ST PAUL’S UNIVERSITY

NAIROBI CAMPUS

UNIT CODE: CCD 1108

UNIT TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY CAPACITY BUILDING AND

EMPOWERMENT

DATE OF EXAMINATION:

ASSIGNMENT: CAT TWO

LECTURER: MARGARET MACHARIA

QUESTION

1. Citing relevant examples, illustrate the process of acquiring power in a community (20
marks)

Power is the ability to control people and events (According to Cambridge English dictionary). It
is also the ability to act or have influence over others. Mostly people in various types of
leadership positions are known to be in power. There are many ways of acquiring power as
described below.

Referent power refers to the ability of a leader to influence a follower because of the follower’s
loyalty, respect, friendship, admiration, affection or a desire to gain approval. Nationalism,
patriotism, celebrities, mass leaders and widely respected people are examples of referent power
in effect. It is also based upon a leader modeling his or her behavior to demonstrate appropriate
decision making and conduct.

In a business set up, employees will observe manager’s behavior and act as they believe their
managers would act in the same situation. In other words, employees refer to what they believe
the manager would do and do the same, this is because the manager becomes a point of reference
for their behavior. This type of power relies heavily on the trust of employees in their manager,
developing employee empowerment and allowing employees to make decisions in certain work
situations. An example of referent power for instance from the entertainment world, Lupita
Nyong’o is an example of someone with referent power, having made it to Hollywood as a
Kenyan actor and having so many followers in her social media handles. Many people respect
her and want to know what she is up to. Some even aspire to be like her thus she has referent
power over her followers.

Legitimate power- This is power you acquire from your formal position of office held in an
organization’s rank of authority. It is based on the reality that a person holds particular position
in an organization. For example, the leader of an organization has certain power because of their
position they hold within the organization. For example, a project manager is placed in charge of
a project team so they may delegate tasks. This type of power is also based on the perception of
an employee that someone holding that position has authority to exert control over them.
Reward power- In a business set up, it is simply the power of a manager to give some type of
reward to an employee as a means to influence the employee’s to act. Rewards can be in form of
tangible and intangible. The key difference between a tangible reward and an intangible reward
is that tangible rewards are physical things, while intangible rewards are not. Examples of
tangible rewards include monetary awards, wage or salary increases, bonuses and gifts.
Intangible rewards can also be effective. Examples of intangible rewards include praise, positive
feedback, recognition and more responsibility including a rise in status. Example of reward
power is when a project manager decides to appreciate and acknowledge the work done by his
project team by motivating them and offering them rewards.

Expert power-This is power based upon employees' belief that a manager or some other
member of an organization has a high level of knowledge or a specialized set of skills that other
employees or members of the organization do not possess. Any member of an organization who
has a high level of knowledge or a set of specialized skills that others in the organization do not
possess may exercise expert power. For example, the project manager who is an expert at solving
particularly challenging problems to ensure a project stays on track.

Coercive power- In a workplace set up, it is the ability of a manager to force an employee to
follow an order by threatening the employee with punishment if the employee does not comply
with the order. The most important concept to understand about coercive power is that it uses the
application of force. It seeks to force or compel behavior rather than to influence behavior
through persuasion. Examples of coercive power include threats demotions, pay cuts, layoffs,
and terminations if employees don't follow orders. In order to be effective, the manager must be
able to follow through on the threat. In fact, managers often use what is known as coercive
power to obtain desirable outcomes from employees, and when this power is used correctly, it
can provide multiple benefits to a business. Many people use coercive power to influence
someone to do something by using a possible punishment as a motivation. For example, in
business the employer may threaten to fire some technical expertise who may not be performing
to their level best and hindering the organizations success and goals.

REFERENCES
Dahl, R A (1957) The concept of power. Behavioral Science 2(3): 201–15.

Guzzini, S (2016) Power and cause. Journal of International Relations and Development. Pre-
print online (DOI: 10.1057/s41268-016-0002-z).

Avery, G. C. (2005). Understanding Leadership. London: Sage Publications

French, J. R. P. Jr. and Raven, B. (1962). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright (Ed),
Group Dynamics: Research and Theory (pp. 259-269). New York: Harper and Row.