Power and Politics Paper

According to Peter G. Northouse, Personal power comes from the followers and include reverent and expert power. Followers give it to the leaders because followers believe leader have something of value. Treating power as a share resources is important because it deemphasizes the idea that the leader are power wielders. (Northouse pg.16). Leaders (managers) and followers (staff employees) must work together and have trust between one another, however the manager must set boundaries between friendship and the office relationship. Setting these boundaries not only protect the individuals but also the company from legal liability. Managers as leaders shouldn’t be view as having more power rather they should possess the ability to motivate the staff to achieve high quality job satisfaction.

Leadership is defined in many ways, but what it is in common in each definition is the emphasis on influence over other’s thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and attitudes. According to Spector (2012), power is “the extent to which one person can influence another to do something” (p. 321). This means that that power is what inspires subordinates to follow an employer. There are five sources of power. Expert power is given when there is a perception that the person has knowledge or expertise in an area. Referent

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.

First we need to know the definition of power, Michael Hackman and Craig Johnson define power as “the ability to influence others” (2013, pg. 136). Next, we need to understand power in relation to leadership. Hackman and Johnson make the argument that “leadership is impossible without power…yet influencing others does not automatically qualify as leadership” (2013, pg. 136). An example of someone who has power but is not a leader could involve someone who has power based on their experience, but

Political science is known to be one of the most ignored sciences there are. Over the years, there has not been a demand for everyone to pay attention to politics because people always have their own opinion anyways. Ten Things Political Scientists Know that You Don’t was an article written by Hans Noel. His main objective to writing this was to inform readers of the reasons why politics is something that is important to understand. Many journalists and bloggers became more aware of politics and want to know more about what political scientists actually know. This article also wants to inform many people that political science is something that you can study over a period of time, which is the real reason to pay attention to elections. Hans Noel came up with 10 different things that political scientists know but American citizens do not.

The political lens looks at an organization from the perspective of "how power and influence are distributed and wielded, how multiple stakeholders express their different preferences and get involved in or excluded from decisions, and how conflicts can be resolved" (Ancona, Kochan, Scully, Van Maanen and Westney – M2-10) . It is an arena for competition and conflict among individuals, groups and other organizations whose interests and goals differ dramatically. 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. The steps in using the political lens for an effective

I. Identify the current formal and informal power structures in the organization. How might the power and political structure of the

AARP: Was founded in 1958, a teacher named Dr.Ethel Percy Andrus, this group was formally known as National Retired Teachers Association (NRTA ).Which was also established in 1947 also by Dr.Andrus, which was to promote the productivity of aging and the need for health insurance for retired teachers. It was hard back then for the aging to get health insurance Until the government enacted Medicare in 1965, this provides medical care for individuals 65 and older.AARP also has a discount mail order pharmacy service.To promote independence, purpose, and dignity for elderly, enhance the quality of life and to encourage the elderly “to serve and not be served.”AARP is a nonprofit organization.

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

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.

The handling of power is also paramount in an organization. Boleman and Deal offer meaningful insight in this aspect. They observe the following,

|Give at least two examples of how other people/team’s political behaviour in the organisation could impact on the | |

The concept of power is an applicable leadership concept. Leaders use power to decipher whether they have the ability to acquire the commitment or obedience from their workers/officers. Leaders that are educated or trained under the old-paradigm, have low levels of expectations of others around them, and tend to use

It is important for managers to understand the sources of power and influence as they must rely upon the cooperation of subordinates in order to be successful. Strong managers rely upon more than just authority they also use leadership skills and power to obtain the most productivity from their staff. According to French and Raven (1959) there are five sources of power. Referent power seems to be the most influential and the least affected by change. To quote Paul Argenti,

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