Journal of Management Research

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

The Multi-dimensional Nature of Power Bases in a Non-western Context


Affiliations
1 Faculty of Economics and Business Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Sarawak
2 Operations Management Section School of Management Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11900 Penang
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Past researches have observed a shift in the dimensions of power bases behavior. Power bases possessed by the managers have often been known as the essence of leaders' behavior which is the major driving force behind this continuous recognition of power in the management literatures. The purpose of the research reported here is to test empirically and to validate a conceptualization of bases of power that consists of five dimensions developed by French and Raven (1959). Data was gathered through a survey using a structured questionnaire to employees working in 61 large manufacturing companies in Malaysia with a total of 276 respondents. A series of tests such as factor analysis, correlation, and reliability analysis was conducted to confirm that the instrument is valid (content, construct, convergent, discriminant and nomological) as well as reliable. Implications regarding the value of conducting validity and reliability test for practitioners and researchers are discussed.

Keywords

Power Bases, Goodness of Measure, Validity, Reliability, Multicultural Society, Manufacturing
User
Notifications

  • Abdullah, A. (1996), Going Glocal: Cultural Dimensions in Malaysian Management, Malaysian Institute of Management, Kuala Lumpur.

  • Anderson, C. and Berdahl, J. L. (2002), The Experience of Power: Examining the Effects of Power on Approach and Inhibition Tendencies, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83: 1362-1377.

  • Ansari, M. A. (1990), Managing People at Work: Leadership Styles and Influence Strategies, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.

  • Babbie, E. (1992), The Practice of Social Research (6th Ed), Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.

  • Bachman, J. G. (1968), Faculty Satisfaction and the Dean’s Influence: An Organizational Study of Twelve Liberal Arts Colleges, Journal of Applied Psychology, 52: 55-61.

  • Bachman, J. G., Smith, C. G. and Slesinger, J. A. (1966), Control, Performance, and Satisfaction: An Analysis of Structural and Individual Effects, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4: 127-136.

  • Bollen, K. A. (1989), Structural Equations with Latent Variables, John Wiley and Sons, New York.

  • Bass, B. M. (1981), Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership, Free Press, New York.

  • Benton, W. C. and Maloni, M. (2005), The Influence of Power Driven Buyer/Seller Relationships on Supply Chain Satisfaction, Journal of Operations Management, 23: 1-22.

  • Bhal, K. T. and Ansari, M. A. (2000), Managing Dyadic Interactions in Organizational Leadership, Sage, New Delhi.

  • Bielous, G. (1995), Seven Power bases and How to Effectively Use Them, Supervision, 56: 14.

  • Bollen, K. A. (1989), Structural Equations with Latent Variables, Wiley, New York.

  • Boonstra, J. J. and Bennebroek Gravenhorst, M. (1998), Power Dynamics and Organizational Change: A Comparison of Perspectives, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 7: 97-120.

  • Brown, J. R. Lusch, R. F. and Muehling, D. D. (1983), Conflict and Power Dependence Relations in Retailer-Supplier Channels, Journal of Retailing, 59: 53-80.

  • Brown, J. R., Lusch, R. F. and Nicholson, C. Y. (1995), Power and Relationship Commitment: Their Impact on Marketing Channel Member Performance, Journal of Retailing, 71: 363-392.

  • Bruins, J. (1999), Social Power and Influence Tactics: A Theoretical Introduction, Journal of Social Issues, 55: 7-14.

  • Bugental, D. B. and Lewis, J. C. (1999), The Paradoxical Misuse of Power by Those Who See Themselves as Powerless: How Does It Happen? Journal of Social Issues, 55: 51-64.

  • Campbell, D. T. and Fiske, D. W. (1959), Convergent and Discriminant Validation by the Multitrait – Multimethod Matrix, Psychological Bulletin, 56(1): 81-105.

  • Cast, A. D. (2003), Power and the Ability to Define the Situation, Social Psychology Quarterly, 66: 185-201.

  • Clegg, S. (1989), Frameworks of Power, Allyn and Bacon, Boston.

  • Cronbach, L. J. and Meehl, P. C. (1955), Construct Validity in Psychological Tests, Psychological Bulletin, 52: 281-302. Dahl, R. A. (1957), The Concept of Power, Behavioral Science, 2: 201-218.

  • Deci, E. L. (1971), Effects of Externally Mediated Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 18: 105-115.

  • Drean, J. T., Bruner, G. C. and Hensel, P. J. (1993), Comparing Alternative Measures of the French and Raven Power Bases, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 13: 73-80.

  • Emerson, R. M. (1962), Power-Dependence Relations, American Sociological Review, 27: 31-41.

  • Farmer, S. M. and Aguinis, H. (2005), Accounting for Subordinate Perceptions of Supervisor Power, Journal of Applied Psychology, 90: 1069-1083.

  • Fiske, S. T. (1993), Controlling Other People: The Impact of Power or Stereotyping, American Psychologist, 48: 621-628.

  • Foucault, M. (1977), Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, Vintage Books, New York.

  • French, J. R. P. and Raven, B. (1959), The Bases of Social Power, in Cartwright, D. (Ed), Studies in Social Power, pp. 150-167, Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor, MI.

  • Frost, D. E. and Stahelski, A. J. (1988), The Systematic Measurement of French and Raven’s Bases of Social Power in Workgroups, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 18: 375-389.

  • Giddens, A. (1984), The constitution of Society: Outline of a Theory of Structuration. Polity Press, Cambridge.

  • Gomez, P. J., Lorente, J. J. and Cabrera, R. V. (2004), Training Practices and Organizational Learning Capability: Relationship and Implications, Journal of European Industrial Training, 28(2): 234-256.

