Power and Interdependence in Organizations

Description

Power is an inescapable feature of human existence. It plays a role in all social contexts and is particularly important in the functioning of organizations and work groups. Organizational researchers have certainly recognised the importance of power but have traditionally focused on its negative aspects. Yet power can also have very positive effects. Power and Interdependence in Organizations capitalizes on significant developments in social science over the past twenty years to show how managers and employees can manage power in order to make it a constructive force in organizations. Written by a team of international academics, the book explores both the positive and negative aspects of power, identifying opportunities and threats. It shows that harnessing the positive aspects of power, as well as controlling its more destructive effects, has the potential to revolutionise the way that organizations function, making them both more humane and productive.

Dean Tjosvold is the Henry Y. W. Fong Chair Professor of Management at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. Barbara van Knippenberg is Associate Professor of Organizational Psychology at VU University Amsterdam.

'Why are attitudes toward power so ambivalent when power is a pervasive aspect of organizations? Could this be a Western-culture-centric perspective? The international team of academics contributing to Power and Interdependence in Organizations addresses the positive face of power as well as how to control its negative face.' Jeanne Brett, Northwestern University 'Since power affects us all in one way or another, there is keen interest in understanding its manifestations. This book is groundbreaking because of its focus on the positive and negatives features of power and especially in the context of both individuals and organizations. By emphasizing the constructive and destructive uses of power, across different levels of analysis, the book greatly expands our understanding of power in a major and useful way.' Ken G. Smith, University of Maryland 'Understanding power, its uses and misuses, is fundamental to the human condition and to human survival. This collection by the world's leading scholars in psychology offers a wonderful advance in understanding. Read it, be enlightened and know much better how to make a positive difference in our troubled world.' Michael West, Aston University