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Management Practices and Organisational Behaviour

Notes technology. Those who are able to reduce uncertainty have power in the organisation.
Basic ways of reducing uncertainty are:
(a) Resource Control: Groups or individuals gain resource control when they acquire
hard-to-get resources and maintain access to them. In these cases, groups that have
resource control can reduce uncertainty for other groups by providing access to the
necessary resources.
(b) Information Control: The organisation members who can provide needed information
have power because they can reduce uncertainty for others. Changes in technology
and organisational structures are intensifying the importance of information power.
Hence a person's power may be more closely related to his or her ability and
willingness to share information with those who can apply it toward maintaining a
competitive advantage.
(c) Decision-making Control: The groups and individuals who make decisions about the
use of resources also have relatively great power. Logically, the decision makers
can reduce uncertainty by making and communicating decisions affecting others in
the organisation. Those who gain the power from decision-making control are the
ones who make decisions about basic policies and practices such as, what the
organisation will produce and who its target market will be.

2. Substitutability: The power of an individual or group is inversely related to the person's
or group's substitutability. People are powerful because they cannot easily be replaced. In
other words, organisations cannot find a substitute for their skills or knowledge. Being a
hard-to-replace employee is not always advantageous. If a manager views an employee as
indispensable for a particular job, that employee may miss opportunities for promotion
or career development. And if the employee becomes associated with a particular job or
way of doing things, changes in the organisation can render him or her highly dispensable.
3. Centrality: Central groups are those that have many connections with other groups and a
large effect on work flow. Thus, groups and individuals in a central position are generally
more powerful than those at the periphery. These people have command of key information
and other resources, and others in the organisation are likely to be aware of what they
control and how they affect the organisation.

15.2 Consequence of using Power

When people use power, they become addicted to power or use power to empower others.

1. Addictiveness of Power: An addiction to power is harmful for the organisation. Managers
who are addicted to power are likely to be arrogant and out of touch with their employees.
They use coercive power tactics that alienate the people they try to influence. In the long
run, such a manager suffers because his or her tactics damage morale, interfere with
cooperation and can even incite rebellion. The Figure 15.2 below shows the steps towards
addiction of power.

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