Your book discusses five bases of power. Name and explain each of the five, and give examples of how a supervisor in a professional setting might make use of each type of power

Question

What will be an ideal response

Answer 1

(1) Legitimate power is defined as influence that is conferred upon one by an organization or group, either through election or appointment. Supervisors have legitimate power because the organization they work for puts them in that position; employees will probably assume that the supervisor will have a certain amount of qualification (expert power) due to that assignment. (2) Referent power is influence that one has when other people like or respect him or her. Supervisors who are liked by their employees for their personal concern or who are admired for their professionalism, may be said to have referent power. (3) Expert power is influence one has when others perceive that he or she has specific knowledge or information about a given topic area . A supervisor who is organized, clear, and able to answer questions concerning the job or project may have expert power. (4) Reward power is the ability to influence behavior by having the ability to provide something the other person values, or to remove something undesirable. A supervisor may use the offer of time off or choice assignments as reward power. (5) Coercive power is the ability to influence behavior through doing something the other person finds undesirable, or by removing a reward . A supervisor may have the ability to decrease pay, fire you from a job, or deny you time off.