Explore BrainMass

Explore BrainMass

    Influence and Authority

    Organizational behaviour includes the study of what motivates people to change their behaviour. For business managers, managing a subordinate's performance often involves influence, the ability to have a subordinate conform to expectations – to say “yes.” Power refers to this ability to influence others. Authority makes the use of power legitimate. Formal authority comes from a position or a title. Informal authority arises from a consensus by others that your power is legitimate – for example, you may have informal authority if you are the smartest or hardest working member of a team.

    In her book “Becoming a Manager”1 Harvard Business School Professor Linda A. Hill identifies the challenges new managers face as they learn to go from relying on formal authority to establishing credibility, building subordinate commitment and learning to lead the group. While formal authority is one source of power, there are other sources of power important for business managers.

    Sources of power are divided into two broad groups: positional and personal power. Positional power includes legitimacy (authority, especially formal authority), rewards (the ability to give rewards) and coercive power (the ability to threaten punishment). Personal Power includes expertise, referent power (engendering admiration), and connections or networking. Having reliable information also engenders a person with the ability to influence others, and this can be seen as either positional or personal depending on the circumstances.

    While sources of power enable people to wield influence, influence itself can be broken down into its own components. In the book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion,” psychology professor Robert Cialdini suggests six “Weapons of Influence.”2

    1. Reciprocity – I scratch your back, you scratch mine.
    2. Commitment and Consistency – Once people commit to an idea, especially if they commit ‘out loud’, they do not like to change their mind.
    3. Social Proof – The more people that act a certain way the more that behaviour is believed to be acceptable.
    4. Authority – People obey those with power.
    5. Liking – We tend to be influenced more by people we like, and we tend to like people more if they are similar to us or if we have a relationship with them.
    6. Scarcity – The more scare a resource appears, the more value we attach to it.

    Being able to exercise influence and authority is an important skill for business managers to be effective leaders. As such, influence and authority go hand in hand with leadership skills, communication skills, motivation, building relationships and trust, and building and managing teams.

     

    References:
    1. Hill, L. (2003). Becoming a Manager. Harvard Business Review Press: Boston.
    2. Cialdini, R. (2001). Influence: Science and Practice. Pearson: Needham Heights.  

    Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

    © BrainMass Inc. brainmass.com April 18, 2024, 8:23 am ad1c9bdddf

    BrainMass Solutions Available for Instant Download

    Intercultural Communications

    This solution offers a general review of the significant principles of management communications used to successfully achieve organizational objectives in the following areas: •Explain effective communication norms in a business setting. •Describe the role of interpersonal communication both as a manager and as an employ

    Leadership: Importance for Business

    What is leadership? What are the key theories and findings of leadership research? What are the key implications for management practice? Why should we study leadership? References: Eagly, A.H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M.C., & van Engen, M. L. (2003). Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: A me

    The dependence model of power

    Describe the dependence model of power as well as the five sources of power in organizations. Give an example that did or could apply in real life.

    Communication Strategies and the Grapevine

    Summarize effective communication strategies in organizational hierarchies, and review the role and relevance of the organizational grapevine. Give an example that did or could apply in real life.

    Social Acceptance and Media Richness

    Explain how social acceptance and media richness influence the preferred communication channel. Give an example that did or could apply in real life.

    Sources and Contingencies of Power

    Several years ago, the Major League Baseball players' association went on strike in September, just before the World Series started. The players' contracts expired at the beginning of the season (May), but they held off the strike until September when they would lose only one-sixth of their salaries. In contrast, a September str

    Misbehaviour of employees

    Topic: Employees Summarize and critique the reading. How does the reading relates to forms of misbehaviour of employees?

    Proficient implementation of strategy in an organization

    1. To ensure the proficient implementation of strategy in an organization, top-level executives can best achieve this by delegating authority to middle and lower-level managers and by creating a sense of empowerment among employees. True or false? Explain and justify your answer. 2. Explain the role of leadership in changing

    A CEO of a major healthcare organization planned a major push to earn internal provider and staff support and community/customer/patient brand identity for a new patient service where additional emphasis would be on customer satisfaction. The leader's vision was communicated frequently to the organization's stakeholders. Everyone rallied around the new vision and began to get involved with the planning of the programs. Everything seemed liked it was working; the plan to communicate a new vision started to get people working, but very soon thereafter, problems arose. Providers began to battle with administration, customers began to demand access to the new services, and different staff sections began to argue over trivial issues concerning the programs. What proved to be a catalyst to conflict, the new programs, was eventually put on the "backburner." What happened? The CEO reflected on this, and the conclusions were 1. The new programs made staff insecure about their jobs. The staff felt they needed to be a "part" of the new vision/new programs but were not given a forum to be "officially" included. 2. A vision may not be enough. A clear objective plan with clear lines of authority of who does what for the new programs should have been communicated "up front." The staff was not guided/focused on the tasks at hand. 3. The staff may not have been sufficiently trained to meet the new expectations the CEO set with the vision. 4. Stakeholders (internal and external) were jockeying for "position" to gain the CEO's favor rather than concentrating on the new programs. 5. There was no constructive way to handle the conflict situations that occurred. Training was clearly needed. Has this happened to your organization? Maybe this story was about your organization. (Health Organizations: Theory, Behavior, & Development. Jones & Bartlett Publishers p. 151). <vbk:9780763787622#outline(14.2.1)>

    Case Study A CEO of a major healthcare organization planned a major push to earn internal provider and staff support and community/customer/patient brand identity for a new patient service where additional emphasis would be on customer satisfaction. The leader's vision was communicated frequently to the organization's stakeho

    The PCAOB has the authority to set audit standards for all audits of public companies. The AICPA continues to set audit standards for nonpublic companies through its auditing standards board. a. What are the pros and cons of having the same audit standards for both public and nonpublic entities? b. In what ways might you expect auditing standards for audits of nonpublic companies to differ from the standards for public companies? Identify three (there are not necessarily three right or wrong answers - this is an opinion and discussion question only). Identify the rationale for your answers. c. A CPA is performing an audit of a local municipality. Where should the auditor look to determine audit standards that must be followed? d. What role should an audit committee play in determining which standards an audit firm will use in auditing their company? Explain.

    The PCAOB has the authority to set audit standards for all audits of public companies. The AICPA continues to set audit standards for nonpublic companies through its auditing standards board. a. What are the pros and cons of having the same audit standards for both public and nonpublic entities? b. In what ways might you e

    Express authority question

    What is the rationale in allowing express oral agencies (i.e., no prior written contract) to bind principals by the promises or acts of an agent to a third party? Why isn't it just a requirement that all types of agency be in writing?

    Comparing Scope of Influence and Authority for Effectiveness

    The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) and the FDA are two important agencies charged with protecting the U.S. public. As you read about these two agencies, compare them in terms of the scope of their respective influences and authority. The CPSC website gives information about its mission. Go to http://www.cps

    What is the difference between power and authority?

    This is a short answer question. What is the difference between power and authority? is it possible for a person to have formal authority but no real power? Discuss Helpful Reference : http://books.google.ae/books?id=Zt9bFHwrhl0C&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&dq=horizontal+structure+is+dominant+and+when+a+vertical+structure+is+dom

    Influencing strategies & tactics: power, politics and authority

    Demonstrate approaches likely to succeed in influencing team members, where you have no positional power over them and they are not responding favorably to your requests, as well as key stakeholders who are resisting changes. Some areas to explore are power, politics and authority. There are a range of influencing strategies

    OSHA

    How much authority should OSHA have to investigate incidents that take place in private organizations? 200-300 words