systematic approach to power relations and the application of power in leadership and management.
Power is the force of influence and coercive binding that forces subordinates to comply, granted by law in the management process, to achieve the organization's goals.
Power in the most general way can be understood as the ability of the leader and manager to influence the object (subordinates).
The concept of power is understood very differently by different authors. Some authors believe that power is the ability of the subject to influence the behavior of the object, while others believe that power is the ability of the subject to influence the behavior and attitude of the object. Sometimes power is also considered relatively, such that the influence of the subject on the object is stronger than the object on the subject. Some authors believe that power is the ability of the subject to make things happen in the way the subject wants. Here, power can be understood as the potential influence of the subject on the attitude and behavior of the object. The center of this definition is influence on people, but influence on objects is also considered as a basis of power.
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Power is an important factor in enabling managers to gain compliance from others. Despite its importance, power is still a subject that people avoid because of its negative aspects, so many people do not want to have it, or already have it, or do not want to use it.
Power is an objective and obvious issue, so managers who understand and know how to use it are more effective than those who do not know or do not want to use power.
There are three important characteristics in the definition of power:
First: power is the ability to influence others. The person with power can use it or not use it, which is called potential power.
Second: power in the perception of the subject is only capable of expanding and extending to those who perceive power.
Third: power in the organization has been achieved and people have the ability to increase or decrease their power.
With the above characteristics, the definition of power by Raymond J. Corsini in the psychology dictionary (1999) is the most reasonable:
Power is the ability to control, persuade, coerce, influence or manipulate others.
2. Types of power
Power can be divided into many types based on different signs.
each other:
a. Authors John French and Bertram Raven proposed five types of
the following powers:
- Legal power is the power based on the official leadership and management position in the hierarchy and order of the organization. Of course, senior managers have stronger and broader legal power than lower-level managers.
Thanks to legal authority, subordinates believe that superiors have the right to issue orders and requests that they are obliged to obey.
- The power to praise and reward is the power based on the ability to reward subordinates of the leader or manager. In other words, subordinates will have to listen to the requests, instructions, and directives of their superiors because they believe that their behavior will be rewarded. Superiors can praise and reward subordinates in different forms such as: giving them more interesting jobs, or promoting or increasing their salary, etc.
Through power and rewards, subordinates comply in order to achieve rewards that they believe are controlled by the manager.
- Coercive power - punishment : managers can force subordinates to obey by making them fear punishment - called the coercive power of managers. Punishment can include forms such as: reprimand, uninteresting work assignment, salary cut, demotion, dismissal, etc.
Thanks to coercive power, subordinates comply and obey to avoid punishment which they believe is controlled by the manager.
- Referent power is a type of power based on the recognition and discrimination of subordinates towards managers. People often have the same mentality as someone who admires a certain manager. Managers with admirable personality traits or with compassion or with a glorious career are often those who have attractive power.
Thanks to this power, subordinates obey because they admire their superiors and want to gain their superiors' approval and approval.
- Expert power is power based on the manager's specialized knowledge. Expert power may be narrow in scope, because the manager's expertise is limited to one area.
Thanks to this power, subordinates obey because they believe that their superiors have the knowledge and the best ways of doing things.
b. In the book “Leadership in Organization”, author GA Yukl divides power into three types: positional power; personal power; and political power.
+ Positional power in society given by society includes: formal authority; control over powers and rewards; control over punishment; control over information and control over the environment,
+ Personal power is created by professional talent; friendliness, loyalty; attractiveness, and charisma of the manager himself.
+ Political power includes control over the decision-making process; coalition power; co-optation power; institutionalization power.
Such division is also relative, because in reality they are correlated, related, closely linked, and intertwined.
Podsakoff and Shriesheim's research showed that expert power and referent power were positively correlated with subordinates' job satisfaction and performance. The use of reward power, punishment power, and legal power in some cases also led to lower job satisfaction and performance. In some cases, no correlation was found. This conclusion suggests that
found that management effectiveness depends largely on professional authority and reference authority in influencing subordinates.
Sentudent studied 40 production teams in two factories of a household appliance manufacturing company. Workers were classified according to their level of obedience to their supervisors according to French and Raven's five types of power. Legal power was found to be the strongest basis for employees to obey, followed by expert power, referent power, praise and reward power, and finally the power to punish.
In organizations where referent power and expert power prevail, job performance and employee satisfaction are high.
The above research results are not sufficient to conclude about the optimal type of power. In fact, the research results show that the choice of the appropriate type of power depends largely on the specific management situation.
Thus, the effectiveness of management comes from the ability to use different types of power or combine them in each specific situation. A good manager must be a person with power and know how to use power intelligently.
3. Influence strategies (strategies that use power to influence/impact subordinates)
In reality, managers are aware of the role and there are those who are not aware of the importance of strategies using power to get what they want, regardless of whether people have formal authority or not. This shows that there are successful and unsuccessful managers, the failure is due to the managers not being aware of the influence strategies they are using to achieve their goals and the importance of the strategies they use, successful managers are often proactive and have the ability to choose the right strategy for each situation.
The use of influence strategies is aimed at achieving goals such as: gaining the help of others; to delegate work to them; to achieve something from subordinates; to perfect task performance; and finally to initiate and create change.
