THE MAIN PURPOSE OF A LABOR UNION / TUTORIALOUTLET DOT COM THE MAIN PURPOSE OF A LABOR UNION / TUTORIALOUTLET | Page 17

NUMBER 4 CHAPTER 3 • What kind of "clout" do you
have in the organization? What kind of influence
do you have over the reward and penalty system? Most staff managers
can
exercise sanctions over their own personnel, but can do little about
others in
the organization.
• How much legitimate authority and formal status do you have? Is
the HR
function buried six levels down from the top of the organization, or do
you
report to the CEO? How much functional authority do you have?
Enough to
get the job done?
• Do you have access to the "power players" in the
organization? How much
referent power do you have? Can you get the support of top
management
when you really need it?
• How much information are you privy to? Are you tied in to the
formal and
informal channels of communications, or are you always the last one
to know
what's going on?
• What resources do you have available to you? How big is your
budget and
how many people do you have working for you? What facilities do
you control?
• What kind of credibility and personal power do you have? Do you
have a
track record of success? Are you seen as being both credible and
successful
by the rest of the organization?
Second, once you have assessed the sources of power available to
you,
they can be expanded to increase your overall power base if you
should so