Understanding Organizational Power and Politics: A Detailed Report

This report delves into the concepts of organizational power and politics, examining their influence on leadership and organizational success. It defines power as the ability to influence others and explores the five bases of power: reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert power. The report highlights how organizations, such as Microsoft, Google, and others, have leveraged power effectively to achieve competitive advantages. It also discusses the often-negative perception of organizational politics, while emphasizing its integral role in strategy implementation and achieving desired results. The report provides case studies, including Nampak and Eskom, to illustrate how leadership styles and the exercise of power can impact organizational change and employee engagement. It concludes that responsible usage of power and politics is crucial for organizational success, while misuse can lead to negative consequences, including employee silence and organizational downfall. The report references various academic sources to support its findings.

ORGANIZATIONAL POWER AND POLITICS
INTRODUCTION TO POWER AND POLITICS
Organizations exist not only for an economic objective of generating revenues, but they also
administer and equip employees to grow and progress in their professions (Alapo, 2018). This
helps the employees to express themselves in coherence with organizational goals and vision. As
the employees move ahead in the organizational hierarchy, their roadmap to career growth banks
on the aggregation of competence and control. This gradually transforms the self-expression into
an authoritarian expression to influence other people.
Organizations encourage interactions between humans and technology. They motivate their
employees with rewards and incentives. They maintain a diverse workforce and a highly
enthusiastic work culture. At the same time, they also develop political frameworks within their
process. This becomes the ideal stage for an individual to display and exert power. As we move
high on the hierarchy the structure tends to take the shape of a pyramid. This implies that in the
top layers of the hierarchy there is an increased interest of authority but lack of positions. And
the pyramid soon transforms into a pyramid of politics where the individuals begin comparisons
among themselves. By this time power gets associated with the working style and personality of
an individual.
One division of an organization is successfully conducting aggressive promotion activities that
result in better sales. The other division asks for funds from management to invest in promotions
without having generated enough sales. The former department head is naturally perceived to
have higher power than the latter as the peers and the team members associate this power to a
way of doing things and getting things done.
POWER IN ORGANIZATIONS
Power can be defined as a person’s ability to influence others (Omisore & Nweke, 2014).
Influence is a form of psychological change. This can lead an organizational change at a broader
level. The major bases of power were given by French and Raven in 1959.

Reward Power
The manager uses the reward power to appreciate and acknowledge an employee’s efforts. This
in turn, motivates and encourages employees. This can be tangible or intangible. It is essential to
use this power according to situational requirements. A timely word of praise is more effective
than regular monetary rewards.
Coercive Power
Coercive power as the name suggests is based on coercion. The manager forces employees to
perform a task. Many times this is combined with punitive measures which act as a big negative
influence. The short term results might be gained but in the long term, this kind of power lowers
the morale of the employees. This leads to the concept of carrot and stick motivation.
Legitimate Power
Legitimate power is primarily based on the consciousness and notion of the employees. They
have this predisposition that the managers have the authority to give them orders because of their
position in the hierarchy (Somoye, 2016). The employees might comply due to obligation but
long term commitment is absent. Culture and social framework play a major role in this kind of
power.
Referent Power
Referent power is a win-win situation for both managers and employees. The employees look up
to the manager or the leaders for their integrity and rapport with the employees. This kind of
power exercise varies across different cultures. The manager sets an example in this case
(Somoye, 2016).
Expert Power
Expert power is based on the fact that the employees look up to the manager because of his
intelligence and specific skills and knowledge. This kind of power is irrespective of the
hierarchical position of the individual. A technically sound technician can exercise expert power

even with higher management. The drawback is once the knowledge is shared, the expertise no
longer remains unique (Somoye, 2016).
These were the bases of power and how different groups exercise and control these bases are
given by the sources of power (Omisore and Nawaneka, 2014). The different sources of power
identified are: bureau or hierarchical position, charismatic characteristics, competence and
favorable circumstances.
POWER and POLITICS LEADING TO ORGANIZATIONAL SUCCESS
Organizations like Microsoft, Google, Dell Computers, Hewlett Packard, Benz, Walmart, Ford
and many more are examples where the leaders have proven that right usage of power can take
the organization to the top and sustain there. Leaders like Lee Iacocca, Jack Welch, Steve Jobs,
Bill Gates are the perfect examples of how employees can be motivated positively thereby
achieving competitive advantage. These are the case where power has influenced the employees
in a positive manner to work together towards seeking their goals (Guinote, 2017).
POWER, POLITICS and ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
The term organizational politics is perceived to have a negative connotation. In reality, it is an
integral component to implement strategies and get the desired results. There are examples where
misuse of power and politics led the downfall. A popular case is of Enron. There have been
instances when the management had gradually transformed from misusing power and politics to
using the right kind of power through proper governance. Two such examples are Nampak and
Eskom. Nampak is a leading packaging firm in Africa. Top management was just exerting
legitimate power and coercive power without paying any attention to the employees. Employees
were highly dissatisfied with the management as they followed an autocratic style of leadership.
Eskom is a leading electricity producing firm in Africa. There has been a gradual transition in
leadership style and power exercise. In both organizations, employees are now encouraged to
participate more in all kinds of discussions which brought the required organizational change.

CONCLUSION
From the analysis, it can be concluded that power and politics both are the strategies to get work
done to achieve organizational goals ( Kaya, Aydin and Ayhan, 2016). Politics in organizations
have both positive and negative influence on employee learning (Cacciattolo, 2013). It can lead
to abuse when employees are emotionally weak and not persevering (Amponsah-Tawiah and
Annor, 2016).
When the objective transforms into self-motive from responsibility, power and politics become a
bane for an organization. Many times organizational politics lead to silence in employees (Sun
and Xia, 2018). This implies the responsible usage of power and politics work wonders for an
organization.

REFERENCES
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