There are many resemblances between politics and management. One of them is that they both share the development of Policies.
Where should your company differ from a political institution in order to be successful?
A policy is like a map that serves to guide an organization into a certain direction. A governmental policy serves in the same way to guide citizens. The resemblance between government and management is even more striking for larger corporations with the practice of corporate governance;
Corporate governance is the set of processes, customs, policies, laws and institutions affecting the way a corporation is directed, administered or controlled. Corporate governance also includes the relationships among the many players involved (the stakeholders) and the goals for which the corporation is governed. The principal players are the shareholders, management and the board of directors. Other stakeholders include employees, suppliers, customers, banks and other lenders, regulators, the environment and the community at large. (www.wikipedia.org)
This means that politics and business converge with the size of a corporation and with the increasing number of stakeholders – especially the environment and the community.
…An important part of corporate governance deals with accountability, fiduciary duty and mechanisms of auditing and control. In this sense, corporate governance players should comply with codes to the overall good of all constituents.
And with this increase in size the “codes” (policies) increase as well. Both politics and organization deal with credibility. Politicians are facing a hard time to remain credible because of the enormous number of issues they are dealing with and which they need to respond to with a coherent line of policy. The more they deviate from this line the less credible they appear to be.
Larger organization can narrow their focus which will make it easier to pursue a consistent policy.
The difference between government (and governmental organizations) and market organizations is that the former lacks a strategy.
In line with this reasoning, and observing real politics, a company that lacks a strategy will have a hard time implementing a policy.
Or put differently; make sure that you elaborate a sound strategy if you do not want (internal) political debates leading you nowhere.
Filed under Business by on Sep 2nd, 2010. 
To influence others and get them enthusiastically behind your plans, do you rely on persuasion or politics? Research shows that smart executives use both to build a power base to get things done through others.
Persuasion has four elements:
1. Credibility: Credibility is built on trust and expertise, and it must be earned. People will believe you have expertise and are worthy of their trust if you exercise sound judgment and demonstrate a history of success.
2. An understanding of the audience: Identify the decision makers and centers of influence. Determine their likely receptivity and personal agendas.
3. A solid argument: What is perfectly sensible to you may elude others – especially those who are already opposed to your ideas and prepared to resist.
You can improve your chances of persuading them when your case:
a. Is logical and consistent with facts and experience
b. Strikes an emotional cord
c. Favorably addresses the interests of the parties you hope to persuade
d. Neutralizes competing alternatives
e. Recognizes and deals with the politics of the situation
f. Comes with endorsements from objective and authoritative third parties
4. Effective communication: Don’t mistakenly think that logic and rationality will win out and persuade people to your side. You may inadvertently trigger confirmation bias, a situation in which people become further entrenched in their own ideas.
Effective communication appeals to people’s emotions, tapping into universal human values and desires. Appeal to both hearts and minds if you want to build and sustain commitment to your strategic plans.
Office Politics
It’s naive to suggest that office politics are destructive and unethical. If you define politics in such a narrow way, you overlook the value of political awareness and skill. Political savvy, when combined with the right values, can be advantageous to you, your team and your organization.
To become politically savvy and build your power base:
1. Map the political terrain. First, identify all stakeholders – anyone who has an interest in, or who would be affected by, your idea – and how they will react. Some resistance is inevitable. You must anticipate others’ reactions, identify allies and resisters, analyze their goals and understand their agendas.
When you face objections, don’t go to individuals’ bosses or peers to undercut their arguments. Instead, ask them questions to determine their goals. Stakeholders may:
• Share your goal, but not your implementation approach
• Disagree with your goal, but share your approach to change
• Share neither
• Share both
You can identify potential allies and resisters with direct questioning.
2. Get them on your side. Build your coalition – a politically mobilized group committed to implementing your idea because doing so will generate valued benefits.
Creating coalitions is the most critical step in exercising your political competence. How do you win support? You need to be credible. You communicate credibility by letting potential allies and resisters know about your expertise, demonstrating personal integrity, and showing that you have access to important people and information.
3. Make thing happen through leverage. You must win others’ buy-in by making it clear there’s a payoff for supporting your efforts and drawbacks for refusing to join your coalition. Show how implementing your idea will ease stakeholders’ workload, increase their visibility within the organization or help them cut departmental costs.
Once you’ve persuaded others to join your coalition, you’ve established a base that will legitimize your idea. Coalition members will then use their networks to evangelize for you.
Getting others to make changes and do things your way is risky and fraught with personal peril. Making your organization a better place is often at odds with personal advancement.
