Managing with Power, Politics, and Influence in Organizations - Coursework Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : End-of -Term Reflection Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Introduction Term three of year 2010 in CQ University in Australia was a bit demanding as everyone was eager not only to meet the goals and objectives of the term but also of the entire academic year for the qualifications of moving to the next level. Two weeks before the term commenced, the management of the institution had posted the time table showing the units to be covered on the website although the information was subject to change or to be updated regularly. The students were expected to keep on accessing the website to be informed in case of changes in the contents; either in the timetable of the units and examination. The study below is a reflection of the activities which took place through out the third term of year 2010 and their relevance to the organizational behavior. The most relevant topics are discussed and the organization theory which is considered in the achievement of the goals and objectives of the organization by determining its behavior. End-of-term reflection There are many topics covered in various units concerning organization behavior. These include Power and Politics, Bargaining Strategies, Organization Structure and National Culture and Organizational Culture which are considered to be relevant to the general behavior of an organization. Power and Politics The application of power and politics in the behavior of an organization is becoming very common to many of the organizations. Because of the varied individual aims and objectives as differing interests attract people to become part of the organization apart from the general goal set to be achieved by the entire organization. The validity of the objectives results into conflicts among the members as they struggle to compete for the expenditure of the available resources with the aim of satisfying personal needs. This competition affects the use of power and politics because the politicians have the powers. Therefore they consider anything possible to first meet their needs before considering those of the others. Thus to most of the people, power and politics is considered to be bad because most of the powerful people are seen to be selfish and manipulative. The reason as to why this topic is taught in class is because of its necessity in the management. The managers may not be able to effectively carry on their duties unless they have the power to lead. Some of the researchers like Jeffrey Pfeffer in his book `Managing with Power, Politics and Influence in Organizations’ argues that being in power is having the ability to make people do things that they would not have done. He explains that power works to influence the behavior of other people in an organization thus enhancing general organizational behavior. The political positions determines the power positions which gives the authority to have control over the available resources for example, physical facilities, budgets and the access of the information. The management of the organization comes up with the general goals and objectives to be achieved by the entire organization and comes up with the ways of implementing the methods of their achievement through the use of the power. The leaders use the power to make the other workers behave in a uniformly way (Pfeffer, 2003, p. 179-185). Bargaining Strategies The negotiators or the bargainers are always with the intention of winning or gaining their personal principals. Sometimes they undergo many difficulties in the achievement of their objectives especially if their opponents are politicians or those in power hence may make use of their position and authority to dictate on them. One of the bargaining strategies is to seek for a source of power to assist in their cause. Once in authority they have the power to seek audience hence excel in their tasks. These negotiations are essential in any organization because it highly influences the decision made. The other strategy is reflecting of the precedents experiences since it is rare to have a unique and new problem but most of them have been encountered and resolved before, this acts to add knowledge on ways of dealing with related issues. The negotiators also get extra knowledge which they require to convince their opponents hence they win the task (Tamara & International Association of Business Communicators, 2006, p. 254-262). Organization Structure The structure of the organization highly influences the relationship between the members and how they behave towards each other. This structure consist of the most common activit6ies of an organization, these include allocation of taxes, supervision and coordination based on the objectives set and their achievement. All the members of an organization are expected to behave in ways showing that they are willing to achieve the set goals and objectives, for example, they should be punctual and serious at work. Therefore the structure of any organization is depended on the goals and objectives hence it dictates the modes of operation and performance. It is best applied during the process of allocating duties to various individuals and organizations. It highly affects the actions of an organization through two ways: provision of the foundation in which the operating procedures and routines rest and determinations of the individuals who participate in the process of decision making. These decisions influence the behavior of the people in an organization as they work towards it. The organization culture is what makes it more unique to the others thus it can be easily recognized. This culture is determined by the actions and behaviors of the people identified with certain organizations. The National culture highly influences the behaviors of the individuals, groups and organizations within the borders. These are mostly dictated through the court laws or constitution rules thus it is mandatory for any member to follow them. The importance of cultivating or establishing a stable organizational culture is because of its ability to establish a common and well aligned behavior of the employees. The subject on the `Teachings About the Living World’ which we learnt during the term discussed on the issues of individual and organizational behavior in