Power in Management and Organization Science

Abstract

This paper reviews and evaluates the concept of power in management and organization science. In order to organize the extant literature on this topic, we develop a framework that identifies four faces of power (i.e. coercion, manipulation, domination, and subjectification) and four sites of power (i.e. power enacted “in”, “through”, “over”, and “against” organizations). This allows us to evaluate assumptions both shared and contested in the field. Building on the review, the paper then points to potentially novel areas of research that may extend our understandings of organizational power in management and organization science.