Politics is not just about elections. For senior executive and junior administrator alike, the workplace is full of politics. People choosing what to say, how and when to say it and to whom. All with a specific outcome in mind. Alliances are forged. Supporters are rallied. It’s not just the management priorities in the business plan that decide which design gets the vote of confidence and which project is axed. But think positive, “politics” may seem a dirty word but the skills we’re talking about can be used for good as a well as bad. It’s all in how you play.

So what is office politics? Politics is the use of power towards a particular goal. Where that goal is to the benefit of the individual and the detriment of others, we tend to see it as devious, manipulating and negative. Additionally, because we often see power as going hand-in-hand with position, we tend to see the more senior people in the company as the ones who play politics.

However, there are many other types of power than the kind that resides in rank or position: there is knowledge (what you know), network (who you know), experience (length of service), physical (size, appearance) and personal (charisma) power. It’s safe to say that we all have some power in one or more of those categories. So if we all have power, it follows that we can all play office politics. But do we? Ask yourself: have I ever delayed or withheld bad news from the boss? Have I ever passed on a piece of information in order to influence opinion? Have I ever used my connections to find out something? The chances are, we’ve all played politics at some point or another.

However, skills that you perhaps used in these situations are not by themselves bad. In fact, when you break it down to skills, it already starts to sound more neutral. Influencing others… negotiation techniques… communicating with the audience in mind…. these are all key management competences, required by any executive and often the subject of personal development and coaching.

The key question to ask is: on those occasions, what were the intent and impact of our politicking? We need to be aware of the reasons behind our actions and how those actions may affect others. We can build our power by promotions, networking, gaining expertise, building a reputation, etc. We can understand our company’s political arena by studying the key players and their agendas and how they align – or not – with the company agenda. But when we come to use our power, if it is purely for our own ends and profit then we will be seen as playing politics. If it also benefits the business and the people in it, then our efforts will be viewed as more constructive.

Ultimately, whether you are seen as an ‘honest’ office politician or not becomes a matter of integrity. So think positive and play the game fairly.

By: Antonio Marsocci

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business marketing strategies

As the 2010 mid-term elections approach, the Tea Party movement has created a big political buzz. Having scored several unexpected upsets in various state elections and primaries, the rally cry of “throw the bums out” has become the catchphrase of the day. Tired of what they perceive as a failure of either Democrats or Republicans to represent their interests, those who embrace the movement are looking for a change in the way the U.S. government is run.

I won’t take a stand for or against the movement itself (my friends tell me I am frustratingly apolitical). But even if all of the Tea Party candidates currently running win their respective races, my prediction is that we will not see much real change. My doubt is not born of any political savvy or insight; rather, it comes from being a business coach, consultant and lifelong student of change.

For the most part, change efforts fail, and there are at least three major reasons why.

1. Differing definitions
Perhaps the biggest reason is that the word itself means different things to different people. ‘Change’ is a single word that people use to represent a complex image or idea. You and I may well agree that we want things to be different from the way they are now, but what I want and what you want can be vastly different. We may both get excited and vocal about our agreement that ‘things need to change’. But when we delve deeper into exactly what each of us wants, excited agreement can easily turn into heated argument.

In addition, each Perceptual Style has a different definition and approach to change. For example, those with the Vision Perceptual Style initiate change because they see the potential for improvement, and will improvise as they go, shifting priorities and focus as details emerge. This can prove frustrating or unacceptable to those with a different Perceptual Style, such as Adjustments. The Adjustments Style prefers to evaluate impacts on existing processes and systems and selectively implement changes in a measured manner, in order to mitigate disruptive impact.

Each of the six different Perceptual Styles has a different approach to change, based on the way they see the world. So even if we agree on what needs to be changed and how it needs changing, we are still likely to disagree on the speed of, means of, and acceptable costs to implementation.

