The Role of Organisational Politics in Organisations - Coursework Example

Executive Summary: This paper discussed the role of organisational politics in organisations. From analysis of literature, it can be said that organisational politics does exist in organisations irrespective of size. But in larger organisations politics is seen more mainly because, such organisations represent a miniature government structure. There is no advantage or disadvantage as such of politics in an organisation. it can only be said the organisational politics can influence an organisation in many ways. Survival, advancement, allocation of resources for departments, influencing human resource department for personal gain, human emotions and power are some of the reasons for the existence of such politics. To conclude it can be said that organisational politics is here to stay. The benefit that the company receives depends on the attitude of the leaders of the political organisation. As for suggestions as to what companies can do, the management should play it such a way that it is to the advantage of the organisation, the political groups and its members. Introduction: When one hears the word politics, what comes to the mind the power play between political parties and politicians. But politics can exist in other places also. Generally all large organisations whether it is the government itself or large private organisations are affected by the power play of politics. There is a general belief that larger the organisation the more the politics that will be found within it. The term organisational politics can be defined as “self serving and manipulative behaviour of individuals and groups to promote their self interests at the expense of others, and some times even organizational goals as well.” (Promoting Thought Leadership…: Organisational Politics Defined: Leadership and Organisational Politics). Of course there can be many definitions of the word because an exact interpretation cannot be given. This paper will discuss organisational politics inside the organisation. In doing so, advantages and disadvantages that may arise out of it will be discussed. Organisational politics: The above definition gives a general idea of what organisational politics is all about. Survival and advancement are two motivating factors for any individual especially in a large private organisation. In order to manipulate the normal process of advancement or to see that one’s job is secure, people resort to organisational politics. So, in a sense this concept is inevitable in a large business entity because both job security is non-existent and job advancement is dependent on a lot of other factors apart from politics. There might be other qualified people for the intended job or the management might consider bringing someone from outside. The candidate himself might not be up to the mark. All these are some of the reasons why people resort to playing politics inside an organisation. The definition given above also stresses another important factor. The play of organisational politics is such that in pursuit of individual goals, there might exist clashes with the organisation’s goals. In such a case the player will chose to satisfy his own needs than to work for his company’s demands. It was not until the 1970’s that this term began attracting attention of the world at large. This was mainly because as organisations began to grow in size, they developed all the characteristics of a miniature government. Influence of organisational politics: There is no advantage or disadvantage per se of organisational politics to the organisation. Advantage or disadvantage depends on the person who is the leader in the political circle within the organisation. In other words, if the leader and his followers have goals are in sync with that of the organisation, it is advantageous to the organisation and if not it is bad for the organisation. What can be discussed and analysed is the influence of politics on an organisation and then come to a conclusion as to its advantages and disadvantages. a. Different departments needed scarce resources for efficient functioning. It takes much more than mere company policy to assure that all optimum utilisation of resources took place. All departments would have been given targets to perform and in such a case, the priority of each department will be to see that the target is achieved. In that process people will use politics to leverage advantages to see that its resources are correctly met. “Now the build process is something that everyone must participate in but only one group can control. By its very nature it is not a democratic enterprise; it requires a certain amount of hierarchical and structural apparatus to work at all.” (Marasco). This might be true more for government organisations. If the organisation is able to effectively balance these needs, then politics is advantageous. If the departments achieve their targets, it will show positively on the bottom line of the company. b. Organisations are ultimately a collection of individuals. Each individual will have his or her own personal agenda and need in the organisation. For some it might be security, for others it might be advancement and for still another it might be better working conditions. “Power bases are developed that can accomplish more than individual forces alone.” (Strategic Leadership and Decision Making: Leveraging Power and Politics: The Political Frame). To see to it that his personal needs are attained, people will turn to political power within the organisation. For