TEAMS, POWER, AND POLITICS 1: Organizational Culture and Leadership

This essay examines the intricate relationship between teams, power, and politics within organizations. It explores how effective teamwork contributes to organizational success, highlighting the importance of positive power dynamics and the detrimental effects of negative power and coercive leadership styles. The essay delves into the significance of organizational culture, illustrating how it's shaped by leadership and team interactions. It analyzes case studies of companies like ABC and XYZ, showcasing how company culture, teamwork, and political landscapes influence performance, employee morale, and overall effectiveness. The analysis covers the impact of group dynamics, mutual support, and workplace politics on productivity and the achievement of organizational goals. The essay emphasizes the need for clear guidelines, cooperation, and fair judgment to foster a positive work environment, while also addressing the negative consequences of unethical behavior and unclear chains of command.

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Executive summary
Organizations in the 21st century are striving to develop relationships with workers
through effective team work that helps in resolving global challenges (Kozlowski & Bell, 2011).
Building relationships are seen as one of the most effective ways of increasing productivity of
the firm and individuals exhibiting teamwork attributes are seen as a match for the preferred
candidates that the company wishes to hire. Teams contribute to the effectiveness of the firm as
they are the ones that propel the day to day operations of the company and thus are the
mainstream of the organization (Boakye, 2015). Teams are also critical in developing and
promoting the culture of the organization as they practice the set values and goals of the
organization.
Power and politics are important in the management of an enterprise as it determines how
the employees respond to their leaders in an organization. Giving employees some degree of
power to exercise their duties has been linked to yielding positive results as the employees have
the freedom to carry out the duties comfortably. On the other hand, using coercive tactics to
establish authority has been linked to low staff morale and high turnover rates for the company
which affects the effectiveness of the organization. Leaders as individuals who possess power are
thus encouraged to exercise their power and authority in a free and fair manner that shows no
favoritism towards a particular individual.

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Introduction
In the modern society, much emphasis has been laid on pride and personal attainments at
workplace making teamwork as a concept be overlooked by managers and workers. Due to this,
teamwork is seen as for as lesser management tool used achieve ultimate performance and has
led to poor performance and productivity in some organizations. Thus, this essay seeks to
identify the impact that teamwork has on achieving organizational effectiveness. Also, teamwork
can impact on the culture of the organization based on staff morale and performance. As
observed in one of the case studies, teamwork facilitates employees embracing organization
culture by working tirelessly to achieve desired results and performance as stipulated in
organization goals and objectives which are all part of an organizational culture.
Teams and work groups
Teams that understand the culture of a particular organization is seen to deliver optimal
results thus generating more revenue for the firm. Organizations that embrace the concept of
teamwork reap huge benefits due to maximum utilization and support of employees in various
teams. Politics and power on the other hand impact on organizations either positively or
negatively.
Power and Influence
The use of power appropriately without infringing on the rights of employees translates
to better results for the company as employees have some degree of freedom that allows them to
perform their tasks comfortably. Conversely, the use of coercive strategies to instill fear in
employees so as to establish authority has been linked to poor results and low staff morale that
leads to high turnover rate in a company.

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Organization culture
Authority also play a critical role in shaping the culture of an organization. For instance,
in the case study, it demonstrates how top management executives in their quest to establish their
power compete for leadership roles losing the site of company objectives. Organizations also
have their own politics that define the way operations and activities of the organization are run.
Failure to abide by the culture of the organization.
Power and influence
Power and authority plays an important function in business processes from monitoring
how the decision is crafted to how employees socialize and interact with each other in their
workplace. In both large and small enterprises, the effect of authority relies on whether
employees employ their power that is either positive or negative in influencing others in the
organization. Politics directly impact on individuals who have authority and thus predicts if the
general norm of the workplace leads to effectiveness.
Positive power
Positive authority in an organization entails promoting effectiveness. It entails entrusting
workers the power to be part of decision-making process, awarding employees for outstanding
performance and promoting staff members who perform exemplary well to oversee others.
Positive authority has been linked to building and boosting the level of confidence in employees
and acts a motivation for employees to work better. Positive power also helps individuals in high
levels in gaining authority through reverence and communication from employees as opposed to
the use of coercive strategies. It has been reported that the retention rate among employees is

