Business Manoge

13.2 AUTHORITY
0g
OF right to give
ate right an ders
in a n i s aand
M E A N I N G

legitimate
legitimate

13.1. a
ass
the to
nisation. It inStchdtene
position
be
de
d ef
fiin
need
d

granted
to a s get
may
may
Detain
certain rights Bhem
bu the
executed by
horrightdinatesdi. rectItsodeaes
rights
Authority

It denotes and get

them
executed
subordin
obeyed. decisions
allocate
allo resources. It ist ne
to lake and
to
the right
command

to
of the right t
folloimate.
consists
a r e as
follows:
actions o f others.
authority
of
is legal and legitima It isis supported by
characteristics

The main

(1) Theauthority
law
given to
or
a position
standards
of authority.
It iis hierarchical, Supportled
Iradition, is not unlimited
on
position
enjoyed by a Thee exte
( T h eautnority
(rights)
of a position
are defined in advans
The positio ext
and limits of
authority rules, regulations
as per ru
his authority
to
olices
use
holder is expected
and norms of the organisation. individuals-one sun
relationship
between two or and the
(3) Authorityis a The superior
frames and transmits decision.
other subordinate. them. The subordinat,th
subordinate will accept
expectation that the determined by them.
linate executes
his conduct is
such decisions and to intluence the beha.
the use of authority 1s
(4) Thebasic purpose behindterms of
doing right things at right time
ofthe subordinates in are achieved. A person with authority inf
organisational objectives otherwise take place.
ences
the behaviour of others that might
(5) Authority is the key to the managerial job. Without it a manager cannot
condition the actions and behaviour of his subordinates. It provides
the
basis for getting things done. Authority is also the means of coordinatio
tion
in an organisation. Lines of authority serve to link and integrate the vario
us
parts of the organisation to achieve common goals.
(6) Authority gives right of decision-making because a manager can give orders
only when he decides what his subordinates should or should not do. In
the words of Terry, "Authority is exercised by making decisions and seeing
that they are carried out."
7) Authority in itself is an objective thing but its existence is always subjective.
Its exercise depends upon the
personality factors of the manager who can
use it and on the subordinates with
whom it is to be exercised.
13.2. POWER AND INFLUENCE
The term "power" is often considered as
there is a difference between the two synonymous to authority. Really speaking,
terms. Power refers to
to influence the behaviour or the ability or
atitudes of other
individuals. A
capacity
may be considered as his manager's
wishes them to do. A
ability to cause
subordinates to do what the power
manager s power may be measured manager
(a) give rewards, (b)
coercion,
punish individuals, () withdraw in terms of his ability to
rewards, etc. Thus, reward,
dominating personality, expertise, etc. are main
Power, like sources of
people. But powerauthority,
is a
means of
is stronger than exercising influence on the power.
DOwer is personal force that enables nfluence. Intluence is a behaviour of
a
person to a psychological
Infuence also differs from authority. Authority 1s one change the behaviourforce while
means to exert of others.
influence. Advice,
 h8 information perisasks ardl
hvfhenoeis the nntome peower re ofotler
wheress authorify seel pe fese of
ittome lnthece an all inelesive vw eetiegt
all mes
itinchades all mes by
by which er are e
which the
the
behwyie
at coveeso
is
smee e
e elifid eg,
is an important means to enforce tthert
wof the onganisation Power may be edience fo the rules,
is
The
7he se of power may alfect the
derived on personal regslstions sed
hases
belaviour of or
insfittior
necessarily imply that the people are inpeople in the desiced
ut it does
not

agreemend with
maneo
ofpover the exercise

13.3. DISTINCTION BETWEEN AUTHORITY AND POWER

Jictive of both authornty and power is commony ie, to
sBut
of others. But there are influerce the belhwvivn
following important differences between
power authority and
1 Authority is the right to command while power is the
to command. ability or capacity
2 Authority usually resides in the position held a
resides in the person who exercises it. by person whereas power
3. Authority is posiional and institutional while power is
is conferred on the position but power 1s acquired bypersonal. Authority
personal qualities or political means.
a
person through
4. Authority is legitimate as it is exercised because of official sanctions and
the people over whom it is exercised expect it. On the other hand, power
may not always be legitimate. The person concermed may not be entitled
to exert influence and the persons on whom power is exercised may not be
under an obligation to accept it.
5. Authority increases as one goes up the organisational hierarchy. But power
does not necessarily accompany authority. Power centres may be located at
lower levels in the organisation.
6. Authority relationships are shown in the formal structure of an organisation
and one can get an idea of authority from the organisation chart. But one
cannot get any idea of power centres in an organisation by merely looking
at its organisation chart as the formal structure does not show power centres
7. Authority flows downward as it is delegated to the lower levels in the
organisation. But power tlows in all directions. For instance, if a supervisor
is able to influence the behaviour of the production manager, it is implied
that the supervisor has exercised power over the production manager.
8. Authority relationships in an organisation are modified by power politics
and less power or less authority
Some individuals may have more authority
and more power,
to allocate while power is the ability to
resources
9. Authority is the right certain
X has power over Y when X controls
control resources. Person has power
the production department
resources needed by Y. For example, packaging
because without products no

