Influence of Power Bases on Leadership Strategies Adopted by Managers’ in Information Technology Organizations

Abstract

Power is an integral and inescapable part of organizations. No manager can be efficient without understanding and using power in an appropriate manner. Today, managers need to make a transition from guiding and leading to shaping and influencing the growth by the ways in which they approach their work and interact with one another .The literature generally suggests that effective leaders express their need for power and influence in ways that create value to the organization.

The present investigation focuses on power bases of managers and its influence on type of leadership strategies adopted by managers to lead their employees. 515 respondents representing 87 I.T companies were surveyed.  Two standardized, valid and reliable instruments were used to measure the constructs.  Leadership Strategies developed by Robert A. Cooke’s (1996) was adopted with permission and French and Raven’s (1959) bases of power was measured using a modified version of Hinkin and Schriesheim’s (1989).The Cronbach's Alpha reliability for the  scales were 0.88 and above, the stratified random sampling technique was adopted. The major findings suggest that the Legitimate Power needs to be leveraged most in IT organizations as it significantly influences Prescriptive and Restrictive leadership strategies. The findings, conclusions, implications and suggestions for further research have been discussed.

Key Words: Power bases, Formal power bases, Personal power bases, Leadership strategies, Prescriptive strategy, Restrictive strategy.