Power & Politics

Power and Politics

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Management 331

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August 7, 2006

Power and politics affect businesses constantly. For a company to be successful, it must understand the relationship that power and politics have with each other. The larger the organization, the more politics affect the employees ability to perform. As politics are being used in the workplace, the need for power is important to be successful. There are several types of power and a successful person will take advantage of all aspects of power. Leaders need power to accomplish goals. A leader can be of any position in an organization from a group leader responsible for five people to the chief executive officer who oversees companies that can employ thousands of persons. Positive leaders do not need power as an end in itself, but as a means to achieve a vision or desired goals (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2005).

Power in the corporate world defined as either formal or informal (The Institute for Management Excellence). Formal power is associated with a title or given authority. The advantage of formal power is that the holder can expect compliance and rapid action from subordinates. Power achieved based on the individual's position is effective during the early stages of the position as employees are in a "honeymoon" mind set. Once power position is reached, often times the person in power is unsure of the full extent of their power and this can lead to misuse or minimal power effectiveness. Reward power is the ability to give something of value to a person. This can achieve quick results, but can lead to people doing the minimum work required to receive the reward. Coercive power is being able to punish or withhold something of value from an individual. This will allow the person who has the power to have quick results but this use of power can lead to resentment and fear from the employees.

Informal power is earned and cannot be given to a person by means of a title or position. Informal power is gained in three different categories consisting of expert, friendship and presence power. Expert power is respect that an individual receives from peers because of their knowledge or expertise in a particular field of work. As others reach the same level of expertise, the power becomes less effective. Power achieved by friendship comes from trust and shared goals. Downfall of this type of power is that trust is easy