Bases of power

Bases of Power

The social psychologists French and Raven, in a now-classic study (1959), developed a scheme of give categories of power, which reflected the different bases or resources that power holders rely upon.

Legitimate Power: Legitimate Power refers to power of bosses because of their relative positions or the formal workplace structure. Legitimate power is identical with authority, and depends upon the belief of individuals in the right of senior people to hold their positions, and their consequent willingness to accept the power holder.
Referent Power: Referent Power means the power or ability of bosses to influence employees? feelings about themselves or their emotions in relation to their work. It's based on the charisma of the power holder. Here the person under power desires to identify with these personal qualities, and gains satisfaction from being an accepted follower.
Expert Power: Expert Power is bosses? power in terms of their knowledge about work and power due to this knowledge at work. Expert power rests on the skills or expertise of the person holding power. Unlike the others, this type of power is usually highly spefific and limited to the particular area in which the expert is trained and qualified.
Reward Power: Reward Power depends upon the ability of the power wielder to confer valued material rewards, it refers to the degree to which bosses can give employees benefits, welfare, promotions or increases in pay or responsibility.
Coercive Power: Coercive Power means the application of negative influences onto employees. It might refer to the ability to demote or to withhold other rewards. It's the desire for valued rewards or the fear of having them withheld that ensures the obedience of those under power.

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bases+of+power Wikipedia article Bases of power.