...Power and Politics An individual sets out in life, and in work, to achieve his or her own goals, and to promote his or her own interests. Therefore, in a hierarchal setting of an organization, individuals will naturally contend for their own interests. Aided by the use of personal power, politics, influence, and empowerment, many individuals achieve their goals within organizations. Through analyzing power and politics in the workplace and organization, one may understand the organizational behavior that is touched by power and politics in the workplace (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Leadership Practices that Influence Organizations A key organizational management and leadership practice that influences an organization is the exhibition of power and the resulting influence that exhibit of power has on organizational behavior. According to Schermerhorn, et. al., “Power is the ability to get someone else to do something you want done, or the ability to make things happen or get things done the way you want. The essence of power is control over the behavior of others” (p. 214, 2008). In contrast to power, which is the energy behind making people behave in a certain way, “influence is what an individual has when he or she exercises power, and it is expressed by others’ behavioral response to that exercise of power” (Schermerhorn, et. al, p. 215, 2008). Together, power and influence in an organization or workplace are fundamental behavioral practices that influence an organization...
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...2015 Power And Influence The Bad-----------The Good-----------The Ugly Perhaps due to negative connotation, many people through out the work place avoid office politics as much as possible. But the truth is, to ensure your own wellbeing and the success of future projects you must navigate your way through the minefield known as, “office politics.” In order to survive, one must keep up with the politics in their workplace and learn how to “play the game.” Office politics are evident when important decisions at work are made, this encourages workers to begin in political behavior to ensure they get their way. Some people have more power over other employees, either through hierarchy in business or determined by length of time with company. Whether you are the pencil pusher at the bottom of the totem poll or the CEO you will have to face the fact that you must try to be politically correct in the workplace. For everyone in the company receiving a promotion this can be of utmost importance. To deal effectively with office politics, first you must accept the reality of it. Once you’ve done this, you must figure out a plan or strategize on how to cope with the political behavior happening in the office. The best way to this is to listen, letting others take the reins at the beginning. Use the information you gather to build a strong sense of identity around coworkers which promotes the personality traits and attributes that are important to your workplace (Mindtools)...
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...POWER AND POLITICS Power and politics play a important role in business or an organisation, from governing how decisions are made to how employees interact with one another. In a business big and small, the impact of power depends on whether employees use positive or negative power to influence others in the workplace. Politics may directly influence who has the power and determine whether the workplace encourages productivity. Positive power in an organization involves encouraging productivity. This includes giving employees the power to make decisions, rewarding employees for strong performance and appointing employees who perform strongly to supervise other employees. Positive power builds employee confidence and motivates employees to work harder. Negative organisational politics may be very destructive for an organisation.Negative politics includes the use of subversive methods to promote a personal agenda which may undermine organisational objectives, distract away from organisational goals and compromise the interests, cooperation and fulfilment of other employees. Such tactics may include filtering or distortion of information, non-cooperation, allocating blame,dishonesty, obstructionism and threats. In the case of Thomas Green, Frank Davis had a negative politics and power over Green which landed him in trouble over his job and he was not able to perform to his potential. Green failed to maintain a positive relationship with Davis , which he had with Mc Donald to...
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...In the vast world of business there is a constant and inevitable struggle to achieve a more powerful position or leadership role. Power is the shear essence of most corporate endeavors and the need for more power drives most individuals to excel at their current positions, so they may catapult to the next level. The ability to obtain a powerful position solidifies the feeling of having control over the future of your career and well being. Power is a multifaceted resource that most individuals crave, and would go to any lengths to obtain. Although it is important to solidify your future, you must also remain ethically and morally sound while doing so. Having read a scenario from a case study that proposed an ethical dilemma, I found that the rise for power and political gain in the workplace can test both an individual’s ethical judgment and strength. The issue here is that Michael is faced with an ethical dilemma regarding whether or not to participate in politics in order to capture a higher position within another sector of his organization. He is aware that his opponent Danielle has entered workplace politics at full speed, and is using every opportunity to gain leverage against Michael. The executive that will choose the best person for the position is Pierre, who is fair and diligent when choosing the appropriate candidate for the job. Michael however, has a real problem with trying to strategically place himself at the center of Pierre’s attention for the U.S. job....
