Charles and Bill Koch's Sources of Power

Koch Industries Case Study: Organizational Power
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Koch Industries Case Study: Organizational Power
Power is an important aspect of today's organization. Power is the possession of authority and influence over other people, especially those below (Kourdi, 2011). There are five sources of power in organizations, namely reward power, legitimate power, expert power, coercive power, and referent power (Kourdi, 2011). Koch Industries, even though owned by four blood brothers, has never been immune from internal power struggles. Charles Kock is the CEO, but his younger sibling also demands some control, an event that has resulted in lawsuits. This paper explores the different sources of power relied on by the two siblings as they attempt to outsmart each other.
Charles and Bill Koch's sources of power
While each sibling pursues control differently, power sources have been used extensively to pursue executive power. The key sources of power managers and leaders in today's organizations rely on include legitimate, coercive, reward, and expert power. Legitimate power is defined as power established by one's position. When an employee is promoted to the CEO position, everyone is expected to show respect because of the power and authority that comes with this position.
Charles and Bill are Koch's sons and therefore had the legitimate power as expected by their father. While Koch left Charles as the primary custodian, the business still belonged to the other two brothers. This means that both were justified in pursuing power by their means. Over the years, Charles has sought ways to reduce complications in the company and even sought legitimate options, including purchasing shares worth $1.1 from the other brother.
For a long time, coercive power has been exploited by the two siblings. Each of the two siblings has shown the ability to influence decisions to work for each of them by using threats and sanctions. For example, when Charles got the information that his younger brother wanted to remove him from power, he influenced stakeholders and had them reject the moves by the younger brother. Charles used shareholders such as Marshall II to acquire more shares from a dissident shareholder and subsequently gained 51% share volume, a move that gave him an edge over his brother (Moshal, 2009).
Moreover, Charles possesses the expert power because he is a graduate and has the skills necessary to manage the company. He has used this expert power to run the company, solve critical problems, and increase overall profitability. Koch also has expert power but ranks lower than Charles. Charles believes that Bill lacks the necessary expert skill to propel the company towards its goals. Finally, Charles used reward power at some point to win the trust and loyalty of his brother in running the business operations. Because of the rewards, David stood by him in most family cases.
Influence tactics each of them used in their battle for control
Influencing tactics are key strategies used by leaders to change their employees' values, attitudes, and even behavior. The two siblings used different influence tactics while battling for control in the com...