Definition of Power Distance



Power Distance can be defined as the difference between the higher management or superior’s decision-making power, authority & control that they exercise over their subordinates and the subordinates accept that unequal power gap. The power distance can be viewed as two opposite poles, at one pole are the majority of employees who are less or not at all empowered and are at the will of a small number of higher management/ executives who has nearly unlimited power over those of the subordinates. In high power distance culture, the employees view the unequal power gap between them and the higher management as normal.

 


There is lesser to no involvement of the employees and the management decision making time and its implementation is usually faster than in less power distance culture. But in this case, the effectiveness of the decisions and their outcomes are questionable.


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