Business

Task 3

Part A

The five bases of power can be broken into two categories, formal power and personal power.

Formal power: is based on the employee’s position in the organization.

* Coercive power – This power is based on the coercion, someone is forced to do something he/she does not want to do. The power of coercion has been proven to be related with punitive behavior that may be outside ones normal role expectations. The marketing manager is using coercive power when he informs the employees their year-end-evaluation and bonus will be affected if they do not exceed the expected forty hour work week. If employee 1 does not work the overtime hours he will not receive his bonus there for not taking his “much needed vacation”.

* Reward power – The second power, having the ability to grant other person things they desire or to remove or decrease things the person does not desire. The marketing manager of Employee 2 uses reward power in his department by using a bonus that is based on their yearly performance.

* Legitimate power – The power to administer feelings of obligation and the notion of responsibility to the employees. In most cases people obey this person because of their title and where the stand in the company. In the given information employee 1 works extra hours because the marketing “manager” recommends they exceed forty hours a week to receive the EOY bonus.

Personal power: is based on an employee’s unique characteristics and personality traits.

* Expert power – The ability to administer to another information, knowledge, or expertise. Employee 2 expresses the expert power. He is the ONLY employee in the company who is certified to prepare the company’s financial statements.

* Referent power – The power of holding the ability to administer to another sense of personal approval. Employee 3 is a prime example of referent power. The given information tells us that employee 3 is well liked, charismatic, and positive. The employees...