over the packaging department

c a n occur.
 13.4
Business Manageme

Table 13.1:Authority and Power-A Comparison

Power
Authorit(y
Right to do something 1 Ability to do somethingg
Derived from organisation position Derived from many sources personal
institutional
2
Always flows downward-can be
delegated
3 Flows in all directions-cannot be
delegated
Legitimate-resides in the position 4. May be illegitimate
Narrow term-one source or subset of results when
5.
5. Broad concept-can achieve
power authority fails
6. Visible from organisation chart. It is chart
6. Not visible from organisation
institutionalised power
7. Can be delegated 7. Cannot be delegated
 13.8. RESPONSIBILITY

The term responsibility is used in management literature in two two difterent

different senses
sen
Some writers have defined it as duty or task assigned to a subordinatee by by virtue
vird
of his position in the organisation. "It refers to the mental and physical
which must be performed to carry out at task or duty. That means every nero
vities
every person
who performs any kind of mental or physical eftorts as an assigned task 1
responsibility. "2 has
In a more comprehensive (second) sense, responsibility may be defined as #
e
obligation of an individual to perform the task assigned to him by his superiors
It is "the obligation of an individual to carry our assigned activities to the best of
one's ability."3
In this book responsibility has been defined and used as the obligation of a
subordinate to his superior. The main characteristics of responsibility are as follows:
1. Responsibility can be assigned to human beings only.
Non-living things
such as machine cannot be assigned responsibility.
2. Responsibility arises from a
superior-subordinate relationship. By virtue of
his superior position, a manager has the authority to get the
required work
done from his subordinates. Therefore, he assigns duties to
subordinates
who are bound by the service contract to perform the
3.
assigned duties.
Responsibility may be a continuing obligation or confined to the
performance of a single function. For example, a sales person has continuing
obligation to the sales manager. On the other hand, the responsibility of a
management consultant to a company comes to an end as soon as the
consultancy assignment is completed.
4. Responsibility may be defined in terms of functions or targets or
example, the responsibility of labour officer is in terms goals. For
the contrary, the of a function. On
responsibility of a worker who is assigned the
daily is in terms of targets. As far as job
of
producing 50 units
responsibility should be expressed in terms of possible
subordinates to know target. This will enable the
by what standards their
evaluated. performance will be
 and Responsibility

Audirni
Autihont
and

13.11
nable the subordinate to
5 . I n o r d e r

perform his responsibility

tell the
superior
must
subordinate as to what is
clearly well, the
nsibility is derivative of authority. When a
a expected to him
acomes responsible to his subordinate is delegated
uthority

and for of
superior for the
performance of
ned task
assigned
proper use
delegat authority. Therefore,
should be commensurate with responsibility. authority
:thility is absolute and cannot be delegated. A
1. perform the duty assigned to him or he subordinate mav
himself may get it done from his
own subo esthordinate. But he remains responsible to his own superior in both
the cases.

ponsibility always moves upwards from a subordinate to a superior.

8.
13.9. ACCOUNTABILITY

ntability is the obligation to carry out responsibility and exercise authoritv in

standards established by the superior. It is liability for the
c o u n t

ns of performance
discharge of duties. Accountability comes into existence when a person

obligation to perform the assigned task. In this way, accountability is

p r o p e r

P s the oblig
epts
mething more than or activity. Once a subordinate is assigned a duty and
duty
eomething more
to complete it, he becomes answerable for the result.
the necessary authority
given of responsibility.
1s a derivative
Thus, accountability
Table 13.3 Authority and Responsibility-A Comparison

Authority Responsibility
act 1 Obligation to perform the assigned duties
Right to command or to
1. superior-subordinate
Arises from position 22. Arises from
2 relationship
3. Cannot be delegated
3. Can be delegated
4. Flows downward A
4. Flows upward
5. Short Life-over with pertormance of the
5. Long life-continuing
given duty
Return on' responsibility 66. Cost of authority
6 7. Collory of authority
7. Primary