The Original "Nuclear" Power: French and Raven's Bases of Interpersonal Power

Power is an influence over others that can be used persuade them to do things that they might not normally otherwise do. Power flows from a variety of situations and contexts, especially consumption and organization contexts. Three broad contexts of power are interpersonal powers, structural powers, and situational powers.

Consider the five interpersonal bases of power described in the work of John French and Bertram Raven. The five interpersonal bases for exerting power are legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, expert power, and referent power. These bases for power blend the concepts of influence and authority as they relate to subsets of power. Expert and referent power flow from personal circumstances while reward, coercive and legitimate power flow from organizational roles.

Being employed in a more powerful position in an organization offers one legitimate power over others. Others comply with the wishes of one in legitimate power because their contract with the organization gives the one in authority over them legitimate power to control their actions. For example, a first line supervisor exercises legitimate authority over her staff by virtue of their reporting authority to her – her legitimate authority over them gives her the ability to use coercive and reward powers, if necessary.

The fear of punishment is the basis of coercive power. The threat of negative consequences gives coercive power its motivating effect on subordinates. This possibility of negative consequences has the effect of being the exact opposite of reward power. Coercive power forces compliance. Subordinates will comply with a supervisor whom they feel can punish them for poor performance. For example, a manager can pass over subordinates for pay raise or promotion in response to noncompliance.

The expectation of positive outcomes is the basis of reward power. The promise of positive consequences and outcomes gives reward power its positive motivating effect. Reward power is the opposite of coercive power. Reward power encourages compliance. An example would be for managers to recommend subordinates who comply with their wishes for promotion, pay raises, and desirable job assignments.

Expert power is another form of interpersonal power that is present in individuals that have special expertise that is of high value. Contrast this with an individual that has special expertise that is not necessarily of high value. On the other hand, consider the person who provides highly valuable service in a number of areas, but does not have special expertise in a particular area. The implication is that expert power highly valuable and not easily substitutable. This highly valued special expertise gives the expert influence over other regardless of their position in the formal organization. An example of this principle would be an engineer who cannot commit the organization to any legal obligation and may not even be aware of the overall company strategy, but can have a tremendous influence over the long-term health and well-being of the company by developing and registering patents. Possessing special expertise enables one to exercise expert power, or power which is disassociated from rank or position within the organization.

The personality of an individual can be a source of power. The attitudes, actions, and behaviors of an individual can provide charisma, a source of referent power. Many highly effective CEOs and industry luminaries lead their organizations on the strength of their charisma and the reputation that it has earned them. For example, a popular manager can gain compliance from subordinates or whole departments with the strength of the reputations and personalities. The dynamic nature of one’s behavior can equip one with referent power over others.

Each of the five powers is interrelated, with the exercise of any one power being dependent upon the others. Managers can gain compliance with legitimate power, but the literature suggests that the use expert and referent power also gain compliance without lowering employee satisfaction. The use of reward and coercive powers can be effective in some situations as well, but negative employee satisfaction could possibly result from extinction of rewards or overuse of punishment.

Reference

French, J. R. P., Jr., & Raven, B. H. (1959). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Studies in social power (pp. 150-167). Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.