Leadership and Leading: Impact of Power, Politics and Conflict on Employees in Unilever

This report discusses the impact of power, politics and conflict on employees in Unilever. It explains the different types of power and how they are used, the negative impact of politics, and the causes and effects of conflicts in the workplace. The report also includes a reflective statement on the importance of effective communication and leadership skills in managing these factors.

Leadership and leading

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
Academic Analysis.................................................................................................................3
Reflective statement...............................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES:.............................................................................................................................11
Books and Journals...............................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Leadership and leading refers to the influencing the behaviour of people in the
organisation. Whereas leading means to indicate the way to ab individual for carrying out the
activities or future tasks. Leadership and leading play an important role for organisations in
directing the resources of the business in order to achieve the objective and efficiency.
Leadership contributes towards the various benefits of the organisations like organise resources,
motivate employees to grow, conflict management and fulfilment of business goal (Azorín,
Harris and Jones, 2020) .Unilever is the largest consumer good company of UK. It was
established in 1929, it deals in wide ranges of products like food items, beauty and personal care
products. In this report, there will be discussion on impact of politics, powers and conflict on the
employees of the organisation. It will include the explanation regarding definition, impact and
theories related to them. Also there will be explanation of short reflective summary on the
learning outcomes based on concepts related to power, politics and conflicts.
MAIN BODY
TASK
Academic Analysis
Every organisation consist several factors which influence the performance level of the
business. Factors like power, politics and conflicts influences the behaviour and performance
level of the employees (Kammerhoff, Lauenstein, and Schütz, 2019). The concepts related to
power, politics and conflicts in context of Unilever is described below in detail:
Power
Power refers to the ability of leaders or mangers of the organisation to influence the
behaviour of the firms employees in order to get tasks done. Power is basically used by the top
level of the organisations. In context of Unilever, leaders of the organisation use power in
directing, staffing the working of their subordinates (Lukoschek, Gerlach, Stock, and Xin,
2018) . Different forms of power are used by the mangers and leaders for influencing
employees, can create different impact on relationship between members of the organisation. It
helps in proper effective working of the organisation which creates positive impact on the

organisational performance. There are following various types of power which is used by the
firms.
Types of power
Coercive power- This power refers to influencing the people to perform the task against
their choices and interest. It is considered as a punish power and create a negative impact on the
employees. It can lead employees termination and push them to leave the job. In context of
Unilever company do not focus on this type of powers because it can leads employees turnover.
It can create negative brand image in the mind of employees and reduce the productivity level.
Reward power- It refers to providing benefits to people for performing something. This
power is considered as a most benefited power which requires at every stage of the organisation.
In context of Unilever, the higher level of mangers and leaders provides financial and non-
financial incentive to employees who perform well. For example- salary, wages, safety and
health securities. This helps in increasing the organisational efficiency and create positive brand
image.
Legitimate power- It refers to monitoring and controlling business resource for effective
working. Unilever leaders are responsible for managing organisational resources and takes all the
decisions. Effective control over the resources enables the mangers to find not performing
resources and weakness areas of the organisation.
Expert power- It indicates the power remains in the hands of person who is highly
skilled and knowledgeable. This power is considered as an most powerful power in business.
Unilever leaders and mangers formulate all the strategic plans and decision that subordinates
needs to follow. CEO and leaders of the company are accountable to use such type of power and
no other subordinates allowed to use.
Referent power- This power is derived from a person attractiveness, worth and values.
Unilever leaders hold this types of power at workplace and decides all working strategies, rules
and regulations. It enables the members of the organisation to maintain proper communication
and coordination chain among them. Proper allocation of resources, authorities improves the
productivity level of the organisation.
Informational power- It refers to the ability of a person to control the information which
is necessary for functioning. Unilever leaders and managers checks and collect necessary
information related to the specific tasks. Proper flow of information enables the employees to

gain necessary knowledge and details for effective performance. It helps in removing the errors
which can restrict the organisational performance and builds employees knowledge area.
Politics
Politics refers to the attention of an individual on their personal interest rather than
business goals. Politics can occur when employees needs higher job position, inequality, wrong
organisational decisions and competitiveness. It can create a negative impact on the performance
and internal environment of the organisation. Firms which involves politics at their workplace
can build chances of depression, anxiety level among the members (Park, 2018) . Basically,
there are various types of politics in organisations that can influence the employees performance
level. According to kacmar and Baron (1999) organisational politics refers to the individual
actions that are directed towards the personal goal of the person without regard to the
organisational goal. As per the reference of kacmar and Baron organisational politics have
significant impact on the employees stress and engagement through working of the firm.
Through this it is also identified that psychological method explains the impact of politics on
employees engagement and stress level. It indicates that work meaningfulness is the factor which
brings politics in their mind. When employees feel that the work done by them is not useful as
per the work environment. Also when there is competitor existence in the organisation among
members related to good work outcomes, high job position and other personal factors. When the
interpersonal relation between subordinates an superiors is not good then it can create politics.
Organisational politics leads employees to put their less efforts towards the working of the
organisation goal. Politics create a negative psychology in the mind of employees related to the
organisation internal environment. It leads employees termination and restriction from the
organisation. This directly impact on the overall performance level of the organisation. It is
necessary for managers and leaders to maintain their relation with their subordinates in order to
have politics free working environment. This will helps in good team work and reduce the
employees termination from the organisation.
Organisational politics play role at every stages of the business. Every firms involves
politics at their workplace between the employees and superiors. For example- Unilever also
involves politics at their workplace within the boundaries of the organisation (Knotts, et.al
2022). Some people make informal networks in order to communicate the informations within

