Implementation of Politcal Power Strategy - Annotated Bibliography Example

In our world, we are forced to deal with the politics of power. Power comes in two basic forms and we need to be aware of each in order to make headway in the modern world. Power has traditionally come through the control of the purse strings. The one who has the money has the power. The second controlling factor of power is the decision-making process. Those who have the responsibility for making decisions also have the power to motivate their underlings into a course of action. In this second form of power brokerage there might be more than one level of decision-making which would be represented by what is referred to as middle management.

These middle managers are charged with formulating the ideas that upper management then presents to the executives of the organization, as their own ideas. Change within any organization can be fraught with uncertainty. Resistance to change is almost a guaranteed outcome of implementation. There will always be those in the organization who will drag their heels in making any suggested change of direction because they are not comfortable with change. Communication and selling the idea of change is the only way to bring these people on board.

If communication is lacking and the individual does not feel that he is part of the process, change will be slow in coming, if at all. This type of problem can result in departments within an organization being in direct opposition. The health of the organization will suffer. The culture of change must be initiated from the very uppermost levels of the company or organization. The basics need to be laid out by those in control and the rational for making the change needs to be fully explained.

The first thing that must change in the course of making a company change is the attitude of the people or workers. The people in charge must be able to sell the staff on whatever is being suggested and this is accomplished only through good communication and the involvement of the entire set of workers. Upper level administration must make sure that the key people initiating the change are in place and that they have the attention of the working staff. For any change to be effective, the highest levels of administration must be sure that the change is necessary and the “top floor” must have a plan in place for initiating the change.

One of the truest statements in management is concerned with the lack of planning. If the upper level of administration fails to plan, then they are planning to fail. Failure is not something that is tolerated in any organization for any length of time. For a new project to succeed, everyone needs to be on the same page of the playbook and not watching the cheerleaders.