Leader Power Bases Research Articles

Leader power bases and perceived leader effectiveness: conservation of gender stereotypes

Using a sample of 650 Turkish white collars, this study examines the joint effects of leader power bases, and leader’s and subordinate’s gender on perceived leader effectiveness. The study investigates the conditions under which a male or a female leader is perceived to be (in)effective given the use of two different bases of power. According to empirical findings, male leaders are evaluated more favorably even when they display gender-deviant leadership behavior by exercising soft power, and male subordinates’ disfavor of female leaders who violate role expectations is still a continuing phenomenon.

Leader power and employees’ information security policy compliance

Dependence on mobile and outside networks exposes businesses to information leakages by insiders, increasing the importance of information security. Consequently, companies need to implement security education training and awareness (SETA) programs, to ensure employees comply with information security policies (ISPs). The influence of supervisor leadership on the effectiveness of such programs has received little empirical attention. This study empirically analyzes the moderating role of leader power bases effect in the relationship between SETA programs and employees’ ISP compliance intention using WarpPLS 5.0. The moderating effects differ by leader power base type, and expertise, reward, and legitimate power have a positive impact on the relationship. The findings have theoretical and practical implications for the execution of SETA programs and creation of organizational environments in the context of information security.

Leader Power, Conflict Handling Styles, and Subordinate Compliance: A Study on Information Technology Professionals in Turkey

Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of leaders’ power bases and styles of handling conflict on subordinate behavioral and attitudinal compliance. Convenience sampling was used, and 353 information technology (IT) professionals in Turkey participated in the survey. The outcomes revealed that leaders’ cooperative and dominating conflict management styles (CMSs), “expert and referent power”, and legitimate power positively influence subordinates’ behavioral compliance. In addition, “expert and referent power” and legitimate power positively affect attitudinal compliance, while avoiding and dominating CMSs negatively influence it. Overall, the results partially support the influence of leader power bases and styles of handling conflict on subordinate compliance. This study contributes to the literature by investigating the listed variables with a sample of IT professionals employed in various industries in Turkey. Organizations can utilize the study results to increase leadership effectiveness and to deliver better management of IT human capital.

Leader Power Bases and Organizational Outcomes: The Role of Perceived Organizational Politics

Followers’ perceptions of organizational politics have the potential to impact the way they react to the influence of their leaders. The present study of 380 white collars investigated how followers’ perceptions of organizational politics moderated the relationships found between the leaders’ use of social power, and the followers’ contextual performance and job satisfaction. According to the findings, personal power more positively correlates with job satisfaction and contextual performance than positional power. The leaders’ use of positional power is associated with lower levels of job satisfaction among followers when they perceive higher levels of organizational politics. Moreover, leaders’ use of both positional and personal power is associated with lower levels of contextual performance when followers’ perceptions of organizational politics are high.

Relationship between leadership power bases and job stress of subordinates: example from boutique hotels

PurposeTo examine the influence of leadership power bases on subordinates’ job stress at boutique hotels.Design/methodology/approachA total of 400 subjects (20 managers and 380 non‐managerial employees) participated in this study from 20 boutique hotels. Participants were told that the study was designed to collect information on the leadership power bases used by first line managers and on the job stress levels of employees in the hospitality workforce. The Rahim Leader Power Inventory and Spielberger and Vagg's Job Stress Survey were used to assess leadership power bases and job stress, respectively.FindingsThere are significant relations between leader power bases and subordinates’ job stress. The findings support the suggestion in the literature that positional power bases stimulate job stress in the hospitality industry.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has several limitations that could be future research topics, such as hotels’ source of funding, demographic characteristics of the participants, etc. There is a question about the generalizability of these findings to other hospitality organizations such as four or five‐star hotels.Originality/valueThis paper explores an aspect of leadership in the hospitality industry that is often neglected. Organizations that actively consider leadership approaches and wish to nurture and develop their leaders and managers will need to be mindful of the leadership power bases.

