Power and Politics
Before comparing and contrasting power and politics in organizations it would be beneficial to define each term. For the purpose of this paper, power is defined as the exercise of influence or control over another’s behavior, while politics is defined as the tactics used to obtain a desired goal, position or status in a company. Two examples of the abuse of power and politics, as it relates to management and leadership in an organization, is the failure of the management of some companies to give credit where it is due and the underhanded practices used by others for career advancement. Power and politics are the top two elements used in a company that either can cause the downfall or success of that company. Knowing the positions of power and politics and the role they play in a company is critical to the awareness of organizational ethics and leadership practices.
One of the most desired human wants is power. In the business world, power and politics, to a large extent, determine the growth, stability and continual success of companies.
Sometimes people find it hard to remove themselves from that power, you can see that with Gordon, he is no longer the managing director of Buildecco, because of that Gordon has been speaking behind Eric’s back, this shows that Gordon can not be a professional director. Most of the employees are afraid of him. A good example is when Larry was speaking to Eric; Gordon then told Larry that when he wants to speak to Eric he should speak through him first; this shows again that he still wants to have that power. This relates back to the McGregor’s XY theory.
Theories relating to power and politics
David McClelland’s motivational needs theory
McClelland is chiefly known for his work on achievement motivation, but his research interests extended to personality and consciousness. David McClelland pioneered workplace motivational thinking, developing achievement-based motivational theory and models, and...