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1、Unit 6Text CExercisesText C Authority and Power1 What kind of authority is found in an organization structure? The question has to do with the nature of authority relationships the problem of line and staff, and the answer concerns the decentralization of authority. Without authority the power to ex
2、ercise discretion in making decisions properly placed in managers, departments cannot become smoothly working units harmonized for the accomplishment of enterprise objectives. Authority relationships, whether vertical or horizontal, are the factors that make organization possible, facilitate departm
3、ental activities, and bring coordination to an enterprise.2 Authority, simply put, is the right to influence others and request action. For a manager, authority is the right to require subordinates to do the jobs they are assigned. A theater manager, for example, has the right to ask assistants to s
4、ell tickets and clean the theater. A teacher has the right to ask students to prepare an assignment. Each of these people has the authority to make these requests because the organization has given it to him or her. It is an integral part of the job.3 Authority can also be considered the right to ac
5、t. Managers give subordinates some authority to accomplish their jobs. Certain bank employees have the right to enter the safe. Certain insurance company employees have the right to sign policies as representatives of the company. The organization gives each of these people the authority to undertak
6、e certain actions.4 The positions employees hold determine their formal authority. Formal authority is the right, inherent in ones position, to influence others and request action. Debbi Fields and David Leiderman have formal authority; they have the right to request action of others because of the
7、positions they hold. The clearest examples of formal authority can found in the military, where authority is visibly specified by the insignia worn. First lieutenants, identified with silver bars, have authority over second lieutenants, identified with gold bars. Members of other organizations do no
8、t often wear insignia to indicate their authority, but formal authority has the same characteristics: It goes with position and rank in an organization.5 Disagreements sometimes arise concerning what a person with formal authority has the right to request. Two people might read the same description
9、of a persons job and have different perceptions of the authority designated with it. Two store clerks might have completely different understandings of what the store manager has the authority to ask them to do. One employee may accept the managers right to request overtime or to request personal er
10、rands, the other may not. In recent years, one of the most common disagreements concerning the limits of authority was over a managers right to request that a secretary make coffee in the office. In most organizations today, this task is often informally delegated to whoever arrives first and wants
11、a cup. Because descriptions of authority can be vague or subjective, it is important for managers and those over whom they have authority to discuss openly and agree on the boundaries of the managers authority. 6 The right to influence others or request action does not only come from formal position
12、, however. A person can be given this right, informally, by members of a group because the members feel he or she is capable of leading them. In this case, the person has informal authority, the ability to influence others without having the formal authority of a position or title in the organizatio
13、n. A person with informal authority can spontaneously take charge and direct the activities of members of a group or unit.7 After concentrating on the authority in organization, it is understood that authority is the formal or informal right to influence others; nevertheless, it will be useful to di
14、stinguish between authority and power. While organizational authority is the power to exercise discretion in decision making. It almost invariably arises from the power of position, or legitimate power. Whenpeople speak of authority in managerial settings, they are usually referring to the power of
15、position. At the same time, other factors, such as personality and style of dealing with people, are also involved in leadership.8 Power is the ability to influence others to act. That is, while formal authority may give one person the right to request that another clean the washroom, and informal a
16、uthority may give one person the right to tell another the best way to accomplish a task, neither type of authority gives a person the ability to make the other comply. The only guarantee that requests will be acted upon is through power the ability to get others to act on ones requests, demands, or directives.9 Power, a much broader concept than authority, is the ability of individuals or groups t
