Power positions in negotiations

Power is simply the ability to influence another person or organisation. X has power over Y if X can get Y to do things that directly benefit X.  We classify the sources of power as follows: 

• Informational power: This comes from access to facts, data and other arguements. This power relies more on persuasion. 
• Reward power: Here,  the party is in a position to offer to the second party something that the second party considers a reward. For example: award of a large value contract by the first party. One drawback of this power is that the second party may get conditioned to rewards. 
• Coercive power:  If A can give something to B, A can also take away something from B. One fall out of this power is that this can lead to retaliation from B when the power structure shifts. Hence, prior to using this power, the buyer must consider the willingness of the supplier to comply. 
• Legitimate power: This power stems from the position held by the party for example ministers, political office holders and prominent companies. This power relies more on persuasion. 
• Expert power: This power stems from the expertise of a person. Non-experts will not challenge an expert in the subject. This power also relies more on persuasion. 
• Referent power: This stems from the personal qualities and attributes of an individual, such as honesty, charisma, friendliness, sensitivity can be strong sources of power. This power can be used when referent is aware that a counterpart has an attraction to the referent.