Every manager in the formal organisation needs authority, which is the power to command others to act. It denotes the power of the supervisor to make decisions, which guide the action of the subordinates. There are five types of authority.

(a) Formal authority — the authority possessed by a manager because of his position in the organisation is called formal authority.

(b) Acceptance authority – Under this authority arises only if the orders are accepted by the subordinates. In this type of authority, authority flows to manager only when his order or power is accepted by the subordinates.

(c) Authority of situation — when authority is assumed to meet an emerging situation, it is called authority of situation. This type of authority ceases when that situation over.

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(d) Positional authority — the authority arising from the hierarchical position of a person is called positional authority.

(e) Technical authority — the authority which arises from the technical competence of a person is called technical authority.