ABSTRACT

One of the significant constructs in organizational behavior and organization theory is power. Bertrand Russell (1938) described power as “the fundamental concept in social science . . . in the same sense in which energy is the fundamental concept in physics” (p. 12). There are numerous studies on the French and Raven (1959) nomenclature of power bases (coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent) and criterion variables, such as job performance, satisfaction, organizational commitment, propensity to leave a job, and so on. Existing studies used measures of power bases and criterion variables at the individual level, not at the group level. These studies used regression analyses to investigate the relationships between power and criterion variables and generally concluded that coercive and reward power bases were not associated with criterion variables

inconsistent. They generally concluded that expert and referent power bases were significantly associated with criterion variables. The conventional model of the five power bases and job performance and satisfaction is presented in Figure 1.