What Does Authority Mean?

Authority is defined as the power or right of a person to give orders or instructions or make decision. Authorities are defined as a group of people who are figures of authority. They are said to be in a position of authority when they are entrusted with the responsibility of exercising administrative control over the other employees in an organisational set-up.

A person is considered to be an authority on a particular subject if he is extremely well-versed with even the finer nuances of that subject. The views and opinions of such a person may be taken to be the definitive views and opinions about the subject. Authority is assurance or freedom from doubt or ambiguity. It stems from an immense sense of self-confidence and belief in oneself and one's abilities to do something.

An authority is an agency, an administrative unit set up by the government. Authorities are the people who are authorised to either grant or refuse to grant official permission or approval on any matter that is brought to their notice during the working hours of a corporate organisation.

Authority is the act of influencing someone with power or position. From business point of view, it is the command of a person which is given to him on the basis of various factors like position, seniority, qualification, experience, and skills. There can be many types of authorities in business for different nature of tasks, however, on the basis of the hierarchical organizational structure, there are generally three types of authorities which include Top level authority, middle level authority and functional level authority. In the top level authority, CEO of the company, vice president, president and chairman come, while in the middle level senior managers or general managers come. At the lower level or the functional level, marketing, HR, Finance managers come. The differences in various types of authorities are usually based on decision-making power.