ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR LECTURE SERIES
POWER AND ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
By
VIKRAM KARVE
TYPES OF POWER IN AN ORGANISATION
The two essential entities that flow between the human elements of an organisation are information and power.
Information flow is a means of communication whereas power is an instrument of control.
Viewed from a Systems perspective, information flow is the transformation process, which facilitates decision making, in contrast to the flow of power, which is a control process whose objective is to ensure optimal operational performance.
Organisations are arrangements of power among individuals. In fact, as per one definition, an organisation comprises two or more persons interacting within a recognised power relationship for some common purpose. The interplay of power enables the achievement of common purpose (organisational objectives) and determines organisational behaviour.
Before we study the effect of power on organisational behaviour, it may be apt to take a closer look at the phenomenon we call POWER, in particular INTERPERSONAL POWER. This is the kind of power that people have over one another in formal and informal situations. The various forms of power may be categorised into one or more of the following categories, some of which may be inter-dependent or overlapping and even formimg power equations:
1. POSITION POWER
2. EXPERT POWER
3. CHARISMATIC POWER
4. INFLUENTIAL POWER
5. IMPLIED COERCION
6. ACTUAL COERCION
7. POWER OF APPLIED PRESSURE
8. POWER OF RAW FORCE
9. ASSUMED POWER
10. USURPED POWER
11. ORGANIZATION POWER
12. ASCETIC POWER
In many situations, particularly in organisations, many of the above forms of power are inextricably intertwined. In fact, that is the beauty of the dynamics of the interplay of power within an organisation, which is why we will discuss the effects of the above types of power on organisational behaviour.
So, in the next few articles on my blog, I will explore how this fascinating phenomenon called power impacts and determines organisational behaviour.
ASCETIC POWER
To start with, I will relate below a story, maybe apocryphal, which illustrates the concept of ASCETIC POWER.
Alexander the Great, the emperor of the world, who had conquered all lands and seas and considered himself the “son of a god” and before whom all knelt in veneration and reverence, one day early in the morning, was riding with his army through Greece.
Suddenly he saw a man lying naked in the sand by the side of a river basking in the early morning sunlight.
Curious, Alexander rode towards the naked man, who seemed to be totally indifferent to the distinguished visitor and his entourage.
The stranger remained prostrate, made no attempt to get up and ignored Alexander the Great sitting majestically on his horse.
An angry soldier shouted at the naked man, “You there – do you know in whose presence you are?”
“Who is he?” the prostrate man answered lazily, without the stir, making no move to get up.
The astonished soldier proclaimed, “Wretched man, you are in the presence of His Exalted Highness Alexander the Great – Emperor of the World.”
“Oh,” the naked sunbather said impassively, continuing to lie down. He casually looked up at Alexander the Great mounted imposingly on his horse and said, “I am Diogenes.”
“Ah, so you are the philosopher Diogenes!” Alexander exclaimed, “I have always wanted to meet you – I have heard so many stories about you. Diogenes, I am impressed. I will grant you anything you wish. What do you desire? Diogenes, ask for anything in the world and it will be yours.”
Still lying prostrate on the sand, Diogenes said to Alexander, “Please could you move a little to the side and get out of my sunlight, because you are blocking the sun and spoiling my sunbath. That’s all I want from you…”
Power is the reciprocal of desire. If I desire something from you, then you have the power to either grant or withold what I desire from me. If I do not desire anything from you, then you have no power over me. A desire can be anything, tangible or even intangible, like love, appreciation etc.
In his time, Alexander the Great was the most "powerful" man on earth, but he had no power over Diogenes, because Diogenes did not desire anything from him.
This story illustrates the fact that You cannot have power over someone who desires nothing from you. That is Ascetic Power. Look closely and you will see it around you, maybe even in your organisation too.
I will try now to explore the various aspects and forms of power in the succeeding posts here in my blog.
To be continued...
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2011
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
VIKRAM KARVE educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale, and Bishop's School Pune, is an Electronics and Communications Engineer by profession, a Human Resource Manager and Trainer by occupation, a Teacher by vocation, a Creative Writer by inclination and a Foodie by passion. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. His delicious foodie blogs have been compiled in a book "Appetite for a Stroll". A collection of his short stories about relationships titled COCKTAIL is being published soon and Vikram is currently busy writing his first novel and with his teaching and training assignments. Vikram lives in Pune with his family and his muse – his pet Doberman girl Sherry, with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog : http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile of Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Email: vikramkarve@sify.com
Foodie Book:
Short Stories Book: Cocktail
Cocktail - Short Stories about Relationships :
http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?pages#!/pages/Cocktail-by-Vikram-Karve-APK-Publishers/177873552253247
Cocktail - Short Stories about Relationships :
http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?pages#!/pages/Cocktail-by-Vikram-Karve-APK-Publishers/177873552253247
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Thats so well written and so true...Expectation is the root cause of misery...if you expect nothing from anyone, even from the people very close to you - then there would be no reason for sorrow, stress etc. But is that really possible?? If only we could all be Diogenes!
ReplyDelete@ Deepa - you're right Deepa, the lesser and smaller our desires the happier we are
ReplyDelete