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higher when employees are entitled to power that enables such employees to express their
concerns freely enabling them to work in unity in an organization.
Negative power
When leaders fail to earn respect from employees under them, then such leaders are said
to exercise negative authority. With this type of leader, workers are motivated to carry out their
duties diligently by being threatened with losing their jobs and other forms of punishments.
Negative power also allows leaders show favoritism to some employees at the expense of other
workers as opposed to recognizing the hard work of all employees through negative power has
been associated with high turnover rates in a particular enterprise.
Positive workplace politics
Workers who have learned the art of navigating the politics of an enterprise have been
reported to be productive than employees who are unconcerned (Zeiger, n.d.). In order to boost
productivity, enterprises must promote a political norm that is simple for workers to fathom.
Establishment of guidelines that are clear and chains of commands makes it simpler for the staff
to find solutions that they need as they spend more time on yielding quality work. An
environment that concentrates on cooperation and fair judgement prevents conflict that can
impact negatively on an organization’s effectiveness.
Negative workplace politics
Enterprises that provide environments of negativity and conflict suffer in the long-run
from such environments (Guchait, et al., 2014). If workers are encouraged to indulge in dishonest
or behavior that is unethical in order to get promoted and favoritism crowns the quality of work,
then an organization’s effectiveness deteriorates and the rate of turnover is high. An institution

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that lacks policies that are a straight and unclear chain of commands results in employees
wasting a lot of time looking for solutions and attempting to resolve issues rather than complete
and deliver quality work.
Example of companies
ABC company is an enterprise that has been manufacturing and selling prescription
glasses through their website since 2010 (Entrepreneur, 2015).The company designs glasses
according to its specifications and sells such glasses to clients directly eliminating middlemen
thus keeping the prices of glasses low.
The culture of the company at ABC company reveals that culture crashes and is one of
the primary reasons for the success is having a team of dedicated individuals that are committed
to the culture of the company (Wiesen, 2017). Such a team ensures that the positive culture of the
company is at the forefront, for instance, the company has fun lunches and events all aimed at
bringing the various teams together. Wardy Parker ensures that it arranges for an event where the
entire team can participate and benefit from such engagements. For instance, the company
ensures that the whole teamwork in unity by placing emphasis that all team members help keep
regions that break clean or at times sending employees randomly for a lunch.
ABC company has ensured that the culture of the company is deliberate through
developing a dedicated team that is tasked with organizing events and programs that promote
community development. The company believes that a company culture does not exist on its
own but with the help of great work groups and teams.

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It would not feel great without mentioning ABC as a company that has a great culture due to a
great team (Entrepreneur, 2015) (Ghorbanhosseini, 2013). ABC company has been building and
developing its culture for decades and sets the tone and a great environment for teams. For
instance, free meals and employee trips at the end of the year to motivate its staff has led to
exemplary performance among its employees. ABC employees are hailed for being talented and
among the best.
ABC company has expanded over time and spread keeping a uniform culture, thanks to
the great team that keeps the culture of the organization trending though difficulties emerge in
matching the headquarters and the satellite establishments. The expansion of a company
facilitates reinventing of culture so that the firm can accommodate more workers.
The continuous engagement of teamwork among ABC employees facilitates upholding
the culture irrespective of the location and country of operation. This has the benefit of ensuring
that core values and objectives of the company are embraced at all times and in all regions. ABC
is another perfect company that portrays how employees through teamwork have embraced the
culture of the organization.
A large multinational company such as XYZ inadvertently agreed that coalitions of
power aimed at overcoming emotions of rivalry and the advancement of personal ambitions are
solutions that are fragile (Russein, et al., 2017). The appointment of ‘A’ as the president of XYZ
followed by resignation of ‘B’ eliminated the idea that logical mechanisms in enterprises are
independent or dominate emotions and ties that bring people together (Zalenzik, 2013). A public
experience of the interference of a primary corporate life, specifically at the executive position
may not be irrational at all but can get catastrophic to the sense of security individuals derive
from a belief in a notion that is embodied in the image of the organization. The discharge of ‘B’

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from the presidency of XYZ indicates that personalities and politics in organizations are fewer
aberrations and more restrictions on the environment in large organizations. XYZ, on the other
hand, aims at maintaining its image and many executives ignore what the example suggests that
institutions are political entities that rely on the psychology of similarity. In order to understand
the psychology of similarity, it is important to study the theory of self-esteem.
‘B’left XYZ company due to palace revolt an illustration that he failed in forming
alliances. Though it is evident that Henry Ford appointed ‘B’ as the leader of XYZ, ‘Bs’
authority as a new person to a well-established power entity depended on the development of an
alliance. The specific person with whom an alliance appeared critical with was Lee Iacocca.
However, ‘B’ and Iacocca for some reason competed for power and authority rather than
cooperatively employ the authority base that contributed to as is the scenario with most culture in
organizations. The lack of an association led to elements of rivalry and battle for leadership. Ford
had to respond by giving much weight on one side as opposed to the other side.
The group works and teams on organizational effectiveness
The working together of colleagues based on particularly team related assignments or in
different departments has the effect of improving productivity, staff morale and quality of work
done (Mcqueery, n.d.). However, the existence of conflicts hinders the performance of teamwork
which can lead to delays in assigned projects resulting in high cost overruns or decrease the
productivity of the organization.
Group dynamic
Robust teammates understand the objectives of the organization not forgetting the long
and short-term goals. In this manner, the work groups are seen working toward achieving