Superior-Subordinate Relationships and Satisfaction in Indian Small Business Enterprises

This paper has used the hierarchy-based power system by French and Raven (1959) for researching the motivational potential in small business manufacturing enterprises. Studies in this area have been conducted but most of them are in the US, a country that is characterized by favourable demographic and other infrastructural environmental factors. However, this study used data from small business enterprises in India which is a fast developing economy though it does not yet have the logistics and the techno-economic infrastructure like the one in the US. One primary objective of this study was to see if the findings from an emerging economy are different from those of developed countries. Another objective was to get insights into the hierarchical motivation dynamics in the Indian enterprises. Indian environment is different from the US' in two important respects: the existence of high power-distance in the organizational hierarchies (as opposed to low power-distance in the US), and the market life cycle driven maturity level of Michel Porter's (1985) industry forces. The ultimate objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between bases of leader power and several criterion variables such as commitment, satisfaction, intent to leave, and compliance. Some of the findings of the study are as follows: The power bases are influential predictors in the US, a society that is characterized by high level of individualistic materialism, low power-distance, and strong entrepreneurial mental behaviour. In India, the power bases are likely to be even more influential because of the society's unique socio-cultural characteristics. India's social environment is high on power-distance that commands loyalty and possibly accountability in small business sector. The influence of Confucian philosophy and Gandhi's values are likely factors that differentiate India's culture base from that of the US. The results of this study are quite consistent with many of the findings of more recent studies done in the US. There were some differences between the findings of the present and other recent studies which may be attributed to the type of professionals who participated in this study and the socio-economic and power-distance driven cultural differences between the US and India. One important limitation of the present study is that the relationships discussed are correlational, not causal. Experimental studies are needed to investigate causal links between the bases of leader power and criterion variables. Moreover, further studies of superior-subordinate relationships and their effects on motivation and compliance using India's culture factors are needed to determine the relevance and applicability of US-based studies in India.

SUBSTITUTION OF A LEADER'S POWER BASES BY CONTEXTUAL VARIABLES

ABSTRACT Organizational transition toward self-management raises questions regarding managers' influence on subordinates' behavior and outcomes. This study examined the effects of a leader's power bases and situational leadership substitutes on subordinates' job satisfaction. Questionnaires were administered to 292 employees at several organizational settings. The contribution of a leader's power bases to the prediction of job satisfaction was found to be smaller than the contribution of the aggregated situational variables relating to characteristics of the subordinates, the task and the organization. A leader's expert power was found to be moderated by subordinates' expertness and professional orientation. Nevertheless, the more personal referent power base was not substituted by contextual variables. The results are discussed in regard to the impact of the leader and contextual variables on subordinates' outcomes.

School‐based, decision‐making councils – Conflict, leader power and social influence in the vertical team

School‐based, decision‐making councils were studied as vertical teams, groups of individuals who share a common purpose but operate on different levels from different role perspectives within the organization. These role perspectives were considered important determinants of the amount of conflict experienced by council members when conflict was considered to be a function of the bases of leader power of the principal and the social influence of the council members. Subjects were from 144 schools in Kentucky, representing the three school council constituencies: teachers, principals, and parents. Findings of the study revealed significant differences in the amount of conflict, power, and influence between the three council constituencies and a significant relationship between the amount of conflict and power and influence.

Power, conflict, and effectiveness : A cross-cultural study in the United States and Bulgaria

This study investigated the relationships of bases of leader power (coer- cive, reivard, legitimate, expert, and referent) and styles of handling in- terpersonal conflict (integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising) to subordinates' effectiveness. Data for this study were collected with questionnaires from the United States and Bulgaria and analyzed with hierarchical regression analysis for each country. Results Keyiuords: Leader power, conflict styles, satisfactoriness. indicated that in the United States referent power base of supervisors and integrating style of handling conflict of subordinates were positively as- sociated with effectiveness. In Bulgaria, legitimate power base of super- visors ivas positively associated with effectiveness, but the subordinates' conflict styles were not associated with effectiveness.

Power, Conflict, and Effectiveness

This study investigated the relationships of bases of leader power (coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent) and styles of handling interpersonal conflict (integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising) to subordinates' effectiveness. Data for this study were collected with questionnaires from the United States and Bulgaria and analyzed with hierarchical regression analysis for each country. Results indicated that in the United States referent power base of supervisors and integrating style of handling conflict of subordinates were positively associated with effectiveness. In Bulgaria, legitimate power base of supervisors was positively associated with effectiveness, but the subordinates' conflict styles were not associated with effectiveness.

Principal's Leader Power, Teacher Empowerment, Teacher Compliance and Conflict

This paper reports on a study which investigated the relationship among the principal's bases of leader power, teacher empowerment, teacher compliance, and the amount of conflict within self, with peers and with the principal. Factor analysis and regression analysis revealed a strong association for expert power and referent power with each conflict dimension and teacher empowerment. Teacher compliance and teacher empowerment were strongly associated with all three conflict dimensions. Implications were derived for the preservice and inservice education of school principals and their evaluation.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Bases of Leader Power: First-Order Factor Model and Its Invariance Across Groups.

