A Measure of Supervisory Power: Scale Development and Validation

Abstract

Post economic reforms, organisations in India have undergone consistent experimentation with organizational structuring and strategies. These visible radical changes have also influenced the hidden power equations in the organizational setups. In an attempt to revisit present day power dynamics, this study was conducted to validate the existing power inventory scale with 11 dimensions, in Indian context. Further, 6 items were also added to the existing scale in order to investigate two additional powers vis-a- vis Negative Referent and Negative Expert power which have not been incorporated and measured in the previous scales of organizational power. In order to confirm the scale, employees response (N=385) from IT sector on 13 dimensions of power scale was collected and analysed using SPSS for Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and AMOS for Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) first and second order. In the first stage of analysis, the 39 items of 13 dimension power scale post analysis were factorized to 20 items and 6 factor structure. The overall tests for reliability and validity (Cronbach’s Alpha, KMO-Bartlett) of the scale indicated positive results .The CFA results (Composite Reliability, Average Variance Extracted and Discriminant Validity) showed acceptable internal consistency reliability for the overall supervisory power scale. Out of the 6 items that were developed for Negative Referent and Negative Expert power, 5 items of the same consolidated into one factor which was labelled as Negative Power. Organizations and Supervisors interested in understanding and taking deeper insights of power and its influence in organizational settings can use this scale to comprehend the dyadic relationship amongst supervisor and subordinate. This study is first hand investigation to understand power dimensions in Indian IT sector. Further, it provides a comprehensive scale for the researchers who want to explore the power dynamics in different organizational settings as a base for future study.