GM502 Unit 9 Theater Production Manager Power Paper Example

Followed Without Formal Power: A Unit 9 Influence and Power Paper on a Theater Production Manager

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

GM502: Leadership Theory and Practice I

Unit 9 Influence and Power Paper

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The performing arts center, its crews, the manager and every instance are composite and illustrative; the frameworks and studies cited are real.

The Constraint

The center operates a 2,400-seat concert hall and a 600-seat theater in a mid-sized city, presenting touring Broadway shows, orchestra concerts and dance. Its production manager, Lena Haas, schedules every load-in and load-out, approves technical plans for each show and coordinates touring crews with the center's house crew of about forty stagehands. The stagehands belong to a local of the theatrical stage employees' union, and the collective bargaining agreement governs who is called for each job, minimum crew sizes, overtime, meal breaks and discipline. Haas cannot hire or fire a stagehand, cannot change pay and can discipline only through a grievance procedure that involves the union steward and the center's general manager.

In French and Raven's terms, her reward and coercive power over the crews are close to zero, and her legitimate power is narrow: she can assign work within the contract, but crews can and do cite the contract to refuse assignments that fall outside it.

The Framework

John French and Bertram Raven sorted social power into five bases. Three come with a position, the power to reward, to punish and to direct by right. Two come from the person: referent power, which rests on others' identification with or liking for the person, and expert, which rests on others' belief that the person has superior knowledge (French & Raven, 1959). Raven later added informational power, the ability to change someone's behavior by giving them information that persuades on its own merits, independent of who supplies it (Raven, 1993).

Gary Yukl's research on influence tactics adds a second dimension: what the person does to use power. In a study of managers' influence attempts, persuading with evidence, appealing to shared values and asking for the target's input most often won real commitment, while pressure and appeals to authority more often produced compliance or resistance (Yukl & Tracey, 1992).

Coding Thirty Instances

Over two months, including six load-ins, I recorded thirty instances in which Haas asked the crew or a crew chief to do something and they did it, or in a few cases resisted. For each I noted what she asked, how she asked it and what the crew chief or stagehands said in response, then coded the main power base and tactic.

Expert power was the main base in thirteen instances. A typical example came during the load-in of a touring musical, when the touring carpenter wanted to hang a heavy scenic piece from a batten Haas knew was near its rated limit. She showed the crew chief the batten's load chart and the weight of the piece, and the crew re-rigged it to a different line set without argument.

Referent power was the main base in nine instances. Crews described her as "one of us," because she started as a stagehand at the center fifteen years ago and still works alongside them during difficult load-outs. When she asked a crew to stay an extra twenty minutes, within contract limits, to finish a load-out before a storm, they did, and the crew chief said, "She's been on this deck at 2 a.m. with us."

Informational power accounted for five instances, such as explaining a touring company's schedule constraints so the crew understood why a call time had moved. Legitimate power accounted for two, both routine assignments clearly within the contract. In one instance, a rigging change a crew chief resisted, she relied on legitimate authority, telling him the decision was hers to make, and he filed a grievance, which was later withdrawn.

Her tactics were mostly rational persuasion and consultation. She showed load charts, explained schedules and often asked crew chiefs how they would approach a problem before deciding.

Almost none of Haas's influence comes from her title; it comes from what crews believe she knows and from fifteen years of standing beside them on the deck.

The Outdoor Venue

Two years ago the center opened an outdoor amphitheater for summer concerts. The amphitheater uses a separate crew, hired under the same contract but mostly new to the center, and different equipment: outdoor stage roofs, ground-supported rigging and weather procedures.

Haas struggled there in her first season. Load-ins ran long, and two crew chiefs complained to the steward about her decisions. The coding framework explains why. Her expert power rested on knowledge of the indoor halls: their battens, line sets and load limits. Outdoor ground-supported systems were new to her, and the amphitheater crew, several of whom had worked festival stages, knew more about them than she did. Her referent power rested on years with the indoor crew; the amphitheater crew did not know her history and had no reason to identify with her. With both main bases weakened, she fell back on legitimate power, telling crew chiefs decisions were hers, and the result matched Yukl's findings: compliance at best, and grievances at worst.

What Changed in the Second Season

In the second summer, Haas changed her approach. She spent time before the season with the crew chiefs who had festival experience, asking them to walk her through ground-supported rigging, which built her own knowledge and acknowledged theirs. She also worked several load-outs with the amphitheater crew, as she had with the indoor crew years earlier. Grievances fell to zero, and load-in times returned to schedule. In French and Raven's terms, she rebuilt expert and referent power in a new setting rather than trying to replace them with authority she did not have.

What Other Managers Can Take From This

The case suggests a practical lesson for anyone who manages people whose pay and discipline are set elsewhere, whether by a union contract, a professional board or another department. Formal authority in those settings is thin, so influence has to be built from knowledge the group respects and relationships it values. Both take time and both are tied to place: Haas's expertise was about specific halls, and her standing was with a specific crew. A manager moving into a new setting should expect to start closer to zero than her title suggests, and should invest early in learning from the people who know the new setting best.

Conclusion

The production manager's formal power over union stagehands is minimal, yet crews follow her because of her expertise and the identification she has earned over fifteen years. When she moved to a new venue where neither base applied, she relied on legitimate authority and met resistance, as influence research would predict. Her recovery came from rebuilding the personal bases of power, not from asserting her title.

References

French, J. R. P., Jr., & Raven, B. (1959). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Studies in social power (pp. 150-167). University of Michigan.

Raven, B. H. (1993). The bases of power: Origins and recent developments. Journal of Social Issues, 49(4), 227-251. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1993.tb01191.x

Yukl, G., & Tracey, J. B. (1992). Consequences of influence tactics used with subordinates, peers, and the boss. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77(4), 525-535. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.77.4.525