Enhancing power

摘要

Studies by business professor Rosabeth Moss-Kanter revealed that: "When people feel powerless, they behave in petty ways. They become rule-minded and are over-controlling because they are trying to grab hold of some little piece of the world that they do control and then over-manage it to death." In successful organizations, the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker because power is self-perpetuating. In any political struggle, powerful managers have advantages that allow them to gain more resources, hire or promote like-minded individuals, and buy off resistors, according to business and management author Henry Mintzberg. They may even set standards of performance to ensure that they will look good. Moreover, powerful managers surround themselves with the daunting trappings of position and achievement, especially when they have been successful. This aura makes their authority ever tougher to challenge because it has become institutionalized.