2. Failure to take interconnectedness into account
Creating a slogan (e.g., ‘throw the bums out’) provides a simple and compelling idea for change and appeals to the dissatisfaction that many have with the status quo, but translating a slogan into real, long-lasting changes is a daunting task. The ripple effects that spread out from change efforts that are not fully thought-through can easily end with bigger problems than you had when you began-or they can pile up on each other, so that their sheer number and size can stifle or crush the original, sought-after changes.

3. Failure to appreciate the sheer size of the problem
Finally, change efforts fail because the implementer of change doesn’t appreciate the complexity and sheer size of the problem they seek to tackle.

In the 1980 presidential election, one of the promises Reagan made was that he would decrease the size of government by getting rid of the bureaucracy. Once in office, Reagan discovered that implementing his promise was not as easy as he might have thought, as the Washington bureaucracy was, by its nature, non-centralized and unresponsive. All ‘it’ had to do was delay and wait the President out for either four or eight years. In the end-
as one commentator put it-’big government won the battle.’

Reagan discovered, as do so many implementers of change, that rhetoric and excitement are not the same thing as effective action.

Pessimistic About Change?
You might conclude that I am pessimistic about change, but that is not the case. I am skeptical of any promises of rapid or easy change. Just as I have seen change efforts fail for the reasons listed above, I have seen change efforts succeed when all three are taken into account.

Whether you are a solo entrepreneur, run a small business or a large organization, it’s important to realize that real, long-lasting change takes time. You must carefully consider and coordinate an approach to change that takes into account everyone involved, honors the interconnectedness of the system you’re working with, and is prepared to deal with and size of the challenge.

By: Lynda-Ross Vega

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Business Marketing

At one time or another, we have been warned to stay out of office politics-it can be the ruin of a promising career! It is an old warning with a lot of tradition to support it.

Company politics has seen its evil days, but the day when close-knit groups resented each other in general and all ambitious newcomers in particular is drawing to a close. Most people are recognizing that such intramural skirmishing for prestige and influence did the groups no good while greatly impairing the productivity of the company.

“Company” in this context is a generic term that applies to any working situation. It does not matter whether it is private industry, government agency, educational institution or some other kind of organized work situation.

When people get along together, production rises; when they do not, it falls. Politics-good or bad-is inescapable. If people are not talking about their work at the drinking fountain, during a coffee break, or at lunch, they just do not care, and that is bad.

Company politics is here to stay. To close your ears to it is not to remove yourself from politics but from the company. How else are you going to know what is going on? And if you do not know what is going on in the company, how are you to know where you are going?

If you follow three simple rules, playing good company politics will be easy, informative and rewarding.

(1). Say something interesting or constructive about your work.

(2). Say something good about your boss, supervisor, or company policy-with sincerity.

(3). Keep on doing a good job.

If you cannot do those three things after a month or two on the job, if your work is so dull and the company so uninteresting, you are in the wrong job. Start looking for a different one now!

Private life and work are both parts of you as a whole human being. They cannot be completely separate incarnations. You are probably spending your most productive hours in each day at work-five days a week! Friendships do count in the business world.

Bad politics is based on greed, selfishness, power-seeking, and often prejudice. More often than not, the leaders are insisting that some outside influence is the cause of all their problems. They are unwilling to admit that their own actions might be at fault.

I once worked in an office where the goal seemed to be finding something nasty to say about the boss. It was almost a “can you top this” kind of daily conversational game.

The two most vocal individuals had worked for the longest time in the department. They must have been getting some kind of emotional payback from their actions in order to justify working for such an individual. Possibly: “You have the title but I am better than you in every way!”

Actually company politics is not the name for it, for the company will suffer irreparable damage in the long run. It is personal or factional, or clique politics, played for the advancement of the few, and let the company go hang, as it frequently does. Yet it cannot be ignored.

If bad office politics is to be counteracted intelligently, it must be recognized for what it is, from the lowest man subjected to its pressures to the president of the firm. If one is in no position to combat it, then one must know what it is all about for his own protection.

Personal success is not to be found where partisanship and bias have more influence than merit. Always remember that recognizing the talents and achievements of your staff and co-workers is a valuable asset. If you fail to give credit where and when it is deserved, there should be no complaints when the same thing is done to you.

