Use and Abuse of Power in Management - Coursework Example

Power may be recognized by few as feared, mistrusted or worshipped and in most cases often misunderstood. Power, in general, appears to be more aligns with males rather than with the females. Most successful leaders are aware of their views on the use and abuse of power (Marquis & Huston, 2008, p.294).Manager’s power arises from organizational authority and also from personal sources. The organizational authority gives a manger the power of position. For example, the dean or the principle of the school has certain authorities which come with his position.

Personal power is basically based on the characteristic of the individuals and remains with the person regardless of the place of his work. According to Raven and French, there are five sources of power which include reward, coercive, referent, expert and legitimate. Rewards power refers to the power which involves the use of tangible as well as intangible rewards to influence and thereby motivate the followers. Rewards are seen as one of the strongest tool used by the managers to deliver effective output from their followers.

Since rewards are the strongest motivators it is important to keep a track of the positive and negative impacts that these rewards can have on the employees (Dessler & Phillips, 2008, p. 378). In coercive power, the managers have the power to punish his subordinates, the manager can coerce the employees into complying because people generally want to avoid any kind of punishment. Punishment can be any undesired or negative consequences which might include a reduction in working hours, written or verbal punishment and also undesirable shifts.

This type of power usually has a negative impact on the employees which might result in stress low morale, resentment and retaliation and in the extreme case can even cause the manager to lose their respective job.  But most of the managers learn early and realized that it is suitable to use the power of coercion only when the need arises, for instance when a particular employee behaves in a dangerous way (Dessler & Phillips, 2008, p. 378).