Introduction Organizations irrespective of their structure, design, hierarchies and outlook have one thing in common, the interplay of dynamics of different natured individuals who constitute them, say Porfeli and Vondracek (2001). This statement reflects three keen interest areas – firstly that individual employees who make an organization are natured differently and have varied interests, goals and personal ambitions. Secondly there is an interplay of these individuals’ intents and goals with those of the others and thirdly and importantly that this interplay translates into a dynamic organizational culture and politics. Politics is power in action cite Culbert and McDonough (1985). There can be no politics without power whether …show more content…
2009). Hence we have season that there are obvious reasons cited above such as limited nature of resources, conflict of interests, groupism, unfulfilled ambitions, relationship with the team members and the leaders that are all mostly part of the organizational culture and constitute the external framework giving rise to organizational politics. There are some theorists who have worked extensively in assessing and analyzing intrinsic factors or traits that are more personal in nature and describe why few employees in organizations would always or more actively engage in political behavior or politicking as it is referred to than others (Dawis, Rene V. and Lofquist, Lyold H. 1969). Barling and Loughlin (2001) state that age group cohorts also vary in their disposition with regards to politics at work. The authors argue that young workers of today are influenced by many factors; a substantial amongst them is the influence of their families, in particular by their parents’ experiences on the job. In the 80s and 90s, when their parents were working, downsizing and rightsizing were common (Barling, Julian and Loughlin, Catherine. 2001). Thus these young cohorts have grown up seeing this insecurity at work, which makes them skeptical, and though better prospects at work today make them better paid, but they do not trust the systems to last forever. They are interested in immediate pay offs, independence and flexible working hours. These young
Political Activity is alive and well in organisations – one of the biggest killers of productivity is not a lack of innovation, productive systems or visionary thinking, its politics (Fraser, 2013, p. 1). It is a major issue in organisations as the individual who controls their working relationship consumes time and resources for their own gain at the company’s expense. In this
Schlosser illuminates how companies use the inexperience of a youthful workforce for financial gains and control through an appeal to ethos. The industry’s priorities revolve around the idea of personal gain, “[t]eenagers have been the perfect candidates for these jobs, not only because they are less expensive to hire than adults, but also because their youthful inexperience makes them easier to control” (Schlosser 68). With inexperience comes lack of knowledge, therefore, teens do not necessarily know what they should be paid, making it easier for companies to pay them whatever they like. In doing this, companies are able to keep more money for themselves without worrying about giving raises to employees, giving them
Dynacorp is a worldwide information systems and communications business. In 1990 the company started to have fewer earnings than in the past, so the CEO tried to change the design of the company to run better. In this paper, I analyze this organization though the political lenses to better understand how changing the structure can help improve revenue and quality. As discussed in the book, the political lens sees the organization in terms of conflicts of interests, power, and goals among individuals and groups within the organization. The way to understand the dynamics of political conflict is to understand who has power, from where that power comes, the basis of the power and how much
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
A number of approaches are offered for organizational science to solve the problem regarding organizational gap between theory and practice. The rational model can be considered as a dominant model on organizational science among the others with the purpose of defining organization as instruments for attaining goals instead of dealing with problems .Furthermore, objectives are defined in favour of organization progress regardless of employees’ ideas in such a model. It is mainly assumed that involved individuals in the organisation’s activities agree reasonably with its major purposes. The main task of managers are
The political lens sees an organization as “an arena for competition and conflict among individuals, groups, and other organizations whose interest and goals differ and even clash dramatically” (Ancona, Kochan, Scully, Van Maanen, & Westney, 2005: M-2, 33). It assumes that “In the political perspective, the roots of conflict lie in different and competing interests, and disagreements require political action, including negotiation, coalition building, and the exercise of power and influence, all of which recognize that rationality is local” (Ancona et al., 2005: M2, 33). I will analyze and explain the concepts within the political landscape to explain the new front end / back end structure at Dyna Corporation,
Evaluating the Organizations as Political Systems, Morgan (2006) looks at the various sources of power in organizations, his textbook lists several essential sources of power. This independent research discussion will examine the management of gender relations, and the power one already has. Particularly in the Political Systems metaphor, this review will evaluate how the two sources of power can contribute to functional identity, conflict, self-interest, and integration within an organization. Furthermore, this study will evaluate the power and functional integration as a source of resistance or preservation of a functional culture identity. In conclusion, this post will assess whether the organization could be a functionally integrated system.
The clear and concise abstract of the article makes it clear that this is no simple task. The thesis was clearly stated multiple times and discussed. The author used research articles to explain the neglected connections between political power and organizational forms. Another strength of the article was the organization. The literature review was detailed and clearly written. Finally, the author provided an ample about of research to explain each respective category throughout the
The second model of bureaucratic dysfunction describes rational individuals working within an organization which is structured irrationally. It is difficult to control an individual’s self-interest in conjunction with the goals
You work as an external consultant specializing in understanding how internal politics impact organizational effectiveness. Recently, you 've been contracted to diagnose the political culture of a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) operating medical clinics and hospitals throughout Minnesota. Using Bolman & Deal 's political frame describe (in paragraph form) what you will seek to learn regarding the organization 's political culture.
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.
Power and politics have always been around but seldom openly discussed. Power is learned at an early age through family and schools. Ordinary people such as scholars hesitate to talk about power. It is often equated with force brutality, unethical behavior, manipulation, connivance, and subjugation.
As far back as history can be told mankind has struggled between balancing culture, power and politics. Many wars have been fought and many people have placed their lives on the line in order to stand up for what they believe in. The combinations of culture, power and politics have spilled over into the workplace. In today’s business environment individuals have much more to worry about than just completing their assigned tasks. Organizational culture, power and office politics influence day to day operations as well as govern the atmosphere within the organization. The amount of impact that power and politics have in the workplace, directly reflect the organization’s culture formally as well as informally.
Organizational politics: Divergent viewpoints about how resources, rewards, and punishments should be distributed bring about political resistance to organization change.
Have you ever wondered what role politics and power play in organizations? When used effectively they can be compatible in reaching the organizations goals. Power is defined as the ability to get someone to do something you want done or the ability to make things happen in the way you want them. (Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn, Chap. 15). Power is important within organizations because it is the way in which management influences individuals to make things happen. When power and influence combine, most of the time 'politics' become involved in some manner which may pose some problems. Organizational politics is best described as management influenced by self-interest through the use