to persuade, rather than force, the behaviour of another individual.  Softer than power  Uses processes like induction, training, reward etc to align individual objectives to those of management.  Broader conception  More positive perception  More in tune with persuasion

 Weber  Barnard (1938)  Handy (1993)  Legitimate expression of power  Formal power

Buchanan, D. and Badham, R. (2008) Power, Politics an Organisational Change: Winning the Turf Game, London: Sage Lukes, S. (2005) Power: A Radical View, London: Palgrave Clegg, S. (1989) Frameworks of Power, London: Sage

Pfeffer (1992) Managing with Power: Politics and Influence in Organizations, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Foucault, M (1972) The Archaeology of Knowledge, London: Tavistock Foucault, M (1977) Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison Foucault, M (1984) The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, Harmondsworth: Peregrine French, JRP and Raven, B (1968) The Bases of Social Power in Cartwright, D and Zander, AF (eds) Group Dynamics: Research and Theory, 3 rd Ed, Harper and Row, New York. Full module reading list: References

This resource was created by the University of Plymouth, Learning from WOeRk project. This project is funded by HEFCE as part of the HEA/JISC OER release programme.Learning from WOeRk This resource is licensed under the terms of the Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales license ( The resource, where specified below, contains other 3 rd party materials under their own licenses. The licenses and attributions are outlined below: 1.The name of the University of Plymouth and its logos are unregistered trade marks of the University. The University reserves all rights to these items beyond their inclusion in these CC resources. 2.The JISC logo, the and the logo of the Higher Education Academy are licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution -non-commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK England & Wales license. All reproductions must comply with the terms of that license. AuthorSmita Tripathi InstituteUniversity of Plymouth TitleSource of power in the work context Date Created01/06/11 Educational LevelLevel 4 Keywords UKOER, LFWOER, UOPCPDLM, Leadership, Management, Continuous Professional Development, CPD, Work-based Learning, WBL Creative Commons LicenseAttribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales Back page originally developed by the OER phase 1 C-Change project ©University of Plymouth, 2010, some rights reserved