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...Power and Politics Power and Politics Unit P1: Basic Concepts Unit M1: Basic Concepts Power and Politics Basic Concepts Introduction We need to begin by noting and understanding the definitions of - and interrelationship between - the following concepts: a. Power b. Politics c. Authority d. Ideology The concepts of power and politics are entwined / inter-dependent in the sense that politics - whether of the specifically governmental kind (political parties, pressure groups, etc.), the economic kind (bureaucracies, the organization of the workplace into social hierarchies based upon status, etc.) or the interpersonal (relations between males and females, children and adults, etc) - involves the exercising of power. What we have to begin by doing, therefore, is to define the concept of power (and understand the differing dimensions / aspects of power - coercive power, types of authority and so forth) and relate it to such ideas as: a. The social characteristics of the powerful and the powerless. b. The development of ideological frameworks that legitimise the exercise of power. c. The social effects / consequences of the exercising of power. Explicitly, in relation to politics and power there are two basic kinds of sociological question that we need to explore: a. Who rules in society? b. How is their power created, legitimised and reproduced? In social terms, power, almost by definition, involves the rule by the few over the majority and we have to understand...
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...and decision-making autonomy impact morale. * Develop recommendations for initiative that organizations can implement to positively affect employee morale. Organizational Politics, It's Moderators and Impact on Work Attitudes, Work Outcomes and at large on the Organization. 1. Introduction: Organizational politics fulfills the self-serving interests of the employees sometimes even at the cost of organizational performance. The literature review looks at the different aspects and impacts of the organizational politics. The company politics decreases the first-rate management, good quality schedules, and good spirits or morale. These things are directly and positively related to some other things too, hence when these (the above-mentioned) things are adversely affected; they also impact good communication, quality of individual performance, technical success and eventually commercial success. Another interesting finding of which the managers need to be well aware of is that politics can emerge due to the increase in the commercial success and hence more commercial success leads to more politics, which (politics) in turn through different routes reduces the commercial success and therefore the decrease in the commercial success causes lower politics. (Voyer, 1994) The organizational politics is associated with various work outcomes like performance assessment and extrinsic successes of the employees. (Higgins, 2003) It is also related to Job satisfaction, turnover intentions...
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...The principle for both politics and power is the extent of an interconnection between individuals. As individuals pursue their own goals in a firm, they must also deal with the interest of others. Managers may see a power gap. The power gap and its associated political dynamics are twofold. One is that power and politics represent a closure of organizational life. Organizations are not equally comprised of individuals with the same power. Some people have a lot more clot than others. There are winners and losers in the battle of resources and rewards. Another is that politics and power are essential means of the organization and used in getting the work completed by managers. Many more organizational members can win when managers isolate the situations in which the individual and interest alike in the organization (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2008). Compare and Contrast Power and Politics in Organizations. Within each organization a manager's power is in large part determined by his or her position and personal power and by his or her ability to build upon combinations of these sources. An essential source of power accessible to a manager derived only from his or her position in the organization. Specifically, position power derived from roots joined with the position. The essential perspectives of position power: legitimate, representative, information, coercive, reward, and process power. Position power enhances whereas a manager capable of demonstrating to others...
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...POWER AND POLITICS Politics in work places simply put is about getting noticed and liked by the right people in other to advance up the career ladder in an organization and also to achieve position of power that confers a status of relevance in the scheme of affairs in an organization. This definition is supported by an old saying that ‘’it’s not what you know ,but who you know’’. It is upon this premise that human beings are classified as political animals and as such it is difficult to eliminate politics from workplaces.’’ While teamwork may be extolled as an organizational virtue ,in the real practice, workplaces are likely to be characterized by competition and conflicts as it is by cooperation (Fineman and Gabriel,1996). Politics is a means through which individual self-interests are pursued without regard to the their effect in the realization of the organizations objectives .Organizational politics is arguably one of the most researched concepts in the field of management’’ ( Boateng et al ,2013)the researches here are to understand the impact of organizational politics on business entities. One of these studies propagates that organizational politics may affect decision making and allocation of resources in an organization amongst other factors. Power on the other hand is the ability of a person or a group to influence others. If a person have influence, he or she is perceived as powerful. A person may hold power by having the ability to make decision, apportion...
