Organizational Behavior and Performance - Report Example

Topic: Organizational Behavior and Performance Introduction Leadership is the process whereby group activities are influenced towards achievement of the laid down goals and objectives (Steven, 2012). On the other hand, Management is the process of coordinating, controlling, planning and organizing the operations of the organizations for the achievement of the objective of the company (Gareth, 2012). Therefore, a leader is a person who has capabilities to influence a group to work willingly. An effective manager in an organization should be a good leader to lead and guide the other subordinates towards achievement of the organization’s objectives and goals. As a leader, he /she should be able to influence the conduct and behavior of the team members to the interest of the organization. According to Impact Achievement group (2011), the main resource that any manager should have to manage the performance of other junior workers or employees is their influence and time. Influence is the ability to motivate the employees in the company by use of power. The potential of the person to influence is the social power. Moreover, social power is the resources or the ability that enables a manager to create commitment and compliance from others (Gareth, 2012). The paper reviews how managers can use power and politics to help them in achieving the objective of the organization. The objectives of the company To increase the company performance through increasing the market share. How managers can influence the achievement of the objective using power According to Steven (2012), power is a means of facilitating the managers to achieve goals and is the capacity of the manager to influence decisions and actions of the work. Managers use power as a way of influencing the subordinates to attain the objectives of the company. In other words, it is a means of getting things done through other people. In the article of the National Defense University (2013), the two main sources of power mostly used by the managers are the position power and personal power. In many formal settings, there are laid down structures on how power flows as per the positions held. The manager or the holder of the position receives or access power based on his or her position in the hierarchy of the organization. Such power is called legitimate power (Impact Achievement group, 2011). Unlike the other forms of power, which the manager can use to achieve the objective of the company in increasing the market share of the company, legitimate power has authority and is universally accepted by everyone in the company (Meyer, 2005). The manager as the team leader is given the power to influence performance. In achievement of the company objectives, to increase the market share of the company, the manager can use performance appraisals to push employees to work hard for the company to increase sales and improve in market share. The manager can use job assignment, formal rewards, promotions, discipline and recommendations for promotions under merit based on the appraisals. Additionally, the manager can use the power conferred to him /her to set standard for the company in addition to establishing of objectives and goals and provision of performance feedback. However, improper use of power leads to loosing of the performance accountability of the employees (Bacharach et al, 1980). The manager can use the personal power, which is inherent in him like his personal qualities, to achieve the objectives of the company. The personal power and respect comes after establishing a sense of fair play, integrity, character, truthfulness, competence, use of information, likeability and expertise (Steven, 2012). Therefore, effective use of personal power is exhibited when employees’ commitment in achievement of the objective is felt and seen at work. This is because, its influence is based on employees feeling of fairness, integrity and all the other mentioned traits. Expert power is another form of power that gives mangers a change in leading others. The manager displays superiority in skill in a specific area through being able to realize solutions to a problem. Expert power is important for the manager to realize the objective of increasing market share of the company in comparison to the other competitors. An expert and skilled manager will lead by an example therefore defining the way for the subordinates (Gareth et al., 2012). This is achieved through experience. In addition to expert power, the manager should also use the information power to help him steer the company in realizing the laid down objective. Information power simply means the ability to access valuable information to other people. This may range from information on how the market is doing, how their competitors are doing, the requirements for the achievement of the objectives, to the direction being taken by their production line. Therefore, a manager who has a wide information base has more power since subordinates expect the information to be transmitted to them (Impact Achievement group, 2011). Coercive power is another form of power, which a manager can use to achieve the objective of the company. In involves application of instilling fear among the subordinates so as to achieve the desirable objective or the personal gain in a company. There are many instances I have witnessed the use of cohesive power among the managers. The manager typically used threats such as physical sanctions for instance movement restriction, and worse affliction of pain and controlling by force. Coercive power manifests itself in organizations among the managers if they have the power to suspend and demote. These occur under the assumption that the junior employees value their jobs (Gareth et al, 2012). Similarly, according to Bacharach (1980), the