Hard work and attention to detail does not automatically bring a promotion. Your skill working with others is an essential ingredient. It is almost tragic to overlook the constructive side of office politics. If you do not know what is going on around you, no one is going to know you are around.

By: Gloria Hansen

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Corporate politics are everywhere. They inflict every company. In fact, you’d be hard put to find a senior manager out there who has completely avoided the fray.

Depending how far you make it up the corporate ladder, you’ll feel the heat the higher up you go. Executives and professionals talk about it all the time, especially over cocktails, but rarely in formal discussions or meetings. If it does come up in a formal setting, it is likely brought up as “We need to reinvigorate culture.”

And if you are running a new business in a large company that is developing or trying to develop a product or solution that is disruptive to the mainstream business, then you are likely drowning in corporate politics.

That certainly was my personal experience in running a business group that was creating new computers and devices for people living at the bottom of the pyramid. Any product we created would match Clayton Christensen’s definition of a disruptive innovation: i.e. compared to the PC, it would be more affordable (cheaper), easier to use (addressing computer/tech literacy issues), and have a unique value nonexistent in PC’s today.

How did it turn out for me? Not great. I walked in with open eyes, having seen politics in action before and having navigated through it successfully to get things done. I knew it would be a tough slog given what we were doing, but I was still blindsided by the intensity of driving a disruptive business.

In fact, I had come up with a way of describing corporate politics that I talked about frequently with my team, peers, and respective bosses:

There are “good” politics, and there are “bad” politics. Good politics are when someone needs to work the system (e.g. culture, personalities, organizational silos) to achieve business objectives that are GOOD for the company (e.g. bringing in new revenue, growth, profit, and satisfied customers). Bad politics are when someone works the same system to make themselves look good.

The moral of the story is obviously to practice good politics and avoid the bad. Looking back, the problem with this approach, and why I got blindsided, is that you can do the best job, exercise your best networking skills, and create fantastic things for your company, but by ignoring what I call the negative politicians, you will likely end up on the short end of the stick and you and the business you are running will suffer from it.

So my main advice is … know your enemy more than they know themselves. I really **** to use the word enemy, as my “people” philosophy tends to be more on the trusting side. But these folks see YOU as the enemy; as competition for whatever that future lucrative position or promotion may be. (And a hint: they are right in a way. As you move higher up in the company, there are fewer positions to go around. Everything becomes more competitive.)

So let me present five characteristics of the negative politicians I’ve observed over the years. They effectively:
Self promote. They go out of their way internally to promote themselves under the auspices of promoting their business or product. If they blog or publish internal articles about something related to their business group, you’ll see subliminal hints of-self promotion.

Manage up. They typically withhold negative information about their business to their bosses and selectively spin things for the positive.

Use information as power. They may use confidential (or what they position as confidential) business information about a part of the business they are involved in to enhance credibility. For example, in a meeting with other senior managers they’ll divulge some decisions or strategies that they know will captivate their audience.

Become “buddies” with the powers-that-be. They tend to actively network with the key movers and shakers within the company. If the executive suite tends to be political as well, you can bet that they have found ways to endear themselves to the company’s top dogs.

Spread disinformation about potential “competitors.” They quietly spread rumors and/or misinformation about someone that may threaten them career-wise, or against the business that person runs.

If reading these five characteristics makes your stomach clench, either in principle or because you’ve seen them in action, the next question you are likely asking is how do I stay away from these folks?

Short answer: You can’t. Long answer: Learn to work within “the company of wolves,” regardless of whether the intensity of politics is low or high. And I think you can do this without sinking to their their level.

I am in no way the expert on the best way to navigate these waters, but I have learned from past mistakes and have thought hard and long about the subject.

I have five recommendations I’d give to those that are currently in or expecting to eventually be in this situation:
Keep your ear to the ground — always. Keep an eye out and keep a mental list of those who consistently act the way I described above. By increasing your trusted network, you uncover misinformation and can make corrections.

