Power in Cooperative and Competitive Organizational Contexts

Abstract

The use of power has traditionally been assumed to occur when persons have incompatible, competitive goals. Previous experiments have found that goal linkages greatly affect interaction in power relationships. To test whether these experimental findings hold for actual organizational interactions, 162 employees in three organizations in Canada volunteered to be interviewed. Using the critical incident method, they described specific interactions in detail and then answered a series of questions to code their responses. Cooperative goals were associated with exchange of resources, strengthened work relationships, and productivity. Findings also revealed that in all three organizations the most frequently mentioned power bases of valued resources were information-knowledge, effort-assistance, and emotional support. Results indicate that experimental findings on goal interdependence and power may be generalized and suggest a way to explore the actual power sources of organizational members.