relation to our lives in the world. People join together and agree on a culture for their organization or group then various groups in a nation agrees on the cultures to guide them (Witte & Muijen, 2000, P. 42-44). The key strength of the cultural perspective in organizational behavior is the recognition of the: fact that cultural attitudes and values differs from one group of people to the other. Various cultural groups or organizations behave in differing ways even under similar circumstances because of the variety in the underlying attitudes and values. Culture plays an important role in molding the organizations at work and other social institutions. The system theory This is an organizational behavioral theory which although was invented by Hungarian biologist Bertalanffy in 1928 was not commonly applied in the normal situations of organizations until recently. The theory argues that all the components in an organization with common goal and objective are interrelated thus interfering with one might cause pronounced changes to the other. The organizations whether business or not are assumed to be open systems since they continually interact with the environment hence are expected to be always in the state of equilibrium or stability to adapt well to the changes in the surrounding. CQ University in Australia is one of the biggest learning institutions since it encompasses learning campuses hence numerous students and working staff like the lecturers and other staffs in the organization. The general goal of each unit and the organization at large is successful academic achievement although there are other unit based objectives. The system concentrates on specialization of system thinking and generalization of the system science. The education institution came up with a common behavior and culture to be adapted by all the members to communally work towards the achievement of the set goals and objectives. The actions of the members shape the reality or the cultures, the positive attitudes of the students and workers in the organization towards the achievement of the set goals and objectives influence the way we behave in the organization. For example, we had a forum with the Chancellor and the other staff members when we resumed for third term and among the agendas, we discussed issues pertaining the conduct of the students and our lecturers. It was agreed that we should always ensure that we are in class in time and those who late should not exceed 30 minutes and one should ensure that he attends at least three quarters of the sessions so as to qualify for the main examination as well moving to the next level (Miner, 2006, p. 167-169). This was reflected in the behavior of the students and teachers all through the term because everyone seemed very serious with his or her responsibility. The whole institution is guided by a common timetable which directs various individuals where they are supposed to be at any given time and interfering with one means that all the others are affected. For example, during the graduation ceremony, only the finalists were involved but the occasion affects the program of the entire institution not only in the main centre but also in the other units. This because some of the teaching staffs participated in the running of the program and the facilities such as offices, halls and cafeteria was used by the guests. Other facilities like the computer laboratories and libraries were closed and other demarcated for security purposes. The normal program was therefore affected and the students were expected to adapt to the new one. The system theory argues that in any system there must be system of leadership in any organization which follows some hierarchy thus the leaders are able to consult each other in case of an issue (Mawhinney, 2008, p. 42-48). The CQ University in Australia University has a well established leadership system ranging individual students to the chancellor of the institution. Each of the individual student is his or her own leader since he decides what to do at any given time and what to not to do. In case of any problem the individuals approaches the class representative who passes the information to the relevant officers. Any information from the officers follows the same protocol to reach the students and the other individuals in the organization. Various departments in the organization have their own ways of attaining their goals. For example, the security department has its own ways of doing things, for instance they agree on who is to be where at any time and how to handle issues of insecurity in case they arise. All these departments come up to form the behavior of the entire organization since they all interrelate and all contribute to the achievement of each. Conclusion Every member of an organization plays a great role in determining the organizational behavior. This is because each individual comes up with his or her personal ways of doing things and bring them together to come with a common behavior enhanced by the goals and objectives set to be achieved by the organization. The topics covered during the terms which are relevant to the behavior and cultures of an organization include Power and Politics, Bargaining Strategies, Organization Structure and National Culture and Organizational Culture and the theory found to be very essential in the establishment of the cultures of CQ University in Australia is system theory. Bibliography Pfeffer, J. Managing With Power: Politics and Influence in Organizations: Managing with Power: Politics and Influence in Organizations, (3) 1, 2003; p. 179-185. Witte, K. & Muijen, J., Organizational Culture: European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 2000, (8) 4, 2000; P. 42-44. Tamara, L. &International Association of Business Communicators, The IABC handbook of organizational communication: a guide to internal communication, public relations, marketing, and leadership: Volume 2 of J-B International Association of Business Communicators, (2) 1, 2006; p. 254-262. Miner, J. Organizational Behavior 3: Historical Origins, Theoretical Foundations, and the Future Volume 3 of Organizational Behavior, (3) 2, 2006; p. 167-169. Mawhinney, T. Organizational behavior management and statistical process control: theory, technology, and research: Journal of Organizational Behaviour Management, (4)2, 2008; p. 42-48. Read More