LET Task 3 (Essay Sample)

LET task 3
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LET task 3
Power is described as the possession of influence and authority over others. It is a technique that depending on how it is exercised can result to either negative or positive outcomes in an organization. The five bases of power were published by American sociologists; John French and Raven Bertram in 1959. They include, referent, legitimate, reward, expert and coercive.
Legitimate power also called positional power is derived from the position that one holds in the hierarchy in an organization. According to job description strategies, juniors are required to report to the seniors. For legitimate power to be exercised efficiently, the person must have earned the position legitimately. In the given scenario, legitimate power is exercised by the manager (Greiner, 2000). The manager encourages employee 1 and other employees to work extra harder to receive bonus. The dependency ratio between employee 1 and the manager is relatively high. Employee 1 depends on the performance indicator to determine the extent of his work. On the other hand, the manager depends on employee 1 to work hard in order to boost the productivity of the corporation.
Expert power is the ability to possess knowledge and expertise in a given field. The organization highly values normally people with this power because of their skills to solve complex issues. Employee 2 is the only certified accountant (CPA) in Corporation A. He is the only worker who can prepare the company financial statements (Greiner, 2000). Thus, employee 2 enjoys the privileges of expert power since he is allowed to work four-days a week. The dependency ratio between employee 2 and the chief accountant is high. Employee 2 depends on the chief accountant to be allowed to work fewer days per week. Similarly the chief accountant relies on employee 2 to prepare financial statements for the company. Eventually, it results to job promotion.
Referent power is derived from the interpersonal relationship that a person has with other people in the same organization. One is said to possess a referent power when other people like and respect them. This power is gained from charisma since the charismatic person influences through admiration, and trust and respect others have for them. Employee 3 has been in corporation A for a few years. Nevertheless, employee 3 being a charismatic individual is liked by other employees. His influence is seen when he proposed that the company should increase sales. Indeed, the project was successful owing to the fact that he possesses a referent power. The dependency level between employee 3 and other employees is low (Greiner, 2000). It is delicate since it depends on the way employee 3 treats others. This type of power can be risky when the person possessing this power favors others instead of exercising equality.
There is correlation between power and dependence. Typically, power depicts influence over decision that is made. This is because the impact that power reveals is dependent on the individuals. Generally, dependency power is generated when there is scarcity in the supply of a desired resource (Greiner, 2000). Essentially, there is close correlation between power and dependence as they jointly work as a control tool. Therefore, the scena...