  • Guinote, A., Judd, C. M. and Brauer, M. (2002), Effects of Power on Perceived and Objective Group Variability Evidence that More Powerful Groups are More Variable, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82: 708-721.

  • Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L. and Black, W. C. (2006), Multivariate Data Analysis with Readings (4th Ed), Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliff, NJ.

  • Hardy, C. and Clegg, S. R. (1996), Some Dare Call it Power, in S. R. Clegg, C. Hardy, and W. R. Nord (Eds.), Handbook of Organizational Studies, pp. 622-641, Sage, London.

  • Hersey, P., Blanchard, K. H. and Natemeyer, W. E. (1979), Situational Leadership, Perception and the Impact of Power, Centre for Leadership Studies.

  • Hinkin, T. R. and Schriesheim, C. A. (1990), Relationships between Subordinate Perceptions of Supervisor Influence Tactics and Attributed Bases of Supervisory Power, Human Relations, 43: 221-237.

  • Hinkin, T. R. and Schriesheim, C. A. (1989), Development and Application of New Scales to Measure the French and Raven (1959) Bases of Power, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 74: 561-567. Hofstede, G. (1993), Cultural Constraints in Management Theories, Academy of Management Executive, 7: 81-90.

  • Hollander, E. P. and Offermann, L. R. (1990), Power and Leadership in Organizations, American Psychologist, 45: 179-189.

  • Hunt, S. D. and Nevin, J. R. (1974), Power in a Channel of Distribution: Sources and Consequences, Journal of Marketing Research, 11: 186-193.

  • Ivancevich, J. M. and Donnelly, J. H. (1970), Leader Influence and Performance, Personnel Psychology, 23: 539-549.

  • Kaiser, H. F. and Rice, J. (1974), Little Jiffy, Mark IV, Educational and Psychology Measurement, 34: 111-117

  • Kipnis, D. (1976), The Powerholders, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

  • Kipnis, D., Schmidt, S. M. and Wilkinson, I. (1980), Intraorganizational Influence Tactics: Explorations in Getting One's Way, Journal of Applied Psychology, 65: 440-452.

  • Knights, D. and McCabe, D. (1999), Are There No Limits to Authority? TQM and Organizational Power, Organizational Studies, 20: 197-224.

  • Lawrence, T. B., Mauws, M. K., Dyck, B. and Kleysen, R. F. (2005), The Politics of Organizational Learning: Integrating Power into the 4I Framework, Academy of Management Review, 30: 180-191.

  • Maloni, M. J. and Benton, W. C. (2000), Power Influences in the Supply Chain, Journal of Business Logistics, 21: 42-73.

  • McCoach, D. B. (2002), A Validation Study of the School Attitude Assessment Survey, Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 35: 66-77.

  • Melia, J. L. (2000), The Formal and Informal Power Questionnaires (FIPQ), in Maltby, J., Lewis, C. A. and Hill, A. (Eds.), Commissioned Reviews on 250 Psychological Test, pp. 841-845, Edwin Mellen Press, Lampeter, Wales.

  • Mueun Bae, P. A. S. I. G. K. D. H. (1998), Leadership and Power Relationships Based on Culture and Gender, Women in Management Review, 13: 208-216.

  • Mumford, M. D., Scott, G. M., Gaddis, B. and Strange, J. M. (2002), Leading Creative People: Orchestrating Expertise and Relationships, The Leadership Quarterly, 13: 705-750.

  • Nunnally, J. C. (1978), Psychometric Theory, McGraw Hill, New York.

  • Peiro, J. M. and Melia, J. L. (2003), Formal and Informal Interpersonal Power in Organizations: Testing a Bifactorial Model of Power in Role-Sets, Applied Psychology: An International Review, 52: 14-35.

  • Pfeffer, J. (1992), Managing with Power, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.

  • Ragins, B. R. and Sundstrom, E. (1989), Gender and Power in Organizations: A Longtitudinal Perspective, Psychological Bulletin, 105: 51-88.

  • Rahim, M. A. (1989), Relationships of Leader Power to Compliance and Satisfaction with Supervision: Evidence from a National Sample of Managers, Journal of Management, 15, 545-576.

  • Rahim, M. A. and Psenicka, C. (1996), Bases of Leader Power, Workgroup Commitment, and Conflict: A Structural Equations Model, in Rahim, M. A., Golembiewski, R. T. and Lundberg, C. C. (Eds), Current Topics in Management, pp. 31-47, Jai Press,

  • Greenwich, CT.

  • Rahim, M. A., Antonioni, D., Krumov, K. and Ilieva, S. (2000), Power, Conflict, and Effectiveness. A Cross-cultural Study in the United States and Bulgaria, European Psychologist, 5: 28-33.


Abstract Views: 284

PDF Views: 5




  • The Multi-dimensional Nature of Power Bases in a Non-western Context

Abstract Views: 284  |  PDF Views: 5

Authors

Lo May-Chiun
Faculty of Economics and Business Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Sarawak
T Ramayah
Operations Management Section School of Management Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11900 Penang

Abstract


Past researches have observed a shift in the dimensions of power bases behavior. Power bases possessed by the managers have often been known as the essence of leaders' behavior which is the major driving force behind this continuous recognition of power in the management literatures. The purpose of the research reported here is to test empirically and to validate a conceptualization of bases of power that consists of five dimensions developed by French and Raven (1959). Data was gathered through a survey using a structured questionnaire to employees working in 61 large manufacturing companies in Malaysia with a total of 276 respondents. A series of tests such as factor analysis, correlation, and reliability analysis was conducted to confirm that the instrument is valid (content, construct, convergent, discriminant and nomological) as well as reliable. Implications regarding the value of conducting validity and reliability test for practitioners and researchers are discussed.

Keywords


Power Bases, Goodness of Measure, Validity, Reliability, Multicultural Society, Manufacturing

References