Power is certainly one of the major areas of scientific investigation in organizational behavior and organization theory. The phenomena of social power are pervasive in all groups, organizations, and societies. In an organizational setting, the process of exercising power serves as one of the key characteristics which define the relationship between a supervisor and a subordinate (Pfeffer 1992; Yukl 2006; see also Raven et al. 1998). Acquisition, maintenance, and use of the right types of power are essential for effective leadership.

Power can be defined as the ability of one party to change or control the behavior, attitudes, opinions, objectives, needs, and values of another party (Rahim 1989). Raven et al. (1998: 307) provided a complimentary definition of social power as the “resources one person has available so that he or she can influence another to do what that person would not have done otherwise.” These definitions imply that the theory of power for this chapter is limited to interpersonal influence, i.e. the influence of one individual (leader) over another individual (follower). That is, it deals with the interpersonal and not the structural and situational sources of power. The reason behind this restriction is that it is not easily possible to investigate both sources in one chapter. It should be noted that power possessed by a supervisor is important to influence not only subordinates, but also colleagues, supervisors, and people outside the organization.