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Description
The use of power to get compliance from others of one’s ideology, beliefs and intentions is age old. This is seen in politics, social life, religion and currently in corporate entities. Efforts have been done over centuries by sociologists, political scientists to bring this nature of empirical power within the frame work of theories. One of the most popular and widely accepted and practiced frame works of power in organizations of contemporary times is that of Steven Lukes’s theory of three dimensional powers (Maximiliano Lorenzi, 2006). First dimension is controlling behavior and actions of others are decision making power. Second dimension is warding off grievances by using non-decision power i.e. not to bring the grievance issue into the main political or organizational process. Third and the most important dimension is to extract willing compliance from others by implementing ideologies that run as undercurrent and bring about the desired behaviors and actions of others without even them knowing it. Simply put, the theory states that governments and now corporate bodies control others’ or their employees’ actions by using their decision making power, non-decision making power and ideological power. Let us analyze below the use of these three dimensions in a fictitious corporate entity.