Don’t bad mouth them to anybody. Bad mouthing people is what negative politicians do, and you will likely hear about it eventually. Information gets around remarkably easily in a company. The adage “If you don’t have something good to say, don’t say it” applies here.

Don’t alienate them, even if they ***** you. The other adage I have found ALWAYS to be true is “never burn bridges,” no matter what. I have never burned a bridge. Those who have, got bitten back hard.

Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Don’t avoid negative politicians. Network with them. Kind words and praise go a long way. I find that those that are insecure and have self-esteem issues tend to be the most political, so find ways to help them and/or increase their sense of self-worth. But don’t make it up. Be sincere about anything you say or do.

Use some of their tactics in a principled manner. Do some self promotion in a way that ALSO promotes others. Network with the powers that be in a way that shows your value to the company. Don’t avoid them at social functions … seek them out. Read “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi for great tactics on how to do this.

Another reference for you: Dan King, Principal at Meaningful Careers, wrote a great article called “Winning at Organizational Politics without Losing Your Soul” that gives additional insights and reasons for not keeping your head in the sand. As he states in his article, politics is a game. “Play or not play, the game still goes on!”

By: Mark Beckford

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Marketing Strategy

The 2010 U.S. midterm elections have everyone talking politics. Regardless of whether you consider yourself politically active, you are likely involved in another form of politics every day: office politics.

Like it or not, politics will always be around – it’s how things get done. There is no way to avoid it (unless you work for yourself and never interact with anyone else professionally – which is quite rare!). If you’re not involved in the politics of business, you’re not playing the game. And if you’re not playing the game, you can’t possibly win. Successful professionals not only play the game, they play it well, and they play to win!

Many business professionals bemoan the existence of office politics and take pride in the fact that they don’t play that game. Although there is definitely an “ugly underbelly” to office politics, and it’s admirable to eschew being a part of that, they fail to realize the impact to their career. Office politics is simply the business of relationships and the “quid pro quo” (something in exchange for something else) inherent to every relationship. Unfortunately, there is no way to remove yourself from this exchange without missing out on the critical benefits that come with it.

Careers are made or broken based on relationships. And the painful truth is, when you need a relationship, it’s too late to build it. Mastering office politics essentially boils down to understanding the critical relationships within your department or business – who needs what from whom – and understanding how you play into that. Each time you do something for someone, you’ve earned a figurative “chip” that you can later cash in for something you need. By continually focusing on how you can create value for those you work with or work for, you build up political goodwill – and that goodwill is critical to ensuring a successful career.

Have you mastered the game or is the game getting the better of you? If office politics has you down, add the following five techniques to your political toolkit:

Know the unwritten rules. Clearly understand the unwritten rules that your company, your industry, and your network operate by. An example of an unwritten rule might be that no business is discussed at certain company functions (they may be considered purely social). If you approach your boss’s boss to pitch a new idea at one of those functions, your idea (as great as it might be) may never be considered. Understand the unwritten rules – your chances of winning the game will go up exponentially! Hone your negotiation skills. Approach political business situations as you would any negotiation. Do your homework and think through what you need, what the other person needs, what you have to offer, and how you can facilitate a win-win outcome. Master the “quid pro quo”. Consistently deliver value for those you work with, and keep in mind that the quid pro quo of office politics is something in exchange for something else. Don’t settle for always being on the “giving” end of that relationship – think about what you want in exchange and cash in your chips when it makes sense to do so. Find a mentor. Seek out someone at your company or in your industry who knows the ropes and is willing to help you hone your political business acumen. Ask lots of questions, study their methods, and model your approach after theirs. And in keeping with quid pro quo, be sure to return the favor! Stay in the game. Don’t avoid politically charged situations. Use them as opportunities to fine-tune your political savvy. Even if it feels uncomfortable to you at first, remind yourself that when you are actively involved in creating the solution it will generally reflect more of what you want. When you stand on the sidelines and refuse to get in the game, you miss your chance to influence the outcome.

So, get in the game, play it well, and WIN!

