An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship Between Perceived Position Power and Task versus Career Sources of Dependency in Organizations

The basic concepts of Emerson's theory of power-dependency relations were tested as they apply to managerial behavior in organizations. 53 managers were asked to complete a 7-point Likert-type questionnaire designed to determine perceptions of position power and their dependency on others for task and career reasons. Correlational and regression analyses on task and career dependency confirmed hypotheses that the more dependent one is on others, the less the perceived position power, and the greater the dependency of others for sources of career support, the greater the perceived position power. Implications of power-dependency theory for understanding managerial behavior in organizations are discussed.