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identical objectives when they attending daily chores and responsibilities. This leads to a robust
work group that is dynamic that promotes the organization’s mission and collectively does a
better job in alignment with the objectives of the company.
Mutual support
When teammates in the workplace get along well and there is lack of proprietary feelings
over individual work project, such teams can be effective through continuous collaborations that
ensure production of high-quality services and products for a particular organization. Following
this logic, employees are not left to fend for themselves but are rather motivated to achieve
success on the part of the organization while supporting other team members proactively. This
streamlines activity in the organization and helps all members handle tasks in an effective
approach.
Collective efforts
When work groups and teams have common goals either for a specific task or a
department, such teams are more probably to work in tandem in ensuring that objectives are
attained. Teams here assist one another in meeting the stipulated timeframes and motivate each
other to reach the set milestones. This is enhanced to a great extent when group incentives are
employed such as bonuses for attaining certain limits or for meeting production quotas.
Employing strengths
In a particular workplace, each member is responsible for bringing a unique skill set,
talents, and professionalism to the platform. For work groups that are effective, individual talents
are employed for the mutual benefit of the whole team and have a positive effect on the general
effectiveness of the business. For instance, in the case of a sales group, management should pick

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employees based on their presentation attributes, ability to close deals and effective customer
presentations. When each individual draw on their strengths in a platform that is supportive, it
translates to better effectiveness and better results for an organization.
Developing effective teams
Effective work groups have good leaders that strengthen and motivate employees in
various teams giving them freedom over certain aspects of their project and there is the provision
of regular feedback. In such effective teams, employees are made to feel that they are an integral
component of the company’s success giving buying-in and a sense of pride and loyalty. Also, the
employees are rewarded based on their efforts and are appreciated for their team efforts.
Conclusion
As portrayed from the above discussion it is evident that teams and group works are
important in an organization as they facilitate the smooth running of the organization’s activities.
Teamwork enables tasks that are hard and a complex to be solved by individuals be handled by a
team that combines efforts and ideas facilitating resolving such issues. It is also seen from the
above cases that it is through teams work that talents are identified and such talents are used for
the benefit of the whole team. The effectiveness of a particular organization relies on good teams
as good teams are the ones that deliberately promote and embrace the culture of the organization
through carrying out their duties and tasks assigned to them diligently. Power and politics, on the
other hand, have a huge impact on the effectiveness of the firm. The use of authority and power
in a free and fair manner enables the employees to feel the freedom they require in carrying out
their duties. When employees have the right to air their concerns and problems in a free channel,
then such employees yield optimal results for the firm since they spend most of their time

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delivering quality work. Conversely, the use of excessive power to coerce employees by
threatening them of job loss and other disciplinary actions only reduces their productivity and
staff morale rendering the organization ineffective. It is thus important that leaders exercise
extreme care and caution in light of power in their organizations. Organizations are also political
entities that exercise their internal affairs politically and this has been revealed in one of the case
studies where Knudsen one of the chief executive officers was fired due to the ongoing political
debacles in the organization that left Henry Ford no choice but appoint his favored candidate.

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performance [Accessed 28 April 2018].
Ghorbanhosseini, M., 2013. THE EFFECT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE,
TEAMWORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL. Journal of Business, 20(6), pp. 1019-1025.
Guchait, P., Lei, P. & Tews, M. J., 2014. Making Teamwork Work: Team Knowledge for Team
Effectiveness. Journal of International of Psychology, 150(3), pp. 300-317.

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Kozlowski, S. W. & Bell, B. S., 2011. Work Groups and Teams in Organizations. [Online]
Available at: https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
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78220.html [Accessed 28 April 2018].
Russein, G. R., Eys, M. A., Zumbo, B. D. & Beauchamp, M. R., 2017. The Effectiveness of
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Zalenzik, A., 2013. Power and Politics in Organizational Life. Harvard Business Review, 21(2),
pp. 124-136.

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Zeiger, S., n.d. The Impact of Power and Politics in Organizational Productivity. [Online]
Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/impact-power-politics-organizational-productivity-
35942.html [Accessed 28 April 2018].