
Soft Power as a Tool of Organizational Behavior
Chapter from the book:
Çetiner,
N.
(ed.)
2025.
Organizational Behavior: Current Approaches.
Synopsis
The concept of power dates back to the early times of history, but it has been perceived in different ways depending on the conditions of human beings and values such as divine power, social power, and organizational power have been attributed. Power is expressed as the potential to influence and control other people, and is generally classified as hard power and soft power. The concept of soft power, which is dimensionalized as charismatic power and expert power, first emerged in the fields of political science and public administration. It argues that the power potential in these fields can be obtained not only with religious and military elements but also with elements such as culture, values, and thought. The concept of soft power, which is increasingly widespread in the field of organizational behavior, brings a different perspective to the contemporary management approach. Coercive power, reward power, and legal power refer to hard power sources. Expert power, charismatic power, and information power refer to soft power. Soft power applications in the organization include elements such as motivation, personnel empowerment, authorization, and vision creation. Especially in changing and renewing organizational structures and processes, soft power increases ability, commitment, job satisfaction, and a sense of trust, while improving cooperation and improving performance. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of soft power in the field of organizational behavior from a conceptual perspective.