Power in Groups and Organizations

Abstract

This is a chapter about power in groups and organizations. In the following pages, we suggest that the analysis and exploration of the complexities of organizational power by managers and workers is both necessary and useful. We begin by discussing three of the prominent theoretical perspectives on power from the literatures of social and organizational psychology and critical management studies. We then outline some of the dilemmas and challenges faced by executives, managers and workers around empowerment, disempowerment and organizational democracy. Then, building on the seminal works of Follet, Deutsch, Tjosvold, Clegg, Mumby and others, we offer a framework of organizational power which views power as a multifaceted phenomenon; as thoughts, words and deeds which are both embedded within and determining of a complex network of relations, structures and meaning-making processes at different levels of organizational and community life. Such a framework enables us to understand the relational aspects of power and authority within the context of the macro structures and ideologies that give them meaning. It can also help identify those domains in organizations where the potential for sharing cooperative power is, in fact, not disempowering, but genuinely empowering for all concerned. The chapter concludes with a set of practical recommendations for managers that emphasize the benefits of multiple emancipatory initiatives within organizations when implemented with respect to the paradoxes of power.

Do information technology units have more power than other units in academic libraries?

“…As Coleman & Voronov (2003) suggest, given the knowledge of power sources, each unit can assess the strengths and weaknesses of its own and other units, and use their joint resources to promote common goals.…”

“…The final critical perspective sees power as a structural and cultural phenomenon rather than a relational phenomenon (Coleman & Voronov, 2003). According to this view, power is embedded within a pre-defined organizational structure and culture.…”

“…Some researchers (Coleman & Voronov, 2003;Hardy, 1996;Horton, 2003) pay attention to different views of power such as symbolic and system power. Such power occurs when issues may be prevented from arising at all or people are not even aware of their unconscious acceptance of the cultures.…”

“…For instance, as stated above, the faculty culture that values educational degrees and teaching duties needs to be further considered as an important factor affecting power in the university libraries. There needs to be testable conceptual models or empirical studies that consider both structural and individual sources of power, as some researchers have attempted (Coleman & Voronov, 2003;Fiol, O'Connor, & Aguinis, 2001;Lawrence et al, 2005). Finally, researchers may explore the same questions using different research methods.…”

“…Influence, then, may be used either to control others or to cooperate with them. In turn, this perspective of power as influence may be positioned between the perspective of power as control and that of power as cooperation.The final critical perspective sees power as a structural and cultural phenomenon rather than a relational phenomenon (Coleman & Voronov, 2003). According to this view, power is embedded within a pre-defined organizational structure and culture.…”