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Case Study: Power, Authority, Influence And Politics

Decent Essays

Power, Authority, Influence and Politics in organization:
In this rapidly evolving world, we use power, authority influence and politics to foster the requisite change. It is pivotal that a manager develops expertise of these resources in order to gain competitive advantage. The power imbalance between Whitney and Dreanan that developed after the merger of Excel and Gemini has led to mutual undercutting, and conflicting messages from the top of the organization as each fights to steer the company in the future direction they best see fit. In doing so at the expense of their employees, they have alienated divisions, and jeopardized their organizational culture.
Background:
Excel Systems was found by Ron Whitney in 2010 with a vision to create …show more content…

It enjoyed expert power because it catered to a niche market and its prime focus was on marketing and promotion.

Challenges:
The case clearly exhibits various challenges following an imprudent acquisition. Excel Systems and Gemini had huge differences in their corporate value system and management approach. Excel exercised an organic culture, was a creative and engineering driven company which had more of an entrepreneurial start up approach. On the other hand, Gemini was process-oriented and much more professional under the watchful eyes of Dreanan. The factional group thus created friction and strife among upper level and lower level employees.

The subsequent resignations and layoffs of employees emphasizes on the diminishing motivation among employees. This relates to Herzberg’s Dual Factor theory of motivation (introduction of job dissatisfiers) and how structural changes in organization can be a barrier to motivation.

The case clearly unveils various instances of politics too. Warner broke this fact in the case that the entire merger was a political move by the venture capitalists as they wanted to dethrone Whitney and bump up more professional Dreanan as the …show more content…

They unlocked the first step to establish credibility as their outsourcing strategy worked successfully for Gemini. Credibility stems from two factors-expertise and relationships, and Ogilvie demonstrated both. She dropped by Regis’s office to foster acquaintance between the two. Ogilvie also enjoyed referent and expert power which adds to her skills of persuasion. The two framed common ground when Dreanan asked both Regis and Ogilvie to come up with a presentation defending their respective strategy. She wanted to convey that she is working in the best interest of Excel Systems and thus provided evidence during the June meeting. She connected emotionally to the advice from her colleagues after the meeting that she should stop defending her strategy and give

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