them. Also the firm follow the rock type of politics in their organisation that enables the
subordinates to follow their superiors orders and instructions. Managers influence the employees
to give their best efforts towards the working and focus more on organisational goals rather then
personal objectives. It directly builds a positive affect on the performance of Unilever. For
example- In ASDA, the global expansion of the firm is not wide they collaborate within the area
of UK. It creates less political impact on the organisation due to less collaboration with other
countries and low involvement of people. Company follow high ground of politics within the
organisation boundaries. Managers or leaders of the business delegate the authorities from them
to their subordinates. Also maintain good relation with the employees of the organisation and it
restricts the chances of politics between members.
Conflict
Organisational conflict refers to the disagreement between two or more person. At
workplace, when two or more people interact and their opinion are in different from each other
then it give rise to conflict (Mansur, Sobral and Islam, 2020). In context of Sainsbury's, conflict
situation exist at the workplace between members of the organisation. Organisational conflict
can create a negative impact in the mind of employees and can brings the inefficiency work
level. There are following factors which influence the organisation culture in context of
Unilever-
Undefined responsibilities- It refers to when the roles and responsibilities are unclear
and lack of clarity. It is related to who is responsible for which project and how to perform the
task, it creates conflict.
Scarcity of resources- Resources are considered as an important reason of organisational
conflict. Main reason behind occurrence of conflicts in organisation is lack of resources like-
money, time and materials. Members of the organisation compete with each other for resources
and it give rise to conflict situation.
Interpersonal relationship- It refers to the maintaining relation with members of the
organisation. At workplace, conflict occurs when there are interpersonal issues among members.
In business every members are different from each others, they cannot easily agree upon others
thoughts, decisions (Høstrup and Andersen, 2022). Unilever managers and leaders maintain
their relation with subordinates so there can be chances of disagreement upon the declensions

and ideas of managers. It can create a negative impact on the productivity level f the
organisation.
Conflict of interest- it indicates that when individual have two interest like their personal
interest and organisational goal. Conflict may arise when people focus more on their personal
goal rather than organisational goal that hinders the organisational success. Unilever employees
work for the same motive towards attaining organisational goals.
Conflicts in an organisation result in frustration among members which lower down their
productivity. Employees become stressed and experience pressure which is not appropriate for
performing operations for the achievement of targets. For example, Unilever experienced large
number of absenteeism, decreased productivity, termination and turnover, work disruptions and
project failures due to conflicts. It affects the coordination among employees which creates
confusion and disturbances during operations which is not acceptable (Zuber and Weberg, 2020).
Overall organisational functions are disturbed due to the improper behaviour of employees
towards each other. They need to develop better understandings so that they can control conflicts
effectively. It also exposes business weaknesses which affect their brand image in their
respective market. Sometimes Unilever faces a lot of challenges due to their internal conflicts
which affect their overall revenue generation rate and profitability. Conflicts indirectly affect the
quality and standard of products and services which organisation offer to the targeted audience.
Organisation have to focus on the main problem which is the reason for conflict so that they can
develop appropriate alternatives and solutions in order to overcome them.
Managers of Unilever have to become problem solvers so that they can create peace and
harmony at workplace which regulate their growth. It is important to satisfy the requirements and
demands of employees on regular basis which lower down the causes of conflicts. It also arises
various legal concerns for an organisation which requires lot of time and cost in order to resolve
them. Managers of Unilever should regularly interact and communicate with their employees so
that they can understand various factors which affect the positivity of their workplace. The
working environment of an organisation becomes highly negative which lower down the rate of
performance of employees (Joiner, 2019). Workforce create assumptions by themselves which
were inaccurate for the growth and development of an organisation. Unilever have to formulate
strategies which are best suitable according to their business requirements.

