Power and Politics in Organizations
The majority of organizations are not just managers make all decisions but there are some organizations that have democracy. There is usually a structure of differing levels of management and secondary, which is known as those with authority and those without. Many known wherever there is power there are politics. There are some similarities and some differences between the two, in reality they tend to operate as a group so often that they reallybecome part of the same force. It is important to understand how they compare and contrast in order to fully understand how they work together.
Power and politics in organizations go with each other. In organizations, politics are predictable. In comparing power and politics it first helps to understand the means. Power is the ability to get someone else to do what you want him or her to do. Powers focus in administrative positions draw from three sources: rewards, punishments and legitimacy. The reward source is where managers reward employees to get what the manager wants them do, while the punishment source uses punishment as a means to get people to do what a manager wants them to. The legitimacy source is in the organization where the culture is that the boss holds the power. Organizational politics involves the use of power to obtain ends not officially authorized and the use of power to find ways of balancing individual and collective interests in otherwise difficult situations. The connection between power and politics is that politics and politicians use power to obtain control. It depends on how the politics are used as to whether or not they are constructive or unconstructive. Politics already have a negative connotation, but they are not always negative. Organizations are bound to have politics because when there are many people in the organization, everyone's opinion may count.
How roles of politics and power play in organizations. When used efficiently they can...