Influence strategies can vary widely not only due to the purpose of the influence exercise but also due to the status of the target in the organization in relation to the status of the subject: superior, peer, or subordinate. Therefore, one strategy should not be used for different targets. Influence strategies can involve:
+ Purpose of using influence
+ Affected objects
+ The relationship between subject and object
In practice, people use influence strategies such as: friendly strategy, exchange/bargaining strategy, reasoning strategy, assertive strategy, superior reference strategy, alliance strategy, and punishment strategy.
a. Friendly strategy
The friendly strategy is a way to make people see the manager as a “good person”. When people see the manager as a good, likeable and friendly person, it means that they are willing to do the manager's request.
In this strategy, relationship skills play an important role. When implementing this strategy, the manager must be very sensitive and understand the emotions of the target. This strategy really wants others to know about him. To implement this strategy, the manager needs to pay attention to:
+ Make others feel important
+ Act humbly and recognize the talents of others
other
+ Behave in a friendly manner
+ Always show friendliness and closeness through non-verbal behaviors
+ Make work and tasks important
+ Ask politely
+ Wait for the right moment to raise the issue
+ Must sympathize with other people's difficulties
b. Bargaining/exchange strategy
This strategy is a “win-win” strategy. The principle of this strategy is to give something in order to get something else. The key point of this strategy is to try to get what is important (valuable) to oneself and give away what is not important to oneself, but important to others. To exchange successfully, the subject (manager) needs to have a high level of empathy for the object. Because the manager must put himself in the position of the other person to carry out effective exchange.
When commenting on the current management system in the world, researchers say that the current management style is “exchanging rewards for obedience”. The downside of this strategy is that it makes the subject accustomed to exchange. This is very dangerous when applied to subordinates because it makes them accustomed to bargaining. Therefore, this strategy is only effective where both parties have equal power, and have the power to reward each other.
When implementing an exchange strategy, keep in mind:
+ Offer specific rewards
+ Remind about past events to learn from experience.
+ Some sacrifice must be made.
+ Must perform help
+ Make changes to responsibilities and obligations
c. Reasoning strategy
The content of this strategy is to provide information, data and evidence to support one's opinion. That means this strategy is based on objective information. Therefore, to be successful in using this strategy, the subject must prepare ideas carefully, different viewpoints must be predicted and carefully considered.
In practice managers often prefer to use this strategy because acceptance by the audience means they will actively and enthusiastically participate.
– this increases the efficiency of task performance. When assigning tasks to subordinates, many managers often try to “objectify the task”. That is, make the subordinate realize that this is not a requirement of the manager but a requirement of the situation. If this can be done, the manager does not have to control the subject closely because
This strategy seems to create a great potential for success, because there is no threat or implied threat.
However, when the manager proves himself right, it also means proving the subject wrong, unreasonable or obstructive. This causes the subject to resist. Moreover, when the manager proves the right thing, it does not guarantee that the subject will do it because people do not always act rationally.
The success of this strategy is not only based on understanding the problem but also on the personal characteristics of the manager, whether they are attractive, appealing, and appealing to the target or not. When implementing this strategy, it is important to note:
+ Make detailed judgments
+ Provide supportive information
+ Explain the reasons clearly
+ Issues must be presented logically.
d. Judgment strategy
The judgmental strategy is a direct approach strategy. This strategy can manifest in many different forms but is related to laws, regulations, statutes or agreed-upon relationships.
Often this strategy is implemented by checking the work of subordinates and colleagues to see if they are performing according to commitments. This strategy is often demonstrated by reminding others of commitments, agreements and regulations.
When implementing this strategy, it is important to note:
+ Check the object's activity
+ Make specific demands and requests
+ Emphasize so that the audience can hear
+ Set strict time limits
+ Must be constantly reminded
+ Must regularly cite agreements, regulations, statutes...
+ Expressing anger, dissatisfaction
e. Superior reference strategy
It is a strategy of using the hierarchy of the power structure to support the demands and wishes of the manager. Before talking to colleagues about the changes that need to be made, the manager can check whether the change has the support of the superiors.
Often this strategy is used as a secondary strategy. That is, when the subject does not comply with the manager's request, the manager can consult with the superior and will receive the support of the superior.
This strategy also has very dangerous consequences. If used frequently by managers, it can damage working relationships and cause contempt from both subordinates and superiors.
When implementing this strategy it is necessary to:
+ The above mentioned regulations are mandatory for everyone.
+ Referring to the wishes and desires of superiors
+ Discuss the problem with your superiors in advance.
g. Alliance strategy
Using others to support the manager is the content of this strategy, a political strategy that requires time, effort and skills to develop. The success of this strategy depends on identifying the right people, in the right positions, who are most favorable for supporting the manager. Otherwise all efforts become useless. Practice has shown that managers always know clearly with whom to ally and with whom not to ally.
One of the most effective places to use this strategy is at formal meetings of the organization, where the issues raised are formally recorded. By raising the issue, the other members of the organization will have strong support. However, the manager can reduce the risk of failure by gaining informal support before the meeting. If the meeting is successful, it will be difficult for those who want to change it.