By: Julie Fischer

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Mental Illness News

Is Organization politics bad?
Whenever we hear the word politics – negative thoughts come up in almost everyone’s mind. Politics becomes bad when there is hidden agenda, using power and influence to further your personal interests, maligning your colleagues etc. Following are examples of bad politics

Regional/language bias Well, let’s accept this. We have a comfort feel if we have people from your region or who speak your language. Assume there are 2 people who have more or less the same competence. The person who is from the same region as the boss gets visibility, rewards, recognitions etc. Boss does the image building for this person and ignores the other person completely. So you could imagine the emotional state of other guy. Such issues could happen between peers at all levels. Perception spreading/Image tarnishing Let’s assume that an influential person has some perception about somebody or some thing. This person spreads his/her perception to other people. This could be done intentionally or unintentionally. But the damage it does is profound. If it is about a person, the person’s career is jeopardized or if it is about the project, the project is bound to fail or people involved in that project will get de-motivated or even resign. Hiding important information This point is self explanatory. Hiding important information which is required to do your work is most negative thing I can think of. The person hiding the information wants the other person to fail desperately for whatever reason. Misrepresentation of information In order to protect one’s image, the facts are misrepresented so that someone else’s image is tarnished. Most of the times this person will not be present to defend himself/herself and gets to know only after his/her image is tarnished. In order to change this, the person will have to work hard for quite sometime. Very often it will be difficult to re-establish the good image depending on how influential the person is.
Is Organization politics good?

What is politics? In my experience it includes gossiping, networking etc. Every organization will have grape vine for rumors, gossips, speculation etc. Following are examples of good politics

Networking/friends The backbone of office politics is networking. Without network of colleagues there cannot be politics. Once you start networking with your colleagues you will get to know more about your colleagues, their interests, the projects they are working on, the problems they face etc. This has multiple benefits. You know where other projects are positioned; you get information needed for doing your job in a better way, or advancing your career, getting that etc. You will get to know the pulse of your organization by getting to know what is happening within the organization. Most of the time you never get important information from your bosses but from your network and you could prepare yourself for any eventuality. This is most important source of information. Speculation For any controversial topic within organization, there will be speculation. Groups of people speculate on what will be the outcome of this topic and you get various insights into the topic. If it is about who will be next CEO or General Manager, you will get to know who the competent people in the company are. These kinds of speculation open up various possibilities and also offer insight into how your colleague’s thought process works and more importantly it provides invaluable insight into their emotional setup. The speculation could be started by involved parties also, so as to direct the actual outcome to be what they expect it to be. I have seen this working. Career development Little bit of politics will also help you to make advancements in career. You will get important information via networking/speculation regarding opportunities and new job openings. With this information you could position yourself based on your goals and contact the right person with right set of information. As and when you grow higher in hierarchy, the person has to be part of office politics to even retain his/her position or to grow further.
Summary
Most of what is discussed above is somewhat abstract, but this is what I have seen in many organizations that I worked for. To summarize, every organization will have politics and you should become part of it even if you like or dislike if you want career growth. Also one should cultivate good friendship and trust with at least some of your colleagues.On the other hand, senior leadership team should ensure that negative politics is not encouraged. It could bring down the organization itself.

By: Latha C

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Marketing Strategy

Politics is the field that really sets the difference between the notion of career and profession. Nowadays, politics is about art and industry. Let us see why so different dimensions govern the branch of politics.

First, all politicians must have major impact on people through their presence, their attitude, their professional background and education. A politician should match a certain profile that generally gathers positive and outstanding features. This profile should make people trust your abilities in order to him and his party.

It is worth mentioning that careers in politics do not require a particular field or a certain level in education, yet the wannabe politician should supplement these segments with special oratory skills, high-level of self-confidence and an out-of the ordinary psychological resistance to aggressive attitudes concerning his private life. Although personal skills are essential, staring a career in politics relies on your party’s support. Usually political support refers to moral, financial, and logistic support and generally results in political campaigns. Therefore, a career in politics should focus first on party’s support and then on political target.