You can’t do it without power. Just be sure to create power in and with others, as opposed to using power over others.
By: Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D.
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Filed under Business by on Aug 27th, 2010.
Perspectives on politics vary. There is the negative view, which sees politics as the exercise of personal power used for personal gain and at the other end of the spectrum the positive view, that sees politics as a social power used to create motivation or to accomplish group goals.
Nevertheless whether you are aware of it or not, and regardless of whether you understand it or not, in corporate life (and especially in the UK – where I live and work) the political dimension is all-important.
The higher your contacts are up the ladder, within an organisation, the greater the extent to which the political dimension is important.
At director level, in all large organisations, the political dimension can shape the decision making process very considerably and will often be the major determining factor.
Personal power in an organisational context can be described as the ability to influence another person to do what you want, when and how you want them to do it without having to alter your own behaviour in ways you don’t want to.
Symbols of political power and influence include things such as: early access to critical and “insider” information; being sought out for an opinion by senior people; getting favoured people into jobs; exercising control of key resources and influencing an agenda.
Sources of power cover a wide spectrum: legitimate power – based on position, appointment and contract; coercive power – the means to force someone to do something; referent power – based on charisma and the power of personality; expert power – based on knowledge and specialist expertise; and information power – as the source of critical information.
Influence can be described as the process of changing in some way the thoughts, perspective, behaviour and feelings of another person.
Politics in an organisational context is the use of power and influence. It has been said that politics is simply how power gets worked out on a practical day-to-day basis.
Understand the political self-interest of the individuals and groups you are dealing with is therefore essential in implementing change, as at its most fundamental level effective change management involves trade-offs in order to be lasting.
How to deal with resistance created or exacerbated by political factors
(1) Get ahead of the game by undertaking some form of early political assessment as part of your cultural analysis and mapping of informal personal networks
(2) Do not wait until a political issue becomes critical, as this point it will have gained momentum, and it is probably going to be too late.
(3) Do not take action to quash resistance but only to accomplish a positive goal. This may of course mean sidelining, removing or replacing deeply resistant individuals. This is a serious and important point, as there will always be people who will resist change to the death. The tendency is to expend a lot of energy trying to get them on side. John Kotter says: “Forget it, get rid of them, no matter who they are in terms of power or relationship to you because if you let them inside the tent they will do so much damage they will undermine the change.”
Here are some practical “hands on” strategies for dealing with politics in resistance to change management
(a) Focus on the specifics and details of the transactional aspects of the work. When people are focused on actually doing the work, they have far less time and energy for engaging in politics.
(b) Focus your attention on the “bread and butter” basic, standard transactional aspects that do not involve “specials” and “exceptions”. This will mean that you do not need to involve the “expert” assistance or knowledge of the “queen bee” political movers and shakers.
(c) Isolate and group together all your “specials”, “exceptions”, work-arounds and non-standard transactions for the attention of “special ones” those you have identified as political movers and shakers – or as they like to see themselves – the “queen bees”.
(d) Take advantage of the increased opportunities to build relationships and communicate with people as you engage with them on the specifics and details of the transactional aspects of actually doing the work.
(e) As a guiding principle, always remember that politics is a practice – it’s all about reaching mature compromises, developing relationships and getting results; always draw a distinction between the people and the problem; focus on interests, not positions; always seek options for mutual gain; and always apply objective criteria.
By: Stephen Warrilow
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Read more on Conflict Resolution Tips – Dealing With Politics in Resistance to Change Management…
Filed under Business by on Aug 27th, 2010.
Skeptical? Don’t blame you. Bad politics can devour an organization through lost productivity from infighting and the critical absence of truth. Usually, one thinks of credit-stealing backstabbing gossipers who wreck havoc on innocent employees’ careers. In fact, so much so, that some decent people won’t risk the climb on the corporate ladder because they don’t want their character corrupted. Others try to duck political issues by staying invisible and out of the crossfire.
But, is there such a thing as ethical politics? Can one maintain respect while battling against disgusting behavior in the corporate hallways? Is it possible to get in the fray without getting dirty?
Yes. According to the book GUST: The Tale Wind of Office Politics, author Tim Johnson asserts that engaging in office politics doesn’t require a mean spirit or loss of integrity. Instead, he believes that it’s a matter of being able to recognize what resources are being manipulated (e.g. time, money, power structures or labor), then discreetly discerning how to satisfy the needs of the manipulator without compromising the best interest of the organization or sacrificing one’s own principles.
