Background: Power is one way by which leaders and managers can penetrate through their followers’ behaviors. Using power resources, managers can provide the ground for growth or deviation of the organization. This depends on the nature of power and how managers make use of power resources. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between power resources used by managers and staff productivity in the selected hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical, correlational study with practical purposes was conducted in 6 selected hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences in 2013. The statistical community included 1937 individuals, 350 of whom were selected through stratified random sampling. The study data were collected using Sussman and Deep’s standard power resources questionnaire and Hersey and Goldsmith’s standard productivity questionnaire. Then, the data were entered into the SPSS statistical software (v. 20) and analyzed using t-test, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis.
Results: The study findings showed that specialty (mean: 5.26) and reward (2.46) had respectively the highest and lowest means among the used power sources. The results of the correlation test revealed a negative correlation between managers’ coercive power and staff productivity (r=-0.25, P<0.0001). Also, a positive correlation was found between the managers’ authoritative power and staff productivity (r=0.29, P<0.0001).
Conclusion: Power resources could significantly predict productivity. This implies that in case managers make use of their specialty and skills in application of power, they can increase productivity. However, managers’ coercive power reduced productivity. The results of regression analysis showed that authoritative power significantly predicted productivity. Thus, managers have to employ their authoritative power in order to enhance staff productivity.