Power and Management

Essay by LuciWhiteUniversity, Bachelor'sC, September 2004

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Lucianne White

Assessment 2

Intro to HRM

Introduction:

"Management practice is characterized by power; the ability to influence others'

behaviour. By virtue of the power that managers hold, the variations in

organizational design, relations between managers and employees, and HRM

practices will be largely shaped by senior management." (Bratton and Gold, 1999, p.33.)

Management is being able to get people to accomplish goals together. (Autry,

1991). Business only exists among people for people, so having good managers is

as important as having good employees. In this essay I will discuss the relationship

between managers and their employees. Specifically the power relationship

involved.

Body:

The power managers have over their employees is actually an illusion. What they

have instead is authority over their staff. Authority is the ability to influence others

not the power to force someone to do something against their will. The only power

a manager has is the willingness and commitment of their employees to carry out

their goals and vision.

Unfortunately most employees feel their managers have

power over them because they have the ability to hire and fire as well as the say in

who gets a promotion.

Managers have been considered to be the boss who sits behind a desk all day

pushing paperwork and not engaging with the staff. They are there to monitor

office hours, dress codes, lunch breaks and coffee breaks by their employees,

which results in official warnings or docked pay. This is a constant cause of

conflict between management and staff. It also forces the manager into a position

of distrust. For a good working relationship to exist between staff and management,

there needs to be trust and honesty. There also needs to be a change in the way

staff issues are dealt with, instead of punishment, there needs to...