Evaluation of Departmental and Managerial Power

Abstract

T his article describes a new method for analysing organisational design and for evaluating managerial positions based on power profiles and power scores. The power profile is measured with respect to vertical and horizontal dimensions of organisational structure, whilst a power score is computed as a product of those dimensions.

A range of power scores indicates the distribution of managerial power in an organisation. Power profiles are plotted on a common matrix. From the viewpoint of the chief executive officer his dependency will be greatest when power scores of departments are high, and particularly when the power profile shows that they are less subject to total organisational control. Three methods are devised to reduce the power base of departments.

Although conceptually and methodologically different to that used in the Hay evaluation scheme, a very high correlation is found to exist between power and Hay scores found in a leading mining company.