Various phenomena, as well as approaches, have been employed in an effort to explain why certain organizations operate in a certain manner. It is important for organizations to employ the use of certain approaches to guide their activities as they promote consistent outcomes and results. Among the approaches employed in organizations such as educational institutes to ensure certain outcomes is that of the French and Raven’s Five Bases of Social Power. The French and Raven’s Five Bases of Social Power is an approach that was developed from a study of power that was conducted in 1959 by two social psychologists named Bertram Raven and John R. P. French. The two social psychologists divided power into five distinct and separate forms namely coercive, referent, reward, expert, and legitimate, some of which are used in organizations such as schools (Tauber, 2007). The aim of this essay, therefore, is to describe the five bases of social power, as well as the ones that apply in an organization such as a school.
Referent power is also known as charismatic power, personality power, and personal power. This source or form of power comes from within an individual or leader and from the personality of that individual, which is what attracts followers (Wren, 2013). Owing to the personality of a leader, followers are attracted to and even try to imitate the individual possessing referent power. Legitimate power is also known as official or positional power, which typically comes from a higher authority (Wren, 2013). Therefore, in organizations, people possess this power based on their position, which includes positions such as that of the manager or the CEO. People with legitimate power command certain obedience and give orders that are to be fulfilled within a system of punishment and rewards. Coercive power is one that is used to motivate others as those who possess it, have the ability to punish or threaten others (Wren, 2013). Leaders who use this power threaten things such as the job security of employees in an effort to motivate them to improve their performance. Reward power is the direct opposite of coercive power as the one in possession of it uses it positively to motivate others to become more productive (Wren, 2013). This power gives leaders the ability to improve the conditions within which their followers operate in an effort to improve their performance (Zigarmi, Roberts, & Alan Randolph, 2015). Lastly, there is expert power, which is also known as the power of knowledge that comes from the acquisition of skill or knowledge.
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An organization such as a school is a place where there is imparting of knowledge and interaction, where some of the bases of social power are used. For instance, expert power is applicable in an organization such as a school because teachers are trained and gain the knowledge and skill to acquire expert power. As a result, teachers possess expert power because they have knowledge and skills that students require but do not possess, thus the effective use of this power. Legitimate power is also used effectively in schools because teachers are considered to be held highly and respected in the school setting. Students are required to follow the instructions of their teachers in order to perform well.
Referent power is also used in a school setting because certain teachers have great personalities, which make their students see them as role models to emulate. Therefore, based on the positive outcomes of the relationship between teachers and their students, the referent power is effectively used (Gregory, 2017). Reward power is used in schools but has been reported to have both positive and negative implications, thus is not fully effective. This is because while the top performing students are rewarded with material gifts and even praises form their teachers, those who do not perform well can be discouraged further from seeing their peers rewarded. Therefore, there needs to be a balance for this form of power to be used effectively in the school setting.
References
Gregory, J. L. (2017). Trust relationships in schools: supporting or subverting implementation of school-wide initiatives. School Leadership & Management , 37 (1-2), 141-161.
Tauber, R. T. (2007). Classroom management: Sound theory and effective practice . Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers.
Wren, J. T. (2013). The leader's companion: Insights on leadership through the ages . Simon and Schuster.
Zigarmi, D., Roberts, T. P., & Alan Randolph, W. (2015). Employees’ perceived use of leader power and implications for affect and work intentions. Human Resource Development Quarterly , 26 (4), 359-384.
