Meaning of Organizational Power, Dimensions, factors behind positional power, sources of power, Tactics to obtain power, Impression Management, Tactics to generate a favorable, Need of Power for the Organisation impression

1. Basic Understanding of Power
Asst. Prof. Parasmani Jangid
SDJ International College

2. Meaning
• Power refers to a capacity that has to influence the behaviour of
another person so the other person acts in according with One’ s
wishes.
• Power is the ability to convince people to agree to your views and get
the work done accordingly.
• According to Dahl (1957), “The concept of power is as ancient and
ubiquitous as any that social theory can boast”.
• According to Sheriff, “Power denotes the relative Weights of behavior
by a member in a group structure.”

3. • Organizational power is the ability that you have to influence the
behavior of another stakeholder in your organization. The power is
measured by the extent that one can use his/her influence to get that
stakeholder to do something that he or she (stakeholder) would
otherwise prefer not to do

4. Dimension of the power
1. Power generated from the positions; Positional power
2. Individual power (personal power of
employee) Personal power is about living life
intentionally with a sense of purpose and optimism.
Factors to build Position power
1. Centrality (all the activities revolve around that
authorized person)
2. Scarcity (using Scarce Resource in best way also make
the person to enjoy positional power)

5. Importance/Need of Power for the
Organisation
1. Performance and Control
2. Positive Influence
3. Proper Flow of Action
4. Major Decision Making

6. Tactics to obtain power
• Self Dramatization (pretend yourself, present your strength, power of
convincing other)
• Friendliness & Networking (create the bond with everyone, create
relationship with employees)
• Making one-self Irreplaceable (specialised knowledge, skills &
relationship)
• Building Association (group of people in organisation for a particular task)
• Being Assertive & building Credibility (prompt action to do task, punctual,
sincere to work, etc.)
• Taking Advice/Direction (If it is necessary one must go to take advices)
• Building pressure (by demand)

7. Sources of power
• Using Role power (goes with position)
• Personality power (generated by the force of the individual)
• Using Knowledge power (that derives from special skills or
knowledge)

8. • Expert Power : a result of expertise, special skill, or knowledge. The
opinions, ideas, and decisions of people with expert power are held in
high regard by other employees and hence greatly influence their
actions. Possession of expert power is normally a stepping stone to
other sources of power such as legitimate power.
• Referent Power : Referent power is based on identification with a
person who has desirable resources or personal traits. If I like,
respect, and admire you, you can exercise power over me because I
want to please you (subordinates with superior) (charismatic
personality). It is derived from the interpersonal relationships that a
person cultivates with other people in the organization.
Sources of Power
(basis of interpersonal relationships)

9. • Legitimate Power : In the formal groups and organizations, probably the
most frequent access to one or more of the power bases is one’s structural
position. This is called legitimate power. Legitimate power is also known as
positional power. It’s derived from the position a person holds in an
organization’s hierarchy.
• Reward Power : These rewards can be either financial – such as controlling
pay rates, raises, and bonuses; or nonfinancial – including merit
recognition, promotions, interesting work assignments, friendly colleagues,
and preferred work shifts or sales territories
• Coercive Power : Coercive power is derived from a person’s ability to
influence others via threats, punishments or sanctions. A junior staff
member may work late to meet a deadline to avoid disciplinary action from
his boss. Coercive power helps control the behavior of employees by
ensuring that they adhere to the organization’s policies and norms.
Sources of Power
(basis of interpersonal relationships)

10. Sources of Power
(basis of interpersonal relationships)

11. Impression Management
• It is behaviour used to create & maintain desired images of the self.
• Generally all the individuals control their image consciously &
unconsciously.
• Impression management is a conscious or subconscious process in
which people attempt to influence the perceptions of other people
about a person, object or event by regulating and controlling
information in social interaction.

12. Tactics to generate a favourable impression
• According to Rosenfield, Giacalone & Riordan (1995),
1. Name-dropping
2. Disclosing obstacles
3. Doing favours

13. Tactics to generate a favourable impression
4. Flattery
5. Opinion Conformity
6. Playing dumb
7. Playing safe

14. Impression Management Strategies
• According to Jones & Pittman
1. Self-promotion (capable , intelligent, praise himself/herself though people
unlike same)
2. Ingratiation (friendly, being liked by people, praising, flattery,
conversational activity)
3. Exemplification (cause & result, suffered reason, communicating morality)
4. Intimidation (bullying, cowing, ragging)
5. Supplication (last option, begging, gain sympathy, extreme humble)

15. Thank You