Monday, January 12, 2009
Powers (Page 168)
Power is something that we see every day. It could bee seen at work or even in the household, which is why I found it interesting to learn about the different types of power. When it comes to my work we see a variety of powers being used among the employees. The manager uses two types of power, the Reward Power and the legitimate power. These two powers are what work the best. If She wants a task that she knows people wont want to do she uses the reward power to attempt to make things more enjoyable. When she knows that someone is deliberately not doing his or her job then she will use the legitimate power. She does not enjoy telling everyone that she is his or her boss so she attempts to use the reward power more. These two powers I believe are the most common powers in my life because my parents use them to get me to do extra things around the house.
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Parents and managers certainly have the ability to exercise reward and legitimate power. But for reward power to work, the other person must view something as rewarding. For legitimate power to work, the other person must view the position as having power.
ReplyDeleteTo me, one of the most interesting sources of power is information. What I've observed in many organizations, including SJSU, is that those at the lower levels have a greater ability to access organizational information than those at higher levels. For example, the office staff in my department know far more about getting information via peoplesoft than the department chair, the dean, or I suspect even the provost. The digital age has made it much more difficult for those at the top to control the flow of information. At least in that area, the balance of power has shifted from management to employees--if those at the lower levels develop their computer skills.
This is an interesting topic, as the book touches on how information savvy is a way to push ahead professionally these days. In a way, less proficient professionals are becoming dependant of the information leaders. The book states that “it’s no longer who you know but what you know.”
ReplyDeleteIt's a strong source of power that will eventually lead to the weeding out of non-tech friendly foes. In other chapters the authors stress the power of your network. Because the information trade in-between informal network is usually had by those at the front lines, it supports what is stated in the professor’s comment regarding the higher–ups being less in the know.
I would really like to see a shift from who you know to what you know. A system that rewards people for being connected in term of who you know has shown itself to be unfair to most in the past. However, it looks like it may be a while before the shift really occurs. In an earlier chapter, the book mentioned one type of information power is knowing who to ask, and it seems this is still the case in many industries.
ReplyDeleteYou made some really good points although I wouldn't necessarily say that "reward power" and "legitimate power" work the best. I'd say it's all situational. At the beginning of my college career I started out as a Psychology major and it was easy to spot Referent Power. I would see it on an regular basis, in the workplace, with friends, family or with professors. Insecurities play a big part with referent power, they can dictate how you act towards your peers, and the image you portray in order to make an impact on "Person A".
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