example, if the need for higher wages is more than what the company can pay, use of organisational politics for achieving that need might lead the company into a financial crisis. c. The existence of more than one power group will influence the play of politics in the organisation. Different political groups within the organisation will have their own needs and aims. This will naturally give rise to conflicts among the groups and such conflicts can only be resolved though political dialogues or negotiations. “Politics is means of recognizing and, ultimately, reconciling competing interests within the organization.” (Power and Organizational Politics: Organizational Politics). Each political group will try to make it more useful to its followers in the hope that it will gain more power by luring members from other groups into its own. If this practice becomes rampant, the organisation will suffer and hence disadvantageous for the organisation. d. One of the main areas where organisational politics play a major role is the Human Relations Department of an organisation. HRM functions have grown in importance over the years. Employee selection, evaluations, promotions, welfare and salary come under the control of the HR department. All these are directly related to the personal needs and goals of the employees. It is only natural that politics play a large part in trying to influence the HR department for favourable responses as regards the needs of the employees. This is also an area where non ethical behaviour can come into play strongly. Employees can try and get a favourable evaluation in spite of being a poor worker. That employee can try to influence the HR department through organisational politics to get a favourable evaluation. A weak HR department that get influenced by such demands will only serve to bring down the efficiency of the organisation. Political organisations can be formed on the basis of culture or race also. In such situations members of such political groups tend to belong to a particular culture or race. Such groups use politics to influence such decision such as selection and promotion to favour employees that belong to the same culture or race. They may also try and influence the company not to select or promote people belonging to a different culture or race. Another factor in this case is the existence of discrimination on the basis of race or culture. If the organisation practices discrimination, such affected members may try to form political groups to try and change the organisational attitude. “The power and politics approach recently employed to examine HRM in organisations has largely concentrated on the micro level, that is, focusing on influence behaviours of employees on HRM decisions affecting their individual interests, such as performance evaluation, selection, salaries, and rewards”. (Porter, Angle and Allen). e. External politics can influence organisational politics also. It the organisation is engaged in a business that has national interests like say defence or space, external politics will influence the organisation through the organisational political machinery. Suppose the organisation is engaged in some defence contracts for the government and it is needed to be speeded up for gaining political mileage for the government. In such a case, the government will try and influence the organisation to do so directly and through the organisation’s internal political mechanisms. The organisation stands to gain a lot if the direction from the government is achieved. Conclusion: It can be seen here that there is no clear cut advantage or disadvantage that accrues to the company due to influence of politics. As argued in each of the points mentioned above, it is clear that benefits and threats depend on many factors and will vary from company to company. It may also vary under different circumstances. It will depend on the ethics of the leaders of the political groups. It will depend on whether political goals and organisational goals are in agreement or not. It will depend on the strength of individual departments like HRM as to how much they give in to the demands or not. Recommendations: There is no good or bad in organisational politics. What the organisation and its management can do is to manage the situation to the advantage of the political groups, its followers and the organisation itself. “Political Savvy has always been the hidden side of leadership. The relentless onslaught of rapid change alters the very nature of organizations.” (Organizational Politics: Benefits of Political Savvy Advantage ™). One thing that is certain is that organisational politics is here to stay and companies had better learn to manage and live with it. Works Cited Promoting Thought Leadership…: Organisational Politics Defined: Leadership and Organisational Politics. ALAGSE. 12 May. 2008. . Strategic Leadership and Decision Making: Leveraging Power and Politics: The Political Frame. National Defence University. 12 May. 2008. . Porter, Lyman W. Angle, Harold L. and Allen, Robert W. Organizational Influence Processes. Power, Politics and Symbolic Action. M E Sharpe. . Marasco, Joe. Build it and they will come: Obstacle No1: Organizational Politics. IBM. 27 Apr. 2004. 14 May. 2008. . Organizational Politics: Benefits of Political Savvy Advantage ™. Organizational Politics.org, Developing Ethical Leadership for Corporate and Career Advancement. Evergreen Business Group. 2006-2008. 14 May. 2008. . Power and Organizational Politics: Organizational Politics. Lesson -30. 14 May. 2008. . Read More