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MGT 5250 My preferred type of power?

* Respond to the 20 statements by thinking in terms of how you prefer to influence others. Use the following scale for your answers:

To influence others, I would prefer to	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
1. Increase their pay level	1	2	3	4	5
2. Make them feel valued	1	2	3	4	5
3. Give undesirable job assignments	1	2	3	4	5
4. Make them feel like I approve of them	1	2	3	4	5
5. Make them feel that they have commitments to meet	1	2	3	4	5
6. Make them feel personally accepted	1	2	3	4	5
7. Make them feel important	1	2	3	4	5
8. Give them good technical suggestions	1	2	3	4	5
9. Make the work difficult for them	1	2	3	4	5
10. Share my experience and/or training	1	2	3	4	5
11. Make things unpleasant here	1	2	3	4	5
12. Make being at work distasteful	1	2	3	4	5
13. Influence their getting a pay increase	1	2	3	4	5
14. Make them feel like they should satisfy their job requirements	1	2	3	4	5
15. Provide them with sound job-related advice	1	2	3	4	5
16. Provide them with special benefits	1	2	3	4	5
17. Influence their getting a promotion	1	2	3	4	5
18. Give them the feeling that they have responsibilities to fulfill	1	2	3	4	5
19. Provide them with needed technical knowledge	1	2	3	4	5
20. Make them recognize that they have tasks to accomplish	1	2	3	4	5

Scoring Key

To get your score for each base, calculate as follows:

Reward = Add up your responses to items 1, 13, 16, 17; then divide by 4.

Your Score: ?

Coercive = Add up your responses to items 3, 9, 11, 12; then divide by 4.

Your Score: ?

Legitimate = Add up your responses to items 5, 14, 18, 20; then divide by 4.

Your Score: ?

Expert = Add up your responses to items 8, 10, 15, 19; then divide by 4.

Your Score: ?

Referent = Add up your responses to items 2, 4, 6, 7; then divide by 4.

Your Score: ?

Analysis and Interpretation

Five bases of power have been identified: reward (based on the ability to distribute valuable rewards); coercive (based on fear); legitimate (based on formal position); expert (based on possessing knowledge or skill); and referent (based on others’ desire to identify with you).

A high score (4 or more) on any of the five dimensions implies that you prefer to influence others by using that particular form of power. A low score (2 or less) suggests that you prefer not to employee this power base.

Managerial positions come with legitimate, reward, and coercive powers. However, you don’t have to be a manager to have power. If you’re not in a position of formal authority, you can still be a powerful person in your organization if you focus on developing your expert and referent power bases.

Source: Adapted from T. R. Hinken and C. A. Schreisheim, “Development and Application of New Scales to Measure the French and Raven (1959). Bases of Social Power, “Journal of Applied Psychology, August 1989, pp. 561-567.