Help the manipulator get what they want? That seems like a tricky new twist on the old game of politics, but Mr. Johnson explains that people are motivated to engage in bad politicking by six different factors. Negative actions might be spurred by the need to form a more powerful alliance with like-minded colleagues. Or, the misbehavior could be driven by a desire to stop a threatening activity, avoid change, protect information, or an impulse to diminish another’s credibility in order to enhance personal standing. Once we understand that most of the issues are caused by emotional insecurities, then we can become more adept at dealing with the politics in a constructive manner.
For example, ever confront a sneaky corporate snake – the kind that undermines and blindsides? Your strategy is not to sink to that belly-crawling level or self-righteously point out their forked tongues. Instead, there are other techniques that will better serve your interests. This might mean covering one’s tail by tactfully documenting actions, requests or agreements through cordial follow-up emails. By focusing on facts and data, one can avoid the emotional snakebite of confrontational issues, especially those that involve false assertions.
It’s not easy to take the high road in politicking. In fact, one of the hardest things to do is put aside our own egos in order to better understand the challenges that the antagonist may face. But, by doing so, we are better equipped to diffuse political bombshells. For instance, if our adversaries fear losing control, then perhaps some simple reassurances or easy concessions are needed. Or, maybe they have legitimate questions about the impact a project could have on the company’s reputation or profitability. It might be worthwhile to reflect on those before proceeding further. In other words, being an ethical political warrior requires us to objectively look beyond our own needs to that of others. By first analyzing the motivation behind the others’ behavior, one can take appropriate political steps to safeguard his career and protect the interest of the company’s stakeholders – all without the loss of honor.
The ethics of office politics
By Shannon Warren, Founder of the Oklahoma Business Ethics Consortium
By: Shannon Warren
About the Author:
Filed under Business by on Aug 27th, 2010.
It’s hard to imagine the office with out Office Politics. This social game is a in every office, and can be narrowed down from corporate to an individual element. There is no such thing with out life with out office politics. Even if participation is indirect or direct both factors produce a role.
Some respond to office politics in quiet mode. They usually sit back to see who reacts and what actions to take. They never put anyone on the spot to move ahead. Observers basically sit back and let them loose credibility until they can jump in at the right moment. Most people just jump the gun and end up hurting the opportunity. Quietly Observers listen and usually don’t speak until spoken to. Timing is everything.
People have learned to find a quality or trait to mimic or to steer clear from. Everyone has dominant traits. Sifting through the traits that can help you grow as a professional. Learn how identify a mentor and you will be successful. It does work; you could be promoted ahead of many other people in your position. How would you like to be promoted six months early? You can get to that point by acting like superiors and studying their work ethic.
From observing you may have been able to shape your style! To be honest office politics are so ridiculous that at times things turn into a dog and pony show. You can mimic anyone to get ahead or you can be yourself.
Mimic, and adapt traits and qualities that are good. It is a good thing to do for anyone. Office Politics can be a little extreme but there is so much productivity lost when the politics game starts rolling in and gets out of hand. Business relationships must be maintained. There are certain things you just don’t do such as: Make your boss look like a fool. The professional thing to do if you have an issue or would like to point out a flaw is to do so tactfully and with professionalism, keeping the bosses feelings inside. If you talk to him like a person he/she will more likely be personable with you instead of making an example out of you in front of others.
By: Nathan E Peterson
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Filed under Business by on Jul 23rd, 2010.
Did your parents tell you never to discuss politics and religion? Mine sure did, and I didn’t do so for much of my life. But now, it seems like everything is fair game.
People discuss the most private details of the lives with total strangers, and they openly argue about both politics and religion.
Perhaps it’s television and the internet that have made the difference. But whatever it is, we’re all more free with our opinions.
That’s good in some ways. We’re exposed to ideas that differ from our own, and if we’re smart, we’ll at least consider their merits. But in other ways, all this open discussion can be costly.
It appears that many of us can’t quite accept that other people have the same right to their opinions as we do. In the past two years I’ve lost two long-time “friends” over them. Not because I told them they were wrong, but because I stayed silent and refused to agree. One was lost over politics and the other over religion.
On the other hand, I have good friends whose views differ from mine and we get along fine. We respect each other’s opinions and don’t argue about them.
So what does that have to do with marketing?
I believe we each need to make a conscious choice about revealing either our religious beliefs or our politics when we’re in business. You and I may be respectful of other people’s choices, but our potential customers may not. Especially right now, with the huge ideological differences between liberals and conservatives, politics could be an issue that would cost us customers.
Fear of losing business prevents many small business people from even supporting candidates for office at the local level – let alone at the State or National level.
