Power and Politics Paper

Power and Politics Paper MGT331 Mr. John Soltys November 2, 2004 Office politics " in the work place begins when the number of employees in an organization becomes greater than one" (Sciacca). Employees who have the desire to gain something greater for themselves often become involved in office politics. When the employee who desires power uses the political influence of the office to catapult themselves to the top, office politics is given a negative pallor, on the employee and the organization. There are several ways that organizations politics can take a negative turn, among these are, "playing favorites, gossiping, under communicating, and manipulating" ( Donoho). Supervisors can also show signs of favoritism, which in turn can have a negative impact on the organizations employees, causing discontent and reduced moral. When employees come to realize that the supervisor is indeed showing favoritism, they will be unlikely to do more than what is expected of them, in turn harming the organizations productivity levels. People who are experiencing feeling of insecurity often spread gossip about other employees, which leads to rumors being spread throughout the office, and in many cases these are not true. Rumors can divide an organization, causing employees to take sides or exhibit unnecessary stress over their job security. When superiors become involved in the gossip circle in the organization it "takes away her [their] stature and credibility" (Donoho). The existence of a lack of communication within an organization can lead to possible negative office politics as well. When a lack of communication is present within an organization, employees often feel insecure about their job security, especially if the organization is in the process of downsizing. If the employees are feeling threatened about the possibility of job loss, they may actively seek new employment opportunities, even thought they were not considered in the cut backs. Losing capable employees in this manner is the result of lack of communication from upper management to the rest of the organization. Manipulation is another potential negative aspect of office politics, and is often intertwined into organizations of today. When employees feel they are being manipulated into performing actions which raises questions of personal values and beliefs, the search for new employment will begin. So, being manipulative will not increase the chances of gaining a higher status within the company. Gossiping, manipulation, and communication are all factors that are used in the effort to gain power within the organization. Politics and Power within the organization can only be as good or bad as the person who controls it. The belief that all politics within organizations is a negative entity is a false one. There is much good that can be done within the organization due to the presence of politics and power within the organization. The one basic item that must be present is an honest and ethical upper management team, with a CEO who will back their decisions or implement them him or herself. A good example of this is diversity training, if the CEO and the upper management team do not feel this training a priority, then it will be put off on the lower management. This will probably result in the training being done poorly, or more likely, not at all. If the CEO requires and is passionate about the training it will be done, a training officer will be appointed and the employees of this organizational will become well educated in the diversity of the organizations employee make up. This in turn will enable employees to question old prejudices and perhaps welcome the opinions of different co workers. This is not a guarantee, but once you start the ball rolling it has a snowball effect. This is a positive of politics in organizations; the influence of the CEO brought the training about, and enlightened employees to diversity. Politics in organizations come into play or are implemented due to the fact that no two individuals are the same, political processes within the organizational structure ensure that compromises are met, confrontation is avoided and the employees will able to work together a productive force. In Chapter 15 of Organizational Behavior it reads "Organizational politics provides a mechanism for circumventing these inadequacies and getting the job done. Organizational politics can facilitate adaptation to changes in the environment and technology of an organization." Organizational politics can have plans in place to identify a problem within the organization itself, the need for a new more effective manager might be needed. Instead of hiring a new person the protocol could be to pull from a pool of existing mangers, thus saving the organization money, time, and ensuring a speedy resolution to the problem at hand. Many organizations use politics to open lines of communication to all members of the organization, thus important information such as ethical business conduct, practices and policies, resources for the employees resolve ethical issues, and more will be directly communicated to all employees, ensuring equal treatment among the organizations members. Organizations are not the only ones to benefit from politics, in Phoenix the City has received an "All American City Award" four times from the National Civic League, tied with Christchurch, New Zealand for the "Best Run City in the World" and has been constantly recognized as a top-ranking well managed