Politics offers different career opportunities, and many successful politicians began their careers as lobbyists or political aides. These professions let you know all about w hat really happens in politics because a personal staff in fact accomplishes some of any reputable politician’s responsibilities. In order to meet all standards in politics, those who are in front of the people get a lot of support from behind the scene. Therefore, laws initiated by politicians are developed on thorough research and documentation and very often, an experts’ guidance is extremely helpful.

By: Alexandra Burlacu

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Marketing Strategy

This third article in this series about being politically savvy in the workplace builds upon the foundational insights of the prior two articles.

Office Politics I addressed the issue of neutralizing a toxic person at your workplace instead of committing either of the two fatal errors of trying to make them a friend or treating them like an enemy. Instead, we want to neutralize their toxic effect upon the work environment.

Office Politics II showed you how to use public displays of camaraderie to neutralize “behind your back” toxic communications.

This article looks at another technique for neutralizing a dangerous colleague in the workplace.

Judo and Karate

I’m not very good at either but have had lessons and advanced a ways into the rainbow of belts in both judo and karate. I know enough to really make a dangerous opponent even madder at me than they were before. But I did learn a fundamental difference between the two martial arts.

Karate involves a lot of blocks, punches and hits. Its fundamental nature is one of direct confrontation. An arm is thrown up to strike and block a blow. A kick releases the terrific power of leg muscles directly at a point of contact with the opponent. Again, karate is essentially direct blows.

Judo, on the other hand, uses the forward momentum of the opponent against them. Their charge towards you is gracefully turned into a sweeping curve that redirects their force in another direction and causes them to fall or be off balance. Let’s look at how this can play out in the almost martial setting of office politics.

Judo Words Instead of Karate Confrontation

We want to learn to use these ideas to avoid direct confrontation with the toxic words of our nastiest colleagues and redirect their forceful communications away and use it against them.

This is an article, not a book, so I’m going to focus on one practical example of how to apply this concept. Are you ready?

Application: Erase the word “but” from your vocabulary and replace it with “yes.”

I remember when a co-worker and friend of mine finally figured out I was doing this. An angry customer or co-worker would try to attack me and by the end of the encounter they were agreeing with me and smiling. My friend was amazed and couldn’t figure out what I was doing for a long time. After one rather heated beginning with the same collegial outcome, he rushed over to me with a big smile on his face.

“I got you,” he said. “You never confronted them with the word ‘but’ as I and almost everyone would do in our attempt to defend ourselves. Instead, you said, ‘and’ and totally took the wind out of their sails.”

He was right. After I began my first sentence with “and,” I would restate what they had said, reinforcing points I could agree with. As I talked, I would slowly move the conversation to where I wanted it. The force of their anger was redirected, diffused and their attack ended up being used against them.

Why This Works So Well

One of the reasons this works so well is that their mental rehearsal, their planning for this confrontation, has been dependent upon a confrontation. They have planned for karate blows back and forth with them as the bigger and stronger opponent. The switch to a different form (judo instead of karate) throws them off their plan and stops the attack. They literally don’t know what to do next.

I believe what happens is that they are momentarily stopped and don’t know what to do or say. At that point of vulnerability, they hear me (or you) agreeing with them. Their awkwardness is relieved by agreeing with me agreeing with them. Therefore, the entire dynamics have changed with one critical difference–I’m in control!

There are other judo words. Experiment, find and use them. They are more subtle than karate words but oh, so much more powerful.

This leads us to the next article in this series, “Even ****** Needed a Friend.” You might see this one as a little slimy but sometimes you do what you’ve got to do.

I hope you enjoyed this tip. Now get out there and do your share of neutralizing the acidity and have fun while you’re at it.

By: Richard Porr, Ph.D.

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business marketing strategies

Office politics is a significant player in nearly every organization. The bigger the organization the bigger the politics become. The “drama” associated with such games can cause serious problems for companies in terms of operations, innovation and morale. Companies that want to beat out their competitors need to keep down the level of politics that are being played in the nooks and crannies of the office.

The first thing we need to understand is that office politics is a normal part of doing business and will be part of any organizations. People are political creatures who naturally fight over resources. Even though the main goal of each employee is to protect the shareholder’s wealth, they also want to increase or maintain their own standard of living. This means gathering friends, collecting resources and increasing power.

