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Power
Power comes into play in organizational relationships. It is especially relevant, but not
limited, to downward communication. French and Raven identified five types of power: Three
are based on the position, and two are personal:
1. legitimate power,
2. reward power,
3. coercive power,
4. expert power,
5. referent power.
Pfeffer has identified several practical power strategies and tactics:
1. the selective use of objective criteria,
2. forming coalitions,
3. cooptation.

Formal Upward Channels
Upward communication provides the feedback required by downward communication. It
allows workers to request assistance in solving some problems, and it provides a means for
workers to recommend solutions to others. Workers also use upward communication to
provide status reports and inform higher authorities about employee complaints. The tools of
upward communication are employee surveys; team meetings; and an open-door policy, which
provides employee access to managers.
When asked what their companies had done to improve communication and productivity,
CEOs responding to a survey cited several actions that related to upward communication.
These included meeting regularly with employees, broadening participation in decision making,
and instituting grievance panels and hotlines.
Though more than half of the managers rated their companies favorably in terms of
providing information to employees, fewer than half rated top management favorably in terms
of listening to employees' problems and complaints.
Managers must regularly leave their offices and touch base with people in the field. This
management technique is known as management by wandering around. As one writer
commented, liven anonymous polls may not elicit truthful responses, and there is nothing quite
like being there face to face.
Research has shown that upward communication can serve at least five functions :
1. to provide management with needed information for decision making;
2. to help employees relieve the pressures and frustrations of the work situation;
3. to enhance employees’ sense of participation in the enterprise;
4. to serve as a measure of the effectiveness of downward communication;
5. to suggest more rewarding uses of downward communication for the future.
Upward communicating can also serve:
 to provide responses to requests,
 to keep superiors informed of progress,
 to solicit help in solving problems,
 to sell ideas and suggestions for improvement,
 to seek clarification of instructions.
A special type of upward communication is ingratiation defined by Liden and Mitchell as
“an attempt by individuals to increase their attractiveness in the eye of others flattery ,