Sporting Goods Store
Bill Thompson is the new manager of a retail sporting goods store in Vermont that is part of a national chain. Bill, who is 25 years old, has been working for the company for four years. Before his promotion he was the assistant manager for two years at a company store in Delaware. Last week he was briefly introduced to the employees by his boss, the regional manager.
The profit performance of this store is below average for its location and Bill is looking forward to the challenge of improving profits. When he was an assistant manager, he was given mostly minor administrative duties and paperwork, so this assignment will be his first opportunity to show he can be an effective manager. The base salaries of the 20 …show more content…
One form of reward power over subordinates is the authority to give pay increases, bonuses, or other economic incentives to deserving subordinates. Bill also has reward power. Although the base salaries of the 20 employees who work in Bill's store are set by the company, but appraisal ratings by the store manager influence the size of an employee's annual merit raise (i.e. Bill’s opinion is important).
Coercive power. A leader's coercive power over subordinates is based on authority over punishments, which varies greatly across different types of organizations. Coercion is not likely to result in commitment, but when used skillfully in an appropriate situation, there is a reasonably good chance that it will result in compliance. As the boss of a retail sporting goods store, of course, Bill has coercive power. He has absolute freedom to issue orders to his subordinates and they are required to comply with it.
He found that leaders with greater reward power perceived subordinates as objects of manipulation, devalued the worth of subordinates, attributed subordinate efforts to the leader's power, maintained more social distance from subordinates, and used rewards more often to influence subordinates. In general, a leader should have only a moderate amount of position power, although the optimal amount will vary somewhat depending on the situation.

2. What influence tactics could be