Power is defined as the capacity to exercise control over people that is expressed through ways such as giving orders or assigning tasks. Several types of power are exercised in the workplace to influence employees and motivate them to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. Several sources of power may be used in efforts to encourage advertising and production groups to promote and manufacture toothpaste more effectively.
These sources of power are within the jurisdiction of the power of a brand manager offered by the company. These sources include legitimate power, relationship power, expert power, and reward and punishment power.
Legitimate power refers to the status assigned to managers that give them the power to assign tasks to employees and ensure that they comply. As a brand manager, assigning the task of advertisement of toothpaste to the advertising group may help to sell toothpaste more effectively. This source of power may be effective because, as a brand manager, workers are supposed to take my orders and act on them.
Moreover, the company regulations require workers to obey and act on orders from brand managers. I would issue orders to the production group on how to produce the toothpaste and ensure that they execute them in ways that ensure quality production. Employees respect their managers because they have the authority that is bestowed on them by the company.
Reward and punishment power is another source of power. This power refers to recognition and compensation of excellent behavior and achievement in employees. This may involve rewarding employees who execute assigned tasks as expected. In addition, it may involve punishing either those who fail to complete the task assigned as required or those who ignore the task assigned and instead concentrate on other tasks.
I would involve using my position as the brand manager to issue stern warnings and threats to employees who fail to comply with my orders. I would do this from the position of a leader who has been given power by the company to facilitate the achievement of its goals and objectives. Rewards may include additional pay or additional personal days, and punishments may include reduced personal days.
I may also use relationship power to motivate employees to help me make and sell toothpaste more effectively. Relationship power is the type of power that originates from the type of relationship a leader has with employees. This may be one of the most effective sources of power that I would use. I would ensure that I form good relationships with employees in the two groups and use that to convince them to help me. Certain employees have a great influence on their colleagues. I would form good relationships with employees who have a great influence on others and use them to extend my influence. I would treat them well and offer additional incentives to motivate them to help me achieve my goals.
Lastly, I would use expert power to my advantage. A brand manager possesses sufficient knowledge on how to advertise and market a certain product in order to achieve the required sales volume. I would use my knowledge on how to effectively advertise and sell a brand to lead employees in the advertising group in the sale of toothpaste. I would show them how to advertise toothpaste in order to attract customers and increase sales volume. This would help me to earn respect and admiration from the employees, which would create a good relationship that would help me to influence them to achieve my goal.