The Role of Power and Politics in Organizations - Assignment Example

? P&G Procter&Gamble was founded for more than 180 years ago and since then the company seems to avoid mistakes and troubles. The policy of the company is based on the strategy of growth applying six types of power delegation. This paper studies the policy of the company, the employees and the leaders of P&G. Power and policy of any organization are to be planned but not just accepted as they are. It cannot be denied that they are formed under the influence of the surrounding environment but still the management of a company has to control and coordinate it. Moreover, it is advised to change the policy depending on the situation in the market or in the economy. The company that I am going to focus on is called Procter&Gamble. This company was set up a bit more than 180 years ago. The company operates in more than 190 countries and it is planning to expand its performance. Being such a giant in the world of washing powders and cosmetic utilities, the company should meet certain high requirements both in the public and inner policy of the company. The purpose of the company sounds as “to provide branded products and services of superior quality and value that improve the lives of the world’s consumers, now and for generations to come. As a result, consumers will reward us with leadership sales, profit and value creation, allowing our people, our shareholders and the communities in which we live and work to prosper” (http://www.pg.com). Having a purpose signifies about the planned strategy and policy of the company. Moreover, the company has the clearly-stated vision and strategy. The feedback from the customers is greatly appreciated since it adds to the improvement of the company. P&G claims it is striving for the life quality improvement but not for its income. The company has worked out the program of introducing environmentally friendly products. The policy of the company is based on the rule “to create the prosperous company from within it”. It implies the profound staff and management policy. The general goal of the company is to improve the life of every customer and to make him/her loyal to the company. The major elements of any organizational culture, such as purpose, values and goals, originate with the company formation and they are maintained and are to be transferred to the next generations. The growth strategy that the company of P&G sticks to means attracting new customers every day and making their life more meaningful. “Our Values reflect the behaviors that shape the tone of how we work with each other and with our partners”( P&G Must Proceed With Caution). Procter&Gamble has many principles that it demands from its staff and management. First of all it takes care about respect to each individual -no matter weather it is a customer, a manager or a potential buyer. The organization is indivisible from the people working for the organization and those people who keep it on float. The customers’ needs and demands are the top priority for the organization. The whole functioning of the company is strategically planned and worked out. Certainly, there are some cases, when a company has to act spontaneously in certain circumstances, but in general in has the plan of its development, operation and marketing. The next principle that is of great importance for any company is the one about innovations. Bringing in innovations is the main engine of the company’s development. Innovations are accepted both in the sphere of the product quality and in the sphere of advertising ad merchandising. The next point deals with competition – the company wants to be the best in its field. The only way to win the competition is to gain the customers’ loyalty and work on constant improvement of the company’s performance. Moreover, the company is focused not internally but externally. It means that the feedback with the customers is the dominant element for it. It cannot be said that the managerial system, and corporate culture is ignored - it is just not as important as knowing the wants and desires of the clients. There are many departments in the organization that constitute the perfect performance of the company. Each department is in charge for the particular area such as advertising or delivery. Though, only perfect interrelation and cooperation among departments can lead to the ideal result. To stay competitive in the market the company has to gain competitive advantages such as having a professional team working for the company. The hierarchy system is built in such a way that a person has always a chance to be promoted. According to the managers of the company the chance to be promoted is the best incentive for the company’s employees. Not money but prestige and pride force people to work better. Procter&Gamble is known for its unusual program of developing leaders. “Our approach to developing leaders at P&G is elegantly simple. We take the same rigorous and disciplined approach to developing leaders at P&G around the world in every business, in every region and at every level” (Vroom, 1973). Nowadays nearly 500000 people work for the company world-wide, and all of them are the best, because P&G has the best reputation for bringing up leaders. The system of recruiting contains the obligatory element of assessing a person’s abilities for being a leader. Speaking about leadership, the company tends to admit that hands-on experience develops the leader’s qualities best of all. In other words the power in the company is decentralized. Even those having positions of the middle managers are able to improve the performance