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...on behavior, analyze the influence of organizational culture on behavior, and to analyze the influence of power and politics on behavior. The influence of organizational structure on behavior has two aspects--- Mechanistic structure and organic structure. In mechanistic structure the employee’s know exactly how to behave and there is little room for deviation (Robbins & Judge, 2011). This is how our three workplaces work. Under the mechanistic structure. As for Organic structure, it is completely opposite. The organic structure has a low formalization, limited specialization, and a wide span of control there for employees have greater behavioral diversity (Robbins & Judge, 2011). None of us could think of a place that we’ve worked that has an organic structure. Culture is the social glue that helps hold the organization together by providing appropriate standards for what employees should say and do (Robbins & Judge, 2011). This means that there are standards of behavior that is known to everyone even if it is not in the handbook. If there is not a strong organizational culture at our jobs for instance then, there could be unethical behavior and have no direction, in other words a weak organizational structure. All of us feel we have a strong organizational structure at our places of work, or did, in Meagan’s case. The influence of power and politics on behavior can have a significant influence on organizational behavior. It can cause discord for many...
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...has a desire for power believes he or she has little influence is a social nonconformist Correct 2 A primary goal of politics in the workplace is to promote organizational goals form alliances exclude undesirable peers secure limited resources Correct 3 In convergent periods, the role of executive management is to develop new strategies for the problems at hand shift middle managers to promote new views reemphasize the mission and core values challenge middle managers to reinvent their departments Correct 4 Political behavior in the workplace works only in an upward or lateral influence direction https://newclassroom3.phoenix.edu/Classroom/#/contextid/OSIRIS:47954803/context/co/view/activityDetails/activity/36bbc35d50034c108c6793bfffe303e7/ex… 2/5 3/15/2015 attempts to influence decision making works only in a lateral influence direction is unlikely in a wellrun organization Week 6 Quiz Assessment Activity Week6 LDR/531 eCampus Correct 5 Organizational momentum relates to patterns of behavior, norms, and values growth in sales, profits, and so forth willingness to move beyond incremental change the rate of change to make improvements Correct 6 Organizational change relies on a balance of change and strategy vision continuity planning Correct 7 Central to managing a successful organizational strategy implementation are/is tracking progress formal models of implementation competitive teams coalition management Correct 8 Hard power tact...
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...Caught between Corporate Cultures” by critically discussing the following organizational behavior issues as they pertain in the case: Task 1.1 Critically analyze the leadership approach (es) which Rick Belkner, Mike Wilson and Jack Greely employed in the case. Task 1.2 Critically analyze the power and politics issues evident from the case. Task 1.3 Critically analyze the components of the conflict management process evident from the case. Task 1.4 Critically analyze the organizational culture issues of Consolidated Life. Task 2 Make recommendations: Draw up a table and summarize what improvements are needed in relation to: 1. Leadership and associated change management strategies. 2. Power and politics 3. Conflict management 4. Organizational culture in Consolidated Life 1 ASSIGNMENT Task 1.1 (538 words) I believe that individuals are groomed through experience and exposure to be leaders. Some leaders can influence and motivate those around them more effectively and easily than others and guide them to be a more coherent and cohesive unit in order to accomplish the objectives and targets. All three main characters in this case, exhibit different management styles and approaches which clearly differentiates them as not only managers but also as individuals with a different approach, conditioning and thought process (Zastrow, 2008). Rick clearly displays all the traits of delegative leadership or a Laissez Fare approach to leadership. It is a leadership style...
