Distribution of Power

            
        As noted in Senior and Swailes (2010), power is defined in many connotations.  Simply stated, “power is who gets what, when and how” (Morgan, 1997, p.170).  There are several different levels of power that exist in an organization.  From Senior and Swailes (2010), varying power levels include:

1.      Positional power – formal position of power (generally our boss)
2.      Expert Power – derived from level of education and specialty skills set
3.      Referent power – Charismatic, the likability factor.
4.      Reward power – something tangible for work considered well done
5.      Coercive power – use of force to get results.
Underneath the layers of an organization, there are several different matrices of informal power.