managers can achieve the objectives of the company to increase the market share through application of application of power is seen in reward power which is contrary to coercive power. In my case, the subordinates tended to work toward achieving the company’s objective of increasing the market share because they knew their work will produce positive benefits. Therefore, if a manager can give out rewards that other workers view as valuable, they will work hard to expand the company hence increasing the market share of the organization. In most cases the reward are things that are mostly valued by the workers. Additionally, the manager can use hi/her charismatic power to steer the organization in achieving the objectives of the company. Charismatic power stems from the personal traits, personality, in born abilities to make people believe in you. In their article entitled, The New Manager’s Guide to Understanding Influence and Power, impact Achievement (2011), states that a charismatic manger will always gain respect and others also tend to give him/her the reins of power define the visions and goals for the organization. The manager can achieve the objective of the company if he is charismatic and further excite the whole organization and take it to higher levels. How managers use politics to achieve the objective of the organization According to National Defense University (2013), organizational politics is the ability to understand people at work while influencing others using the same knowledge to enhance the objectives of the organization. Organizations’ politics can also be defined as application of the tactical influence, which is strategic to goal achievement and is directed to promote self-interest in support or at the expense of others. The two definitions offer a proof that there exists politics in organizations. In any organization or a company, there exists competing interests in the organization and they tend to resolve their conflicts through political systems in the organization (Sielearning, n.d). In achieving the objective of increasing the market share, the manager should map out the flow of power in the business (Lewis, 1998). The managers need to be familiar with the political systems in the organizations in order to achieve its objective effectively (Bacharach et al, 1980). Many shareholders and the owners of the business organizations have the major influence on the organization’s political landscape through their skills in conflict resolution, decisions and their ability to inspire and support their team. Therefore, for the manager to be successful in achieving the objective of increasing the market share of the company, he/she should provide clear but rational directives to their subordinates as a way of keeping them on the track (National Defense University, 2013). In many organizations, there are many negative politics, which the manager should try to avoid or minimize with all means. Negative politics and infighting presents a source of stress to the business environment and this may result to destructive influence. Employment of subversive methods to push for personal agendas that may undermine the mission and the objective of the company is the characteristic of negative politics. According to Gareth et al. (2012), to achieve the objective of the organization using politics, the manager can employ the following tactics of negative politics, finger pointing, threats and reprisals. Many managers use impression management as part of organizational politics to enhance their personal standing or of the department they head within the organization. The manager seeks to control flow of information with the main aim of creating a favorable impression (Bacharach et al, 1980). To achieve the objective of increasing the market share, the manager will misrepresent himself to the management to highly rate their goals and propel him to achieve the objective. Conclusion In conclusion, although power and politics are always termed dirty, to management it is otherwise. These very important skills should be sustained and developed by the managers. Effective use and application of politics, information power and personal power among the managers is significant. The influence on the other employees is guaranteed when power and politics is applied well by the manager and therefore credibility and respect within the organization will be gained. The manager should also use persuasion over coercion in his/her daily management duties. Furthermore, the manager should always strive to be patient, open-minded, be compassionate and avoid confrontations and most importantly maintain high integrity. References Bacharach, S. B., & Lawler, E. J. (1980). Power and politics in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Garreth, R, J. Jenipher, M, G. (2012). Contemporary management. Retrieved from campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/.../Chapter02.ppt. On 11 April 2013. Impact Achievement group (2011). The New Manager’s Guide to Understanding Influence and Power. Retrieved from http://www.impactachievement.com/influence_and_power.html. On 11th April 2013. Lewis, J. C. (1998). Management By Objectives. The Pfeiffer Library 20. 57-66. Meyer, J. (2005). Stakeholder Power Analysis. Power Tools. Retrieved from http://www.policy-powertools.org/Tools/Understanding/docs/stakeholder_power_tool_english.pdf. on 15 April 2013. National Defense University. (2013). Strategic leadership and decision-making: leveraging power and politics. Retrieved from http://www.au.af.mil. On 11 April 2013. Sielearning. (n.d). Strategic Management and Power, Authority and Influence. Retrieved from http://sielearning.tafensw.edu.au/MBA/9791L/9791/power_outcome_3.htm. On 11th April, 2013 Steven, L. (2012). Organizational Politics Due to Unclear Objectives. Dublin: Demand Media Press. Read More