There are four main contingencies of power. These four contingencies consist of substitutability, centrality, discretion, and visibility. Each in it’s own way contributes to the way the power base can and will influence others within an organization.

A Company known as Microsoft best demonstrates substitutability. The availability of resources in the computer industry is vast, however Microsoft has developed a company of self-reliance. Many of their competitors have been driven out of business do to the fact that Microsoft has developed an operating system that is easy to use. This system is one of the most widely used systems known in North America which runs independently with it’s own software thus creating a monopoly over the computer software industry. They have controlled tasks by buying smaller competitors and destroyed their businesses. Controlling their domain by not letting other companies even have a chance at competing with them therefore giving Microsoft the power to charge almost any price for their product.

Microsoft has also kept information from other companies from developing software that would be as compatible as their own with Windows O.S. This technique has been used to control the market from potential threats therefore allowing their product to sell at a higher price do to the higher demand. Also Windows has had many problems in the past with their software, which has forced consumers to upgrade their software on a regular basis with no other company able to solve these O.S. problems. This creates enormous power within Microsoft, because such large amounts of consumers have no other alternative except to buy Microsoft software. Other companies would develop software to compete with Windows, except they do not have the information to solve the problems that Microsoft has created. Therefore it forces the consumer market to buy more of Microsoft products at an increased price.

Union employees that help control labor in their field of expertise now run many companies. These unions do so in order to force the employers to treat their employees with respect and higher wages. This is done by tradesmen of a certain field all coming together for the common good for one another in order to have job security and decent wages. The idea behind this is that if all skilled tradesmen have joined unions there would be no one to replace the employees of a company if they decided to strike for better working conditions. However great this idea is there are always some people who weaken these unions by contracting their labour out to replace these employees that go on strike in order to benefit themselves. A good example of this was when all of the Safeway employees decided to strike for better working hours. Instead of the workers only getting ten to fifteen hours of work a week they wanted twenty to thirty hours per week. The union was weakened in their battle because many "scab" workers came out to replace them and the company gained power because they did not have to close the doors to their stores. Safeway kept their doors open and eventually the two sides came to an agreement which was far less than what the employees had hoped to accomplish by striking.

Companies of the world today all claim that they have the best design or raw materials for consumers to buy. They all claim to have unique specifications that others do not. This is a form of differentiation, trying to persuade the public or a single buyer that no one else can reproduce their awesome performance or their special treatment or package that they offer. Television ads are one form of this contingency by feeding your mind with suggestions. E.g. "Cars cost less in Wetaskiwin" well maybe they do from some reference point but what is this reference point? It is the most expensive car dealership in Edmonton or the cheapest dealership in Spruce Grove. What the company has done in this case is put thoughts into the minds of consumers that no one else can offer them a deal as good as Wetaskiwin. When in actual fact one could find a better deal if they looked hard enough instead of just being brainwashed by commercials. Another great example of differentiation would be many vacuum companies that charge up to $3000 for their vacuum claiming that they have special patented tools and designs for their vacuum making it the "best" vacuum to buy. Now come on could anyone really afford to buy a $3000 vacuum over a $250 one. However these vacuums continue to sell because the sales people convince the consumers that there is no other product on the market that can clean their carpets better.

Employees and employers have had many battles in the past and will have many battles in the future and one key element to these battles is centrality. This element determines how much and how many are effected by the powerholder’s decisions. Kal Tire is a great example, having a head office in Vernon, BC, that can make decisions that effect all of the smaller outlets across the country. Whereas the individual outlets can only perform tasks and deploy orders to it’s own small group of people of one store. Kal Tire is not a unionized company, however if it were up to the employees, they would have a high source of centrality, because the inventory levels are very low in all areas of the company and that stockpiling costs extra money. If the employees were to go on strike it would be very difficult to disperse the required stock to each individual outlet where the stock is actually sold.

The power to make decisions without asking. This usually deals with upper and lower management positions. It is actually the ability to follow company protocol. Management seems to the average employee as the people who tell them what to do, but what they do not understand is that each individual is actually being tested no matter what their position is. The only difference between the workers at the top and the workers at the bottom is their ability to follow specified rules and regulations. If a supervisor fires a worker, the worker feels anxiety towards the man instead of himself for not following the rules. Discretion increases as you move up in management. For instance the owner of the company has a lot more power of discretion than the supervisor, because the owner has a lot less rules and guidelines that he must follow. Most companies have specific guidelines in which they must follow or else their own job will be up for review. Thus making a vital role in management’s proper execution or lack of discretion, extremely important.

Visibility is the key element of letting others know how much power one has within a company. Whether or not one decides to be discrete about this is up to them. The only way others will know how much power an employee has is by several different signs one being how well known is that person with the senior managers. People often use diplomas or trophies to display how much knowledge or power they control. The best way to become visible to an employer or manager is to take on tasks that stand out from the rest, either in difficulty or presentation. An example of this would be the difference between making it to management or being passed over. Blow your own horn, this is a very advantageous technique but if used improperly can also be a hindrance to one’s career because no one likes an arrogant loud mouth. One must take on tasks that will put them in direct line with the managers demonstrating the ability to achieve skills that are upheld by the employer and senior personnel.