Power in Organizations: The Power of Governance
In this video, we will look at the power organizations derive from their governance structures and processes.
Watching this video is worth 2 Management Courses CPD Points*.
(See below for more details)
The Nature of Organizations
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This video is part of course module number 6.1.3
Program 6: Managing within Organizations
Course 1: The Nature of Organizations
Section 3: Power in Organizations
Other videos in this section include:
What is Power? https://youtu.be/mIlnEkzIiHs
Amitai Etzioni: How Organizations Secure Compliance https://youtu.be/4mSdeda8elk
Robin Fincham: Three Levels of Organizational Power https://youtu.be/Qcd_UcHGCe8
French and Raven: Social Power Bases in Organizations https://youtu.be/wLtTu8B0aek
Empowerment: The Organization Giving up its Power https://youtu.be/B4-_u51mffk
LESSON NOTES
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The imperative to do the right things, and to do things right gives organizations power over the people and organizational units within them
Many people with power are dedicated to serving the people who look to them for leadership and care. But, three human frailties are ever-present:
• Temptation to abuse their power, and gain more of what they desire
• Wish for an easy life, leading to skipping over the rules – or just carelessness
• Capacity to get things wrong and make mistakes, despite the best of motives
These are big challenges to the organizations we set up for the stewardship of our resources and the care of our people. So, we create one more set of structures to meet those challenges. And these are about governance.
Governance is the creation and maintenance of desirable norms of behavior. We do this through structures, practices, policies, rules, instructions, systems, constitutions, regulations, and laws.
The primary components of governance are:
• Direction-setting
• Decision-making
• Supervision and oversight
These are supported by three secondary activities:
• Setting ethical standards
• Creating and maintaining a culture – often supported by policies, procedures, and processes
• Ensuring transparency and accountability
In our previous video – https://youtu.be/Qcd_UcHGCe8 – we looked at Robin Fincham’s three levels of organizational power. The need for good governance materializes at each level:
1. At the Organizational Level…
The organization sets, maintains, and enforces its own rules
2. At the Institutional Level…
Society imposes rules and expectations on its organizations and their executives. Two good examples from here in the UK are:
a. The Nolan Principles of Public Life (1995)
b. The recommendations in the Cadbury report (1992) on the financial aspects of corporate governance
3. At the Processual Level…
The appointment of standing and ad hoc roles and committees to enforce governance (like audit committees and project sponsors) allows individuals to operate in governance mode and steer outcomes within the formal structures.
RECOMMENDED EXERCISE
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What are the governance structures and processes you have experienced? How do they exert power within the organizations? (3 MC CPD Points)
DOWNLOADS
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Free Resources
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Paid resources
– Management Courses Onboarding Kit – https://gum.co/MC-ObK ($3)
RECOMMENDED READING
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– Understanding Organizations https://geni.us/oB774Do
– Images of Organization https://geni.us/hrOemEs
– Inside Organizations: 21 Ideas for Managers https://geni.us/YwwL
– Gods of Management: The Four Cultures of Leadership https://geni.us/bpPeC5
Managers Need a Basic set of kit to do your job well. Here are my top recommendations: https://kit.co/MikeClayton/manager-s-work-kit (the links are affiliated)
Management Courses Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Points
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Each video has two levels of MC CPD points. For this video:
– If you simply watched the video, record 2 MC CPD points
– If you also carried out all of the recommended exercises, score a total of 5 MC CPD points
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Links to our book recommendations are affiliated through Amazon
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