It appears as though office politics is becoming more widespread. This is happening because we have moved from an era of command & control type structures to ones that encourage leadership. The concept of leadership has influence, navigation and negotiation imbedded within it. Thus leadership can sometimes mean playing politics.

The research firm Roffey Park conducted a poll of 490 managers and found that 60% of these managers believe that an increase in office politics is the greatest source of their stress. This stress filters down to employees and can cause morale problems. The more negative the morale the more likely you are going to lose good employees, have higher absenteeism and more disciplinary problems.

Operations are also negatively impacted by politics. When employees are fighting over resources and power they aren’t as likely to be focused on the welfare of the company. Judgment can become clouded if it violates a political taboo. For example, a good candidate is passed up for promotion for a poor one only because he doesn’t play golf or associate with the “right” people. Depending on the nature and extent of the political impact on operations the financial strength of the organization can be hampered.

In today’s highly competitive business world innovation is a major factor in maintaining viability. Companies that do not change find their products/services to be earning less revenue and becoming outdated. Innovation is fostered by new ideas that come from employees. A business full of office politics means that employees will be afraid to challenge, bring forth ideas or debate on issues. The more honest debate is stifled, the less innovation a company will have.

Office politics is more than simple gossip. It can impact your organization in profound ways. Such politics help to determine budgets, promotional operations, allocation of resources, power sharing and employee morale. Even though politics is a natural part of human life, its negative effects can be diminished by powerful leadership and transparency throughout the company.

By: Murad Ali

About the Author:

business and marketing

It’s more difficult to speak on the topic of power than it is to speak on money. We all believe in universal presence of power and its strength in determining all situations. While establishing any organization powers are assigned on relatively different perspectives. Mangers need a power to achieve his goals by using available resources. The process of influencing the behaviors of employees on the basis of managers’ wishes shows their dependency on authority. Formal power is based on information and rules which all employees has to follow. Reward power is based on achievements and it is distributed mainly with values.

Power is primarily received from the positions of individuals in formal hierarchy of organizations. Such legitimate power is applied to control and to rightly use the resources of organizations. Similarly referral power is attained by individuals on the basis of desirable resources or personal traits. Individual’s interpersonal style and personality execute charismatic power. Mangers use power tactics as a reaction to undesirable actions and to influence subordinates and supervisors. Tactics used by managers to influence supervisors comprised of reasoning, coalitions, friendliness, bargaining, assertiveness and high authority tactics. Similarly in order to influence subordinates, managers demonstrate tactics to bring out reasoning firstly than assertiveness, friendliness, coalition, bargaining, and high authority tactics. Sanctions are applied at the last stage of this process. Power in the group of professionals can be formally bound together and actively involved to get a common goal. Because of mismanagement and unequal powers in the workplace, illegitimate behaviors can be practiced like sexual harassment.

Studies are showing that, USA stands at the top in workplace sexual harassment incidence figures. Political behavior is not the formal role of requirements in organizations; but it is vital in bringing advantages and disadvantages distributions. Legitimate political behavior is accepted at some extent where as illegitimate political behavior is not welcomed in any good organization. Individual and organizational factors collectively determine the political behavior. Favorable outcomes can either be rewarded or averted with punishment. Beside that, reactive and protective behaviors can be used to defend blames or any change. Reactive behaviors showing individual impressions can even be managed accordingly.

Organizational politics also demand some ethics to follow while acting. Employees’ rights need to be assured before demonstrating any political initiative. Diversified group as a whole react abruptly to defend any political behavior. On the other hand each employee from different back ground reacts differently. Individual factors his job rules and responsibilities and organizational cultures; all impacts directly or indirectly in determining our political behaviors. Companies do need policies and security from the top management to tackle unacceptable outcomes from any political scenario. Similarly commitment from top management is required to clearly determine and verify the application of political behaviors in organizational management system.

By: Qaiser Fayyaz

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Marketing Strategy