The selection was based on the influence of Lucy Lee, an assistant to the president of the company. A direct link was already established between Standard Systems and Lucy Lee as the company was owned by one of the family members. Also, Lucy Lee had an impact on several occasions questioning why the company was never selected during the recruitment process. Though, she knew quite well that it did never meet the threshold for consideration at board level. Lucy Lee is a secretary in the company though the exact nature and role of the responsibility held by her are not clear. Moreover, she has limited experience and expertise in information technology systems despite the fact that every employee should have an interview with a secretary before reaching the president. Therefore, the decision made at the board was suggested by Lucy Lee and was not a true representation of the company’s policies. In fact, the chief information officer conducted an extensive research and even listed the pros and cons for all the companies involved. In the list, Standard Systems was among the companies listed in the end since it had no capacity to handle such a daunting task even though its personnel had a good reputation and wide experience. The task was too enormous for a small company to handle. However, because of the chief information officer, Amelia Lassiter, had less influence and power in the decision-making process, the results of the conducted research were never considered by the president of the company. Not until had Lassiter presented the findings, there was a slim chance that the correct company could have been awarded the contract. By stopping Lassiter from presenting the results, the president and secretary could seize that opportunity and announce their decision based on personal preferences. They could accomplish it because they had necessary power and influence, then their decision would have been accepted by the board members. It is very rare for the board of directors to disapprove new plans instituted by the company, especially when they will improve the efficiency of systems inside.
There are two main types of power in this context. The first type is position power while the second type is personal. Position power relies on compliance or resistance. In the latter case, people may either choose to follow the directions of individuals who have power or deliberately avoid following instructions and attempt to disobey them. Personal power encompasses commitment whereby people are more interested in complying with the instructions provided. In the above case, Lucy Lee and the president of the organization have position power because they reject information provided by an expert in a given area and choose to use their superiority to influence the board on accepting their decision. In the case of Lassiter, personal power is presented. Lassiter is compliant with the instructions provided by the individuals who seem to have a major role in the decision-making process. A good example is when Lassiter adds Standard Systems in the list of the tender and the president decides to take on the responsibility for presenting the findings. Lassiter’s source of power is referred to an expert power since she works as the chief information officer of the company. The source of the president’s power is known as legitimate power, which is classified under positional power. The president holds this form of power because of the structure of the organization. Lucy Lee utilizes coercive power in order to promote decisions. Her professional qualifications are unknown though there she has a close relationship with the president of the company. Regarding the power and influence structure, the president is on the top followed by Lucy Lee and, finally, by the chief information officer. When relative amount of power should be evaluated, the president is at the highest level followed by Lucy Lee and, lastly, by Amelia Lassiter.
Lassiter could have increased her power and influence in several ways. Firstly, she could have built a strong support base, especially among the members of the information technology team with whom she has been working together. Indeed, it is quite difficult for companies to disregard people in the organization with a strong support base. Secondly, Lassiter should not have relied on Lucy Lee since she was the expert in the field and, therefore, did not need advice from Lucy Lee. In fact, Lassiter should have gone further not including Standard Systems in the list of companies participating in the bidding process due to conflict of interest. She should have explained the disadvantages even though that option had been suggested by Lucy Lee who held no position at the board. By using her expert power position and being the manager of the project, Lassiter could have forced the president to give her a chance to present the results since she was the one who understood the intricate details of the job and would have provided the most appropriate information to the company’s board of directors.
If I had been in Lassiter’s position, I would have first approached the president and asked for clarification why Standard Systems was selected though it was least qualified. In the case when he would have given incorrect and unsatisfactory information, I would have filed a complaint with the human resource department so that the ethics department and other divisions of the company could resolve the conflict. I would have shown the pros and cons of the company and revealed why Standard Systems cannot undertake the project. It should have become obvious that the decision made at the board level was influenced by certain members meaning that there was a conflict of interest among the parties present in the organization. I would have asked the ethics committee to investigate the matter using the company’s internal conflict solving mechanisms.

About the author

Robert Cooper has been the lead blog writer at https://123helpme.org/articles/write-my-article-review/ article review writing service since 2018. His passion for helping people in all aspects of online marketing flows through in the expert industry coverage he provides. In addition to blog writing, Rico is interested in technical writing and copywriting services.