Organization and Political Power Essay

According to Mukkins power means “power is a complex and dynamic concept control or influence over the behavior of other people with or without their consent.” (Mukkins 2010) In other words, Power traditionally associated with coercion, repression and exploitation (negative control of one group over another). However, more recent view of power “there are no social relations that are “free” of power, it is seen not just as constraining in its effects but also productive and positive.” Power is born from every person. People have right and ability to do what they can do. In term of management power can be an achievement of motivation. Power can make people control another people or thing more easily. It will encourage people use power. The people

The amount of legitimate power someone has depends on the importance of the position she or he occupies and the willingness to grant authority to the person in that position. The benefits of this type of power are that incorporates weight of the entire organization, effective for gaining obedience, helps large organizations function effectively. The costs are that lowers follower task performance, lowers follower task satisfaction, and may become less effective overtime.

Although if there is a balance of power then it makes ethical decision making a lot easier, because there are other people who have a say in things. It could be extremely hard to make a right decision if the other person in charge has Managerial Hubris because they will do what it takes to make themselves look better, no matter the cost. Although if the company has a strong company culture, and a balance of the power, so that not one person has control then it is possible the company can

The relationship between an organization’s strategy and structure are extremely important because it “directly impacts a firm’s performance” (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 309). Also, as an organization grows, it should reevaluate the current strategy and structure to ensure that it remains the optimal choice for the organization (Rothaermel, 2013). The four types of organizational structures, listed in order of least to most complex according to Rothaermel (2013), are: (1) simple, (2)

Organizational structure refers to the way that an organization arranges people and jobs so that its work can be performed and its goals can be met. According to USA their structure states in order to provide clear alignment and focus for the planning process of USAA’s organizational structure, a planning team was assembled with strategic-thought leaders to author a strategic market outlook.

The power in the office is not undefined, the leader is still monitored and controlled the rules of the organization (Grimsley). Loyalty is a big part of this power. If the loyalty is not shown in the company, then the employees may not comply with what the company demands. A president or manager may look for different to supplement their power. Such as charismatic

A manager needs to understand the interdependency of departments, internal partnerships, and the influence of power and politics to effectively manage across the organization. Effective managers use various political tactics to increase their power within the organization to coordinate and support the work of their peers and subordinates to meet company objectives. Managers regularly acquire and use power. Power-oriented behavior has an impact on managerial career progress, on job performance, on organizational effectiveness, and on the personal lives of employees (Obholzer, 1995). It involves the combined topics of power, influence, authority, and organizational politics. When running an organization, all these

Structure is the basis through which an organization seeks to create control the direction of an organization. This is completed through clear definitions of the allocation of work, differentiation, and the coordination of having those responsibilities working together towards the efforts of the organization, integration (Bolman & Deal, 1993, pp). Through these methods, the organization is able to devise a division of labor that collaborates to bring about the missions and goals of an organization. The structure that comes about from this can be varied in their rigidness and flexibility it allows, and to an extent this is a great contribution to its success.

Power is having authority, control along with many influential factors, whether direct or indirect through bona fide expedients. Stojkovic, Kalinich and Klofas (2015) lamented, "Enforcing one's way over others requires the expenditure of resources, the making of commitments, and a level of effort that can be undertaken only when the issues at hand are relatively important" (p. 290). However, authority most often come from the duties and responsibilities delegated to a position holder in a bureaucratic structure. A manager of a criminal justice organization, for instance, has the authority to control and direct the activities of the staffs and expert them to respond with appropriate actions to attain organizational purposes.

Power, influence, leadership ability, all these intertwine to make an effective leader; yet they are often confused as being able to stand alone to define a leader. Each element is needed to complete the other, thus this paper will look at how power is used as influence. Using Hackman and Johnson’s Personal Power Profile, my preferred method of influence will be examined and how this relates to future leadership will be discussed.

The mechanistic organizational form, or bureaucracy, is a structure that is high in specialization, formalization, and centralization. It was the natural result of combining the six elements of structure. While organic organizational form, is an adhocracy. It is a structure that is low in specialization, formalization, and centralization. Organic organization is highly adaptive, loose and flexible. The loose structure allows organic organization to change rapidly as required.

In addition to power established because of organizational hierarchy or role, power is also established based on the level of influence or status one holds in an organization (Anichich, Fast, Halevy, Galinsky, 2016). “Status is the outcome of an evaluation of attributes that produce differences in respect and prominence” (Ketner et al, 2003 p. 266) They co-exists but are not co-dependent on each other. It’s possible to have status without power and power without status (Ketner et al, 2003). Whether one’s control comes through status or positional power, lauding control or significant influence over another inevitably leads to conflict.

“Coercive power relies on the fact that people fear you, and reward power is only effective so long as people value the rewards you have to offer. Legitimate power relies on your rank in the company hierarchy, and recent events

The management can use this power to demote, transfer, fire or deny raises to their employees. The third power base of Position is legitimate power. This power stems from the level of hierarchy in which the subordinates report directly to the authority over them for decisions. Process Power controls the input and output of organizations to make sure that the processes are carried out efficiently and effectively within. Information power is the control of information or access to it within an organization. Information can be controlled to a ?need to know? basis and/or just limited to the upper management. This type of power compliments the legitimate power. Finally, there is Representative power in which an organization uses an individual to be there spokesperson both within the organization and when dealing with people outside of the organization.

2. There are different types of organisational structures. Two of them are Organic and Mechanistic.