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...Case Study ------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Part 1: Case Study Review 1 Question 1: 1 Introduction 1 Analysis 1 Conclusion 3 Recommendations moving forward 3 References 4 Question 2: 5 Analysis and Recommendation 5 Conclusion 6 References 7 Part 1: Case Study Review Question 1: Why do you think current situation has arisen at Dynamic Displays? Introduction Various factors caused the emergence of power play and office politics, however, essentially it is the failure of Green to exercise effective organisation power and politics resulted in the present situation and failure to resolve it due to communication. Analysis A. Perception Lens A negative halo towards Davis was imbedded in Green when McDonald revealed Davis’s opposition to his promotion. Though there is no direct evidence of this, individual behaviours are influenced by the perception of reality rather than through objective understanding (Buchanan and Huczynski 2010). Hence probable reason Green not seeking much guidance from Davis despite McDonald’s advice. Furthermore, Green’s perception of Davis holding a personal grudge for his direct budget meeting confrontation, thus ensuing his avoidance of Davis. This eventually became the demise of Green’s career–a self-fulfilling prophecy. B. Personality Lens According to the big five trait clusters of personality, the circumstantial events suggest that Green is an extravert, which is manifested...
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...Change Management Plan Change Management Plan Riordan Manufacturing, Inc is a global plastics manufacturer and had been in the business for over 20 years. Their products include beverage containers, custom plastic parts, and plastic fan parts. The company strives to become the leading solution provider to its customers concerning polymer materials and will remain to be the industry leader in identifying industry trends. The vertical power and political structure of Riordan Manufacturing has been effective in the daily operations in the business (Cosgrove, 2012.). The CEO has the most power to make changes and provide solutions in a given situation. However, there are several vice-presidents and directors who also can be influential and has silent authority, such as the CEO’s which influence others by just their mere presence (Rawes, 2010). With this type of structure in Riordan Manufacturing, employees’ behaviors may be influenced by the management as some may oppose, comply, and commit to whatever change that the upper management desires. As a company, Riordan Manufacturing encourages an open-door policy and demonstrates its commitment by responding effectively to employees’ concerns from work conditions, wages, and benefits. This leads to the nonexistence of any union representation that promotes employees to voice out their concerns and results to an accommodating work environment, clearer...
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...Gender Disparity In Relation to Managerial Positions in the Organizations in Mombasa County: Case of County Government of Mombasa. Introduction This chapter introduces the study by looking at its background and stating the problem. It further gives the objectives of the study, research questions, and significance of the study, its scope, the assumptions and the conceptual framework. This research seeks to unravel the factors for gender disparity in managerial positions within Mombasa County. To increase understanding of factors affecting women this study focuses on diverse factors that affect the development of women in Mombasa County. Background of the Study Gender disparities in employment opportunities and economic investment patterns in Kenya have continued to widen across all sectors of the economy and at various levels of development intervention. This trend has led to increased unemployment, under-employment, poverty and powerlessness among many Kenyan women. Part of the reason for the persistent inequality is the slow process of mainstreaming gender into employment creation and poverty eradication policies, programmes and strategies in a coordinated, multi-sectorial and crosscutting way. The other reason relates to the existence of social, cultural and structural barriers to effective female participation in the labour force. These and other factors have jointly contributed to the low pay and productivity of women’s labour and to their continued under-representation...
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... through Turnitin. Description: The role of power and politics in organisations. Power and politics are very much part of organizational life. To succeed managers need to understand the meaning of power and politics, how power is acquired and how politics should be utilised. Power and politics may be the sources of solutions but can create problems in organisation. This essay asks you to explore the issues associated with power and politics in organisational life. Your essay should include the following: • Define the concept of power in the workplace. • Define the concept of politics in the workplace. • Explain how a manger could work to acquire power. • Explain how a manger could work to become politically active. • Discuss the impact of power and politics in organisations. • Discuss some of the ethical implications of power and politics in organisations. The Essay requires: ...
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