What describes formal authority?

• A. Influence based on personal relationships and expertise.
• B. The ability to issue informal suggestions.
• C. The number of people supervised by a manager.
• D. Official power given by the organization through position/title.

Answer: (D)

Formal authority is the official power granted to a role by the organization because of that role’s position in the hierarchy. It comes with the right to make decisions, direct others, and allocate resources within defined limits, and it is legitimized by the organization’s rules, job descriptions, and chain of command. That’s why the description “official power given by the organization through position/title” best fits formal authority. The other ideas describe influence that comes from personal relationships or expertise (informal authority) or relate to how many people a manager oversees (span of control), which don’t define formal authority.