If the decision is to keep these opinions and beliefs to ourselves, we need to be very careful. Most of us wouldn’t slip and mention politics or religion in our advertising, but it’s easy to slip in other places. We might impulsively reply to a comment on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any of the other social sites without thinking that our prospective customers and clients may be reading what we wrote.
Why would you choose to reveal your politics or religion? Because you only want to do business with people who share your views – or at least with people who won’t reject you over them.
If you feel so strongly about an issue that you don’t want to associate with people who disagree, then it’s a good idea to be open about it. Let people know who you are and where you stand before you begin a business relationship that will end in animosity. The most important thing is to think before you act. Consider the impact that revealing this personal information might have.
By: Marte Cliff
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Read more on Politics, Religion, and Small Business Marketing…
Filed under Business by on Jul 18th, 2010.
Many times we see lot of people leaving their jobs because they found the work place politics affecting their life. Internal politics involving the people at work place are some times bad and avoidable. These politics not only affect the normal working of job, but also may some time cause people to quite their jobs. This results in lose of human resource of a company. To get the good people for working in the organization is a difficult task. However by ignoring the internal politics at work place can cost the companies dearly.
People usually want to be remaining in group; they do not like others to enter their group. This tendency sometimes made lot of subgroups in the office. For every group the agenda of their group is more important than what is required. They try to promote the people in their group more over the others. They sometimes also try to let down the people of other group. This creates inter group rivalries. One group try to hinder the work of other group, in this they even forget the goals of organization. Group rivalries are most common and can be seen in big offices where lot of people work. These group politics are one of reason for collapse of work due to the non corporation and are of great cause of low performance.
Second politics is seen in individual basis. Many people try to be smart and play with the emotions of other. They are not associated to any other, still they are in all group. They pretend to be the friends of many, but actually they are with nobody. There main purpose is to achieve own results. They create misunderstanding between the people. They remove their enemy by creating a bad image for them in others eye. They never fight their enemies directly, but provoke others to take revenge for them. They try to make their enemy alone by creating misunderstanding with his friends. They make the person alone and then become friend of it. Now they know the secret about him and upon feasible time use them against him. In this way they are able to remove their enemy without fighting him directly. These kinds of politics are most dangerous and to know that some one is doing it against us is a difficult task. This kind of politics is main reason behind the many, who leave their jobs?
So we should be alert of politics on the work place and try to avoid indulging in them. Indulging in them may unnecessary cause use lot of difficulties and simultaneously should aware about the others politics about us.
By: Arvind Katoch
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Filed under Business by on Jul 18th, 2010.
When we hear the word ‘politics’, we naturally think of politicians, political parties, political strategies, and so forth. But have you ever considered the term ‘politics’ from a business point of view? When it comes to politics in business, the former means the difference between failure and success in the latter. And, more often than not, politics can define one’s personal career. You can enjoy benefits or suffer penalties as a result of the way politics influences every business. If you happen to be among the most appreciated employees, decisions may go your way, but if you are ‘invisible’ to your bosses or they have nothing but ill feelings for you, some penalties may be coming your way.
When it comes to business decisions or work environments, we often hear expressions such as ‘it was nothing but politics’ or ‘that place is very political’. What do these expressions mean? And how can you be part of the game, and know how to play your politics? When you have managed to build a strong relationship with your customers, you understand the business thoroughly, and you are respected throughout the organization, but your superiors still think that you’re not doing well enough, this could be a clear example of people using politics to drive their own personal agenda.
It’s only fair to say that there’s no business without politics, and that its level of sophistication depends on the size of the organization. It’s understandable that the complexity of politics is proportional with the size of the company, because, after all, politics means power, and the more players are involved in the game, the more there is at stake.
Like everywhere else, we can speak of bad politics and good politics in business. Good politics refer to building strong networks at all the levels of that company or organization, spending time with employees from all levels, having a solid understanding of the keys to the success of the organization, and so forth. Good politics in business is about sharing information and encouraging other people to do the same thing. Bad politics refers to exactly the opposite. In the end it all comes down to driving your own agenda, as mentioned before. However, deft leadership should not be confused with bad politics in business. The two are very different.
Unfortunately, it seems that bad politics has got its share of businesses, and we see more of that than of good politics, because there are more bad politicians than there are good, and the former still continue to make the rule. But, in the end, it is up to you how you play the game.
If you want to find more information on different business or politics subjects please visit http://www.articletimesonline.com
By: Groshan Fabiola
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Read more on The Relationship Between Business and Politics…
Filed under Business by on Jan 23rd, 2010.