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Chapter 18

Managerial authority and responsibility

2.1 Authority

Authority is the right to give orders and the power to exact obedience.

Fayol

2.2 Responsibility

Responsibility is the liability if a person to be called to account for his/
her actions. Note that responsibility cannot be delegated to others.

2.3 Power

Try not to get confused between authority and power. Authority is the right to do
something, while power is the ability to do something.

French and Raven identified five sources of power:

 Reward power – when one person is able to reward another person for carrying
out their duties or meeting other requirements

 Coercive power – when one person has the ability to punish another person for
failing to carry out their orders satisfactorily

 Referent power – often occurs when one person identifies with, or wishes to
imitate another

 Expert power – when one person is regarded by others as having special
expertise or knowledge that other do not

 Legitimate power – derived from being in a position of authority within the
organisation

Other sources of power may include:

 Resource power – based on control over key resources

 Negative power – the ability to use disruptive behaviour and attitudes to prevent
things from happening

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