Confirmatory factor analyses of data (from five samples: N = 308 accountants and finance professionals, N = 578 management and non-management employees, and N = 588 employed management students in the U.S.; N = 728 management and non-management employees in S. Korea, N = 250 management and non-management bank employees in Bangladesh) on the 29 items of the Rahim Leader Power Inventory were performed with LISREL 7. The results provided support for the convergent and discriminant validities of the subscales measuring the five bases of leader power (coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent), and the invariance of factor pattern and factor loadings across organizational levels and the three American samples. Additional analysis indicated that leader power profiles differed across the three national cultures represented in the study.

Leader power and subordinates' organizational commitment and effectiveness: Test of a theory in a developing country

AbstractThis study tested the relationships of bases of leader power (coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent) to subordinates' organizational commitment and of power bases and commitment to subordinates' effectiveness (performance, conformance, dependability, and personal adjustment). Two hundred fifty employees and their supervisors from three banks in Bangladesh were individually interviewed to fill out the Rahim Leader Power Inventory, Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, and Minnesota Satisfactoriness Scales, to measure power, commitment, and effectiveness, respectively. Two stepwise hierarchical regression analyses showed that legitimate and expert power bases were positively associated with commitment. Coercive power was negatively associated with effectiveness and expert power was positively associated with the same. Implications of the findings for international managers working in developing countries are discussed. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Leader Power, Commitment, Satisfaction, Compliance, and Propensity to Leave a Job Among U.S. Accountants

Abstract The relationships of the bases of leader power (coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent) to subordinates' organizational commitment, satisfaction with work, and attitudinal and behavioral compliance, and the relationships of the four latter variables to propensity to leave a job were investigated. Hierarchical regression analyses of data from a national random sample of 308 American accountants indicated that expert and referent power bases were positively correlated with commitment, but referent power base was positively correlated with satisfaction with work. Expert and referent power bases were positively correlated with attitudinal compliance, whereas legitimate and referent power bases were positively correlated with behavioral compliance. Commitment and satisfaction, in turn, were positively correlated with propensity to leave a job.

Relationships Between Subordinate Perceptions of Supervisor Influence Tactics and Attributed Bases of Supervisory Power

This paper presents the results of a study investigating relationships between measures of supervisor influence and power, as perceived by subordinates (N = 251). The influence measures were based on the framework of Kipnis, Schmidt, and Wilkinson (1980), while the measures of power used were based on French and Raven's (1959) social bases of power. The results indicated that: (1) there was relatively strong support for most of the Kipnis et al. influence dimensions when viewed from the influence target's perspective, (2) perceptions of leader influence tactic behaviors and attributions of leader power bases are empirically distinct, and (3) several relationships exist between subordinate perceptions of leader influence behaviors and subordinate attributions of leaderpower. However, only one influence tactic, rationality, had both substantial and significant positive relationships with the more positively-viewed bases of power (expert and referent power), emphasizing its importance as a means of influence in organizations. Implications of these findings and future directions for research are briefly discussed.

Relationships of Leader Power to Compliance and Satisfaction with Supervision: Evidence from a National Sample of Managers

This study investigated the effectiveness of the bases of leader power, such as coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent in influencing behavioral compliance with superior's wishes and satisfaction with supervision. Regression analyses of data from a national random sample of managers (N = 476), after demographic, job-related, and other extraneous variables were controlled for, showed that expert and referent power bases were positively associated with compliance and satisfaction and legitimate power base was positively associated with compliance but negatively associated with satisfaction.

The Development of a Leader Power Inventory.

The objective of this study was the development of an instrument containing factorially independent subscales for measuring five bases of leader power: coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent. The items for the instrument were selected on the basis of feedback from the Ss and faculty and an iterative process of factor analyses of data from six successive convenience samples and a random sample (N = 1,256). Data on the final instrument from a national random sample of executives (n = 476) and a collegiate sample of employed business students (n = 297) showed that the instrument had adequate reliability and validity and was free from social desirability response set.

Situational Leadership, Perception, and the Impact of Power

This article integrates the concept of power with situational leadership by relating the perception of a leader's power bases with various leader ship styles. The sources of power are identified; situational leadership is reviewed; and a new instrument, the Power Perception Profile, is de scribed and discussed. Maturity levels are defined, and their relation ships to power sources and leadership styles are discussed.