Authority in management is the formal or legitimate authority specified in a charter that gives a project manager the authority to act in the name of the sponsoring executive or on behalf on the organization.
There are different types of authority:
- Positional authority: refers to the project manager's authority enforced through the project charter.
- Coercive authority (also referred as penalty authority): refers to motivating staff by punishment and is predicated on fear of losing status, positions, bonuses or jobs.
- Expert authority: is earned if the team respects one's skills as a project manager or subject-matter expert.
- Referent authority: refers to the ability to influence others through charisma, personality, and charm.
- Reward authority: refers to positive reinforcement and the ability to award something of value.
Famous quotes containing the word authority:
“An ... important antidote to American democracy is American gerontocracy. The positions of eminence and authority in Congress are allotted in accordance with length of service, regardless of quality. Superficial observers have long criticized the United States for making a fetish of youth. This is unfair. Uniquely among modern organs of public and private administration, its national legislature rewards senility.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)