• POWER AND AUTHORITY

Power is an integral part of daily activities of individuals, groups, and organizations.

Indeed, the history of humankind can be viewed as a never-ending quest among competing
forces to acquire and use power. It is for this very reason that the examination of power
relations has become central to the understanding of organizations and their environments.

Power as viewed as capacity to induce others to comply with certain instruction or to do

things the way one wants them to be done. Authority is a legitimate power. It is based on a
formal position in an organization.

In traditional societies, power and authority are in the line the prevailing norms and values.
Business organizations in Muslim societies were either family-owned and partnership. In a
family-owned business, the patriarch of the family on the senior member is supervising daily
business. In the context of partnership, power was largely determined by verbal agreement
in establishing the business and skills of partners, along with the reputation of a partner in
the society.

Since the periods of colonization and independence, there has been a dramatic adaptation
of sheikocray as form of management. This form of organization sanctions personal relation
and open-door policy. It has relied on hierarchical authority, personal relation, and personal
connection and takes a generally patriarch approach.

Generally, power for making decisions in an organization is centralized at senior level. The
use of power, however, is tempered by four factors: consultation tendency, paternalistic
orientation, concern for public image and Islamic instruction to avoid oppression and abuse
of power. These factors individually and collectively motivate executives to show caring,
kindness and responsibility.

Empirical studies conducted in Muslim countries evidence that the majority of managers
prefer a consultative style of management. Several researchers have found that executives
in Muslim countries prefer to hold on to power by centralization of decision-making and by
maintaining close control of management affairs. Jordan-based organizations apply a high
concentration of authority at the top. Iranian-based organizations indicate that consultative
style is the most effective, institutional power is preferred over personal power.
 • AUTHORITY OF COMMAND

‫الولیة الخاصة أقوى من الولیة العامة‬

Preference is given to the immediate authority.

The above maxim emphasizes the need to maintain orderly conduct in an

organizational system. A system will be upset if any of its part is disturbed. A system is a set
of interrelated elements or parts that function as a whole .There are sub-systems within a
system. A sub-system is a smaller system that operates within the context of a larger
system .For example, an authority at a lower level in an organization commands a
correspondingly lower level of formal authority.

An organization as a system has established chain of command, which is the vertical

hierarchy of authority of who reports to whom .

Authority is the legitimate right to make decisions and to direct other people what to do.
Authority resides in positions rather than in people. For example, the Human Resource
Manager reports directly to the CEO, instead of his peer, say a Marketing Manager.

Authority of command can be defined as principle of management stating that each

subordinate should report to only one superior. Basically, the subordinate reporting to only a
single authority, next upper level in the organizational structure will be violated if two superior
managers, such as Human Resource Manager and Marketing Manager, give instruction to a
subordinate of a Marketing Department. In this instance, the subordinate’s immediate
command is the Marketing Manager therefore he should accept the instructions from his
immediate boss rather than another distant boss (Human Resource Manager). There are,
however, some legitimate exceptions such as in the area of human resource management.
In any organization, the Human Resource Manager has the prerogative to issue instructions
pertaining to human resource matters directly to employees of all departments in the same
organization without having to consult the Marketing and other managers. Human resource
laws and policies encompass the entire organization and it is accepted norm that the Human
Resource Manager as specialist deals with the subject matter.
 • DIVISION OF LABOUR

Another subject which needs to be dealt with at present is the separation of powers and
government responsibilities. According to Islam, the government does not have a specific
form or type suitable to a society with particular characteristics. According to Islam, the
government may have a structure or form which is suitable to a small society composed by a
limited number of families, or to a country with one billion-strong population or even a global
society. Naturally, all the responsibilities and special functions of the government that
bespeak of the raison d’être of the state—especially in densely populated societies—cannot
be shouldered by a single or two persons.

Issues related to internal security, defences against foreign enemies, supervision of

economic activities and international affairs, conduct of international relations, the
observance of Islamic rites and the implementation of Islamic laws are also extremely heavy
responsibilities. So, the option is to have division of labour. This division of labour can be
done in two ways, viz. horizontally and vertically. That is, both sections of government
activities are located in two separate compartments comprising two triangular shanks which
do not intersect each other at the middle and finally end at the top of the pyramid. In plain
language, the best and most expressive similitude of government is a pyramid, hence, the
term “pyramid (hierarchy) of power” has been chosen by political philosophers for
government. The hierarchy of power is like a pyramid which has its own specific features. It
consists of triangular base and different sloping sides that meet in a point at the top.
 • DISCIPLINE AND RULES

The regulation of man's conduct within one system of life is one of the most important
reasons of success and stability. The absence of this regulation is one of the greatest crises
a man suffers from in his life. This happens when man is left without guidance from Allah
(S.W.T.) or without proper upbringing based on that divine guidance. Under these
circumstances, man's life becomes miserable on this earth and he will be amongst the losers
in the Hereafter.

Allah (S.W.T.) ordered His prophet (S.A.W.) and the believers to be disciplined based
on Islam and taught them not to transgress: Allah (S.W.T) says in surat Huod, (verse 112),
which is translated as,

"So stand (O Muhammad) firm and straight (on Islam) as you are commanded and those
who are with you (your companions) and do not transgress…" Ibn Abbas (R.A.) said: "There
was no verse in the Qur'an harder on the prophet (S.A.W.) than this verse." For this reason,
when the companions of the prophet (S.A.W.) said: "Your hair is getting gray early", he
replied: " Surat Hood and its sisters made my hair gray.”

Therefore, we can conclude that the Islamic approach to management it is an

emerging discipline, which often referred to as Islamic management, looks at the
management of organizations from the perspective of the knowledge from the revealed
sources and other Islamic sources of knowledge and results in applications compatible with
the Islamic beliefs and practices. The focus of Islamic management of quality and excellence
is man (human resource) and not profit maximization. In other words, Islam put emphasize
on balancing worldly and hereafter matters not just only aiming for the profits. They often do
it in a right way. No negative elements insert to it. All things are done in line with Islamic
guideline.