of the organization by taking some vital decisions. The management of P&G sticks to the opinion that to become the leader a person has to be empowered. Six basic types of power that can be applied in the organization are to be considered within the organization of Procter&Gamble. The first type is called a legitimate power. It covers all those duties and responsibilities that are ascribed to the given post. The great advantage of P&G is that every employee knows his/her discretion and never exceeds it. The second type goes about referent power. “Referent Power means the power or ability of individuals to attract others and build loyalty, it's based on the charisma and interpersonal skills of the power holder” (Kamalick,   2006). Here we can be applied two theories stating that a person has inborn qualities of a leader, or that these features can be gained within a lifetime. Nevertheless, the referent power in P&G is usually applied while marketing, advertising or recruiting. P&G skilled employees are sent to universities and colleges to recruit the potentially prosperous students. Here they have to apply this type of power in order to persuade the students to join their company. The third type is called the expert power that embraces the expertise gained throughout the career. This power is applied in the managerial decisions or in the process of manufacture. The forth type is called information power. Sometimes it is very difficult to see the difference between the information and expert power, though the latter one has the constant inflow of information, while the first one rests on the gained knowledge. The fifth type is called the reward power and it deals with the ability to give to others rewards. Being rewarded has always been one of the best incentives for an employee. So, when one possesses such kind of power it is easy to manipulate others playing on their desire to be rewarded. And the last type of power is called the coercive power. “It means the application of negative influences onto employees. It might refer to the ability to demote or to withhold other rewards” (Kamalick, 2006). All three types of power are applied at P&G simultaneously. It signifies the developed managerial system and the desire to achieve high performance by any means. The dominant type of power is certainly the legitimate one, since the discipline in the organization is rather strict and every employee has to perform those functions given to him/her. While coercive power is applied in cases of overdue, strong negligence and disloyalty. The examples of the organizational policy that I have undergone are represented by the bonus for bringing in new clients. When an employee manages to draw up the card of a permanent customer, he gets the bonus in the amount of 10% from the bargain amount. This incentive encourages the dealers to seek for new clients that are ready to have a membership card with an organization. Though, on the other hand the cases of the delivery delay are punished with fines that are rather heavy. The same concerns other cases of negligence or non-fulfillment of the duties. Another example that describes the social policy of the company is the charity days to help those in need. For instance, P&G gave money for children ill with cancer or for those having AIDS. One of the latest companies carried out by P&G is the aid to women with breast cancer. This company was directed to the underdeveloped countries because usually there is a lack of equipment that can diagnose the disease on early stages. According to statistics, the majority of women die of cancer because of the late disease identification. As it has been demonstrated, P&G has a reasonable social policy with real goals and the desire to make the world better. Speaking about employees of the organization it must be mentioned that the degree of loyalty here is very high. People really want to work for the company and moreover, they want to develop and grow with it. Employees are satisfied with the compensation policy as well as with the career opportunities that it provides. It can be claimed with sure that the personnel department chooses only the best to be recruited. As mentioned above the company demands constant development from the authorities as well as from its employees. That is why the training is usually held within the company that is a must for the staff. These programs are paid by the organization demanding only time and attention from an employee. The leaders of the company are the role-models for the employees. All of them are self-made people who devoted the whole life to P&G. This encourages employees to work harder to be able to repeat their way up. All the leaders possess the leadership qualities and have enough power and reason to persuade their subordinates to perform well. It must be also mentioned that the training programs of leadership are also included in the obligatory training courses for employees. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Cook, C.   (2006). Bush Slumps When Gas Prices Surge.   National Journal, Vol. 38, Issue 7. 2. Vroom, V. ( 1973). Leadership and Descision making. Pittsburg: University of Pittsburg Press 3. Kamalick, J.   (2006). Bush turns his back on energy.   Chemical Market Reporter, Vol. 269, Issue 6, p. 10. 4. Schermerhorn, J., Hunt, J., & Osborn, R. (2005). Organizational behavior. 9th ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. 5. P&G Must Proceed With Caution. Marketing Doctor Blog. July 10, 2008. 6. Procter & Gamble board meets amid CEO reports." Associated Press at Boston Herald. Tuesday June 9, 2009 7. http://www.pg.com/en_US/index.shtml Read More