ffectively.5
Power in organizations is then, according to this theory, used to overcome conflict, and cause other individuals to act in a constructive manner to bring about a desirable outcome.6
2J. Pfeffer, Power in Organizations (Cambridge, Massachu setts: Ballanger Publishing Company, 1981), 67 71.
3D. Tjosvold, "Power and Social Context in Superior Subordinate Interaction, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 35 (1985): 281 293.
4P. R. Lawrence, and J. W. Lorsch, Organization and Environment (Boston, Massachusetts; Harvard Business School Press, 1986), 218 224.
5C. Hardy, "The Nature of Unobtrusive Power," Journal of Management Studies, 22 (1985): 384 399.
6G. R. Salancik, and J. Pfeffer, "The Bases and Uses of Power in Organizational Decision Making: The Case of the Uni versity," Administrative Sciences Quarterly, 19 (1974): 453 473.
The above concept of organizational power is often refer red to as overt power. The existence has been suggested of a second form of organizational power, which is referred to as unobtrusive power. The application of unobtrusive power within organizations may prevent the development of organizational conflict, and may be used to attain organizational objectives as effectively as they may be attained through application of overt power.7
It is conceivable, therefore, that managers who perceive and apply the concept of power in significantly different ways within organizations may achieve comparable outcomes. Depend ing upon the character of individual managers the applications of different types of power or a combination of both types of power may be appropriate.
It is useful, therefore, to define overt and unobtrusive power. Overt power use "refers to the ablity to secure prefer red outcomes in the face of competition and conflict among declared opponents.8 Within organizations, overt power derives from an ab...