Reflective statement
Organisations involve power, politics and conflicts which have their own impact on their
growth and development to great extent. Power can be described as ability of individuals who
can guide and influence employees in particular direction for the commencement of operations.
Power should be utilised in positive manner so that organisation can generate revenues rather
than lower down their productivity (Miller and Ives, 2020). There are various types of powers
which organisation assign to their managers and leaders so that they can develop a suitable
working environment for each and every individual. Politics can be said as more personal
interest which individual gained from their job positions. It can create negative work
environment if employees and managers involve themselves in negative politics. Politics should
be avoided by employees so that they can focus on the main targets rather than indulging
themselves in wrong activities. The increased use of politics can directly create conflicts at work
place due to differences in behaviour and traits of employs. It is responsibility of managers to
assign equal duties and responsibilities so that employees can reduce conflicts in appropriate
manner.
I have analysed that power, politics and conflicts should be used in appropriate manner so
that equivalent balance can be maintained in an organisation. Managers should focus on the
activities carried out by employees on regular basis so that they can control the negative impact
of all the factors. It is required to develop various skills in order to overcome the problems
related to conflicts and politics (Stamopoulos and Barblett, 2020). Critical thinking skills and
leadership skills are essential for shaping the organisational structure in required manner.
Effective communication skills can be involved so that conflicts can be resolved by sharing
thoughts and views among each other. I have learned that leaders should influence and guide
individuals in right direction so that they can contribute their efforts towards achievement of
goals. I can use power in positive manner by providing knowledge regarding different operations
which are necessary for the establishment of brand image.
For example, organisations like Unilever have to formulate policies regarding the use of
politics and power to limited extent. It is important to follow all the rules and regulations so that
it eliminates the factors which become main reason for arising conflicts at workplace (Owusu-
Ansah, 2020). I always ensure that communicating with other employees according to the
requirements can resolve problems at initial stages. It provides positive outcomes which assist

overall organisation in accomplishment of their goals. I have analysed that organisations should
provide equal opportunities and rights to all the employees so that they can commence operations
in a desired manner. Effective utilisation of available resources can help in maintaining positive
workforce for all employees.

CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that leadership is essential part for each and
every organisation. Leaders influence each and every individual in appropriate direction so that
they can follow all the rules and regulations for the achievement of success. It is necessary to
lead in positive manner by utilising available resources in effective and efficient manner. Leaders
play essential role in providing right path and direction to overall workforce which should be
followed in correct manner. Influencing workforce assist overall organisation in achieving their
targets prior to their deadlines which is a positive factor contributing in their growth. This report
discussed about academic analyses related to 3 concepts which are power, politics and conflict.
The role of all the three concepts is analysed in an organisation and their impacts are also
discussed with the help of real life businesses. At the end, reflective statement is also explained
related to politics, power and conflicts.

REFERENCES:
Books and Journals
Azorín, C., Harris, A. and Jones, M., 2020. Taking a distributed perspective on leading
professional learning networks. School Leadership & Management, 40(2-3), pp.111-
127.
Beckley, J.M., 2020. Leading and Following: The Co‐Construction of Leadership. New
Directions for Community Colleges, 2020(191), pp.57-66.
Høstrup, M. and Andersen, L.B., 2022. Leading to make a difference for whom? How vision
content moderates the relationship between transformational leadership and public
service motivation. International Public Management Journal, 25(4), pp.585-599.
Joiner, B., 2019. Leadership agility for organizational agility. Journal of Creating Value, 5(2),
pp.139-149.
Kammerhoff, J., Lauenstein, O. and Schütz, A., 2019. Leading toward harmony–Different types
of conflict mediate how followers’ perceptions of transformational leadership are related
to job satisfaction and performance. European Management Journal, 37(2), pp.210-221.
Knotts, K., et.al 2022. Leading from the inside out: a meta-analysis of how, when, and why self-
leadership affects individual outcomes. European Journal of Work and Organizational
Psychology, 31(2), pp.273-291.
Lukoschek, C.S., Gerlach, G., Stock, R.M. and Xin, K., 2018. Leading to sustainable
organizational unit performance: Antecedents and outcomes of executives' dual
innovation leadership. Journal of Business Research, 91, pp.266-276.
Malikhah, I., 2021. An Effect of Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Leading and Controlling of
Operational Leadership. Budapest International Research and Critics Institute (BIRCI-
Journal): Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(3), pp.4643-4652.
Mansur, J., Sobral, F. and Islam, G., 2020. Leading with moral courage: The interplay of guilt
and courage on perceived ethical leadership and group organizational citizenship
behaviors. Business Ethics: A European Review, 29(3), pp.587-601.
Miller, G.E. and Ives, K.S., 2020. Leading the eLearning transformation of higher education:
Leadership strategies for the next generation. Stylus Publishing, LLC. PO Box 605,
Herndon, VA 20172-0605.
Owusu-Ansah, N., 2020. Leading sustainability: understanding leadership emergence in
community resources management areas in Ghana. The Qualitative Report, 25(7),
pp.1766-1779.
Park, V., 2018. Leading data conversation moves: Toward data-informed leadership for equity
and learning. Educational Administration Quarterly, 54(4), pp.617-647.
Stamopoulos, E. and Barblett, L., 2020. Early childhood leadership in action: Evidence-based
approaches for effective practice. Routledge.
Zuber, C. and Weberg, D., 2020. Frameworks for Leading Frontline Innovation in Health Care::
Failure, Microclimates, and Leadership. Nurse Leader, 18(3), pp.290-295.